255.550 MHz which satellite it could be in SEA?

[th1]

Hello friends,

I have sometimes monitored on 255.550 MHz here in Thailand broadcasting in unfamiliar language (may be in myanmar) whole day.
Question is which satellite here will cover South East Asia region and who may override this downlink frequency 255.550 MHz?

Thank you.

 

[VK3RX]

Based on web data I have here (which is often old and not up to date) the satellite may be UFO-F10 at 72.4°E, which I believe uses bandplan Q and does have 255.550 as channel Q4.

I can't hear anything on that channel at the moment, but I have heard Russian chat on other channels from that bandplan.

The uplink frequency for Q4 255.550 is 296.550 so you might have a listen on that.

 

[n2nov]

296.550/3=98.85 Mhz. Maybe an FM broadcast station triple harmonic on or adjacent to that satellite input frequency getting into the uplink.

 

[th1]

This voice was heard here in Bangkok on Oct 2, 2021 around 20.47 (GMP+7). Unzip file to listen mp3.
Does any one can recognize what language it will be?

 

[brandon]

Sounds like Russian. I've heard them quite a bit on satcom voice. They are presumed to be pirates.

 

[Br_e_t_t]

I heard them a couple of weeks ago on the same freq. There is also something on 255.448 which comes in strong in West Aust, some digital signal.

 

[JamesWest]

Hello friends,

I have sometimes monitored on 255.550 MHz here in Thailand broadcasting in unfamiliar language (may be in myanmar) whole day.
Question is which satellite here will cover South East Asia region and who may override this downlink frequency 255.550 MHz?

Thank you.

i can confirm the Russians are on 255.55 right now. 8:45 UTC i have an antenna pointed at UFO-F10? at 72.4°E at my SEA QTH. The mode is NFM10K simplex voice. Sounds like any simplex NFM conversation you might hear. Transponder is about 25k wide while at idle and the narrows down to match the bandwidth of the input. Signal is strong enough to set squelch. Just heard someone calling CQ in English to try to contact the Russians. The Russians came back but no English.

Based on web data I have here (which is often old and not up to date) the satellite may be UFO-F10 at 72.4°E, which I believe uses bandplan Q and does have 255.550 as channel Q4.

I can't hear anything on that channel at the moment, but I have heard Russian chat on other channels from that bandplan.

The uplink frequency for Q4 255.550 is 296.550 so you might have a listen on that.

do you know where i can get a copy of the Bandplan? thanks.

 

[Ubbe]

UHF | UHF-Satcom

/Ubbe

 

[VK3RX]

I heard a Russian language conversation on 255.550 at around 0420 UTC today.

In fact there seems so much traffic on that frequency, I had it locked out of scanning.

The Google Translate app does a fair job translating.

 

[JamesWest]

I heard a Russian language conversation on 255.550 at around 0420 UTC today.

In fact there seems so much traffic on that frequency, I had it locked out of scanning.

The Google Translate app does a fair job translating.

yes me too. they just blab on all day. and i was also using google translate. one guy talking about X-box, another about adding a reflector to his antenna. some have normal modulation, others over modulated with splatter.

 

[BeltramiCountyScanPage]

How would I enter these frequencies into my sds200? am? digital?

 

[reconrider8]

should be fm. may need a beam to hear it not sure how strong it is everywhere. if there anything like the pirates down south you should be able to hear something with a discone

 

[BeltramiCountyScanPage]

Saturday Morning 3:22 am central 251.100 someones there but to quiet to understand. Anyone hearing on this frequency? FM mode

 

[JamesWest]

Saturday Morning 3:22 am central 251.100 someones there but to quiet to understand. Anyone hearing on this frequency? FM mode

I have to assume you are in the USA? Then you will most likely not hear the Russians as they are on the FLSATCOM or maybe UFO satellite that is over the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

You will hear South American pirates on 255.55. This is a good place to monitor. It is possible to hear with a discone or other external antennas. I use a discone and a 2 meter beam turned to horizonal and pointed at the sat. Beam works way better than discone. No amp or special radio. this is more about the antenna. of course a preamp will bring the signal up considerably.

set your radio to Narrow FM. 10K. but play around with 12.5 and 15k.

or course nothing beats a SDR and SDR# for visualizing the activity across this band.

 

[JamesWest]

the Russians are active now in the Indian Ocean Region.

you know I got to thinking how come some Russians can use my country's satellite and I can't? I helped pay for it.

 

[JamesWest]

hearing what sounds exactly like a 1200 baud packet beacon on 255.55 Mhz POR. just a beacon about every 10 minutes. too lazy to try to decode it. sorry.

of course mixed in with Russian voice chit chat.

 

[VK3RX]

OT, one from the POR you might check out: 265.450MHz

Thought to be from UFO-F8 @ 173.3°E

Continuous carrier then on the hour 60 seconds of data, a pause then another 10 seconds of data.

Been there for a number of years.

 

[brandon]

Nice to see some Pacific satcom reports. It's been a while since I have listened to satcoms, but I was really into it ~5 years ago. Reading this brings back some good memories and makes me want to dig out the antennas again to see what's still active.

Here was my collection of logs and audio clips for both Pacific and Conus during that time.
solarix.net · UHF Satcom Frequencies

 

[VK3RX]

Sadly on POR & IOR there is not much to listen to these days. Almost all gone digital, except the very rare voice call comm check or initiating a contact then going digital.

The flights NZ - Antarctica - NZ went digital a few years ago (I have a bunch of recordings also).

I don't know who or where IRON HORSE is but they come up occasionally.

 

[RichardKramer]

Here is a list of satcom freqs I've rx'd from my QTH in Reading, PA in Portuguese/Spanish using a BCD436 in FM mode/AR8000 in NFM mode; RS discones w/preamp:
252.150 - 257.425 - 257.500 - 262.225 (262.228) - 262.425(262.420) - 263.925 (263.920) - 268.150 - 269.950