VHF/UHF

With 37 sounds and 4 tones, Mandarin is beyond my imminent learning, but I have this start: Xī Wàng (to hope, to wish for, to desire).

Hope OSCAR 68 is the designated name for XW-1, the Chinese satellite that launched December 14 and soon began supporting communications by amateur radio.

The first North American pass with the FM transponder activated was immensely crowded, hampering almost everyone's ability to make a contact or upload a packet. Mostly I listened to chaos. Occasionally, I would transmit a partial syllable and quickly determine I was having no luck with low power and an indoor Arrow antenna.

A day or two later, I managed to get in "1AIA" while the satellite was coming over from the north, prompting a persistent KC9ELU to try an exchange. But no go.

SumbandilaSat launched September 17 and the control team has been stepping the South African satellite through its commissioning activities. Only in the past few days has the amateur radio transponder been activated over the United States, and this morning was the first apparent opportunity for east coast stations to be in the footprint of an active OSCAR 67.

I unexpectedly heard nothing at the appointed hour, but when I cast my callsign skyward the downlink was clear and then I had a call from K8YSE. Success on SO-67! John kindly shared a recording of the entire pass, and ZR1JAK mapped stations heard during this and the subsequent pass (which was out of range for me) based on John's captured audio.

I haven't tracked and recorded the ANDE-2 experimental satellites yet, to say nothing of decoding and submitting any data. Best intentions...

AO-51 Apollo 11 Special Event

Frustratingly unclear image for a 70-degree pass, which I am attributing at least partially to the Arrow antenna, though perhaps unfairly. It's identifiable, though, and audio reception was decent.