Satellites from the Parking Garage

Here's me and Ryan trying to work an AO-51 pass tonight from the top floor of the Marriott in Torrance. We attended a seminar by Clint K6LCS on AMSAT and working AO-51 with an HT, and then about 30 people went to the roof to try to work the "bird" during its 14-minute pass.

3 of us had HT's with Arrow Antennas - Clint, Larry, and me and Ryan. Clint managed to break through to 4 different stations, but Ryan wasn't able to get in on the transmit side. We did manage to hear stations throughout the pass, beginning with an XE2 (Mexico) at AOS (Acquisition of Signal) all the way throught to a KL7 (Alaska) at LOS (Loss of Signal). It was a lot of fun and everyone cheered whenever Clint completed a QSO. We even had the famous Gordon West, WB6NOA, as an onlooker. It was a great way to spend the evening.

ARRL Southwest Division Convention 2007

Well I am here in Torrance California after a long day's drive for the 2007 convention. My son KR7YAN and my friend Larry W7LB also drove out with me, so even thought it was a long drive it was an enjoyable one.

We used Larry's Avmap GPS to direct us - high tech! Throughout the day I kept checking various HF bands but no contacts made, the propagation was very poor today.

We missed the first hour of seminars but made it in time to attend a talk on pic programming. After that we cruised the exhibit hall - it was nice to see a lot of vendors here. There are definitely a few toys calling out to me, perhaps tomorrow we'll be making some deals.