My thanks to the crew in NH working N1FD (4O NH) during Winter Field Day this year. There was a decent CAS-4B pass that began 13 min after WFD got underway, the first pass of the contest. I was able to work N1FD as the satellite got above 4 degrees elevation (there is a bit of a slope that blocks things to the west). Both N1FD and I commented that it was ashamed that the rules allowed for only a single contact — it’s a fair amount of effort to prepare, setup, and takedown, for a few seconds of on-air time!
With the pass beginning at 19:13 UTC, I planned to arrive at 18:00 to get setup. Honestly, a half-hour would do, so I sauntered around getting things ready. I was using an old Icon 910H feeding a standard Arrow Antenna (10 el on 70 cm, 3 el on 2 m). An ancient CF-30 Toughbook ran SATPC32 for the doppler correction. A 30 AH LiFePO4 battery powered the radio.
About 1 minute into the pass, the satellite was 4 degrees above the horizon, and I started to hear SSB chatter. I adjusted the tuning knob about a half KHz from the middle of the passband and found N1FD calling CQ WFD. at 19:15:02 UTC the contact was in the log. They were booming in S7 to S9 on the Icom meter.
Rig inside the truck. CF-30 Toughbook, IC-910H, 30AH LiFePO4 battery (CAS-4B AOS in in about 10 min)
Arrow crossed beam (3 el 2m, 10 el 70cm) on photo tripod.
A couple of friends were standing next to the truck as I chatted with N1FD. They commented that only a minute or so was required to make the contact — seemed too easy. It was, for sure, but only at the expense of a bunch of planning — figuring out the passes, making sure the offsets had been dialed in for all the birds, and testing the equipment every day for several days before the event.
