Mode A seems to be more tolerant of lower power coming from the solar panels than Mode B. Still you can tell that the satellite is suffering. A 5 watt CW signal will cause the bird to FM but it is not driving the bird to its maximum power capability. I heard N4ASF much louder on it in CW on the 2030utc pass today also with fm'ing. This has been my observation of Mode A in the past. Prior to the eclipse periods it was possible to hit Mode A with a lot of power and it would not complain very much. The 10m transmitter must use a lot less power than the 2 meter transmitter. Therefore it is more tolerant of the lower solar panel power.

AL7RS reported that he heard AO-7 with a clean CW signal coming back down in AP65. This could be an indication that sun angle in certain parts of the orbit is the major cause of the problems that I'm seeing here. Hopefully the solar panels will start producing more power soon.

73, John K8YSE