Phil M0OFXMar 23
Well that'll be why I can't find the Es'hail 2 beacon That's Hellas Sat 3. I turned the dish the wrong way.... Es'hail 2 is south of Astra 2. Buuuhhh
Show threadPhil M0OFX
I'm pretty sure that's not checked the Network ID.
Mar 23 at 12:30pmWeb
Show threadPhil M0OFXMar 23
Hi there Astra!
Show threadPhil M0OFXMar 23
Badr is colocated (ish) with Es'hail 2, so I'll take that for a test run.
Show threadPhil M0OFXMar 23
Grrr that's not Badr, it's Astra 2G. That constellation is loud enough that it's nearly impossible to align the dish without a spectrum analyser.
Show threadPhil M0OFXMar 23
But that looks suspiciously like the Es'hail narrowband transponder
Show threadPhil M0OFXMar 23
Flip the polarisation and the wideband transponder appears...
Show threadPhilip HeronMar 23
@philpem You might have better luck with an rtlsdr and listening for signals on the amateur repeater.
Show threadPhil M0OFXMar 24

@fsphil It turned out I was pointed at Badr, but 2G was loud enough to get in too. Soon as I looked at the SDR in the garage, it was pretty clear I was pulling in the QO100 amateur transponders.

Now I just need to get my HackRF back and swap it for an RTLSDR... and set up something to decode the wideband repeater. Or I could go the other way and make a 2.4 uplink antenna and a transmitter and melt some pigeons.

Show threadTryst 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇮🇪  Mar 23
@philpem 2G pretty much has a pigeon melting beam pointed at the UK so that Sky can sell smaller dishes
Show threadPhil M0OFXMar 24
@tryst I'd say the same applies to the whole 2 constellation. It's the loudest thing in the sky, and absolutely deafens my Maxview satfinder.
Show threadvxoMar 23
@philpem oh that's a cool meter! does it grok dvb-s2?
Show threadPhil M0OFXMar 23
@vxo it does! The more expensive version does h265 but this is DVBS/S2/S2x and MPEG2/MPEG4 only. Fine for Astra and QO100.
Show threadvxoMar 23
@philpem
As long as the device can give me an RSL reading, C/N, and list the services on a transponder, it'll answer all my questions
Show threadPhil M0OFXMar 24
@vxo It can, but I think you have to scan the bird (or at least spot-scan the transponder) to get the service list.
It doesn't have a full transponder list - normally you scan the home transponder in Network mode (it has a list of homes and alternates) and it scans the whole orbital slot using the NIT data.
RSL is the usual percentage number, decibel C/N is on the second Info panel when you tune to a channel. Hit Mute if you don't want the channel audio.
Show threadRivaclaw🏳️‍⚧️ΘΔMar 23
@philpem You're making me want to get a rotatable dish again ^^
Show threadPhil M0OFXMar 23
@renbymon You're making me want one too, this thing is a bear to point...! Astra is easy, Es'hail 2 not so much.