3⁄12 is when it happened…my first satellite QSO. Thanks KX9X, you broke me Sean…
…but in a good way. So here’s what went down.
Sean KX9X, Ward N0AX, Kirk K4RO, and Scott W4PA and us were all hanging out over at the Spurious Emissions band secret hide-out. I noticed that Sean had his Arrow antenna with him as he is prone to do when he travels. My interest was piqued, since I have wanted to get involved with the LEO satellites since AO‑7 got put into orbit in 1975 (?).
At one point during the early evening, he announced that he was going to work some satellites – SO-50 – and that anyone who wanted to observe needed to follow him out to the yard. Like a puppy, I was there at his side. First there was nothing, then there was something. Then the signals built to full-quieting. I was stunned. Sean made a few contacts then shoved the mic into my face. So I did. First got NS3L in PA for my first contact, then followed quickly with KM4LAO, NP4JV and K8YSE. I was hooked.
What fun!
I had no idea what I was doing, but I sure wasn’t that hard. Later Sean gave me the lowdown on what I needed to do in order to get my own thing going.