Amateur statellite receivers

International Satellites for Communication, Science and Education. While in the past we were able to make experiences with AO operating on 13 cm, 10 GHz reception will be new territory for most of us. In this article we present a downward mixer that can close this gap. Due to the wide distribution of commercial receivers for satellite television, antenna systems for GHz with corresponding Low Noise Blocks LNBs are available at very low prices. LNBs are generally formulated as preamplifiers with down mixers that convert the Ku band between Unfortunately these frequencies cannot be reached by conventional SSB transceivers or satellite receivers.

My favorite ham activity is making contacts via satellites. Not only is there the romantic notion of sending messages into outer space, but you have to trace the orbit of the satellite with your antenna while tuning the radio, to compensate for the Doppler effect. Repeaters are automated relay stations that allow hams to send signals over a greater distance using low-power hand held transceivers. The satellites allow hams to relay messages from Earth to space and back to other hams somewhere on the planet. For better coverage, you can use a Yagi antenna like the one pictured above connected to a mutli-mode radio and a license if you want to transmit. A Yagi antenna can also be used to improve the signal of your hand held radio. Specifying your location Start by visiting Heavens-Above.

He was quite happy with my detailed reply and convinced me to turn it into a blog post, so that other people can learn from it. The coverage of the Amateur radio transponders is anywhere where the satellite can be seen above the sky, since the transponders use a global beam. A geostationary satellite sees about a third of the Earth surface. In the figure below you can see the coverage.

An amateur radio satellite is an artificial satellite built and used by amateur radio operators for use in the Amateur-satellite service. The designation is assigned by AMSAT , an organization which promotes the development and launch of amateur radio satellites. Because of the prevalence of this designation, amateur radio satellites are often referred to as OSCARs. Currently, over 18 fully operational amateur radio satellites in orbit [2] act as repeaters , linear transponders , or store and forward digital relays.