Hello all! I am new to this forum and have been working FM satellites for about 6 moths now.
I use two HT for full duplex and an Arrow Antenna. After doing some reading on posts on the internet
I see that voice contacts to the ISS have begun again and many are successful.

Is it possible to do so with a 5w HT and an Arrow Antenna? I can hear him very well when I am actually
home for a pass which may not occurr too often at about 22:00 UTC or so. I was just curious if my few
futile attempts are due to just not running an efficient/powerful enough station. I understand there are
alot of other factors including competing with a lot of other amatuers but I was just wondering if the
setup I am using should at least theoretically be feasible.

Also, on the first pass I copied which was this past weekend often I heard the response as given that
he had heard "someone" from a particular city or state. Only some responses actually had callsigns to
confirm contact. I did try and make a contact and he did respond at two occasions that he heard NJ
very well but I could only hope that it was me. LOL! Is there any record kept that can be confirmed?
If a request for a QSL is sent to the ARRL do they have a log they can check against?

Sorry to sound like such a newcomer but to ISS and even satellites I really am new at this. I am also
looking to make contact with the ISS and others with digital modes so any help would be greatly
appreciated.

I can be contacted here or off list at n2vyt@arrl.net.

Thanks and 73,

Pat N2VYT FN20un