DROWNING IN ÆTHER

Reception diary

Date&Time Objectname Observing location
2023-01-17 16:47:00 SATCOM 51°52'49.5"N 4°29'25.9"E 2021-07-23 15:22:00 NOAA-18, SATCOM 43°09'47.6"N 16°41'45.6"E 2021-07-22 20:19:00 SATCOM, NOAA 43°09'47.6"N 16°41'45.6"E 2020-11-08 17:00:00 NOAA-19 51°53'12.8"N 4°26'54.9"E 2020-10-20 12:40:00 LES-5 51°56'26.9"N 4°30'38.7"E 2020-09-22 20:37:00 OV3-3 51°56'01.4"N 4°31'19.6"E 2020-09-22 14:30:00 FltSatCom F8 51°58'57.0"N 4°02'37.0"E 2019-06-09 10:56:00 MILSTAR 1 51°56'26.9"N 4°30'38.7"E 2019-05-25 22:15:00 TRANSIT 5B-5 51°56'15.487''N 4°31'31.121''E 2019-05-24 21:15:00 TRANSIT 5B-5 51°56'11.204''N 4°30'31.383''E 2019-03-19 15:00:00 Skynet 4E, SYNCOM 2 51°56'20.8"N 4°30'30".1E 2019-02-24 07:55:00 TRANSIT 5B-5 51°56'11.1"N 4°29'15.8"E 2019-01-26 17:00:00 TRANSIT 5B-5 51°5611.1N 4°2915.8E 2019-01-21 16:15:00 TRANSIT 5B-5 51°56'11.1"N 4°29'15.8"E 2019-01-20 17:45:00 TRANSIT 5B-5 51°56'11.1"N 4°29'15".8E 2018-12-26 17:00:00 TRANSIT 5B-5 48°46'41.8"N 15°49'08.3"E 2018-11-26 08:00:00 TRANSIT 5B-5 51°56'20.8"N 4°30'30.1"E 2018-11-11 18:15:00 LES-1 51°56'20.8"N 4°30'30.1"E 2018-10-13 19:30:00 LES-1 51°56'20.8"N 4°30'30.1"E 2018-10-06 19:30:00 LES-1 51°56'20.8"N 4°30'30.1"E 2018-09-28 19:15:00 LES-1 51°56'20.8"N 4°30'30.1"E 2018-09-15 12:00:00 Skynet 4E, SYNCOM 2 52°10'40.7"N 5°49'04.9"E 2018-05-20 11:00:00 unknown 51°56'09.0"N 4°29'47.6"E 2018-05-14 18:30:00 UFO F7 (USA 127) 51°56'09.0"N 4°29'47.6"E 2018-05-05 15:30:00 UFO F7 (USA 127) 51°56'09.0"N 4°29'47.6"E 2018-03-14 21:30:00 METEOR M2 NSSDC 51°56'09.0"N 4°29'47.6"E 2018-03-08 20:15:00 NOAA-19 NSSDC 51°56'09.0"N 4°29'47.6"E 2014-01-09 00:00:00 NOAA-15 51°55'06.3"N 4°28'29.0"E

Entry

Date&Time:2019-05-25 22:15:00
Object name:TRANSIT 5B-5
NSSDC ID:1964-083D
Frequency:136.650
Demodulation method:USB
Antenna:YAGI
Trajectory:Start: 22:15 - S / Peak: 22:24 - W / End: 22:33 - N
Visibility:Excellent

Elevated by yesterday's discovery I head out to the lake again. The satellite tracker predicts an excellent pass over Rotterdam today. I tune the receiver to the satellites frequency and point the antenna towards south. Halfway through the pass and without a trace of the satellite, I want to change some settings of the radio receiver. Since I do not have a tripod with me I just lean the antenna straight up against my bicycle. And I cannot believe my eyes, the signal appears in the spectrum. I adjust the filter bandwidth and there it is - the signal of the satellite. The carrier frequency sounds like the satellite is howling, similar to an oscillator with a slow LFO modulating its frequency. 10 kHz next to the carrier frequency I can hear the telemetric data. It is singing a random melody that reminds me a bit of a synthesised birdsong. In eight minutes it slowly fades away as it disappears beyond the horizon. Unbelievable after six months of persistence I have finally captured it!