[amsat-bb] T88ZF on AO-40

["Wayne Estes W9AE" <w9ae@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

To work T88ZF on AO40 I took my portable station to my employer's parking
lot so I could have a clear view of the western sky.  I was on the air a
little before 1400 UTC.  Worked a couple Americans, 5 Japanese stations
(they kept calling me!) and one Australian station.  The elevation was below
3 degrees for me in EN62, and the signal had dropped about 2 S-units.  I was
about to give up when suddenly T88ZF appeared at about 1525 UTC.  He was
very distorted at first.  Maybe his uplink was scattering over a hill.
After a few minutes his signal got much clearer and very strong.

A lot of stations were answering his SSB call and the elevation was very low
for me.  So I called him in CW.  Fortunately he came back to me after one
call.  I don't think I could have gotten through much later because the
elevation was getting so low.  A lot of Japanese stations were also calling
him.  Finally he called CQ stateside, since it was obvious that the window
was short for many American stations, while Japan had a very long window.
The U.S. east coast was already out of the window before Rolf got on AO40.
I guess he didn't have a clear view to the east below about 10 degrees.

I want to thank Stacey Mills for modifying the AO40 schedule to make this
possible.  It was a nice 4th of July holiday gift.

Wayne Estes W9AE
Mundelein, IL, USA


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