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AMATEUR MODES OF OPERATION
SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS

Updated 11 September, 0200 UTC

Amateur Radio have several communications satellites in orbit operating on various bands and modes.  The MIR Space Station, Space Shuttles and the new International Space Station  include Amateur Radio as part of their payloads.

You can work these orbiting stations with a modest antenna and a handheld.  Depending on the mode you are operating you will need more equipment and either a dual band or two separate radios. If you only want to receive then a receiver and depending on the mode a computer and software to decode the signal. 

Modes include voice, packet, APRS, slow scan TV.

A tracking program will let you know when the particular station/satellite you wish to hear will be in your vicinity.

Amateur Radio
Online Orbital Predictions for satellites, space bodies, etc
Orbital Prediction Software
General Information
NASA Web Rebroadcasts of NASA TV Signal
Monitoring Times NASA Frequency List

Amateur Radio
RAC RAC's Home Brew and Satellite page (links)
SAREX The Space Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX)  ?????

WA3NAN Goddard A.R.C. rebroadcasts of shuttle communications
WA3NAN Frequencies: 3.860, 7.185, 14.295, 21.395, 28.650 MHz
AMSATAMSAT 21st Century AMSAT - The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation

AMSAT-NA - North American Branch

Satellite FAQs and Intros a collection of articles introducing amateur radio satellites (and related topics).

Keplerian Elements

Phase 3D - AO-40

 Phase 3D Project - AMSAT-OSCAR 40 (AO-40)

K9Ek's Phase 3D (AO-40) Frequency Listing
ARISS ARISS Amateur Radio on the International Space Station

ISS Alpha Amateur Radio Frequencies 
Spartan SPARTAN - Packet Radio Experiment (SPRE) The primary mission was to test satellite tracking using amateur packet radio and Global Positioning System (GPS)
SSTL UoSAT and SSTL Space Missions
APRS Bob Bruninga, WB4APR's
APRS Satellite Tracking and Reporting system
Sputniks Radio Sputnik (RS) - Well known Russian Satellites

 

Online Orbital Predictions
Heavens Above Heavens Above: Use their database to predict when stations/satellites will be in your area.  Will give dynamically generated pages which give visible satellite passes and real-time orbit displays for any location in the world. Lots of information here! Once you have set up your location and are on the main screen - Bookmark this page with your location name and then next time use the bookmark to go to Heaven's Above.
NASA Skywatch NASA's SkyWatch Quick Start Guide

NASA's  SkyWatch
 J-Track Marshall Flight Center's Lift Off J-Track:  (Java) - views of over 500 satellites in real-time and you can subscribe to e-mail list for obtaining up to 10 satellite predictions for your area
 NASA Tracking Real time tracking - see where the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle (when in space) are. (NASA - Java)

 

Orbital Prediction Software
Satscape Scott Hather's Satscape, Orbital prediction software with optional voice announcements, recording mode, automatic update of keplerian elements, visual  pass prediction, and it's FREE
AMSAT AMSAT's collection of software related in some way to the amateur satellite program.
( PC-DOS, Windows, OS/2,  Linux, Macintosh, Psion, HP-48, TRS-Model 100)

Keplerian Elements
WinOrbit WinOrbit: Satellite Tracking
  WinTrak and TrakSat
  PocketSat for the Palm Pilot
  STSORBITPLUS (STSPLUS) will track the space shuttle or any satellite for which orbital data (TLEs) are available
SatSpy SatSpy A shareware package for tracking satellites under MS Windows 95 and 98 in 32 bit mode. Various tracking views are provided, all of which can be animated either for a predicted time or in real time for observation.
  Satellite Prediction Software for: UNIX, Mac, Amiga, Archimedes, IBM PC, PalmPilot

 

General Information
 Canadian Space Agency Canadian Space Agency
NASA NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASA for Kids
ISS International Space Station (ISS)
the Shuttle the Space Shuttle 

WA3NAN Goddard A.R.C. rebroadcasts of shuttle communications
WA3NAN Frequencies: 3.860, 7.185, 14.295, 21.395, 28.650 MHz
MIR MIR Space Station   ????
The Satellite Encyclopedia The Satellite Encyclopedia: the online edition of The Satellite Encyclopedia, devoted to unmanned artificial Earth satellites
SpaceborneGPS SGPS - Spaceborne GPS Information Site
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