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We should get the word out to all those folks with all-mode, all-band radios: AO-16 may be the easiest voice-repeating satellite they'll ever hear.
I've just finished listening to the 20:40UTC pass on a *really* crummy 144/440 mag-mount antenna. Fed with 6' of RG-174! Without a low noise preamp! Indoors! With the bird setting on the other side of the house!! Granted, it wasn't perfect copy, but I could have easily made many QSOs.
You can hear an mp3 of this at http://heml.mta.ca/Amsat/ao16_cheap_vertical_indoors_30deg_to_10deg_23_01_20...
I undertook the experiment because of half-broken outdoor equipment. My 435MHz antenna has an intermittent fault: it works properly when flipped over by the elevation rotor, but when under 90 deg. elevation, it is open. I don't dare drop the wooden mast I'm using until the weather improves (read, May), so I'm stuck. As the rotor flipped to track this bird, strangely I could still hear it. Either the antenna situation was improved, or the bird booms. SWR still awful: its the bird! That's basically just a piece of open coax with a preamp that's outside. So I quickly disconnected it, and connected the mini mag-mount that was at my station. I could hear QSOs even better. Amazing.
If I have a chance, tomorrow I'm going to go outside with a FT-817 and see how we do with Crummy Antennas for Satellites :-)
73, Bruce VE9QRP
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Bruce Robertson