DXing satellites

KBCraig

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Pretty interesting article, from a radio geekery point of view. Not overly technical.

While lots of hamateurs are in it for the conversation, Coletta was never so keen on “talking to a bunch of people who talk about their radios all the time.” He mostly wanted to see how far away he could broadcast and receive. So when he discovered he could receive signals from beyond Earth itself, that was the direction he went. Up.

https://www.wired.com/story/meet-the-geek-who-tracks-rogue-satellites-with-coat-hangers
 
When I first got into ham radio I was hitting the"easy birds" from my front yard with an Arrow hand held Yagi and 5W dual band HT. Several of the FM "repeaters in orbit" died and I got distracted by other aspects of the hobby, but having a quick QSO with FL or CO from space with a 5W HT really makes my toes curl. I'm a space geek, and bouncing off something in orbit is really cool.
 
’ll bet there’s a way to automate the whole rig with some Arduino stuff and have it point where and when the satellites pass over, eh?
Oh yeah, you can get totally geeked-out with the equipment. Every once in a while you'll see on a tower or someone's roof 2 small Yagi antennas mounted together with 2 rotators, one for azimuth and one for elevation. There's been software to automate the tracking for probably 20 years.

When I do it, I just worry the neighbors, standing out in the front yard with my dual-band hand-held Yagi and HT. With my Boy Scout compass I place 3 soup can lids on the ground, one in the direction where the bird comes above the horizon, one at its apex and one where he will go below the horizon.
 
OK - I picked up an Arrow II 146/437-10WBP and a used Kenwood TH-D72a HT. I'm putting a tripod mount together so I can counterbalance the antenna with the radio, a compass, and an inclinometer. I'll try SO-50 first. I'm kind of hemmed in by trees here in So NH, so maybe I'll get up top of Mt Uncanoonuc for a broader horizon, but I'll try here first I have a decent opening to the West at maybe 25-30 degrees elevation and up. Got me a copy of SatPC32 for Windows and a nice iPhone app GoSatWatch that is pretty much point-and shoot to find satellites on a pass.

Too F'ing cold to stand around outside now but soon... What with guns (pellet/BB in the backyard - until I get my 22lr can this Spring), Samurai swords, Japanese longbow, Recurve bow and various other Martial Arts weapons my wife and I swing around, the neighbors pretty much just look the other way, so a Yagi should be no added intrigue!
 
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