Mr. Lowe,

I am writing to thank you for the 10WBP handheld Yagi. For the past two weeks, I have been having more fun in ham radio than I've ever had in 25 years as a licensed amateur - and it's mostly thanks to the amazing performance of my little Arrow handheld Yagi.

I just came in from a pass of AO-51, during which I made my 100th satellite contact in less than 13 full days of working the birds! During that time, I have used my Arrow antenna to work three satellites - AO-27, AO-51 and SO-50. I have made contacts with the transmit power of my Yaesu VX-7R set at 5 watts, 2.5 watts, 300 milliwatts and, amazingly, 50 milliwatts!

About the latter - on July 8, 2008, I worked all three birds on only 50 milliwatts out, making a total of 7 contacts. I use Orbitron tracking software, and it includes a feature that lets me go back to find the range to the satellite during the time of my contact. I crunched some numbers, and learned that my 50-milliwatt signal travelled an average of 620.7 miles during those 7 contacts. When I worked Jason, KD8ILL, on SO-50, my 50 milliwatts travelled 833.5 miles to the satellite. My Arrow antenna made that trip possible, and I am just thrilled with its performance!

In less than two weeks of using the Arrow - generally with the handheld set to 5 watts TX output - I have consistently worked AO-51, AO-27 and SO-50 on passes with maximum-elevation angles as low as 18 degrees. I am over 1/3 of the way to Satellite VUCC! With all of this in mind, I had to write and thank you again for this great antenna. It's the BEST investment in ham gear I have ever made.

Because my station is totally handheld, I use a digital tape recorder on every pass so I can have information correct for my log. I'm attaching a self-portrait showing my handheld satellite station.

73,

Tim - N3TL
Athens, Ga.
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