I’ve been spending a little time with a young neighbor, introducing him to Amateur Radio. I try to mix a little on-air activity with some theory. It’s amazing how comfortable he is with solving equations in his head.
This past Friday, I decided to give a satellite contact a go. Because of the time of day (mid to late afternoon), there weren’t a bunch of options, just a 20 degree elevation pass of CAS-4B, which I had never used before. My assistant waited patiently as I surfed the web for information needed to update my SATPC32 files (satellite names, Doppler offsets, etc.). The good news was our patience paid off, and after the satellite was about 5 degrees above the horizon we started hearing the CW Telemetry Beacon.
Ryan Listens to Satellite CAS4B
After listening to the beacon for a bit (Morse Code is still in our to-do jar), we tuned around a bit to find a ham to contact. After hearing no one, we called CQ and easily adjusted the downlink correction. Our own SSB signal was S9. A KE4A– called us faintly. Sadly this was right at the end of the pass so we weren’t able to make a contact.
Still a good day, I think.
