I've been itching to get out and start having some portable radio excursions all summer. I've been sitting on this Kenwood TH-D72 for a few months. I got it so I could work the amateur satellites in full duplex. Now that we have some cooler weather, its time to take this gear out and scratch that portable radio itch.
This past Sunday, I biked a couple of miles down to the park with my satellite gear. I use ISS Detector for Android and could see there we a couple of satellites I wanted to attempt. The AO92 was up first. There were lots of folks on there, but at some point, I think there can be too many people on a sat. And, that point may have been reached. It was pretty chaotic, and I had a hard time getting in.
The second satellite pass was the AO91 at about 23° starting SSE and ending NE. One of the first stations I heard was HP2VX in Panama. I made the call, and he came back to me on my second attempt. I heard WE4B and gave him a call. I eventually got him after a short pileup. I actually had several stations calling me. Within just a couple of minutes, I logged 5 QSOs on the satellite. As more people got on the satellite, I decided to just stand by and listen. I could have kept going, but I let others have a chance.
It was a good day, and I really enjoyed it. I'll definitely be getting back in the satellites soon.
Here's the video:
https://youtu.be/oPVtwUur3YY
