Air trafic Control via Satellite

E=MC2 · Post by **E=MC2** » Tue Oct 12, 2010 12:06 pm

Gday to all
I have just started looking into how to hear aircraft / ATC via the Optus satellites over Australia and the use of a scanner to do so. If you go to site one below you will find a great article on dxing aircraft and others services via satellite all you need is a scanner that can rx up to 1300Mhz and your standard Optus sat system. I have not done this as yet but I will be setting things up over the next few weeks or so. I thought I would let people know how I go during setup and shake down phases. I have been into airliner dxing for many years now but over the last few years HF ATC has taken a huge hit due to a few factors ie solar minimum, plasma tv, cheap switch mode power supplies and finally the use of satellite for ATC data and comm'z so I have not done much HF dxing of late due to these factors. I am very keen to give this system a try and I would be very keen to hear from anyone who has used this system or is using it at this time as I am flying via google alone. Well thats all for now, have a great day.73z E=mc2

Scanning Air trafic Control via Satellite
http://www.satdirectory.com/--adxn0506.html

aircadet · Post by **aircadet** » Tue Oct 12, 2010 8:38 pm

G'day,

Would love to hear how this goes... I am very interested in giving it a try.
If you could post what gear you need and where to get it? (ebay?) it would
be appreciated.... I have the scanner so i guess i just need the box and dish?

Cheers

astro_boy · Post by **astro_boy** » Tue Oct 12, 2010 11:05 pm

Good run down, but some of the information is a little old.
You will find it had looking for B1 & b3 up there now, as they have been replaced.
It might help to sign up to a few fta satellite forums when you get stuck into that
part as there will be plenty of people willing to help you with the setup.

E=MC2 · Post by **E=MC2** » Wed Oct 13, 2010 8:08 pm

Gday all
Ok would look for a Humax 5400 or a 5410 Satellite Decoder Receiver as it has a non dc loop through and that is the unit I will be using and are very good, if you go to the link below you will see one for $49 or $75 to your door. The next thing is a 85cm or bigger Ku dish with universal large mounting bracket with quad shielded RG6 cable and F connectors. Next a LNBF Standard 11300Mhz KU-Band and last of all is also a must have a Moteck Dish Positioner SG2100A / dish rotator that way you can have one dish that can rx all ku band birds over Australia. I would look on Ebay and Google for all of the above parts you may be able to pick these parts even cheaper. I have the above setup and am very happy with it, and last of all is the links to all Active Optus Ku birds over Australia at this time. If you have any questions about this just post it and I will try and give you and answer asap as others may be in the same situ. I will be using a Realsitc 2006 scanner as it is the only scanner that will scan from 980.000 MHz and 1015.000 MHz with no gap'z. If anyone knows of others please post if you dont mind I tried my Uniden 780xlt - 396 but no go. Have a good night 73z E=mc2

HUMAX 5410z Satellite Decoder Receiver
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HUMAX-5410z-Sate ... 27b5a01db4

http://www.hotchip.com.au/

Moteck Dish Positioner (SG2100A)
http://www.hotchip.com.au/OnlineStore/P ... oductID=97

Optus D3 at 156.0°E
http://www.lyngsat.com/optusd3.html

Optus D2 at 152.0°E
http://www.lyngsat.com/optusd2.html

Optus D1 at 160.0°E
http://www.lyngsat.com/optusd1.html

Optus C1 at 156.0°E
http://www.lyngsat.com/optusc1.html

Post by **Bigfella237** » Wed Oct 13, 2010 10:40 pm

E=MC2 wrote: ~ I will be using a Realsitc 2006 scanner as it is the only scanner that will scan from 980.000 MHz and 1015.000 MHz with no gap'z. If anyone knows of others please post if you dont mind I tried my Uniden 780xlt - 396 but no go. ~

The Icom PCR/R-2500 receivers have a range of 10kHz-3300MHz unblocked (if you get the non-US model) with the only limitations being no AM/SSB/CW above 1300MHz and a mod (SMD removal) that needs to be done (with the UT-122 P25 card installed) to receive P25 above 780MHz, not to mention also having D-Star capability with the UT-118 card (these receivers can have two option cards installed simultaneously).

One quick question, would an old Austar dish do the job?

Andrew

E=MC2 · Post by **E=MC2** » Wed Oct 13, 2010 11:50 pm

One quick question, would an old Austar dish do the job?

I would give it a try, I will give this a go soon and let everyone know how I go, as it is a lot to spend if it is crap as i have the satellite system up and going with the dish rotor motor so I can rx test all birds and pass back my findings asap. If you are going to use it for sat tv and radio also with the ATC then it is not a bad price as I am able to rx good free to air Radio and TV stations and if you buy the Aurora card for $70 you will get most of the stuff listed on the web site below if you have a rural WA post code like say 6642 Peak Hill when you need to activate your Aurora card. Anyhow thats all for now I will work on getting things going over the weekend. 73z E=mc2

http://www.lyngsat.com/packages/aurora.html

E=MC2 · Post by **E=MC2** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 9:13 am

Gday all
I had some luck at about 1am Sunday morning as always seems to be the case, I put in a huge amount of time and when it is going I am way too worn out to take it all in. Now for the tech, so far all stations rxed have been on the Optus D1 at 160.0°E and all in horizontal polarisation. I will look at the other Optus birds to see what we can find on them, I am sure that other services would do the same thing as ATC Australia do. I know that sat uplink hacking has been a very popular past time since Sputnik was a lad. I think if others are keen we should look into doing a methodical band scan and see what we can find on other birds and other bands and do it scientifically. I think we should all work on one bird at a time and each person have a slice of the frequency band to scan between ie 200Mhz - 300Mhz and so on till we have up till 1.3Ghz searched methodically then look at the next Optus bird. I understand that this is a huge job but I am sure that we can find some very interesting operators using this type of service that is going unheard due to the manner the com'z are being sent and rxed. If you are not that keen to do so I will keep you updated on the finds but it is a huge job as the station are not always txing so I will need to be meretricious about how long I will scan each band segment before I move on to the next band segment. The other issue is I will need to scan in both horizontal and vertical polarisations also so that doubles the time and effort needed to find the gold in there them bands hi . So far as stated above all stations have been rxed in horizontal polarisation but I will keep on band scanning 900Mhz - 1200Mhz and see what other stations I am able to find. Well thats all for now have a great week and I post any new information as I have the time to do so. 73z E=mc2

Post by **matthewn1983** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 9:01 pm

I know department of defence are running operations on Optus C1. As they are part owners of the bird.

Optus C1 - Lauched in 2003
Equipment: 24 Ku-band transponders, 4 (+1) Ka-band transponders, 4 X-band transponders, 6 UHF transponders

The military Ka-band payload has four 33-MHz active transponders and one spare. It will provide medium to high data rate defense theatre coverage and duplex video, along with voice and data communications. This Ka-band communications service is a new capability for the Australian Department of Defence.

X-band telecommunications links provided via the satellite will be used by the military for medium to high data rate one- and two-way video, as well as voice and data communications. Service will be provided by four 60-MHz active transponders, with an additional transponder serving as a spare. The X-band communications links also are new for the country's defense network.

UHF links via the relay satellite will enhance UHF capabilities already employed by the Australian Department of Defence, and will be used for low data rate two-way voice and data communications. There are five 5-kHz channels and one 25-kHz channel provided via the satellite.

None of the other Optus birds have anything else other then Ku-Band transponders.
more tech info there
http://www.optus.com.au/aboutoptus/Abou ... te+Network

Not sure if this helps when it comes to tracking aircraft not much info about it but theres plenty up there to be explored.

E=MC2 · Post by **E=MC2** » Tue Oct 19, 2010 9:04 am

Gday All,
I have been doing some thinking after sleep and I have been looking at what I am able to hear and I can rx 99% of it in other places much easier than with the Sat and scanner mix but if the ADF are in the clear on that bird then it is worth pushing on as I enjoyed rxing AirForce Sydney, AirForce Daewin and so on on HF, I have not heard them for about 5 or so years. I will have a go at rxing this stuff over the next few weeks as it seems I will be going it solo, if you are thinking of doing this and dont have the gear hold off for now as it is a big hit even if you go 2nd hand. I will keep you to speed on how it goes, I am not sure that ADF information should be posted as we may get more than we had hoped for at worst and we may loose it in the clear if the papers need a story to put the slipper into the ADF. So I will see what I find and workout then how we go about all this. Have a great day. E=mc2

aircadet · Post by **aircadet** » Tue Oct 19, 2010 10:39 am

Hello mate.... I'm going to try some stuff off C1 today as it seems to be the only bird i can find at this time... I will search between 900mhz and 1200mhz for ATC TX... See how i go!!!

Cheers

scanSydney