Hi!
That was some really exciting stuff!
Yes, it was exciting to hear all the activity as XW-1 came up from the horizon. Fun to work a new satellite on the first possible pass for this part of the world. :-)
After hearing many more stations than normal on AO-7's pass at 0100 UTC, I knew there would be a crowd for XW-1. Many were getting their non-FM setup lined up for the new satellite.
Signals were good until the end of the pass when I think I was having some polarity fades on my fixed LHCP antenna. 1 to 5 watts was PLENTY on the uplink, even when crowded. I use a 10 element horizontal only yagi for the uplink.
Out here in DM43iu in the mountains almost 60 miles/100km northeast of Phoenix AZ, the pass was only up to a maximum elevation of 13 degrees. Despite the shallow pass and the mountains all around here, it was very easy to copy the downlink. Almost as easy to hear as VO-52. This satellite will be a good one when it is available on a regular basis.
I used the same setup tonight as I do for the other non-FM birds (two FT-817NDs without computer control, maximum 5W output, Elk Antennas handheld 2m/70cm log periodic), and made 3 quick QSOs. Thanks to KD8CAO, K8YSE, and K7WIN for the contacts. I heard many others, too many to remember without replaying the recording I made.
After tonight, I can't wait to work XW-1's FM transponder tomorrow night. I will be back in Phoenix for that scheduled pass, which has about 8 degrees maximum elevation, but enough to work and hopefully make some QSOs. Drew - I'll be interested in getting a copy of that large file you have from tonight's pass, when I'm back home and have access to broadband Internet again.
A big THANK YOU to Alan BA1DU, Michael BD5RV, and the rest of the Chinese team that made and launched XW-1. It is nice to have another satellite that - soon, hopefully - we can regularly use.
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/