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 M0OFXMar 23
I'm pretty sure that's not checked the Network ID.
Show threadPhil M0OFXMar 23
Hi there Astra!
Show threadPhil M0OFX
Badr is colocated (ish) with Es'hail 2, so I'll take that for a test run.
Mar 23 at 6:21pmWeb
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.