Catching Satellites on Ham Radio
My favorite ham activity is making contacts via satellites. Not only is there the romantic notion of sending messages into outer space, but you have to trace the orbit of the satellite with your antenna while tuning the radio, to compensate for the Doppler effect.
The satellites AO-51, SO-50, and AO-27 orbit the Earth acting as repeaters. Repeaters are automated relay stations that allow hams to send signals over a greater distance using low-power hand held transceivers. The satellites allow hams to relay messages from Earth to space and back to other hams somewhere on the planet. The International Space Station (ISS) also has a repeater, but occasionally, if you’re lucky, the astronauts turn on their radios to make contact directly with hams on the ground.
The following instructions will get you started listening to birds (satellites) on FM, which can be done with a simple VHF/UHF FM radio with a whip antenna, without the need of a ham license. For better coverage, you can use a Yagi antenna (like the one pictured above) connected to a mutli-mode radio and a license (if you want to transmit). A Yagi antenna can also be used to improve the signal of your hand held radio.
Materials
All you need is a VHF/UHF FM receiver (like a police scanner) or a VHF/UHF transceiver (like a Yaesu VX-7) and an antenna.
1. Specifying your location
Start by visiting Heavens-Above.com to check the orbit of the satellite you want to listen to and specify your location.
2. Specifying a satellite
Check the passes of your specific satellite or the ISS. AO-51, SO-50, AO-27, ISS. Make sure that the passes are shown for your correct location
https://makezine.com/2009/07/22/catching-satellites-on-ham-radio/
And not just ham sats, either.
There's a lot more you can hear.
= new reply since forum marked as read
I’ve listened to a few satellite passes, although I haven’t made any of my own contacts yet.
Most of the satellites use frequencies open to all U.S. license classes, so this is a great way for new hams to make long distance contacts.
It’s also fairly inexpensive, compared to other aspects of the hobby. The Arrow Antenna system in the photo costs about $150, and there’s a huge variety of UHF/VHF handheld radios available starting at less than $100 (check for the ability to switch easily between frequency bands, since most satellites transmit and receive on different bands).
Another good resource is www.amsat.org
Thank you for posting this! Ham radio is one of my favorite hobbies. 
I used to chase the Russian built and launched satellites RS-10 and RS-11 before a solar disturbance damaged them and took them out. A sad loss to the amateur radio community. Although the satellites supported voice communication, my favorite mode was Morse code. Nope...it's not a dead art! I was also lucky enough to contact one of the space shuttle missions, STS-59.
Thanks!
