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Amateur Satellites

Radio

Amateur Satellites

Talk through a satellite passing overhead with a handheld radio and a hand-held antenna. It’s easier than it sounds.

How it works

Amateur satellites are small spacecraft carrying repeaters or transponders. They’re in low orbit, so each pass over your location lasts only about 10 to 15 minutes. During that window you can talk to anyone else who can see the satellite at the same time, often 2,000 km or more away.

Most work cross-band: you transmit on one band (often 2 m) and listen on another (often 70 cm), or the other way around.

Kinds of satellites

  • FM satellites: work like a repeater in the sky. These are the easiest place to start. Expect them to be busy, so keep contacts short.
  • Linear transponder (SSB/CW) satellites: pass a whole slice of spectrum, so many contacts can happen at once. They need an SSB-capable radio.
  • The International Space Station: the ISS carries amateur radio equipment. Depending on what’s scheduled, it may be running a cross-band FM repeater, an APRS digipeater or SSTV image transmissions. The ARISS website lists the current modes and frequencies.

What you need for FM satellites

  • A dual-band radio: a 2 m/70 cm handheld works. One that can receive while transmitting (full duplex) is a big help, because you can hear yourself come back through the satellite.
  • A directional antenna: a small handheld Yagi, held up and pointed at the satellite, makes a huge difference over a rubber duck.
  • Pass predictions: AMSAT’s online pass predictor, Heavens-Above or a phone app will tell you when a satellite is overhead and where it will rise and set.
  • Current status: satellites come and go. AMSAT’s status page shows which ones are working and what others are hearing.

Doppler shift

The satellite is moving at about 7 km per second, which shifts the frequency you hear. On 70 cm it can be off by up to about 10 kHz. With FM, most people program five memory channels and step through them during the pass: higher frequency as it rises, lower as it sets.

Good satellite manners

  • Listen before you transmit. If you can’t hear the satellite, it can’t hear you.
  • Keep it short: callsign and grid square is a full contact.
  • Don’t hog the pass. Everyone in the footprint is sharing a single channel.
  • Use only as much power as you need.

Where to go next

Last updated October 2026.