Jumped last Saturday Oct 10 at Byron CA. Didn't preannounce the DSTAR attempt on the web due to all the prior unsuccessful tries on making DSTAR contacts aloft. This time I was able to work WF6O through the K6MDD 2 M DSTAR repeater.
On my first jump I opened at about 13,000 feet and worked numerous 2M analog FM simplex comms. I then worked a couple of analog FM QSOs on 1.2 GHz through the W6CYX W6LRW linked repeater system on 1282.225. I was carrying analog APRS gear that not only reported GPS data (incl altitude heading and speed) but also my blood oxygen level and pulse rate. See www.parachutemobile.org for the telemetry data on the last two jumps. At about 8000 ft I tried DSTAR and only heard a garbled R2D2 reply. I was flying my canopy away from Mt. Diablo which placed my body between the repeater and my IC 91AD HT antenna. I turned towards Mt. Diablo and the distortion went away. I was able to work WF6O clearly. I didn't hear any other stations. Congratulations and thanks to to WF6O for making what I believe is the first DSTAR parachute mobile QSO and thanks to Tim Barrett, K6BIV for making it all possible with his repeater system. 73 AF6IM Mark
