Ever since I earned my first Ham Radio License back in 2003, I’ve wanted to try contacting one of the many Low Earth Orbit (LEO) ham radio satellites orbiting the earth. Well, today was my first success and it was freaking COOL!
Basically these satellites orbit in a geosynchronous, as opposed to geostationary, orbit which means that if everything is in place, you have a good 15 minutes (at most) to make contact. Normally the first step to making contact with someone else within the footprint of the satellite’s signal, is to attempt to listen for transmissions from the satellite. Some have beacons which transmit a beep every second or so but most have repeaters on them which take the signals they receive and re-transmit them back to earth.
They usually don’t transmit with a lot of power so your antennas need to be in good working order and your radio receiver must be on the correct frequency and adjusted for the Doppler-effect.
It was a very quick QSO since I was operating from my backyard surrounded by lots of trees and my house, all of which cause signal “shadowing.” Like I said above, everything must be in place and working to even have a prayer.
The name of the satellite was EYESAT-1 (OSCAR-27). This “bird” was one of six satellites that was launched together on an Ariane V59 rocket from French Guiana in September 1993. Depending how the satellite is designed, it may only last a few years before becoming space junk. So this one was built to last. 17 years of operation for these small satellites is a long time.
The equipment I used make the contact consisted of a Yaesu-VX8R handheld transceiver and a split-beam Arrow Antenna II. From what I understand this is a pretty minimal equipment configuration and typically requires you to be outside, use a compass, a timetable and a bit of luck to make contact.
Eventually, I’d like to get set up with a couple of omni-directional antennas and a better radio so I can make contact from the comfort of my ham shack.
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