02/17/2016
Dave Swanson, KG5CCI, of Arkansas has achieved another distance milestone on
the venerable AO-7 satellite using Mode B (70 centimeters up/2 meters down).
On February 10, Swanson, on Shinnal Mountain west of Little Rock (EM34st),
completed a scheduled contact with Eduardo Erlemann, PY2RN (GG66lw), a
calculated distance of 8030.895 kilometers (approximately 4979.2 miles), which
Swanson said was "way beyond the theoretical range AO-7" and a feat that "the
math said shouldn't be possible."
The tricky part was that, given their respective locations in the Northern and
Southern hemispheres, the window allowing both to access the satellite at the
same time was on the order of 5 seconds. After several attempts, they agreed to
use quick call sign/grid square reports.
"At 2009 UTC, both stations clearly heard the other's call and grid, completing
the contact," Swanson said. "It was extremely rapid and very weak, but clear?I
think this is approaching the limits of what can be done on AO-7." PY2RN has
posted[1] his side of the contact, which Swanson called "by far the hardest
sked I've ever attempted."
[1] https://youtu.be/pTGSlaY7K7A
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