That was some really exciting stuff! I recorded the pass on my SDR-IQ/R7000, and had the receive antenna split off to my normal station as well. Right after turn on, K8YSE responded to my CQ, and we had a few brief exchanges. About that time I realized the middle of the pass band was going to be a bad place to be and moved up to the high end of the passband.
After moving up out of the mess, I worked W4DFU at the University of Florida, with Jay and Jimmy at the helm, then HK4MKE, Andrew in Columbia. 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.
http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q305/glasbrenner/radio/?action=view%C2%A4... is a screenshot of from Spectravue before TCA. Notice the lost ditter almost twice as strong as everyone else. There are also at least 9 separate SSB signals in that screengrab, and the beacon is at the far right. The whole file is about 680 Mb. If anyone wants it, please contact me. We can exchange it over Skype, or I'll burn it to your CD/DVD with an SASE. Spectravue is a free download, and well worth trying even if you don't have an SDR.
73, Drew KO4MA
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/
participants (2)
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Andrew Glasbrenner -
Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)