derrek_lee_25
Member
i live in iowa and i was wondering how i could listen in on the iss and shuttle on my police scanner i have a pro 95 handheld and a pro 2055 base
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ka3jjz
Wiki Admin Emeritus
I'm shocked no one answered, so I'll just throw a few things out here...
The frequency will be 145.8 mhz for voice, 145.825 for APRS, plus or minus a couple of khz for freq shifting due to Doppler.
You didn't say what antennas you have; I have heard of folks hearing the ISS on a handheld with an extended gain 2m duck, so it can be done with simple equipment. Your 2055 will need to have a discone, fed with the right coax, and mounted nice and high.
Hearing the astronauts is a hit or miss situation. They are not using the ham station all the time, so they have set up one of the radios just recently to send out an APRS beacon. There is free software to copy this mode, and a Google search on APRS will bring out much more information. I'm not entirely sure if the beacon is on all the time - probably not when the astronauts are outside the station, due to safety concerns with overloading the spacesuit radios.
Finally you need to be able to know when to listen. The higher the angle the station is overhead relative to where you are, the greater the chances of you hearing them. There are websites, such as heavens-above, that will allow you to plot your location and see when the station might be over your area. There are also numerous packages that allow you to plot the orbit of the ISS off line.
Our Wiki has links for scanner antennas and also links to get you started with hearing the ISS. Go to the top blue toolbar, and hit the 'wiki' link. Look at the 'Forum Specific Topics'.
See the 'Antennas' link, then select 'Scanner Antennas' for discones, ducks, ect. For ISS topics (including software to track. as well as sites like heavens-above, see the 'Satcom' link.
73s Mike
The frequency will be 145.8 mhz for voice, 145.825 for APRS, plus or minus a couple of khz for freq shifting due to Doppler.
You didn't say what antennas you have; I have heard of folks hearing the ISS on a handheld with an extended gain 2m duck, so it can be done with simple equipment. Your 2055 will need to have a discone, fed with the right coax, and mounted nice and high.
Hearing the astronauts is a hit or miss situation. They are not using the ham station all the time, so they have set up one of the radios just recently to send out an APRS beacon. There is free software to copy this mode, and a Google search on APRS will bring out much more information. I'm not entirely sure if the beacon is on all the time - probably not when the astronauts are outside the station, due to safety concerns with overloading the spacesuit radios.
Finally you need to be able to know when to listen. The higher the angle the station is overhead relative to where you are, the greater the chances of you hearing them. There are websites, such as heavens-above, that will allow you to plot your location and see when the station might be over your area. There are also numerous packages that allow you to plot the orbit of the ISS off line.
Our Wiki has links for scanner antennas and also links to get you started with hearing the ISS. Go to the top blue toolbar, and hit the 'wiki' link. Look at the 'Forum Specific Topics'.
See the 'Antennas' link, then select 'Scanner Antennas' for discones, ducks, ect. For ISS topics (including software to track. as well as sites like heavens-above, see the 'Satcom' link.
73s Mike
Last edited:
wjf
Member
ka3jjz said:
Mike - I don't understand this statement. Can you please explain what you're saying and maybe provide a link to me?
I heard what I think is the ISS last week. I thought it was cool.
Edit - I think I figured it out. Thanks.
Last edited:
derrek_lee_25
Member
i just use the stock antenna for my pro 2055 but i have a 800mhz one for my pro 95
Your going to need to upgrade your antenna system to hear any broadcasts from either the shuttle or ISS. What you would be able to hear would be the ARISS. It really will require an outdoor antenna http://www.arrl.org/ARISS/
Other radio communication between either the shuttle or ISS really isn't feasible on a scanner, unless it's being rebroadcast. http://www.monitoringtimes.com/html/Monitoring NASA and Space Communications.pdf
Other radio communication between either the shuttle or ISS really isn't feasible on a scanner, unless it's being rebroadcast. http://www.monitoringtimes.com/html/Monitoring NASA and Space Communications.pdf
ka3jjz
Wiki Admin Emeritus
There has been some rare reports of the old 143.825 (I think that's the freq) being used by the Zvezda module with the Russian astronauts as well. The other freq is a UHF milair freq - I can't think of it off the top of my head - that's used by the Shuttle during ascent, if you happen to be in and around the flight path. As you say, and as I mentioned, a better antenna system is a must if you are going to have a chance at these. 73s Mike
NewScanner215
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maybe i'm crazy but i think i just heard something from the ISS. I know nothing about scanning anything in space i was just tooling around the forums and the web to see if i cold hear anything with my pro-97 (telescoping antenna). Well i went to a page that did a countdown for when the next time it would pass over and it said 30mins so i got all the FM/AM freqs i could find on the web and info on spotting it. i went outside it was crystal clear but i didn't see any "moving stars" but i kept getting chatter on 121.750 and 122.950 but the most on 121. I didn't remember if that was even a ISS freq i had put in because i have a lot of other temporary freqs in that bank so when i couldn't get anything after i had been out thre a while i went back in and check the site i got the other freqs from and there it was 121.750! i'm i going crazy did i hear something else maybe? it didn't sound like any air stuff i couldn't make it out too much. one guy was clear and the guy he was talking to was way more white washed out. the first guy sounded russian at first lol but i think i was just excited. The only thing i remember him saying was to go check something (might have said to flip over to get to something) but i didnt understand anything they were talking about what little i did hear.
From website i checked:
Freq (MHz)
Satellite
Payload
Signal Type
Notes
121.750
Soyuz
ISS Crew transport
Medium bandwidth FM voice
Frequency used during on-orbit operations to and from the Space Station, and reportedly used for recovery beacon during landing module descent
Also transmits at 166 MHz and 922.763 MHz
121.750
Progress
ISS Logistics
Ranging pulses
Used by TORU remote control docking system as the return signal path to ISS (see also 130.167 MHz for the ISS transmission)
Also transmits at 166 MHz and 922.763 MHz
From website i checked:
Freq (MHz)
Satellite
Payload
Signal Type
Notes
121.750
Soyuz
ISS Crew transport
Medium bandwidth FM voice
Frequency used during on-orbit operations to and from the Space Station, and reportedly used for recovery beacon during landing module descent
Also transmits at 166 MHz and 922.763 MHz
121.750
Progress
ISS Logistics
Ranging pulses
Used by TORU remote control docking system as the return signal path to ISS (see also 130.167 MHz for the ISS transmission)
Also transmits at 166 MHz and 922.763 MHz
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