SATCOM Frequency's Name and Use.

[PeterMacQuarrie]

Greetings,
Do the military satellites have names for their channels? What sort of names do they use for each frequency? Do they have channels set apart for specific tasks? Do they simple use any frequency for just anything? How are these frequencies assigned?
Thanks!
Sincerely,
Peter MacQuarrie.

 

[drdispatch]

I can only speak to DSCS (Defense Satellite Communications System) which I worked with in the early 80's and has since been retired.
We had links to various stations. Each link consisted of one to four numbered groups of 12 channels each. The channels were numbered 1-12, and those with active circuits on them carried the circuit name as well. We simply referred to "channel 6, group 2 to Ft. Detrick" or "channel one of the Waihiwa group" when speaking to another station or the control center in Sunnyvale. The circuit name was used when speaking to a station outside of the SATCOM network (as the channel and group numbers would be meaningless to them).

 

[PeterMacQuarrie]

Greetings drdispatch,
Thanks for the info. It helps a lot. What is your favorite part of the radio hobby?
Sincerely,
Peter MacQuarrie.

 

[drdispatch]

Greetings drdispatch,
Thanks for the info. It helps a lot. What is your favorite part of the radio hobby?
Sincerely,
Peter MacQuarrie.

I really enjoy listening to major events as they unfold; I liked working them as a dispatcher, and I like listening to them on the scanner. I love going to air shows, and taking the scanner along adds another fun element. I also enjoy the emergency communications and storm spotting aspects of amateur radio; it gives me another avenue by which to serve my community.

 

[PeterMacQuarrie]

drdispatch,
I enjoy monitoring some of the same things that you do. What airshow have you gone to? Do you use a near field receiver when attending an airshow?
Sincerely,
Peter MacQuarrie.

 

[drdispatch]

drdispatch,
I enjoy monitoring some of the same things that you do. What airshow have you gone to? Do you use a near field receiver when attending an airshow?
Sincerely,
Peter MacQuarrie.

I just take a handheld scanner or two. I've been to air shows in Michigan, Ohio, Nebraska, and Germany. I didn't have a scanner for the Nebraska show at Offutt AFB in 1982, or the ones at Ramstein AB Germany in 1980 & '81 (I was stationed in both places), but I took one to Wright-Patterson in 1987, to Selfridge a few years ago, and I always take one to the show here in Battle Creek, MI.

 

[PeterMacQuarrie]

Greetings drdispatch,
Do you have a favorite aircraft make and model?
Thanks!
Sincerely,
Peter MacQuarrie.

 

[drdispatch]

Greetings drdispatch,
Do you have a favorite aircraft make and model?
Thanks!
Sincerely,
Peter MacQuarrie.

Without question, the F-15 Eagle.