A bit of planning goes a long way…
There was a 8:30L XW-2A satellite pass this morning. I pointed my Arrow x-beam to the NW at about 25 degrees elevation. By 8:33, I was in contact with NK1N in SNJ — a beautiful S9 SSB signal on a mostly empty bird. (Setup took about 20 minutes to setup the gear and deploy the antenna).
The weather was fantastic — sunny, about 44 degrees and a tad windy. Hard to call it “winter”. The SSB & CW operators weren’t so luck yesterday as a large rainstorm blew through from about 8 PM until midnight. But at least it stayed above freezing.
Toughbook running SatPC32, Icom 910H, powered from solar charged Bioenno LiFePO4 Battery (Antenna visible thru window)
Arrow Crossed 70cm/2m Antenna on photo tripod pointed at the initial 1/3 spot for the pass.
