Over 5500 km on FM

Tim N3TL in Georgia and Dale KL7XJ in Alaska had an FM contact using the Amateur Radio satellite HO-68. It was Tim's 49th state worked using his handheld station.

They used the 145.825 to 435.675 MHz FM transponder on the satellite for the 5552 km contact and Tim N3TL posted this report on the AMSAT bulletin board:

At 0204 UTC on 23 January, KL7XJ and I had a quick contact on HO-68 in FM.

At the time, the satellite was below 4.5 degrees and descending for me. I'm thrilled to put state No. 49 in the log with my handheld station - a Yaesu VX-7R and Elk dual-band log periodic. I never expected to get more than the lower 48 in my satellite log with the HT, so this is a very pleasant surprise.

My thanks to AMSAT-China for HO-68, and to Dale for being there when it counted.

HO-68 Operating Schedule Jan 24-31
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/january2010/
ho68_schedule_2301.htm