challenge

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...

...or PA`A... still keeping an eye on it...

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.

Got to the playground around 5. Chatting while A- swings. Glance to blue sky and see bird in flight coming my way. Big. Floating closer. Eagle? Wingspan about right. Wings fairly flat. Head looks light. Body's dark. Tail is dark. And long and large, well suited to the bird. Neck doesn't look folded or extended. It's come in from the east just north of where we sit. I'm getting my best view. Still trying to stay engaged in the conversation, but this thing doesn't look like anything. Wings rounded? Pointed? It's turning north. "It'll fly over our house in a minute." Hopeless now. Cormorant? Golden Eagle? Anhinga? LBH?

No thoughtful patriot can fail to be interested in the conflict that is going on in Massachusetts over the Bacchante of the Boston Public Library. If the sculptor and the donor had been actuated by malice, and determined to throw into the classic shades of the library something in the nature of a Pandora's box, for the confusion of the culture of Massachusetts, they could not have succeeded better.

The New York Times, February 6, 1897, Wednesday, Page 6

This statue by Frederick MacMonnies scandalised Bostonians when it was first sculpted, and was not allowed to be placed in the courtyard for which it was comissioned. 100 years later we are no longer quite so prudish, and so it was finally placed where it belongs follwing the recent restoration of the courtyard.

muddyriver.typepad.com

I did the Great Backyard Bird Count this weekend. First time in a few years. Last time, I think, was on the Big Island. Big difference in species composition between the two sites!

Over the weekend (F-Su-M), I noted 22 species from our yard. The Pine Siskin irruption this year is massive and we have hosted a few for several weeks
now. Daily high counts were 25-7-14. Common Redpolls arrived just in time for the count, with 6-1-2 enjoying the thistle/niger/nyjer. We've got Song
(1), American Tree (3), and White-throated (1) Sparrows hanging out, and for the first time this winter a Hairy Woodpecker came to the suet usually
reserved for the Downies. Most of my counting has been through the windows, but while I was outside on Sunday a Pine Grosbeak whistled from atop the
spruce and this afternoon a lone Bohemian Waxwing made an appearance at the top of a creekside tree (that's only the second time I've seen a 'PIGR' in
the yard and the first 'BOWA' for more than a year -- nice timing!). Finally, yes, a couple of robins continue their search for snow-worms in the

WB4APR posted to AMSAT-BB news about APRS-XO, an Activity written by KG4GJY that provides an APRS (Automatic Position Reporting System) implementation on the OLPC laptop.

I got the owner of our XO to agree to install it and we managed very easily. Sending took some passcode research, but once that was done N1AIA appeared on findu.com.

It's a start, but I'd rather use RF than the Internet for future position reports.