Nimbus satellite downlink and uplink question.

[lazyfortress]

Hello, I haven't been on the forums for almost a year. I recently got back into SATCOM monitoring. I successfully received and decoded an APT transmission from NOAA-19 for the first time today. Now I have a question about the very old and decommissioned Nimbus series satellites.

Are the Nimbus satellites still functioning? I'm particularly interested in Nimbus 7, as it was the last Nimbus satellite to be launched (October of 1978). If they are still functioning, what frequency is the downlink on? I'm using a PRO-649 scanner with a yagi antenna configured for 120 MHz-137 MHz. I'm in Baltimore by the way. I'm considering getting a new receiver.

Who would I have to get permission from to send an uplink to the satellite if it does still work? I don't know how uplinks work, either. I'd like to reactivate some transmitter on the satellite if possible. This sounds crazy and all, but I'd just like to experiment with this. Can this be done somehow?

Any advice is appreciated!

 

[Thunderknight]

According to info I found online, nimbus 7 was turned off in 1995. I have no idea if the platform is still functional. But if it was, I doubt you would get permission from noaa to activate it. At least not without an organized effort of a group of professional enthusiasts with a defined science or academic or outreach reason.
If you are not a ham radio (amateur radio) operator, I would suggest getting involved in ham radio. Once licensed, there are a number of amateur radio satellites that are available for use. Ham radio by its very nature is about experimention.

 

[K5MPH]

Nimbus-7 satellite end of operation was in 1995,from what i have read about Nimbus-7 it was the first satellite to monitor the Ozone hole over the Antarctic......

 

[lazyfortress]

I know that it was decommissioned in the 90s, but does it still transmit telemetry? Does it have the capabilities to have a transmitter reactivated?

What's a cool (and legal) project I could do with a decommissioned satellite like Nimbus 7?