AO-51 is in high power mode J-FM this morning. I'm not sure if it's because it's a long weekend, in high power mode, or just off for awhile, but it was VERY crowded this morning. There were several interesting new or uncommon stations on, but they could not be worked at all QRP. I suspect they were having trouble as well. Eventually, folks did figure it out and paused to wait for a new/uncommon station to answer. It might be my own prejudices (as i haven't listened to the recording yet), but earlier in the pass, it seemed like it was mostly the 'regulars' working a few new-ish stations and each other.
While 'standing on the soapbox', i'd say that i'd like to encourge folks to use the high power mode to let stations who have trouble hearing SO-50 or AO-51 to work satellites and get started. I would hope that folks who use mode J-FM on a regular basis would use coastal/oceanic passes, or SO-50, to say hello to their friends and/or talk at length about the weather. Alas, it is these conditions that discourage me from making my nantenna design widely available, as things are like this only discourage and frustrate new users, and easier access to mode J-FM might only make this worse.
On the other hand, SO-50 has definitely seen more usage and interesting stations do pop up over the 'States, especially on transcontinental passes. So especially this week, give SO-50 a try, and try to show some restraint on AO-51 so new folks can take advantage of high power mode.
-- KD6PAG (Networking Old-Timer, Satellite QRPer)
P.S. I had mail to AMSAT-BB bounce this weekend, but retrying ten minutes later succeeded. You might try the same thing if your mail gets returned.