The XW-1 pass over North America at 0205z was interesting. When the bird first came up over the horizon, it seemed to be fairly easy to work through although it was apparent that there were other signals (probably without tone) that were on the channel.

As the bird went higher (an 86 degree pass for me), it was harder to get into. It could have been that the BBS stops the voice repeater but there were times that VE2DWE was making it (although noisy) and my signal was not there at all. Maybe the amount of deviation on the tone makes a difference when there are a lot of competing signals on the input.

As the bird sank low on the horizon on the way north, it was again possible to get into it. Normally there are not many who get into any satellite that is in northern Canada. Less congestion on the input gives you a better chance.

The details of how this bird is designed to handle packet and voice at the same time may provide an explanation of what we all experienced. The signal was strong during the entire pass; no problem hearing it.

The audio recording of this pass can be downloaded at: http://www.papays.com/XW-1_21Dec2009_020500z.mp3

We look forward to more testing in the FM/BBS mode. Thanks to everyone who played a role in launching this satellite.

73, John K8YSE