AO-7 is the only satellite through which it is possible to work also in mode A. For a long time it seemed that the circuit ensuring the alternation of modes of the on-board transponder was not working and the satellite remained permanently switched to mode B (435/145 MHz).
Recently, the AO-7 switched again to mode A, which allows even an averagely equipped station to establish DX connections with simple equipment.
The operating mode can be detected by the active beacon. If the beacon is heard on 29.502 MHz (+/- doppler), the QRV transponder is in mode A. Stations linger around the center frequency of 29.450 MHz, for which the uplink is 145.900 MHz (+/- doppler). Recently, RX1AX also appeared on the transponder. Due to the disadvantageous orientation of the downlink antenna on AO-7, the signals are relatively better when AO-7 is located in the north. About 100W ERP is needed for the uplink.