I had a few tasks to carry out for my club, Newport County Radio Club, during Field Day 2024, which was hazy, hot, and humid (sounds familiar).

I was charged with making a satellite contact, something I had not done since 2020.  I spent two weeks before ensuring that I had calibrated all the satellites that were still in the air (and bemoning all the ones that were no longer available – CAS-x, XW-x, etc.).  My station is shown in the photo below (IC-9700, laptop running SATPC32, and a 3×11 Arrow antenna on a photo tripod).

The first available pass was for RS-44, and would be at the point of closest approach right at 1400 EDT.  With only about 8 minutes to make a contact at that point, I was pretty confident, but imagine my disappointment when I could barely hear any singlas on the satellite and couldn’t hear my downlink at all.  After that failed pass, I did some quick checking and discovered that the VHF and UHF coax cables had been attached to the wrong beam.  EEK!

There was a pass of AO-73 about a half hour later, and I had no trouble making 3 SSB contacts on it (I gave up trying CW as there were no responses other than folks going up and down the band to find themselves sending endless dots and dashes).  A couple of hours later there was a pass of AO-7, and I quickly made a SSB contact on that bird, just to pay homage to the little satellite that still does, 50 years later!

Another task was to pass a section manager message from our site at Glen Park (Portsmouth RI) through a VHF link to my home gateway (WB4SON-10 on 145.050 MHz).  Despite the 21 mile path and some terrain between the two locations, it was an easy S9+++ connection with a full speed data link.  This message was also part of the Winlink Thursday drill for the week before and after Field Day.

As I wrapped up the AO-7 contact, I felt a burst of cool air on my back, a 180 degree change of wind direction.  I suspected there was a downdraft nearby, so I quickly took my equipment apart, stuffed it in my car, and headed home.  A few minutes after I left, the skies opened with a deluge of rain.  I felt sorry for my buddies in various tents still at the site.

When I got home, I copied the W1AW CW bulletin.

My final task was to work the CW station for the final 2.5 hours of the contest on Sunday.  This year I decided to run Search/Pounce, and enjoyed contacts on 10, 15 and 20 meters.

As always, lots of fun

I haven’t made a satellite contact in a few years as another club member was nice enough to step up.  However, he had to back out this year, and I was left flat footed when everyone else took a step back; it looked like I had stepped forward to volunteer.

I spent a few hours today updating my satellite laptop with all the latest Windoze stuff, and figuring out why my IC-9700 didn’t power up (12VDC power supply had a loose AC plug).  My next shock was that, for the most part, the birds I used a few years back were no longer active (bye bye CAS-x and XW-X).  AO-7 is still sort of working, as was RS-44.

I was able to adjust the transmitter calibration and hear myself on RS-44, but had no responses to a CQ.  That bird seemed to have very good doppler correction throughout the last half of the pass.

I also heard a few SSB calls on AO-73, so gave that a try.  As usual the transmit doppler correction was about 7000 Hz off.  I did make a partial SSB contact with N2FYA, but I don’t think he had the last letter of my call correct.  AO-73 has always been a challenge for me due to its unpredictable frequency offsets.

I need to setup FO-118, JO-97, HO-113 and XW-4, which are all new birds for me, then get the transmit uplink calibrated for them and AO-7.

Field Day 2024 rules are clear that multiple QSOs count now, but only one FM contact may be counted per FM bird:

7.3.7. Satellite QSO: 100 bonus points for successfully completing at least one QSO via an amateur radio satellite during the Field Day period. “General Rules for All ARRL Contests” (Rule 3.7.2.), (the no-repeater QSO stipulation) is waived for satellite QSOs. Groups are allowed one dedicated satellite transmitter station without increasing their entry category. Satellite QSOs also count for regular QSO credit. Show them listed separately on the summary sheet as a separate “band.” You do not receive an additional bonus for contacting different satellites, though the additional QSOs may be counted for QSO credit unless prohibited under Rule 7.3.7.1. The QSO must be between two Earth stations through a satellite. Available to Classes A, B, and F.

7.3.7.1 Stations are limited to one (1) completed QSO on any single channel FM satellite.