Satellite communications

Working ‘DX’ In this article, we’ll take a look at how we can utilise the satellite footprint to maximise our chances of working some ‘DX’ stations on FM satellites (although the same will hold true for the linear sats too). Linear satellites tend to have a larger footprint than FM ones. The greater the footprint… Read More »Beginners Guide To Satellites (Part Five)

Working The Satellites Over the last three articles, we’ve taken a look at the types of satellites, how to track them and what frequencies to use, and finally the minimum equipment required. In this part, we’ll get to accessing an FM satellite and working some stations. If you’ve not already listened to a couple of… Read More »Beginners Guide To Satellites (Part Four)

Overview After 35 years away from the hobby, I returned to find that the world of amateur radio had changed significantly. I knew I wanted to make the most of the VHF/UHF bands and was surprised to find that what had once been very active, was now quiet and under-utilised. That is except for contest… Read More »Beginners Guide To Satellites (Part One)

Equipment One of the surprises about working the satellites is just how accessible they can be. If you have visions of top-end radios, masthead pre-amps, rotators that can control azimuth and elevation, and quad Yagi arrays, then forget all that. That gear would be lovely (and is possibly required for moonbounce – or EME –… Read More »Beginners Guide To Satellites (Part Three)

Satellite Tracking In Part One of this series, we introduced some of the basics regarding the types of satellite. If you’ve made it to this part, I’m going to assume that you’re interested enough to start working them! Unless you are only going to access the QO-100 geostationary satellite, you’ll need to know what time… Read More »Beginners Guide To Satellites (Part Two)