Searching For Space Pirates On Old Military Satellites

Back in the 1970s the US launched a number of satellite radio repeaters to geostationary orbit. They neglected to put any kind of access control or security on these, so criminals, hackers, and random radio users have taken them over. If you have an SDR or even a handheld radio that can tune in ~250-270mhz, you can listen in as well!

The most common traffic you can hear on these "FLTSATCOM" satellites appears to be truck drivers in Central and South America. Supposedly they're also popular with loggers, drug smugglers, and others! I heard a few users speaking what I think is Portugese, but I'm not 100% sure.

Please note that I am not transmitting or sending anything to these satellites, and I would not recommend anyone else do so. It is still illegal to use these if you're not an authorized US government employee! I've omitted or obscured a few details about how people access these satellites.

I did find that a directional Yagi antenna tuned for ~255mhz worked pretty well for receiving signals from these satellites. I made it from scrap wood, scrap metal rods, and my existing antenna aiming mount made from an old security camera.

I noticed the most traffic in the ~260-264mhz range, but the use pattern and timing might vary. Maybe in the future I'll try looking for pirate SSTV signals!

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