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From: henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics,sci.misc
Subject: Re: Satellite DX
Message-ID: <8328@utzoo.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 20-Jul-87 14:54:41 EDT
Article-I.D.: utzoo.8328
Posted: Mon Jul 20 14:54:41 1987
Date-Received: Mon, 20-Jul-87 14:54:41 EDT
References: <414@uop.UUCP>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
Lines: 17

> with all the talk over "spy" sattelites, in addition to the wave
> of home satellite dishes, has anyone spent the time to downlink
> anything other than the usual?? (why watch HBO when you can watch
> the SPOT satellites, weather, or the kremlin?)

Not that easy, alas.  Different and often unpublicized frequencies,
unorthodox modulation schemes (it ain't yer normal video signal),
probably encryption for the spysats, possibly tight-beam transmission
with small footprints for the military stuff, and finally the general
problem that most of the satellites in question are in low orbit, meaning
that they aren't in line of sight when they're viewing the Kremlin!

It is possible -- I've seen weather-satellite images, in particular, from
amateur equipment -- but not simple.
-- 
Support sustained spaceflight: fight |  Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
the soi-disant "Planetary Society"!  | {allegra,ihnp4,decvax,utai}!utzoo!henry