BSides Canberra 2018: A low cost guide to satellite listening

Slideshare ^ | April, 2018 | Pamela O'Shea

[tbw2]

So many satellites are moving and sitting over our heads, and the numbers are ever increasing. Using low cost software defined radio (SDR) and low cost DIY antennas you can make from materials at your local hardware store or garage, a world of fun can be explored.

This is a beginners guide on how to get up and running. Exploring which projects to tackle first, from weather satellites, data over Inmarsat and Iridium, to listening to amateur radio and cube satellites.

Learn about some hardware you can make or scout for online and use at home. A quick tour of the frequency bands requiring some bigger hardware will also be discussed.

[tbw2]

You’re welcome.

[mylife]

The old stuff works great, FCC put restrictions on lots of the modern gear but it has nice features like tons of notch filters and falling raster wideband displays.

I used to listen in on cellphone conversations on old gear.

Humorous what people think is secure.

[mylife]

♪♫ whistling in the dark, whistling for a friend... knock knock..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlB_oYqdjXY

[mylife]

The Hunt..up and down the dial, hey hey..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76qw7zvjU8c

[mylife]

I loved the AN/BRD7 radio set

[IYAS9YAS]

Bump for later

[mad_as_he$$]

bkmk

[dadgum]

Piiiing

[sjm_888]

.

[S.O.S121.500]

BOOKbump

[Texas Fossil]

Thanks for the ping. I’m interested in Amateur Radio (& other Satellite Coms).

Studied it for a while, long ago.

Is there an organized Ham group in Texas? Tech friends of mine when I lived in NM were into amateur astronomy.

I once built a down converter kit for W1ICP (Lew McCoy) for a review he was doing for one of the Ham magazines he worked for after retiring from the AARL. It was an English made kit. Had weird nomenclature for resistors and other components.

[colinhester]

Bflr

[Bobalu]

If you know the old AN/BRD-7 then you must have been on a sub :-)

5khz-150khz data comms is a cool setup...
You can actually do radio inside a cave on those freqs.

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

Ping

[mylife]

Yessir.

[Don@VB]

I used SDR with only limited success. I believe the antenna that came with the Dongle was insufficient. What types of antennas have you radio veterans used?

[tbw2]

I support Open Research Institute and and the Libre Space Foundation, but that’s more “applying open source technology to space exploration” than “amateur radio astronomy”.

There is the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers.

[mylife]

Listened to a lot of Ball games on the BRD7

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et1SkVldiHI

[mylife]

I use a simple Par Endfedz, easy to deploy anywhere.

http://www.parelectronics.com/end-fedz.php

[Don@VB]

Thanks for the information.