Episode 340 - Patrick Stoddard - WD9EWK
Transcript Commissioned by - Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK
Eric 4Z1UG 0:00
QSO Today Episode 340 Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK.
This episode of QSO Today is sponsored by Icom America, makers of the finest HF, VHF and UHF transceivers and accessories for the radio amateur, reminding you in this new year to check out their new IC 705 all band portable transceiver now shipping from your favorite amateur radio dealer. My thanks to Icom America for their continued support of the QSO Today podcast. Welcome to the QSO Today podcast.
I'm Eric Guth, 4Z1UG, your host.
Patrick Stoddard WD9EWK is best known for his satellite QSOs using portable gear from grid squares all over the world. He documents and captures many of his contacts and equipment that he uses on his website and YouTube channel. WD9EWK is a recent addition to the AMSAT board of directors and he is my QSO Today.
Eric 4Z1UG 0:00
QSO Today Episode 340 Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK.
This episode of QSO Today is sponsored by Icom America, makers of the finest HF, VHF and UHF transceivers and accessories for the radio amateur, reminding you in this new year to check out their new IC 705 all band portable transceiver now shipping from your favorite amateur radio dealer. My thanks to Icom America for their continued support of the QSO Today podcast. Welcome to the QSO Today podcast.
I'm Eric Guth, 4Z1UG, your host.
Patrick Stoddard WD9EWK is best known for his satellite QSOs using portable gear from grid squares all over the world. He documents and captures many of his contacts and equipment that he uses on his website and YouTube channel. WD9EWK is a recent addition to the AMSAT board of directors and he is my QSO Today.
Eric 4Z1UG
WD9EWK, this is Eric 4Z1UG. Are you there, Patrick?
Patrick WD9EWK
Hi, Eric, 4Z1UG from WD9EWK. Good evening.
Eric 4Z1UG
Good evening, Patrick. Thanks for joining me on the QSO Today podcast. Can we start at the beginning of your ham radio story? When and how did it start for you?
Patrick WD9EWK
Well, it started in the mid 70s. My father was very much interested in CB radio, had a small station at at home. But I could not legally operate without his presence because at the time CB radio required a license here. And you had to be 18 to get a license. He he was in the Navy. We were living on the Great Lakes Naval base near Chicago. And he ran into somebody on the base who was with the ham radio club. And one evening, he came home and said that there were classes available to get a ham radio license. And I could do that at nine years old. I said sure. And so we both went on base a couple nights a week, we took the novice license class and at the end of the class, the instructor came to the house with the license exams. And we wrote the exams on the dining room table at home. The ham saw that we passed the exam, but he couldn't officially tell us that, he said I have to send this to the FCC. But it looks like he both passed. And you should see a license show up in the mailbox in a few weeks. And it was in early June of 1977. The little slip of paper from the FCC arrived for each of us. My father had WD9EWJ. And I ended up with EWK, just the callsigns that came out of the FCC computer for each application.
Eric 4Z1UG
You're nine years old 1977. You're young for a novice operator, but you have a father that has some technical chops, probably. Did you have an interest in electronics before you got your license? Or was it just come from the CB radio activity that brought you kind of into it?
Patrick WD9EWK
I think I was curious about my father's CB radio equipment and hearing him talk to people far away even though that legally wasn't permitted. CB signals could propagate well. So that caught my interest. And he made a deal with me that if we obtained our ham licenses, he would get the equipment to set up the ham station at home. And when those licenses came, we found an old Heathkit HW16 radio with the outboard HD10 VFO. Crystal control requirement had been lifted a couple years before I was licensed, found a vertical antenna and got an antenna tuner and we set it up at the house and I was doing CW...
Patrick WD9EWK 4:38
… as I was starting out on ham radio, you know mostly on 40 meters by day and then listening to the shortwave broadcasters at night in the same spectrum. Lots of questions about Radio Moscow at the time about the propaganda they were broadcasting. I would ask my father things about what I was hearing. Now it's humorous I look back at some of those broadcasts, but I was nine years old. I was curious.
Eric 4Z1UG
But the HW16 was a CW only rig. Did you have to like slope detect that AM signal that you were receiving from radio Moscow? Perhaps?
Patrick WD9EWK
Yeah, I would, it wouldn't be as clear as on a proper AM receiver, but I could hear it and we had a little Radio Shack, AM/ FM shortwave receiver so I could listen to, other bands, something other than, within the the bands on the HW16. But, I was curious about what I was hearing. And we laughed about that many years later, toward the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Lots of changes over those years. But, to a nine year old where there's no internet, even, telephone calls, internationally were rare. And if you if you are lucky enough to make those calls, they weren't cheap. This was a unique opportunity to talk to other people, faraway places, or sometimes not so far away.
Eric 4Z1UG
I don't think I've interviewed in 340 interviews, very many hams that actually had fathers that started with them and kind of stayed with him. How did you both progress in terms of upgrades?
Patrick WD9EWK
Well, he didn't stay with the license. His original novice license expired, in two years. My license expired in 1979. We moved from Chicago to Arizona and ran into an apartment that did not allow antennas. So no ham station, no CB station for my father. And I was kind of dormant but still interested in science in Radio Shack, kids who are always fun to keep my interest in radio and electronics. Until I ran into a ham. I didn't know it at the time in the late 80s. I saw him with a Yaesu handheld radio on his belt. And I remember seeing handheld radios in the 70s. They were all mono band units. I believe there I only saw crystal control units with this one was synthesize. So I asked him, What band does that cover? Because I recognize the Yaesu brand. He said it's a dual band, two meters and 70 centimeters. And my eyes popped up wide. And I asked them about licensing and I told them I had been licensed previously. And at that point, there were volunteer examiner's and the novice licenses could still be the exam could still be given by just ordinary hams that had at least a general class license. So within a few weeks, I took the license exams here in Phoenix and passed my novice and technician exams on the same night. And then by the end of 1989. The end of that year, I mastered 13 words per minute Morse and wrote the general and advanced exams even wrote the extra exam, but I could never get the 20 words per minute at the time. So when I got back into the hobby, I went all the way up to the advanced class license, and I've been continually licensed ever since.
Eric 4Z1UG
And did you have the same callsign?
Patrick WD9EWK
No. And when I got back into it, you know this predated the vanity call program that the FCC started in the 90s. So when I my first license, as a novice was KB7HFF, Hotel, Foxtrot, Foxtrot. And once I received that the paperwork for the technician exam I passed was sent in and then I took the technician callsign N7MRV. And at the end of the year, when I reached the advanced class, I changed to KF7YS , and I went back to WD9EWK in the mid 90s. I figured that was my original callsign. And, why not go back to what I had when I started?
Eric 4Z1UG
Right? And now it's kind of a sign of seniority perhaps, or maturity to have a WD9 or a WA-something or a WB-something right? Nobody's taking those calls now as vanity calls.
Patrick WD9EWK
Very rarely do you see those calls taken now I took it because when the vanity call program started, I didn't find any shorter calls in the seven call area that interested me that I could get my hands on the selection was slim pickings. So I decided just to go back to my original call sign even though it was from outside of this call area wasn't required to the call sign matched where I live. So I went back to that and that will probably stay with this call sign. I don't see, I'll never say never but I don't see a change to my US call.
Eric 4Z1UG
How important were Elmers or mentors to you in pursuing your amateur radio career?
Patrick WD9EWK
Well, at the start, it was it was my father. And the ham that ran the licensing classes in Illinois was a ham name Jovae Sally at the time, he was WD9BGV. He's now N9BD, lives in California, I've had some contact with him. And in recent years, he was most helpful with the classes, he was the one that came to the house to give those novice exams. My first contacts at the shack on base, I had to use the club's call sign followed by my callsign at the time, so it was a long call sign to transmit with straight key, but I made my first contacts at the club before getting the station set up at home. Those are the most helpful. And by the time, the late 80s, came around, you had the study guides, the license exams were the questions were all open, open question pools. So I was pretty much self study to get back. get back into the hobby, and then a lot of reading new books and in later years, the Internet. The Internet did not kill amateur radio. Far from it.
Eric 4Z1UG 11:27
What was that song? Internet killed the radio...
Patrick WD9EWK
Video killed the radio star?
Eric 4Z1UG
Yeah, something like that. So I don't think the internet killed ham radio at all. Let me ask you this early interest that you had in ham radio, and CB from age nine, did that play a part in the choices that you made for your career in education?
Patrick WD9EWK 11:47
It did. I was I was interested in electronics. And in the 80s, when the first home computers were becoming available, I know parents got us a Texas Instruments 99 for a computer. You could write programs and basic had other computers through the 80s dial up modem to connect to bulletin board systems. And then later, I actually use that, use that to do school work. By the time I reached college, I was always interested in it. And by the time I got into the mid 90s. I was starting to work in IT. And ham radio actually helped helped me greatly get familiar with computer networking by doing TCP IP networking over 2 meter packet radio with a few friends of mine in northern Mexico.
Eric 4Z1UG
So you were working packet radio from the Phoenix area to Mexico.
Patrick WD9EWK
Well, I ran I started started doing HF packet I started doing other digital modes at the time, which is really RTTY AMTOR, PACTOR in the TNCs available then, and I found my way to a packet bulletin board system in Mexicali in northern Baja, California. It's right along the border across from El Centro and Calexico, California, and started chatting with the ham that ran that gateway who worked at the State University in Mexicali and started talking with him. And after a lot of contacts on packet and picking up the microphone to talk to each other. I took a trip out there to see to meet him see a station and he started telling me how he was doing internet from his house over the two meter radio because in the mid 90s, he didn't want to pay the high price for a landline telephone couldn't afford it really. And there was a waiting list to get that. With the packet system at his office at the university that had the internet access. He was able to access the early internet from home over two meter radio very slow but it worked.
Eric 4Z1UG
Right so that internet would have been like email, for example.
Patrick WD9EWK
...started with email but but you know on one of the trips out there I took an old computer TNC and Ethernet network card for the computer to him and we set up what would you know today you would call that a router. Set it up so that he could use his personal PC with a web browser. Go out over the the two meter link and access the internet. It would take a minute or two to paint a web page of just text...
Eric 4Z1UG
...right at 2400 baud or something like that
Patrick WD9EWK
...1200, 400 baud you he would receive part of the page his radio would acknowledge it would be you could see the radio, receive and then transmit quickly. I do remember being in his apartment, and he would access the website. So, the ham radio stores in the US. I thought it was great that he was using the radio in Mexico, there are no content restrictions on what sent over the radio unlike in the US. So to him, this was his internet connection. And it was that way for a few years. And, as he was using it and other friends of his and Mexicali, we were using this. Then he expanded the network with mountain top digipeaters. So, at the peak is small gateway and Mexicali actually had a reach from the Pacific Coast along the US Mexico border across to Arizona, and at least a couple 100 miles south of the border into northern Mexico on the mainland.
Eric 4Z1UG
Did you yourself get involved in packet digipeaters in the Arizona area?
Patrick WD9EWK 16:00
Not so much here, I was helping out there. And one time I took a bunch of old computers that were discarded from my office at the time, and I put them in my car with monitors in the car. And I drove to Mexicali. And I was younger and completely ignorant about the operations of the Mexican customs. Not realizing that if I drive through the land borders, there's a red green traffic light, theoretically, it's random, whether you see the red light, meaning you pull aside and someone comes out to inspect you in your vehicle, or you get the green light where you just pass through unchecked. I got the green light carrying a bunch of old computers and monitors that I think back now and realize that would have cost me a few $100 worth of import duties or perhaps bribes to avoid getting in trouble for not going through the lane to declare that I was bringing all these computers across.
Eric 4Z1UG
Yeah, we have that here at our airport, we have a red line and a green line as you're exiting the terminal, they want you to take the red line if you have things to declare. So it's always interesting to see who takes the red line who takes the green line. So that looks like that's a universal thing. So you're an IT professional? Is that what you do now?
Patrick WD9EWK
That's what I do now, systems administration networking, telephone systems, I still do all of that today, do a lot of that at home with the current situation and go into the office only when necessary. But with internet access, I can do almost all my work anywhere.
Eric 4Z1UG
Well, I can relate. This is what I do for a living as well. What's the current rig at your house?
Patrick WD9EWK
It's not just one for HF I won an Elecraft K3S at a Hamfest a few years ago, the best $20 radio I ever got $20 in raffle tickets, I did put filters and the general coverage board in it. So I think I'm into that radio about $1,000 Great radio. I don't know if I'd ever spend three to $4,000 on an HF transceiver. But you know that's a great radio like I've used at home in a portable setup and on field days. When I work satellites I use anything from handheld radios for FM satellites to Yaesu FT 817, HF, VHF, UHF transceivers or other modes. I have a lot you know I have lots of radios.
Eric 4Z1UG
And now this message from Icom America. Love is in the air at Icom. This sweetheart of a package includes the Icom IC 705, the perfect sidekick for hams that like to enjoy what is both great outdoors and indoors. The Icom IC 705 is the perfect companion with its base station features and functionality at the tip of your fingertips in a portable package covering HF, six meters, two meters and 70 centimeters. This compact rig weighs in at just over two pounds with RF direct sampling for most of the HF bands and IF sampling for frequencies above 25 megahertz. This fine rig supports QRP and QRPp operations. Features include a 4.3 inch color touchscreen with a live band scope and waterfall display. Five watt transmitter power with the BP 272 and 10 watts out with a 13.8 DC supply. Single sideband, CW, AM, FM as well as full D-Star functions, micro USB connector Bluetooth and wireless LAN integrated GPS with antenna and GPS logger, micro SD card slot and the HM 243 speaker microphone is standard equipment. Of course the perfect accessory for the IC 705 is the now available optional backpack the LC 192 with a special compartment for your Icom IC 705 and room for accessories for SOTA activations, or a day of social distancing in the park. Let us not forget that the IC 705 will replace the other company's radio as the first choice of microwave operators who need the very best baseband rig. Finally, there is a whole list of accessories and software for the IC 705. For more information, go to Icom's website by clicking on the banner ad in this episode show notes page, the Icom IC 705 is in stock at your favorite ham radio dealer. And when you make that purchase, be sure to tell your salesman that you heard about the IC 705 here on QSO Today. And now back to our QSO Today.
Eric 4Z1UG
What's your favorite operating mode? If you're using the K3S, for example? What do you like to operate?
Patrick WD9EWK 20:52
I like the old style RTTY, that's, when I got back on HF in the mid 90s, I could have I was doing some single sideband and CW my voice would carry in the house and keep people awake at night. But I could type on the keyboard doing RTTY and later PSK 31. And I was quiet to the rest of the house. And with RTTY I worked all 50 US states I got a DXCC from that, if even today with the many digital modes available. I think I still enjoy the old, the old, RTTY where I could, after a while even recognize the sound of my own callsign coming through the receiver
Eric 4Z1UG
...in BAUDOT. I think right? It still uses BAUDOT?
Patrick WD9EWK
Yes, it does.
Eric 4Z1UG
And I think BAUDOT is what it's two tones, like a mark in his space tone, right?
Patrick WD9EWK
Two tones. And I could recognize my callsign. And then a contest where you're getting a similar exchange with everybody, I could recognize what 599 sounds like after a while or, certain elements of the contest exchange, but I can't, decode BAUDOT by ear.
Eric 4Z1UG
Are there a large number of RTTY operators still, I mean, if you want to instead of FT8 or PSK31. If you want to operate RTTY any night, there are people out there operating RTTY?
Patrick WD9EWK
Maybe more activity around contest, contest weekends, it's probably it's been harder to find the activity outside of contests. sometimes you'll come across it. But it seems like now whether it's digital modes, or just activity in general seems like the FT8 or FT4 type of digital mode, you can always you can always find people using those modes. Now, the other ones seem to come up on whether it's contests or activity weekends or activity nights, not as common as maybe 20 years ago.
Eric 4Z1UG
Sounds like an interesting mode. I mean, I remember people operating RTTY with a model 19 teletypes. So it was a lot of noise in your shack.
Patrick WD9EWK
Right. Now, I never had any of those terminals at home. I do remember seeing one back at the radio club in Illinois when I was first licensed. But certainly, with a TNC, or software on the computer, as that developed, RTTY became, would be a very quiet mode to operate, I could sit in the corner of a room, making contacts around the world and the rest of the house is oblivious to what I'm doing.
Eric 4Z1UG
One of the reasons that we're speaking today is because you were introduced to me by Michelle Thompson, W5NYV, who was a guest on the QSO Today podcast a number of weeks back. And she's also very active with AMSAT. And AMSAT is doing a whole series of presentations at the QSO Today virtual ham Expo coming in March. So that's the reasons that we're having the conversation is she's made the introduction, but also you're a very active satellite operator. In fact, it seems to me after Googling you and looking at your QRZ.com page, that you're the go to guy when it comes to getting started on amateur satellites, and that you make satellite contacts all the time. So when I think of amateur satellites, and it may be because I'm getting old and calcified. I think of the satellite operators I used to know that had the big dishes that were computer controlled positioning and to work satellites, it was a really a difficult deal. But when I look at your YouTube channel, it seems to me that that's been made much easier. Can you talk a little bit about what's really required now to be a satellite operator, and how do you operate satellites?
Patrick WD9EWK
Well, what's required? Before I do that, like you were saying, I remember reading the magazines and seeing the stations with the big antennas, the big radios, the satellite operating interested me, but in the 80s and the 90s, it was an expensive proposition for someone going to college or just, starting to work full time I didn't, I didn't want to spend two or $3,000 to get set up for satellites. If anything, if I had two or $3,000, I had other other targets for that spending. But these days now, since especially with satellites that can be worked using FM equipment, FM handheld radios, or mobile radios. The cost of entry into this corner of ham radio has dropped to almost to the point of buying one of the inexpensive Chinese made handheld radios and building an antenna, a small handheld yagi or log periodic. So cost wise, the radio could be 20 or $25, maybe a similar amount in parts if you don't have them already to build the antenna. And you can try satellite operations with the equipment that if you're not interested in continuing can be used with repeaters simplex operating or other purposes. It's not specifically for satellite operating. And after that, it's other modes, I use a Yaesu FT 817 for single sideband small portable all mode transceiver, and two of them make a great all mode satellite station that I can carry. When I travel like the radio is going in an old laptop bag. And my two FT 817s have many 1000s of road miles and frequent flier air miles over the years. Because I can carry carry the station with me almost anywhere I go.
Eric 4Z1UG
So tell us a little bit about if you're operating satellites in this way, you actually need to have like a dual band radio, right because you're up linking on VHF and coming back on UHF or vice versa.
Patrick WD9EWK
That's correct. Our satellites for voice communications or CW are cross band transponders cross band repeaters. Almost most of them will use the two meter and 70 centimeter band. Some satellites make use of other bands like Oscar seven has a configuration with two meter up and 10 meters down. We had AO92, which had a 1.2 gigahertz uplink AO 51 in the 2000s had a 2.4 gigahertz downlink which was interesting to use in a portable setup. But the biggest difference is the satellites we have now are in much lower orbits than what we had in the 80s 90s and 2000s. With Oscar 10, Oscar 13 and Oscar 40. So a small station is more than capable of using the satellites we have in the lower orbits, you don't need the big yagis or a dish antenna, you don't need lots of power. Most of the time, I'm operating at five watts or not much more than five watts. So through our current satellites.
Eric 4Z1UG
Now if I go to your YouTube channel, I see that you are reviewing a number of different handheld radios, and you're listening for the satellites with the whip antenna on the radio. And you mentioned earlier that one could buy a $25 Baofeng radio to us are two of them, maybe one for uplink and downlink. But I guess the question I'm asking is, are these older radios the radios that you could probably buy for 50 bucks now on eBay are those older radios better radios for FM satellite use?
Patrick WD9EWK
To an extent some of the older radios were better, better front ends and better designs. And in one feature that's lacking in now any almost any radio current production, any handheld radio, is the ability to operate full duplex with a single radio that used to be a common feature even in handheld radios. So they could also serve as cross band repeaters. So you could, use a low power handheld radio, as you're walking around hiking somewhere, and your cross band capable radio was somewhere else to retransmit your signals to a far, far off repeater. If the radio could work as a cross band repeater, it had everything needed to operate full duplex on the satellite. usually you would just add an earphone or headset or something so that the speaker audio doesn't cause a feedback loop when you transmit. And unfortunately, this is a function that's missing from handheld radios. You can still find them in the mobile radios. But the last handheld radio that worked very well for satellite operating full duplex was now it's the discontinued Kenwood, THD 72. It went out of production last year. But you can find it find the old radios on eBay swap meets. In fact, if I see one of these radios at a swap meet, I picked one, one of the old Kenwood handheld radios up at a swap meet for $35. It was as-is, the seller wasn't sure if everything worked, the only thing I needed to do was get a new battery pack and it worked great.
Eric 4Z1UG
So my Icom W2A, which is about 25 years old, probably would be an ideal satellite radio?
Patrick WD9EWK
It would, if it's the North American version, you'd probably have to remove a diode off the circuit board. So it would transmit below 440 megahertz at that time. Most of those most of these FM radios for VHF and UHF, only transmitted where the repeaters are located. for Icom, it was usually 440 to 450, I think Kenwood likes to go down to 438. But since the satellite operating on that band is 435, or 438, usually required removing a diode and resetting the CPU, but your W2 would be a good choice. Even today,
Eric 4Z1UG
I actually know where it is. And it was already modified for the 430 band because we in Israel, our UHF band is 430 to 440. So so I'm all set.
Patrick WD9EWK 31:41
And you know if the battery pack is, is dead, there are aftermarket options even for that radio. And many of the older radios, you can get replacement battery packs, and sometimes even double A cases so you can load your own double A cells in the power of the radio.
Eric 4Z1UG
So for someone getting started, would you recommend in terms of being budget conscious? Would you go with the Chinese radios first, or would you say, try to find the old radios first so that you can operate duplex with one radio,
Patrick WD9EWK
I usually suggest to either find one of the duplex capable radios, or look to get a pair of radios. And, I tried the Baofeng radios at a Hamfest, I set up a demonstration one of my videos had pictures of a pair of Baofeng radios, I wanted to try them out because these radios are out there, I'd be foolish to ignore their existence. But it comes down to you get what you pay for. And sometimes you don't, you don't get much with these radios. Quality Control is an issue with some of these Chinese made radios where some of them have really good receivers and clean transmitters. And the next one on the assembly line. the receiver may be deaf and the transmitter may put spurious emissions across other bands. But it is an option. But I usually lean toward, either find one of the older radios or maybe find a pair of radios where you transmit from one and receive on the other. For some, that's a preferable alternative because they have separate controls for each each side of the station. Instead of having to work your way through menus or changing VFOs to adjust frequency or volume or something.
Eric 4Z1UG
Now on one of the videos I saw, I think you were operating at an Arizona Hamfest. And you actually had a TV tray with the radios on the TV tray, and you're holding the antenna with your right hand, I think and pointing it into the sky. It seems to me like a good satellite operator has to have three arms. In order to be able to negotiate all of the things that you have to do to make that contact is there anybody that's actually created some kind of a way to actually manage all of the two radios and all of the things you need to do in order to comfortably make those contacts?
Patrick WD9EWK
Well, some people instead of using a table like I did, will put the radios in something like a camera bag and hang the bag around their neck. So instead of leaning over to a table, the radios are right, and they just look down and the radios are right there. Some people whether it's they don't want to hold the antenna for 10 or 15 minutes at a time or medical conditions they they will put the antenna on a tripod. I prefer to hold my antenna because not only can I point it skyward I can twist the antenna. If the signal starts to fade out, I can you know reorient the antenna elements and usually pick the signal up better. And then a lot of that just comes with practice, practice, practice. And for me, I spent many months just listening to satellite passes before I ever attempted to transmit. I made a couple satellite contacts in the early 2000s. But it was really at the end of 2005, where I started doing this on a regular basis. And, it's just lots of practice and living in places where I couldn't put up antennas. My, my portable stations are what I would use at home. And what I still use at home today, I don't have antennas on the house.
Eric 4Z1UG
So Patrick, tell me, it seems to me that a satellite pass isn't very long. And it's not like you have one pass after the other. If you're operating from the field, you have some way of knowing when a pass is going to start, where it's coming from and where it's going, I'm assuming, correct. And so you have, I guess, you get your equipment set up, you're ready to go when the satellite comes over the horizon, and you work it. How does that work? Exactly? Do you have some kind of app on your smartphone that tells you which satellite to look for. And then you've already know what the frequencies are. And if there's some audible tone or something like that, how to set that up?
Patrick WD9EWK
Sure, there, there are apps for phones and tablets, or software for computers, Windows PCs, Mac, Linux, other operating systems, and even websites where you can put in your location and generate listings, and when different satellites will come overhead, it's not always one right after another. But with different satellites in different modes, I can I can map out a day of operating, we're all know when each satellite will come by, from what direction to what to the other direction at the end of the past. And this is I do this a lot when I go away from home to operate, I'll do it at home too. If I just want to play radio and work satellites, I can do other things around the house in between passes. And then one, each pass comes up, I'm outside, I start to hear the satellite. And many times, working satellites, 10 to 20 minutes or so, past you, at times you feel like you're in the middle of the CQ worldwide contests. activity can get busy. In that 10 to 20 minute span, I can sometimes reach QSO rates that approach the big HF contest weekends.
Eric 4Z1UG
Now do you record your passes so that when you can go back later and actually remember all the people that you talk to? So you can either put them in logbook of the world or something like that? And how do you keep track of the people that you talk to,
Patrick WD9EWK
I've always run a recorder at a minimum capture my voice or ideally I have it patched into the speaker output from the receive radio. And then I play the recording back and I can hear each contact I made. You know if I just have a recorder sitting in a shirt pocket or near me capturing my voice, I make a point to say the other station is called sign to get picked up by the recorder and so the other station knows who I'm contacting. If I'm tapped into the radio speaker, then I'm hearing the satellite signal. So it's capturing everything that's coming through my voice and any anybody else I'm working in, they'll play that back, make my log entries upload the logbook of the world. I still get the occasional request for QSL cards and answer those as they come in. I used to print hundreds of QSL cards after my road trips to different places. Now, I print up cards on demand because most active satellite operators have discovered logbook of the world is a very convenient way of tracking and accumulating confirmations.
Eric 4Z1UG
Let me take a quick break to tell you about my favorite amateur radio audio podcast. And that's the Ham Radio Workbench podcast with George KJ5VU, Jeremy KF7IJZ, and it now includes Michael Walker VA3MW, where they pursue topics Technology and Projects on their ham radio workbenches. Every two weeks, the group documents their projects and make circuit boards available to their listeners. They have interesting guests and go in deep. Jeremy may complain about the overall length of the podcast but friends let me tell you that I could listen to it all day. And that's good. Even if you are a seasoned ham radio builder or just getting started. Be sure to join George, Jeremy and Mike now for the ham radio workbench podcast on every podcast player, use the link on this week's show notes page by clicking on the image. And now back to our QSO Today.
Eric 4Z1UG
So one of the things I noticed about your website and your YouTube page, you appear to travel all over the place. Is that part of work or is that you decide to set out and get grid squares for a week. How does that work?
Patrick WD9EWK 40:01
Well, I don't normally travel for business, I haven't had to do that for a long time. But I do travel to different events around Arizona and neighboring states when I've represented AMSAT at Hamfest or giving presentations at Radio clubs. And I'll usually try to add in some other operating, especially if I'm going to, rather rarely heard in grid squares around Arizona, where I'll do a demonstration at a Hamfest, but I'll drive somewhere else after the Hamfest or the day before the Hamfest, I'll stop in some rare spots, and operate for a few hours on my way to the Hamfest or whatever the event is. And I would go to a lot of these events on a regular basis. So Hamfest every year, in a particular town, well, I'll be in that part of Arizona are all venture say into New Mexico to operate or I'll go to Southern California or Upton Nevada. And I take the radios along and operate. I think this really took off among satellite operators a few years ago with the National Parks on the air activity here in the US that the ARRL operated. And now we have Summits On The Air, Parks On The Air. And people have discovered portable operating not just for satellites, but for other bands and modes. And a lot of people are taking advantage of the ability to get away from home and and do radio.
Eric 4Z1UG
So let's say you decide you want to take three four hours in a park in a national park perhaps to operate satellites, are you pretty guaranteed that there actually will be satellite passes that you'll be able to enjoy in that three hours? Is there enough satellite activity that you can pretty much snag a couple of contacts?
Patrick WD9EWK 41:52
Yes, on almost without exception, I will be able to keep busy. Because I'll know when the satellites are coming by. And if there's a long gap between some of the passes, if there's an hour or so that becomes a meal break or go if I'm in a park, find my way to the visitor center and use the restroom and then get back to the radio. Other times I'll pack a lunch and drinks with me. So I'll find a place and I'll stay there for the day and operate and then head home at the end of the day or head to wherever my destination is after that. I will usually be able to get more than just a handful of contacts. Recent trip I took to a national monument in southern Arizona, I spent about about 12 hours of operating. And I came home. I had worked 25 passes and logged about 100 contacts, a couple of passes, I was making 15 to 20 contacts and on others maybe a single contact, but it kept me busy for the whole day. So like you know it was successful, and I got away from home wasn't working, it's like the worst day fishing is better than the best day working.
Eric 4Z1UG
Now these satellites are in elliptical orbit over the earth right in low Earth orbit. Does that mean that they're going pole to pole and then kind of rotating around the Earth? Or are they actually crossing the earth in different angles and directions.
Patrick WD9EWK
Some of the satellites are in polar orbits that go over the north and south pole and others are in orbits that track closer to the equator. And they will come over different parts of the sky at slightly different times each day. But generally over a period of time, they will pass by at the same the same times whether it's mornings and evenings or during the day or during the night. And these are all predictable. This is where the software or the apps on the phones and tablets comes into play where I can I can sit here today and say I want to go somewhere in two months. What will the satellite passes be for location two months from now I can generate that list now and even two months in advance it will be accurate to within a couple seconds for each of those passes. And I can plan a trip around that.
Eric 4Z1UG
What's your favorite iPhone or smartphone app for satellites?
Patrick WD9EWK
Well for for the iPhone and the Android phones. A common app that works well on both is called ISS detector Pro. The basic/free version only tracks the International Space Station but the pro add on which is a couple dollars will allow you to track other satellites including amateur radio satellites. There are other apps for the the two main platforms. I like AMSAT droid-free on my Android phones. I've heard other people say SATSAT or It's Go SAT Watch on the iPhones and the iPads. Almost all these apps will make use of the GPS receiver in the device to set your location or you can manually enter in your location either by latitude longitude or grid locator for sometimes type in nearest town or city and it will figure that out for you. But I can predict all this in advance and then run the app on the phone or tablet during the pass. So I can see, I need to point my antenna in a certain direction at a certain elevation above the horizon and track the satellite as it's moving overhead.
Eric 4Z1UG
Now, with your background in packet radio and stuff, I have a hypothetical situation maybe you can solve this for me. Let's say I live in rural Alaska. I have a ham radio license. I'm good with computers, Raspberry Pi's and Arduinos. I have a dual band VHF UHF transceiver and I can build antennas. I want to be able to send text messages to my friend in Israel. And I don't really care whether I get an instant response back. But I'd like to be able to drop a message and then maybe in the next day, get a message back. Is there a solution for that?
Patrick WD9EWK
Right now, if one end of the of this theoretical question is Alaska, it would be difficult if somebody say lived in the continental US, there is a satellite called Belkin sat-three that has an onboard bulletin board system and onboard mailbox where you can leave messages that can be picked up by other operators. It's in an orbit that pretty much favors the US Air Force Academy in Colorado, so it doesn't cover very, very high latitudes toward the north pole or down to the South Pole. So Alaska would be a tough reach for that satellite, the International Space Station, people will send messages through that. And if an internet enabled, grounds station or gateway picks up that message, it can forward the message as an email to that ham or if using APRS. If the ham has an APRS station operating now the APRS network can deliver messages that way. But right now, the ISS station that runs a digipeater is down due to some issue after spacewalk a week or so ago. It'd be tough right now.
Eric 4Z1UG
There's only one satellite that actually has this digipeater operating capability. Does AMSAT see any future satellites that would have digital capability or is that kind of passe and no longer interest people.
Patrick WD9EWK
The onboard bulletin board systems, there used to be a series of satellites that supported that but with the internet, those pretty much went out of favor, There are satellites that have come and gone with digapeaters on them, just like the terrestrial APRS digipeaters except it's on a satellite orbit. Those are supported. The ISS has a popular one when it operates in their ground stations listening to the ISS digipeater frequency of 145.825 megahertz. When it operates, you can send messages and I've sent APRS messages and one line email messages when I've been out on some of my trips to mainly just a hello from wherever I'm at, it's not a long, verbose message because that's just not possible in one line of text, but it's something to say that I'm on from here and I'm okay. I'm okay.
Eric 4Z1UG
What is a fun cube? And what is fun cube dashboard software.
Patrick WD9EWK
The fun cube is a project by AMSAT UK to build small satellites that support transponders that amateur operators can use and also transmit telemetry data that can be easily received by schools and others with a simple ground station. And the software which is the funcube dashboard is the software designed to receive data from the different satellites in the funcube project. This was very popular among schools in the UK, and satellites starting with Oscar 73, which was the first funcube satellite that was launched in 2013 have been used by schools to get familiar with space. And amateur operators use the transponders to talk to each other.
Eric 4Z1UG
Is there, as a amateur satellite operator and enthusiasts, and now it's my understanding AMSAT Board Member so you got sucked into the national organization and became a director. Do you listen to non amateur Satellites Is there something to listen to in terms of non amateur satellites with the gear that you have?
Patrick WD9EWK
Probably the most popular non amateur satellite I can listen to with the radios and receivers I have would be weather satellites, I can receive imagery from US and Russian weather satellites and display it on a computer. So I won't get the whole weather forecast. But I can see if there are clouds around Arizona or around this part of North America. The software adds in state, national boundaries, that's a popular thing because people can relate to that even if they're not interested in talking on the radio. Other times I have listened to the Russian VHF radios when they're doing spacewalks on the International Space Station. Their spacesuits use VHF radios and I can listen, it's around 130 megahertz. When they're overhead, I can hear them talk. It's almost exclusively in Russian. So I only know a handful of words in that language. If I want to know what's going on, I'd have to have NASA TV on somewhere doing translation or somebody, somebody who's doing a commentary on the work that's being done. Can't do that with the American spacewalks because those suits use different frequencies. And I believe most of that might be digital, not easily decodable on the ground.
Eric 4Z1UG
What do you think is the greatest challenge facing amateur radio now?
Patrick WD9EWK
I think the greatest challenge is probably, hams, old or new, and their willingness to try new and different things. Unlike a lot of hobbies, ham radio is not everybody does the exact same thing. We don't all use the same type of radio to talk to each other. We have frequencies across the whole radio spectrum, even into laser communications, I think Software Defined receivers. And when those started showing up a few years ago, for me, that was an eye opener, because instead of a receiver that would receive one or maybe two frequencies at a time. Now I'm looking at a, a chunk of spectrum, whether it's, say the entire 20 meter amateur band, or if the receiver supported it, the entire FM broadcast band and see all the different signals on one screen, and I can just click on a waterfall trace, and now I'm listening to one station. And that's just one example. I still enjoy HF I still still enjoy single sideband and do some CW. But I also like to poke around on on new and different things. In terms of satellite operating when there was a 2.4 gigahertz downlink on Oscar 51. I bought a downconverter and tried that. The Doppler shift at 2.4 gigahertz is rapid fire. But it was fun. I get on the FM satellites, because I don't know who I'm going to meet. That's the entryway for most to amateur radio satellites. But I'll get on single sideband and talk to those who are more experienced or have bigger stations, the sort of station I might get someday at home. You never know who you're going to meet just like getting on 20 meters and calling CQ you don't know who's going to answer. Answer your CQ call.
Eric 4Z1UG
When you're operating FM satellites with your hand held antenna and stuff. What is the farthest contacts that you get? Are you getting continental contacts international contacts on the satellites? Are they too low?
Patrick WD9EWK
International contacts are possible from here in Arizona, I won't be able to talk to someone in Europe. I have talked as far away as Alaska, Hawaii, the northern coast of South America and Newfoundland, on FM satellites, using handheld radio and the handheld antenna on single sideband. From here I've talked as far as Iceland. And when I've traveled to Dayton or the East Coast of the US, I can easily talk to stations across the Atlantic throughout Europe. And I and I do that as well. I think I'm up to about 30 or so countries toward a satellite DXCC. I don't know if I'll get to 100 countries but with the current satellites, it's pretty much limited to North America, the Caribbean and the northern part of South America from here in Arizona. So if I lived in the eastern US, more countries more DX is available.
Eric 4Z1UG
Would you recommend FM satellite operation for preppers?
Patrick WD9EWK 54:52
Probably not. Because you would have to be familiar with when the satellites are passing by and whoever you're trying to talk to would also need to be set up. I suppose they could do that there was an instance, in about a year, almost a year and a half ago where a satellite operator and his father were stuck in Big Bend National Park in Texas in one of the most remote parts of the National Park, near the Rio Grande river and Mexico. And there was no mobile phone coverage. And his truck got stuck in mud. So he was able to make contact with a satellite operator, he knew past his location, latitude, longitude, description of the road in the situation, and even gave the phone number for the Park administration so that the other operator could make phone call and say there's somebody stuck out there. And a couple hours later, park rangers pulled his truck out of the mud and everything was fine.
Eric 4Z1UG
Right? Because we're talking Texas, we're talking a national park could be 100 miles across,
Patrick WD9EWK
Definitely. And the further from the visitor center, the mobile phones don't work, not even from across the border in northern Mexico. And, sure, if he had an HF setup, he probably could have gotten on 20 meters or 40 meters during the day and made contact with someone a few 100 miles away, who could pick up the phone and call the National Park administration and say, he stuck out there, bail him out. With satellite, he was going out there to work satellites. And, it was just natural to pass the information along and had everything written out of what he was going to say in the first location. And, even on the air mentioned, they had provisions. So if it took a while they have food and water, they would be fine.
Eric 4Z1UG
Now, you mentioned earlier, that you listened quite a bit before you ever transmitted on amateur satellites, which seems like a good idea. Do you recommend that to people who are going to be newbies to satellite operation? And what do you think you learn the most from listening for a few weeks or a couple of months?
Patrick WD9EWK
I think that's a great way to start because you get familiar with how contacts are made on satellites, many who come to amateur satellites, with handheld FM equipment, they've talked on local repeaters. And it's similar, but there are differences, not a lot of extended conversations. The satellites are like an HF contest, where exchanges have call signs and grid locators. If there's a lot of people trying to make contacts, you get familiar with different call signs, you might you might hear the same call signs when you're ready to actually transmit and make contacts. But you at least get familiar with the flow of, of how those passes operate. And then, nobody's perfect, I made mistakes starting out, but at least I was a little more comfortable with what to do and what to expect. When I got on AO 51 for the first time, my first contact was with a ham who was 10 miles away from me, across across the city of Phoenix from where I was, the signals went up 500 miles came down 500 miles. But, between us was a distance of 10 miles. Then again, for some they may work, somebody who's out in a rarely heard spot for their first contact by satellite, you never know. But it helped me get comfortable with the process, the recorder was key. And so I could go back and listen to things so and I continued recording every pass I work, I keep most of the recordings. I even put them up in my Dropbox base or keep them on a small hard drive or USB stick. So if somebody comes back and says, Hey, I thought I worked you in 2013 when you were somewhere, and I'd like to get that confirmed, I can oftentimes pull up that recording. usually it's a case of Oh, I missed your call sign Sorry, I hear it in the recording. So log the contact, upload to Logbook Of The World or send a QSL card, whatever is requested.
Eric 4Z1UG
What advice would you give to newer returning hams to the hobby?
Patrick WD9EWK
Be ready to try different things, if it's someone returning to the hobby, if they're familiar with operating HF Yes, that's still still available and for in many cases, you can get the same radios you had in the past and use them today. But, be open to different things. I do try the digital modes and one of these days. I'll try more FT8 because sometimes that's where all the activity is especially like on field day, if I'm looking for digital activity you may hear some RTTY and other modes, but FT8 is very popular. Satellite operating. I've tried many facets of amateur radio, I tried amateur television, and really wasn't my cup of tea. But I tried to talk to the space station when crews were active that actually got me hooked into satellite operating was after talking to an astronaut using a handheld radio that had a telescoping whip on it. Once I did that, a couple weeks later, I figured I had been listening to satellites for a while it was time to actually try to make contact that way. And it's kept me active even as the solar cycles have gone up and down over the years, unlike in the past where my activities seem to mirror peaks of solar cycles.
Eric 4Z1UG
Patrick, I want to thank you so much for joining me on the QSO Today podcast. I've learned a lot about satellite operation. And the fact that I can probably pull that W2A out of the drawer and replace its battery pack I could be on. I could be listening as a newbie, I could be listening to satellites in no time. I want to thank you so much for joining me on the QSO Today podcast and wish you 73.
Patrick WD9EWK
Thanks, Eric.
Eric 4Z1UG
That concludes this episode of QSO Today, I hope that you enjoyed this QSO with Patrick, please be sure to check out the show notes that include links and information about the topics that we discussed. Go To www.qsotoday.com and put in WD9EWK in the search box at the top of the page. Be sure to click on the expo menu item at the top of the page for updates on the upcoming QSO Today virtual ham Expo. My thanks to Icom America for its support of the QSO Today podcast. Please show your support of Icom America by clicking on their banner in the show notes pages. You may notice that some of the episodes are transcribed into written text. If you'd like to sponsor this or any other episode into written text, please contact me. Support the QSO Today podcast by first joining the QSO Today email list by pressing the subscribe buttons on the show notes pages. I will not spam you or share your email address with anyone. Become a listener sponsor monthly or annually by clicking on the sponsor buttons on the show notes pages or use my Amazon link before shopping at Amazon. Amazon gives me a small commission on your purchases while at the same time protecting your privacy. I'm grateful for any way that you show appreciation and support. It makes a big difference as I head towards Episode 400. QSO Today is now available in the iHeart Radio, Spotify, YouTube, and a bunch of other online audio services including the iTunes Store. Look on the right side of the show notes pages for a listing of these services. You can use the Amazon Echo and say Alicia play the QSO Today podcast from TuneIn. My thanks to Ben Bresky, who edits every single show and allows both this host and my guest to sound brilliant. Thanks, Ben. Until next time, this is Eric 4Z1UG 73. Thank you.
1:03:12
QSO Today podcast is a product of KEG Media Inc, who is solely responsible for its content.
Transcribed by W3TTT
WD9EWK, this is Eric 4Z1UG. Are you there, Patrick?
Patrick WD9EWK
Hi, Eric, 4Z1UG from WD9EWK. Good evening.
Eric 4Z1UG
Good evening, Patrick. Thanks for joining me on the QSO Today podcast. Can we start at the beginning of your ham radio story? When and how did it start for you?
Patrick WD9EWK
Well, it started in the mid 70s. My father was very much interested in CB radio, had a small station at at home. But I could not legally operate without his presence because at the time CB radio required a license here. And you had to be 18 to get a license. He he was in the Navy. We were living on the Great Lakes Naval base near Chicago. And he ran into somebody on the base who was with the ham radio club. And one evening, he came home and said that there were classes available to get a ham radio license. And I could do that at nine years old. I said sure. And so we both went on base a couple nights a week, we took the novice license class and at the end of the class, the instructor came to the house with the license exams. And we wrote the exams on the dining room table at home. The ham saw that we passed the exam, but he couldn't officially tell us that, he said I have to send this to the FCC. But it looks like he both passed. And you should see a license show up in the mailbox in a few weeks. And it was in early June of 1977. The little slip of paper from the FCC arrived for each of us. My father had WD9EWJ. And I ended up with EWK, just the callsigns that came out of the FCC computer for each application.
Eric 4Z1UG
You're nine years old 1977. You're young for a novice operator, but you have a father that has some technical chops, probably. Did you have an interest in electronics before you got your license? Or was it just come from the CB radio activity that brought you kind of into it?
Patrick WD9EWK
I think I was curious about my father's CB radio equipment and hearing him talk to people far away even though that legally wasn't permitted. CB signals could propagate well. So that caught my interest. And he made a deal with me that if we obtained our ham licenses, he would get the equipment to set up the ham station at home. And when those licenses came, we found an old Heathkit HW16 radio with the outboard HD10 VFO. Crystal control requirement had been lifted a couple years before I was licensed, found a vertical antenna and got an antenna tuner and we set it up at the house and I was doing CW...
Patrick WD9EWK 4:38
… as I was starting out on ham radio, you know mostly on 40 meters by day and then listening to the shortwave broadcasters at night in the same spectrum. Lots of questions about Radio Moscow at the time about the propaganda they were broadcasting. I would ask my father things about what I was hearing. Now it's humorous I look back at some of those broadcasts, but I was nine years old. I was curious.
Eric 4Z1UG
But the HW16 was a CW only rig. Did you have to like slope detect that AM signal that you were receiving from radio Moscow? Perhaps?
Patrick WD9EWK
Yeah, I would, it wouldn't be as clear as on a proper AM receiver, but I could hear it and we had a little Radio Shack, AM/ FM shortwave receiver so I could listen to, other bands, something other than, within the the bands on the HW16. But, I was curious about what I was hearing. And we laughed about that many years later, toward the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Lots of changes over those years. But, to a nine year old where there's no internet, even, telephone calls, internationally were rare. And if you if you are lucky enough to make those calls, they weren't cheap. This was a unique opportunity to talk to other people, faraway places, or sometimes not so far away.
Eric 4Z1UG
I don't think I've interviewed in 340 interviews, very many hams that actually had fathers that started with them and kind of stayed with him. How did you both progress in terms of upgrades?
Patrick WD9EWK
Well, he didn't stay with the license. His original novice license expired, in two years. My license expired in 1979. We moved from Chicago to Arizona and ran into an apartment that did not allow antennas. So no ham station, no CB station for my father. And I was kind of dormant but still interested in science in Radio Shack, kids who are always fun to keep my interest in radio and electronics. Until I ran into a ham. I didn't know it at the time in the late 80s. I saw him with a Yaesu handheld radio on his belt. And I remember seeing handheld radios in the 70s. They were all mono band units. I believe there I only saw crystal control units with this one was synthesize. So I asked him, What band does that cover? Because I recognize the Yaesu brand. He said it's a dual band, two meters and 70 centimeters. And my eyes popped up wide. And I asked them about licensing and I told them I had been licensed previously. And at that point, there were volunteer examiner's and the novice licenses could still be the exam could still be given by just ordinary hams that had at least a general class license. So within a few weeks, I took the license exams here in Phoenix and passed my novice and technician exams on the same night. And then by the end of 1989. The end of that year, I mastered 13 words per minute Morse and wrote the general and advanced exams even wrote the extra exam, but I could never get the 20 words per minute at the time. So when I got back into the hobby, I went all the way up to the advanced class license, and I've been continually licensed ever since.
Eric 4Z1UG
And did you have the same callsign?
Patrick WD9EWK
No. And when I got back into it, you know this predated the vanity call program that the FCC started in the 90s. So when I my first license, as a novice was KB7HFF, Hotel, Foxtrot, Foxtrot. And once I received that the paperwork for the technician exam I passed was sent in and then I took the technician callsign N7MRV. And at the end of the year, when I reached the advanced class, I changed to KF7YS , and I went back to WD9EWK in the mid 90s. I figured that was my original callsign. And, why not go back to what I had when I started?
Eric 4Z1UG
Right? And now it's kind of a sign of seniority perhaps, or maturity to have a WD9 or a WA-something or a WB-something right? Nobody's taking those calls now as vanity calls.
Patrick WD9EWK
Very rarely do you see those calls taken now I took it because when the vanity call program started, I didn't find any shorter calls in the seven call area that interested me that I could get my hands on the selection was slim pickings. So I decided just to go back to my original call sign even though it was from outside of this call area wasn't required to the call sign matched where I live. So I went back to that and that will probably stay with this call sign. I don't see, I'll never say never but I don't see a change to my US call.
Eric 4Z1UG
How important were Elmers or mentors to you in pursuing your amateur radio career?
Patrick WD9EWK
Well, at the start, it was it was my father. And the ham that ran the licensing classes in Illinois was a ham name Jovae Sally at the time, he was WD9BGV. He's now N9BD, lives in California, I've had some contact with him. And in recent years, he was most helpful with the classes, he was the one that came to the house to give those novice exams. My first contacts at the shack on base, I had to use the club's call sign followed by my callsign at the time, so it was a long call sign to transmit with straight key, but I made my first contacts at the club before getting the station set up at home. Those are the most helpful. And by the time, the late 80s, came around, you had the study guides, the license exams were the questions were all open, open question pools. So I was pretty much self study to get back. get back into the hobby, and then a lot of reading new books and in later years, the Internet. The Internet did not kill amateur radio. Far from it.
Eric 4Z1UG 11:27
What was that song? Internet killed the radio...
Patrick WD9EWK
Video killed the radio star?
Eric 4Z1UG
Yeah, something like that. So I don't think the internet killed ham radio at all. Let me ask you this early interest that you had in ham radio, and CB from age nine, did that play a part in the choices that you made for your career in education?
Patrick WD9EWK 11:47
It did. I was I was interested in electronics. And in the 80s, when the first home computers were becoming available, I know parents got us a Texas Instruments 99 for a computer. You could write programs and basic had other computers through the 80s dial up modem to connect to bulletin board systems. And then later, I actually use that, use that to do school work. By the time I reached college, I was always interested in it. And by the time I got into the mid 90s. I was starting to work in IT. And ham radio actually helped helped me greatly get familiar with computer networking by doing TCP IP networking over 2 meter packet radio with a few friends of mine in northern Mexico.
Eric 4Z1UG
So you were working packet radio from the Phoenix area to Mexico.
Patrick WD9EWK
Well, I ran I started started doing HF packet I started doing other digital modes at the time, which is really RTTY AMTOR, PACTOR in the TNCs available then, and I found my way to a packet bulletin board system in Mexicali in northern Baja, California. It's right along the border across from El Centro and Calexico, California, and started chatting with the ham that ran that gateway who worked at the State University in Mexicali and started talking with him. And after a lot of contacts on packet and picking up the microphone to talk to each other. I took a trip out there to see to meet him see a station and he started telling me how he was doing internet from his house over the two meter radio because in the mid 90s, he didn't want to pay the high price for a landline telephone couldn't afford it really. And there was a waiting list to get that. With the packet system at his office at the university that had the internet access. He was able to access the early internet from home over two meter radio very slow but it worked.
Eric 4Z1UG
Right so that internet would have been like email, for example.
Patrick WD9EWK
...started with email but but you know on one of the trips out there I took an old computer TNC and Ethernet network card for the computer to him and we set up what would you know today you would call that a router. Set it up so that he could use his personal PC with a web browser. Go out over the the two meter link and access the internet. It would take a minute or two to paint a web page of just text...
Eric 4Z1UG
...right at 2400 baud or something like that
Patrick WD9EWK
...1200, 400 baud you he would receive part of the page his radio would acknowledge it would be you could see the radio, receive and then transmit quickly. I do remember being in his apartment, and he would access the website. So, the ham radio stores in the US. I thought it was great that he was using the radio in Mexico, there are no content restrictions on what sent over the radio unlike in the US. So to him, this was his internet connection. And it was that way for a few years. And, as he was using it and other friends of his and Mexicali, we were using this. Then he expanded the network with mountain top digipeaters. So, at the peak is small gateway and Mexicali actually had a reach from the Pacific Coast along the US Mexico border across to Arizona, and at least a couple 100 miles south of the border into northern Mexico on the mainland.
Eric 4Z1UG
Did you yourself get involved in packet digipeaters in the Arizona area?
Patrick WD9EWK 16:00
Not so much here, I was helping out there. And one time I took a bunch of old computers that were discarded from my office at the time, and I put them in my car with monitors in the car. And I drove to Mexicali. And I was younger and completely ignorant about the operations of the Mexican customs. Not realizing that if I drive through the land borders, there's a red green traffic light, theoretically, it's random, whether you see the red light, meaning you pull aside and someone comes out to inspect you in your vehicle, or you get the green light where you just pass through unchecked. I got the green light carrying a bunch of old computers and monitors that I think back now and realize that would have cost me a few $100 worth of import duties or perhaps bribes to avoid getting in trouble for not going through the lane to declare that I was bringing all these computers across.
Eric 4Z1UG
Yeah, we have that here at our airport, we have a red line and a green line as you're exiting the terminal, they want you to take the red line if you have things to declare. So it's always interesting to see who takes the red line who takes the green line. So that looks like that's a universal thing. So you're an IT professional? Is that what you do now?
Patrick WD9EWK
That's what I do now, systems administration networking, telephone systems, I still do all of that today, do a lot of that at home with the current situation and go into the office only when necessary. But with internet access, I can do almost all my work anywhere.
Eric 4Z1UG
Well, I can relate. This is what I do for a living as well. What's the current rig at your house?
Patrick WD9EWK
It's not just one for HF I won an Elecraft K3S at a Hamfest a few years ago, the best $20 radio I ever got $20 in raffle tickets, I did put filters and the general coverage board in it. So I think I'm into that radio about $1,000 Great radio. I don't know if I'd ever spend three to $4,000 on an HF transceiver. But you know that's a great radio like I've used at home in a portable setup and on field days. When I work satellites I use anything from handheld radios for FM satellites to Yaesu FT 817, HF, VHF, UHF transceivers or other modes. I have a lot you know I have lots of radios.
Eric 4Z1UG
And now this message from Icom America. Love is in the air at Icom. This sweetheart of a package includes the Icom IC 705, the perfect sidekick for hams that like to enjoy what is both great outdoors and indoors. The Icom IC 705 is the perfect companion with its base station features and functionality at the tip of your fingertips in a portable package covering HF, six meters, two meters and 70 centimeters. This compact rig weighs in at just over two pounds with RF direct sampling for most of the HF bands and IF sampling for frequencies above 25 megahertz. This fine rig supports QRP and QRPp operations. Features include a 4.3 inch color touchscreen with a live band scope and waterfall display. Five watt transmitter power with the BP 272 and 10 watts out with a 13.8 DC supply. Single sideband, CW, AM, FM as well as full D-Star functions, micro USB connector Bluetooth and wireless LAN integrated GPS with antenna and GPS logger, micro SD card slot and the HM 243 speaker microphone is standard equipment. Of course the perfect accessory for the IC 705 is the now available optional backpack the LC 192 with a special compartment for your Icom IC 705 and room for accessories for SOTA activations, or a day of social distancing in the park. Let us not forget that the IC 705 will replace the other company's radio as the first choice of microwave operators who need the very best baseband rig. Finally, there is a whole list of accessories and software for the IC 705. For more information, go to Icom's website by clicking on the banner ad in this episode show notes page, the Icom IC 705 is in stock at your favorite ham radio dealer. And when you make that purchase, be sure to tell your salesman that you heard about the IC 705 here on QSO Today. And now back to our QSO Today.
Eric 4Z1UG
What's your favorite operating mode? If you're using the K3S, for example? What do you like to operate?
Patrick WD9EWK 20:52
I like the old style RTTY, that's, when I got back on HF in the mid 90s, I could have I was doing some single sideband and CW my voice would carry in the house and keep people awake at night. But I could type on the keyboard doing RTTY and later PSK 31. And I was quiet to the rest of the house. And with RTTY I worked all 50 US states I got a DXCC from that, if even today with the many digital modes available. I think I still enjoy the old, the old, RTTY where I could, after a while even recognize the sound of my own callsign coming through the receiver
Eric 4Z1UG
...in BAUDOT. I think right? It still uses BAUDOT?
Patrick WD9EWK
Yes, it does.
Eric 4Z1UG
And I think BAUDOT is what it's two tones, like a mark in his space tone, right?
Patrick WD9EWK
Two tones. And I could recognize my callsign. And then a contest where you're getting a similar exchange with everybody, I could recognize what 599 sounds like after a while or, certain elements of the contest exchange, but I can't, decode BAUDOT by ear.
Eric 4Z1UG
Are there a large number of RTTY operators still, I mean, if you want to instead of FT8 or PSK31. If you want to operate RTTY any night, there are people out there operating RTTY?
Patrick WD9EWK
Maybe more activity around contest, contest weekends, it's probably it's been harder to find the activity outside of contests. sometimes you'll come across it. But it seems like now whether it's digital modes, or just activity in general seems like the FT8 or FT4 type of digital mode, you can always you can always find people using those modes. Now, the other ones seem to come up on whether it's contests or activity weekends or activity nights, not as common as maybe 20 years ago.
Eric 4Z1UG
Sounds like an interesting mode. I mean, I remember people operating RTTY with a model 19 teletypes. So it was a lot of noise in your shack.
Patrick WD9EWK
Right. Now, I never had any of those terminals at home. I do remember seeing one back at the radio club in Illinois when I was first licensed. But certainly, with a TNC, or software on the computer, as that developed, RTTY became, would be a very quiet mode to operate, I could sit in the corner of a room, making contacts around the world and the rest of the house is oblivious to what I'm doing.
Eric 4Z1UG
One of the reasons that we're speaking today is because you were introduced to me by Michelle Thompson, W5NYV, who was a guest on the QSO Today podcast a number of weeks back. And she's also very active with AMSAT. And AMSAT is doing a whole series of presentations at the QSO Today virtual ham Expo coming in March. So that's the reasons that we're having the conversation is she's made the introduction, but also you're a very active satellite operator. In fact, it seems to me after Googling you and looking at your QRZ.com page, that you're the go to guy when it comes to getting started on amateur satellites, and that you make satellite contacts all the time. So when I think of amateur satellites, and it may be because I'm getting old and calcified. I think of the satellite operators I used to know that had the big dishes that were computer controlled positioning and to work satellites, it was a really a difficult deal. But when I look at your YouTube channel, it seems to me that that's been made much easier. Can you talk a little bit about what's really required now to be a satellite operator, and how do you operate satellites?
Patrick WD9EWK
Well, what's required? Before I do that, like you were saying, I remember reading the magazines and seeing the stations with the big antennas, the big radios, the satellite operating interested me, but in the 80s and the 90s, it was an expensive proposition for someone going to college or just, starting to work full time I didn't, I didn't want to spend two or $3,000 to get set up for satellites. If anything, if I had two or $3,000, I had other other targets for that spending. But these days now, since especially with satellites that can be worked using FM equipment, FM handheld radios, or mobile radios. The cost of entry into this corner of ham radio has dropped to almost to the point of buying one of the inexpensive Chinese made handheld radios and building an antenna, a small handheld yagi or log periodic. So cost wise, the radio could be 20 or $25, maybe a similar amount in parts if you don't have them already to build the antenna. And you can try satellite operations with the equipment that if you're not interested in continuing can be used with repeaters simplex operating or other purposes. It's not specifically for satellite operating. And after that, it's other modes, I use a Yaesu FT 817 for single sideband small portable all mode transceiver, and two of them make a great all mode satellite station that I can carry. When I travel like the radio is going in an old laptop bag. And my two FT 817s have many 1000s of road miles and frequent flier air miles over the years. Because I can carry carry the station with me almost anywhere I go.
Eric 4Z1UG
So tell us a little bit about if you're operating satellites in this way, you actually need to have like a dual band radio, right because you're up linking on VHF and coming back on UHF or vice versa.
Patrick WD9EWK
That's correct. Our satellites for voice communications or CW are cross band transponders cross band repeaters. Almost most of them will use the two meter and 70 centimeter band. Some satellites make use of other bands like Oscar seven has a configuration with two meter up and 10 meters down. We had AO92, which had a 1.2 gigahertz uplink AO 51 in the 2000s had a 2.4 gigahertz downlink which was interesting to use in a portable setup. But the biggest difference is the satellites we have now are in much lower orbits than what we had in the 80s 90s and 2000s. With Oscar 10, Oscar 13 and Oscar 40. So a small station is more than capable of using the satellites we have in the lower orbits, you don't need the big yagis or a dish antenna, you don't need lots of power. Most of the time, I'm operating at five watts or not much more than five watts. So through our current satellites.
Eric 4Z1UG
Now if I go to your YouTube channel, I see that you are reviewing a number of different handheld radios, and you're listening for the satellites with the whip antenna on the radio. And you mentioned earlier that one could buy a $25 Baofeng radio to us are two of them, maybe one for uplink and downlink. But I guess the question I'm asking is, are these older radios the radios that you could probably buy for 50 bucks now on eBay are those older radios better radios for FM satellite use?
Patrick WD9EWK
To an extent some of the older radios were better, better front ends and better designs. And in one feature that's lacking in now any almost any radio current production, any handheld radio, is the ability to operate full duplex with a single radio that used to be a common feature even in handheld radios. So they could also serve as cross band repeaters. So you could, use a low power handheld radio, as you're walking around hiking somewhere, and your cross band capable radio was somewhere else to retransmit your signals to a far, far off repeater. If the radio could work as a cross band repeater, it had everything needed to operate full duplex on the satellite. usually you would just add an earphone or headset or something so that the speaker audio doesn't cause a feedback loop when you transmit. And unfortunately, this is a function that's missing from handheld radios. You can still find them in the mobile radios. But the last handheld radio that worked very well for satellite operating full duplex was now it's the discontinued Kenwood, THD 72. It went out of production last year. But you can find it find the old radios on eBay swap meets. In fact, if I see one of these radios at a swap meet, I picked one, one of the old Kenwood handheld radios up at a swap meet for $35. It was as-is, the seller wasn't sure if everything worked, the only thing I needed to do was get a new battery pack and it worked great.
Eric 4Z1UG
So my Icom W2A, which is about 25 years old, probably would be an ideal satellite radio?
Patrick WD9EWK
It would, if it's the North American version, you'd probably have to remove a diode off the circuit board. So it would transmit below 440 megahertz at that time. Most of those most of these FM radios for VHF and UHF, only transmitted where the repeaters are located. for Icom, it was usually 440 to 450, I think Kenwood likes to go down to 438. But since the satellite operating on that band is 435, or 438, usually required removing a diode and resetting the CPU, but your W2 would be a good choice. Even today,
Eric 4Z1UG
I actually know where it is. And it was already modified for the 430 band because we in Israel, our UHF band is 430 to 440. So so I'm all set.
Patrick WD9EWK 31:41
And you know if the battery pack is, is dead, there are aftermarket options even for that radio. And many of the older radios, you can get replacement battery packs, and sometimes even double A cases so you can load your own double A cells in the power of the radio.
Eric 4Z1UG
So for someone getting started, would you recommend in terms of being budget conscious? Would you go with the Chinese radios first, or would you say, try to find the old radios first so that you can operate duplex with one radio,
Patrick WD9EWK
I usually suggest to either find one of the duplex capable radios, or look to get a pair of radios. And, I tried the Baofeng radios at a Hamfest, I set up a demonstration one of my videos had pictures of a pair of Baofeng radios, I wanted to try them out because these radios are out there, I'd be foolish to ignore their existence. But it comes down to you get what you pay for. And sometimes you don't, you don't get much with these radios. Quality Control is an issue with some of these Chinese made radios where some of them have really good receivers and clean transmitters. And the next one on the assembly line. the receiver may be deaf and the transmitter may put spurious emissions across other bands. But it is an option. But I usually lean toward, either find one of the older radios or maybe find a pair of radios where you transmit from one and receive on the other. For some, that's a preferable alternative because they have separate controls for each each side of the station. Instead of having to work your way through menus or changing VFOs to adjust frequency or volume or something.
Eric 4Z1UG
Now on one of the videos I saw, I think you were operating at an Arizona Hamfest. And you actually had a TV tray with the radios on the TV tray, and you're holding the antenna with your right hand, I think and pointing it into the sky. It seems to me like a good satellite operator has to have three arms. In order to be able to negotiate all of the things that you have to do to make that contact is there anybody that's actually created some kind of a way to actually manage all of the two radios and all of the things you need to do in order to comfortably make those contacts?
Patrick WD9EWK
Well, some people instead of using a table like I did, will put the radios in something like a camera bag and hang the bag around their neck. So instead of leaning over to a table, the radios are right, and they just look down and the radios are right there. Some people whether it's they don't want to hold the antenna for 10 or 15 minutes at a time or medical conditions they they will put the antenna on a tripod. I prefer to hold my antenna because not only can I point it skyward I can twist the antenna. If the signal starts to fade out, I can you know reorient the antenna elements and usually pick the signal up better. And then a lot of that just comes with practice, practice, practice. And for me, I spent many months just listening to satellite passes before I ever attempted to transmit. I made a couple satellite contacts in the early 2000s. But it was really at the end of 2005, where I started doing this on a regular basis. And, it's just lots of practice and living in places where I couldn't put up antennas. My, my portable stations are what I would use at home. And what I still use at home today, I don't have antennas on the house.
Eric 4Z1UG
So Patrick, tell me, it seems to me that a satellite pass isn't very long. And it's not like you have one pass after the other. If you're operating from the field, you have some way of knowing when a pass is going to start, where it's coming from and where it's going, I'm assuming, correct. And so you have, I guess, you get your equipment set up, you're ready to go when the satellite comes over the horizon, and you work it. How does that work? Exactly? Do you have some kind of app on your smartphone that tells you which satellite to look for. And then you've already know what the frequencies are. And if there's some audible tone or something like that, how to set that up?
Patrick WD9EWK
Sure, there, there are apps for phones and tablets, or software for computers, Windows PCs, Mac, Linux, other operating systems, and even websites where you can put in your location and generate listings, and when different satellites will come overhead, it's not always one right after another. But with different satellites in different modes, I can I can map out a day of operating, we're all know when each satellite will come by, from what direction to what to the other direction at the end of the past. And this is I do this a lot when I go away from home to operate, I'll do it at home too. If I just want to play radio and work satellites, I can do other things around the house in between passes. And then one, each pass comes up, I'm outside, I start to hear the satellite. And many times, working satellites, 10 to 20 minutes or so, past you, at times you feel like you're in the middle of the CQ worldwide contests. activity can get busy. In that 10 to 20 minute span, I can sometimes reach QSO rates that approach the big HF contest weekends.
Eric 4Z1UG
Now do you record your passes so that when you can go back later and actually remember all the people that you talk to? So you can either put them in logbook of the world or something like that? And how do you keep track of the people that you talk to,
Patrick WD9EWK
I've always run a recorder at a minimum capture my voice or ideally I have it patched into the speaker output from the receive radio. And then I play the recording back and I can hear each contact I made. You know if I just have a recorder sitting in a shirt pocket or near me capturing my voice, I make a point to say the other station is called sign to get picked up by the recorder and so the other station knows who I'm contacting. If I'm tapped into the radio speaker, then I'm hearing the satellite signal. So it's capturing everything that's coming through my voice and any anybody else I'm working in, they'll play that back, make my log entries upload the logbook of the world. I still get the occasional request for QSL cards and answer those as they come in. I used to print hundreds of QSL cards after my road trips to different places. Now, I print up cards on demand because most active satellite operators have discovered logbook of the world is a very convenient way of tracking and accumulating confirmations.
Eric 4Z1UG
Let me take a quick break to tell you about my favorite amateur radio audio podcast. And that's the Ham Radio Workbench podcast with George KJ5VU, Jeremy KF7IJZ, and it now includes Michael Walker VA3MW, where they pursue topics Technology and Projects on their ham radio workbenches. Every two weeks, the group documents their projects and make circuit boards available to their listeners. They have interesting guests and go in deep. Jeremy may complain about the overall length of the podcast but friends let me tell you that I could listen to it all day. And that's good. Even if you are a seasoned ham radio builder or just getting started. Be sure to join George, Jeremy and Mike now for the ham radio workbench podcast on every podcast player, use the link on this week's show notes page by clicking on the image. And now back to our QSO Today.
Eric 4Z1UG
So one of the things I noticed about your website and your YouTube page, you appear to travel all over the place. Is that part of work or is that you decide to set out and get grid squares for a week. How does that work?
Patrick WD9EWK 40:01
Well, I don't normally travel for business, I haven't had to do that for a long time. But I do travel to different events around Arizona and neighboring states when I've represented AMSAT at Hamfest or giving presentations at Radio clubs. And I'll usually try to add in some other operating, especially if I'm going to, rather rarely heard in grid squares around Arizona, where I'll do a demonstration at a Hamfest, but I'll drive somewhere else after the Hamfest or the day before the Hamfest, I'll stop in some rare spots, and operate for a few hours on my way to the Hamfest or whatever the event is. And I would go to a lot of these events on a regular basis. So Hamfest every year, in a particular town, well, I'll be in that part of Arizona are all venture say into New Mexico to operate or I'll go to Southern California or Upton Nevada. And I take the radios along and operate. I think this really took off among satellite operators a few years ago with the National Parks on the air activity here in the US that the ARRL operated. And now we have Summits On The Air, Parks On The Air. And people have discovered portable operating not just for satellites, but for other bands and modes. And a lot of people are taking advantage of the ability to get away from home and and do radio.
Eric 4Z1UG
So let's say you decide you want to take three four hours in a park in a national park perhaps to operate satellites, are you pretty guaranteed that there actually will be satellite passes that you'll be able to enjoy in that three hours? Is there enough satellite activity that you can pretty much snag a couple of contacts?
Patrick WD9EWK 41:52
Yes, on almost without exception, I will be able to keep busy. Because I'll know when the satellites are coming by. And if there's a long gap between some of the passes, if there's an hour or so that becomes a meal break or go if I'm in a park, find my way to the visitor center and use the restroom and then get back to the radio. Other times I'll pack a lunch and drinks with me. So I'll find a place and I'll stay there for the day and operate and then head home at the end of the day or head to wherever my destination is after that. I will usually be able to get more than just a handful of contacts. Recent trip I took to a national monument in southern Arizona, I spent about about 12 hours of operating. And I came home. I had worked 25 passes and logged about 100 contacts, a couple of passes, I was making 15 to 20 contacts and on others maybe a single contact, but it kept me busy for the whole day. So like you know it was successful, and I got away from home wasn't working, it's like the worst day fishing is better than the best day working.
Eric 4Z1UG
Now these satellites are in elliptical orbit over the earth right in low Earth orbit. Does that mean that they're going pole to pole and then kind of rotating around the Earth? Or are they actually crossing the earth in different angles and directions.
Patrick WD9EWK
Some of the satellites are in polar orbits that go over the north and south pole and others are in orbits that track closer to the equator. And they will come over different parts of the sky at slightly different times each day. But generally over a period of time, they will pass by at the same the same times whether it's mornings and evenings or during the day or during the night. And these are all predictable. This is where the software or the apps on the phones and tablets comes into play where I can I can sit here today and say I want to go somewhere in two months. What will the satellite passes be for location two months from now I can generate that list now and even two months in advance it will be accurate to within a couple seconds for each of those passes. And I can plan a trip around that.
Eric 4Z1UG
What's your favorite iPhone or smartphone app for satellites?
Patrick WD9EWK
Well for for the iPhone and the Android phones. A common app that works well on both is called ISS detector Pro. The basic/free version only tracks the International Space Station but the pro add on which is a couple dollars will allow you to track other satellites including amateur radio satellites. There are other apps for the the two main platforms. I like AMSAT droid-free on my Android phones. I've heard other people say SATSAT or It's Go SAT Watch on the iPhones and the iPads. Almost all these apps will make use of the GPS receiver in the device to set your location or you can manually enter in your location either by latitude longitude or grid locator for sometimes type in nearest town or city and it will figure that out for you. But I can predict all this in advance and then run the app on the phone or tablet during the pass. So I can see, I need to point my antenna in a certain direction at a certain elevation above the horizon and track the satellite as it's moving overhead.
Eric 4Z1UG
Now, with your background in packet radio and stuff, I have a hypothetical situation maybe you can solve this for me. Let's say I live in rural Alaska. I have a ham radio license. I'm good with computers, Raspberry Pi's and Arduinos. I have a dual band VHF UHF transceiver and I can build antennas. I want to be able to send text messages to my friend in Israel. And I don't really care whether I get an instant response back. But I'd like to be able to drop a message and then maybe in the next day, get a message back. Is there a solution for that?
Patrick WD9EWK
Right now, if one end of the of this theoretical question is Alaska, it would be difficult if somebody say lived in the continental US, there is a satellite called Belkin sat-three that has an onboard bulletin board system and onboard mailbox where you can leave messages that can be picked up by other operators. It's in an orbit that pretty much favors the US Air Force Academy in Colorado, so it doesn't cover very, very high latitudes toward the north pole or down to the South Pole. So Alaska would be a tough reach for that satellite, the International Space Station, people will send messages through that. And if an internet enabled, grounds station or gateway picks up that message, it can forward the message as an email to that ham or if using APRS. If the ham has an APRS station operating now the APRS network can deliver messages that way. But right now, the ISS station that runs a digipeater is down due to some issue after spacewalk a week or so ago. It'd be tough right now.
Eric 4Z1UG
There's only one satellite that actually has this digipeater operating capability. Does AMSAT see any future satellites that would have digital capability or is that kind of passe and no longer interest people.
Patrick WD9EWK
The onboard bulletin board systems, there used to be a series of satellites that supported that but with the internet, those pretty much went out of favor, There are satellites that have come and gone with digapeaters on them, just like the terrestrial APRS digipeaters except it's on a satellite orbit. Those are supported. The ISS has a popular one when it operates in their ground stations listening to the ISS digipeater frequency of 145.825 megahertz. When it operates, you can send messages and I've sent APRS messages and one line email messages when I've been out on some of my trips to mainly just a hello from wherever I'm at, it's not a long, verbose message because that's just not possible in one line of text, but it's something to say that I'm on from here and I'm okay. I'm okay.
Eric 4Z1UG
What is a fun cube? And what is fun cube dashboard software.
Patrick WD9EWK
The fun cube is a project by AMSAT UK to build small satellites that support transponders that amateur operators can use and also transmit telemetry data that can be easily received by schools and others with a simple ground station. And the software which is the funcube dashboard is the software designed to receive data from the different satellites in the funcube project. This was very popular among schools in the UK, and satellites starting with Oscar 73, which was the first funcube satellite that was launched in 2013 have been used by schools to get familiar with space. And amateur operators use the transponders to talk to each other.
Eric 4Z1UG
Is there, as a amateur satellite operator and enthusiasts, and now it's my understanding AMSAT Board Member so you got sucked into the national organization and became a director. Do you listen to non amateur Satellites Is there something to listen to in terms of non amateur satellites with the gear that you have?
Patrick WD9EWK
Probably the most popular non amateur satellite I can listen to with the radios and receivers I have would be weather satellites, I can receive imagery from US and Russian weather satellites and display it on a computer. So I won't get the whole weather forecast. But I can see if there are clouds around Arizona or around this part of North America. The software adds in state, national boundaries, that's a popular thing because people can relate to that even if they're not interested in talking on the radio. Other times I have listened to the Russian VHF radios when they're doing spacewalks on the International Space Station. Their spacesuits use VHF radios and I can listen, it's around 130 megahertz. When they're overhead, I can hear them talk. It's almost exclusively in Russian. So I only know a handful of words in that language. If I want to know what's going on, I'd have to have NASA TV on somewhere doing translation or somebody, somebody who's doing a commentary on the work that's being done. Can't do that with the American spacewalks because those suits use different frequencies. And I believe most of that might be digital, not easily decodable on the ground.
Eric 4Z1UG
What do you think is the greatest challenge facing amateur radio now?
Patrick WD9EWK
I think the greatest challenge is probably, hams, old or new, and their willingness to try new and different things. Unlike a lot of hobbies, ham radio is not everybody does the exact same thing. We don't all use the same type of radio to talk to each other. We have frequencies across the whole radio spectrum, even into laser communications, I think Software Defined receivers. And when those started showing up a few years ago, for me, that was an eye opener, because instead of a receiver that would receive one or maybe two frequencies at a time. Now I'm looking at a, a chunk of spectrum, whether it's, say the entire 20 meter amateur band, or if the receiver supported it, the entire FM broadcast band and see all the different signals on one screen, and I can just click on a waterfall trace, and now I'm listening to one station. And that's just one example. I still enjoy HF I still still enjoy single sideband and do some CW. But I also like to poke around on on new and different things. In terms of satellite operating when there was a 2.4 gigahertz downlink on Oscar 51. I bought a downconverter and tried that. The Doppler shift at 2.4 gigahertz is rapid fire. But it was fun. I get on the FM satellites, because I don't know who I'm going to meet. That's the entryway for most to amateur radio satellites. But I'll get on single sideband and talk to those who are more experienced or have bigger stations, the sort of station I might get someday at home. You never know who you're going to meet just like getting on 20 meters and calling CQ you don't know who's going to answer. Answer your CQ call.
Eric 4Z1UG
When you're operating FM satellites with your hand held antenna and stuff. What is the farthest contacts that you get? Are you getting continental contacts international contacts on the satellites? Are they too low?
Patrick WD9EWK
International contacts are possible from here in Arizona, I won't be able to talk to someone in Europe. I have talked as far away as Alaska, Hawaii, the northern coast of South America and Newfoundland, on FM satellites, using handheld radio and the handheld antenna on single sideband. From here I've talked as far as Iceland. And when I've traveled to Dayton or the East Coast of the US, I can easily talk to stations across the Atlantic throughout Europe. And I and I do that as well. I think I'm up to about 30 or so countries toward a satellite DXCC. I don't know if I'll get to 100 countries but with the current satellites, it's pretty much limited to North America, the Caribbean and the northern part of South America from here in Arizona. So if I lived in the eastern US, more countries more DX is available.
Eric 4Z1UG
Would you recommend FM satellite operation for preppers?
Patrick WD9EWK 54:52
Probably not. Because you would have to be familiar with when the satellites are passing by and whoever you're trying to talk to would also need to be set up. I suppose they could do that there was an instance, in about a year, almost a year and a half ago where a satellite operator and his father were stuck in Big Bend National Park in Texas in one of the most remote parts of the National Park, near the Rio Grande river and Mexico. And there was no mobile phone coverage. And his truck got stuck in mud. So he was able to make contact with a satellite operator, he knew past his location, latitude, longitude, description of the road in the situation, and even gave the phone number for the Park administration so that the other operator could make phone call and say there's somebody stuck out there. And a couple hours later, park rangers pulled his truck out of the mud and everything was fine.
Eric 4Z1UG
Right? Because we're talking Texas, we're talking a national park could be 100 miles across,
Patrick WD9EWK
Definitely. And the further from the visitor center, the mobile phones don't work, not even from across the border in northern Mexico. And, sure, if he had an HF setup, he probably could have gotten on 20 meters or 40 meters during the day and made contact with someone a few 100 miles away, who could pick up the phone and call the National Park administration and say, he stuck out there, bail him out. With satellite, he was going out there to work satellites. And, it was just natural to pass the information along and had everything written out of what he was going to say in the first location. And, even on the air mentioned, they had provisions. So if it took a while they have food and water, they would be fine.
Eric 4Z1UG
Now, you mentioned earlier, that you listened quite a bit before you ever transmitted on amateur satellites, which seems like a good idea. Do you recommend that to people who are going to be newbies to satellite operation? And what do you think you learn the most from listening for a few weeks or a couple of months?
Patrick WD9EWK
I think that's a great way to start because you get familiar with how contacts are made on satellites, many who come to amateur satellites, with handheld FM equipment, they've talked on local repeaters. And it's similar, but there are differences, not a lot of extended conversations. The satellites are like an HF contest, where exchanges have call signs and grid locators. If there's a lot of people trying to make contacts, you get familiar with different call signs, you might you might hear the same call signs when you're ready to actually transmit and make contacts. But you at least get familiar with the flow of, of how those passes operate. And then, nobody's perfect, I made mistakes starting out, but at least I was a little more comfortable with what to do and what to expect. When I got on AO 51 for the first time, my first contact was with a ham who was 10 miles away from me, across across the city of Phoenix from where I was, the signals went up 500 miles came down 500 miles. But, between us was a distance of 10 miles. Then again, for some they may work, somebody who's out in a rarely heard spot for their first contact by satellite, you never know. But it helped me get comfortable with the process, the recorder was key. And so I could go back and listen to things so and I continued recording every pass I work, I keep most of the recordings. I even put them up in my Dropbox base or keep them on a small hard drive or USB stick. So if somebody comes back and says, Hey, I thought I worked you in 2013 when you were somewhere, and I'd like to get that confirmed, I can oftentimes pull up that recording. usually it's a case of Oh, I missed your call sign Sorry, I hear it in the recording. So log the contact, upload to Logbook Of The World or send a QSL card, whatever is requested.
Eric 4Z1UG
What advice would you give to newer returning hams to the hobby?
Patrick WD9EWK
Be ready to try different things, if it's someone returning to the hobby, if they're familiar with operating HF Yes, that's still still available and for in many cases, you can get the same radios you had in the past and use them today. But, be open to different things. I do try the digital modes and one of these days. I'll try more FT8 because sometimes that's where all the activity is especially like on field day, if I'm looking for digital activity you may hear some RTTY and other modes, but FT8 is very popular. Satellite operating. I've tried many facets of amateur radio, I tried amateur television, and really wasn't my cup of tea. But I tried to talk to the space station when crews were active that actually got me hooked into satellite operating was after talking to an astronaut using a handheld radio that had a telescoping whip on it. Once I did that, a couple weeks later, I figured I had been listening to satellites for a while it was time to actually try to make contact that way. And it's kept me active even as the solar cycles have gone up and down over the years, unlike in the past where my activities seem to mirror peaks of solar cycles.
Eric 4Z1UG
Patrick, I want to thank you so much for joining me on the QSO Today podcast. I've learned a lot about satellite operation. And the fact that I can probably pull that W2A out of the drawer and replace its battery pack I could be on. I could be listening as a newbie, I could be listening to satellites in no time. I want to thank you so much for joining me on the QSO Today podcast and wish you 73.
Patrick WD9EWK
Thanks, Eric.
Eric 4Z1UG
That concludes this episode of QSO Today, I hope that you enjoyed this QSO with Patrick, please be sure to check out the show notes that include links and information about the topics that we discussed. Go To www.qsotoday.com and put in WD9EWK in the search box at the top of the page. Be sure to click on the expo menu item at the top of the page for updates on the upcoming QSO Today virtual ham Expo. My thanks to Icom America for its support of the QSO Today podcast. Please show your support of Icom America by clicking on their banner in the show notes pages. You may notice that some of the episodes are transcribed into written text. If you'd like to sponsor this or any other episode into written text, please contact me. Support the QSO Today podcast by first joining the QSO Today email list by pressing the subscribe buttons on the show notes pages. I will not spam you or share your email address with anyone. Become a listener sponsor monthly or annually by clicking on the sponsor buttons on the show notes pages or use my Amazon link before shopping at Amazon. Amazon gives me a small commission on your purchases while at the same time protecting your privacy. I'm grateful for any way that you show appreciation and support. It makes a big difference as I head towards Episode 400. QSO Today is now available in the iHeart Radio, Spotify, YouTube, and a bunch of other online audio services including the iTunes Store. Look on the right side of the show notes pages for a listing of these services. You can use the Amazon Echo and say Alicia play the QSO Today podcast from TuneIn. My thanks to Ben Bresky, who edits every single show and allows both this host and my guest to sound brilliant. Thanks, Ben. Until next time, this is Eric 4Z1UG 73. Thank you.
1:03:12
QSO Today podcast is a product of KEG Media Inc, who is solely responsible for its content.
Transcribed by W3TTT
RSS Feed