UHF-Satcom.com - S-band reception

If you are a commercial user of S-Band and need to hire an excellent ground station facility, visit the RAL Groundstation. If you have any frequency info to contribute to this page, please email it to "info at uhf-satcom.com"

At S-Band, most of the satellite downlinks fall in the 2.2GHz to 2.3GHz band. This band is specifically reserved for Space to Earth transmission of TT&C, ranging data and payload data. Most of the traffic could be described as uninteresting, as its either CW, PSK or spread spectrum, but there are some fantastic opportunities to perform some Doppler analysis in order to determine the satellite and it's orbit. The frequency charts below show results from investigations of what can be heard at S-Band. Most American satellites operate in the standard SGLS channels, frequency details of which can be found below, whilst non-American satellites generally have a varied band plan. Sven Grahn from Sweden has written an excellent page about his S-Band adventures, you can read about them here. Bob Christy has also compiled an S-Band frequency list mostly covering classified satellite downlinks. Michael Fletcher from Finland has written up his s-band experiments with the JAXA / Selene moon orbiter, here.

The antenna and preamp are extreamly important at these frequencies. For most of the loggings on this page, a 90cm dish, 3.5 turn S-Band helical feed and a VK5EME preamp were used. The dish provides needed gain and directionality. An alternative to a helical feed is a patch antenna. In cases where GSM telephone interference is high, a patch has been found to reject these out of band signals.

Recently, the VK5EME preamp boards have become available from Monitoring Monthly, a UK based radio magazine, details here. The Monitoring Monthly magazine also seems to have a reasonable bias towards satellite monitoring, and frequently mentions this website in its pages.

The preamps to the left are in use at various ground stations in the UK and Hungary. The enclosure for the top two preamps has been custom milled out of a solid block for mechanical rigidity reasons.

The preamp pictured at the bottom is a new design by G4DDK with a measured noise figure of 0.30 - 0.33dB and 25 - 26dB associated gain at 2.3GHz. The LNA is currently under test, but initial results appear to suggest that it delivers a worthwhile increase in SNR over the MiniKits LNA. The G4DDK LNA is supplied as a kit of parts which should take around 2 hours to build for an experienced constructor. This LNA runs from a seperate +12V supply which is split out from the RF path using a mini-circuits wideband bias-T.

A simple 3.5 turn LHCP helical antenna centred on 2250MHz is described below - this antenna can be used with prime focus or offset dishes. It is possible to wind this antenna in the opposite sense (i.e. RHCP) to use as an S-Band omni (pictured below, right) in order to monitor LEO and HEO satellites. Another omni directional antenna is pictured below right is a QFH as designed by Michael OH2AUE.

The dimensions for the helical are not overly critical, but should be within a couple of mm of those quoted. The ground plane can be made from PCB or aluminium, and it is recommended that a SMA or N-Type connector is used. The helix element can be made of 1.5mm or 2mm wire - the prototype used 2mm silver plated copper wire. The helix element can be made self supporting, but it is better practice to make a supporting rod from nylon or plastic. The first quarter turn of the helical should be spaced 2mm from the ground plane when using 2mm wire for the helix element. It is worth experimenting with the matching by soldering a copper strip to the first quarter turn in an attempt to improve the impedance match. Another alternative is to mount a metal block on the ground plane that can be swivelled near to the helical element to improve the matching. There is a nice simple design for a S-Band helix and LNA here. Work is progressing to assess the suitability of Sirius / XM active S-Band antennas for satellite DX'ing purposes - the results will be published here.

S-Band sky survey - xBr, Freq, pjm, Greg, lem. Note: All frequencies mentioned here have been verified. Military Geostationary satellite Downlink Frequencies (log started by xBr) Position Freq Modulation / Satellite / last heard date dd/mm/yy and by who 60W 2208.584 carrier - GOES-10 53W 2257.480 DSCS 3-14 49.1W 2232.497 many sidebands - DSP-F17 49.1W 2237.4948 carrier - DSP-F17 49.1W 2232.500 carrier - DSP-F17 41W? 2232.4959 90056 41W? 2277.4854 90056 39W? 2262.8180 carrier - Milstar-1? 38W 2232.5109 carrier - DSP-F16 38W 2237.4958 carrier - DSP-F16 34W 2227.5080 carrier - 25134 Skynet-4D 34W 2227.5140 carrier - 26695 Skynet-4F 27.5W 2277.5000 90054 22W 2252.4929 carrier - UFO-F7 15.5W 2262.4926 carrier - FLTSATCOM-8 (xBr) 13W? 2232.4950 90016 12W 2257.5084 carrier - DSCS III-F12 10W 2242.4880 carrier - SDS3-F2 (sub carrier 1.024 MHz, 1.700 MHz) 8W 2205.3280 carrier - 24209 Telecom-2D (Also with Syracuse payload) 1W 2252.500 carrier - 30749 Skynet-5A 3E 2207.1300 carrier - 23730 Telecom-2C (Also with Syracuse payload) 6E 2227.4849 carrier - Skynet-4C 8.5E 2237.4800 carrier - DSP-F20 (sub carrier 1.024 MHz) 2232.4979 carrier - DSP-F20 16E 2203.4470 carrier - 26694 Sicral-1 28.5E 2262.5070 carrier - Milstar-5 (sometimes on 2267.5130) 29E 2252.4810-488 carrier - 22787 UFO-F2 35E 2227.4760 carrier - 22921 NATO-4B 53E 2227.4974 carrier - 25639 Skynet-4E 53E 2252.4921 carrier - Skynet 5B 57E 2257.5120 carrier - DSCS III-F8 60E 2257.5114 carrier - DSCS III-F13 70E 2237.4990 carrier - DSP-F21 (sub carrier 1.024 MHz) 2232.4974 carrier - DSP-F21 72E 2252.4900 carrier - 25967 UFO-F10?, 28117 UFO-F11? 2262.4990 carrier - 25967 UFO-F10?, 28117 UFO-F11? 75E 2242.4950 carrier - SDS3-F3 (sub carrier 1.024 MHz, 1.700 MHz) Civilian Geostationary Satellite Downlink Frequencies (log started by xBr) Position Frequency Catalogue # / Satellite Name / last heard date dd/mm/yy 8W 2205.328 carrier - Telecom-2D (Also with Syracuse payload) 3W 2246.495 27509 METEOSAT-8 0W 2245.495 28912 METEOSAT-9 3E 2207.130 carrier - Telecom-2C (Also with Syracuse payload) 13E 2264.815 Hotbird? 13E 2269.990 Hotbird? 21.5E 2270.193 EUTELSAT W6 Graveyard ex-geostationary Satellite Downlink Frequencies (log started by xBr) Frequency Catalogue # / Satellite Name / last heard date dd/mm/yy 2237.501 DSP-F9 (90050) drifting GEO 2237.495 90060 (failed DSP-F19 on GTO) 2237.518 DSP-F7 (90067) drifting GEO 2237.530 90073 drifting GEO DSP?? 2237.530420 DSP-F6 (90041) drifting GEO 2237.540300 DSP-F10 drifting GEO (162s unlock period) 2252.525 SKYNET-2B (drifting GEO) 2257.500 DSCS III-F1 drifting GEO 2277.500 DSCS III-F5 drifting GEO Earth Orbiter Downlink Frequencies (log started by xBr) - updated by Freq, pjm, Greg, lem Frequency Catalogue # / Satellite Name / last heard date dd/mm/yy 2201.500 19460 USA-32 PSK - not TX'ing all the time 2201.700 26959 BIRD-2 earth imaging (02/11/07) 2202.000 31115 Beidou-M1 Chinese navigation satellite (17/11/07) 2202.500 19460 USA-32 - not TX'ing all the time 2202.530 21949 USA-81 2203.200 24971 IRS-1D (27/02/08) 2203.200 23751 IRC-1C (02/10/07) 2203.200 25758 IRS-P4 Oceansat-1 (05/10/07) 2203.200 26957 TES (29/10/07) 2203.500 19460 USA-32 PSK - not TX'ing all the time 2204.400 25940 CBERS 2 (06/10/07) 2204.400 27003 BADR-B ? (28/10/07) 2205.930 20436 Spot-2 (29/02/08) 2207.487 25157 GFO 2207.500 31140 NFIRE (29/10/07) 2207.500 10033 AMS-2 (wide sweeper) (30/10/07) 2208.000 22490 SCD-1 Satélite de Coleta de Dados (Freq) 2208.000 25504 SCD-2 Satélite de Coleta de Dados (Freq) 2208.000 28368 DEMETER Wideband (27/02/08) 2208.000 29107 Cloudsat wideband data (21/10/07) 2208.163 26708 Odin (Swedish Science) 2209.580 25789 Quikscat (21/10/07) 2210.000 30777 CFEsat (05/11/07) 2211.000 27391 GRACE (13/11/07) 2212.500 27640 Coriolis (01/10/07) 2212.800 23827 IRS-P3 (13/10/07) 2212.800 29092 Yaogan-1 (06/11/07) 2212.800 32289 Yaogan-3 (16/11/07) 2214.950 25635 Orsted (sound sample) (19/02/08) 2215.000 25280 TRACE (30/10/07 - not on over Europe) 2215.000 25560 SWAS (Freq - not on over Europe) 2215.000 27642 Icesat (02/11/07) 2215.000 27421 Spot-5 (29/09/07) 2215.000 27540 Integral (01/10/07 150000Km altitude) 2215.000 24285 FAST (Freq) 2215.000 29049 Formosat 3C (27/02/08) - went off air when out of range of Greenland. 2215.000 29050 Formosat 3D (29/10/07) 2215.000 29052 Formosat 3F (29/10/07) 2214.900 27370 HESSI (10/11/07) 2217.500 25544 ISS / Space Shuttle (Shuttle TX's when docked to ISS) 2218.000 25260 Spot-4 - worldwide crop monitoring (27/02/08) 2218.000 27421 Spot-5 (29/09/07) 2222.500 28054 DMSP F16 2222.500 29522 DMSP F17 2222.500 28095 NOSS 3-2 2222.500 26905 NOSS 3-1 2222.500 31701 NOSS 3-4 2222.500 21147 LaCrosse-2 (31/10/07) 2222.500 25017 LaCrosse-3 2222.528 27640 Coriolis P98-2 - wind vector measurements 2225.000 27386 Envisat - Earth environment monitoring (27/02/08) 2225.000 23560 ERS-2 (19/02/08) 2226.500 23605 Helios-1A (19/02/08) ** Needs confirmation ** 2227.500 ##### GPS - several GPS satellites have a beacon on this frequency 2230.000 23710 Radarsat - Canadian synthetic aperture radar (14/10/07) 2230.000 29499 METOP-A weather satellite (Uplink 2053.4 MHz) 2230.000 31598 Cosmo-Skymed (06/10/07) 2230.000 27942 UK-DMC (13/11/07) PSK 2230.300 28497 ESSAIM-4 wideband PSK (29/10/07) 2231.595 27843 MOST (wideband PSK data) (20/10/07) 2232.000 27858 Scisat-1 (13/11/07) 2232.500 26905 NOSS 3-1 (03/01/08) 2232.500 28095 NOSS 3-2 (30/10/07) 2232.500 28537 NOSS 3-3 (19/02/08) 2232.51673 29249 USA-184 2233.333 28890 Bejing-1 DMC (29/10/07) 2235.000 26958 Proba-1 (27/02/08) 2236.666 27941 Nigeriasat-1 (29/10/07) 2237.500 25991 DMSP F15 2237.500 28054 DMSP F16 2237.500 29522 DMSP F17 2237.500 10033 AMS-2 (wide sweeper) (30/10/07) 2237.500 23533 DMSP F13 2237.500 21798 DMSP F11 2238.450 28496 ESSAIM-3 wideband PSK (29/10/07) 2242.482 24680 USA-129 2242.482 26473 LaCrosse-4 2242.500 ----- USA-186 2242.500 90027 USA-179 (also tx's on 251.7, 256.375 MHz) 2242.500 90025 USA-137 (SDS-3 F1) 2242.500 90026 2242.500 90004 SDS-2 possibly - weak wobbler 2242.500 90020 SDS-2 possibly 2242.500 90028 USA-125 (SDS-2 F4) 2242.500 10033 AMS-2 (DMSP F1) 2242.500 24753 DMSP F14 2245.700 28649 IRS-P5 Cartosat-1 (19/02/08) 2245.700 29710 IRS-2A Cartosat-2 (27/02/08) 2247.500 26374 STEP-2 (21/10/07) 2249.000 26464 Cluster FM8 - solar wind and magnetosphere experiment (29/09/07) 2249.500 23233 DMSP F12 2249.500 23533 DMSP F13 2249.500 25991 DMSP F15 2249.500 28054 DMSP F16 2249.500 29522 DMSP F17 2249.500 29651 USA-193 (xBr) (31/10/07) 2250.000 28051 IRS-P6 ResourceSat-1 - TX is doppler corrected (05/10/07) 2250.000 23323 IRS-P2 Oceansat-1 (13/10/07) 2250.000 25544 ISS / Space Shuttle 2250.000 26033 Acrimsat (Freq) 2252.500 25991 DMSP F15 wideband data 2252.500 28054 DMSP F16 wideband data 2252.500 10033 AMS-2 (wide sweeper) (30/10/07) 2252.500 23533 DMSP F13 2252.500 28054 DMSP F16 2252.500 23233 DMSP F12 wideband (01/10/07) 2252.500 24753 DMSP F14 (29/10/07) 2256.000 26463 Cluster FM5 - solar wind and magnetosphere experiment (29/09/07) 2256.220 28939 Astro-F Akari (01/10/07) 2256.220 28773 Astro-E2 (01/11/07) 2256.220 29506 SHI JIAN 6D (SJ-6D) (04/11/07) 2256.220 29479 Hinode Solar-B (21/10/08) 2257.530 21949 USA-81 (also transmits on 258.150 MHz) (19/02/08) 2260.800 27392 GRACE-2 (13/11/07) 2265.000 23802 Polar - HEO (05/10/07) 2265.000 25789 Quikscat (21/10/07) 2267.500 25991 DMSP F15 2267.500 23533 DMSP F13 PSK 2268.465 29108 Calipso / Parasol / Cloudsat (21/10/07) 2270.000 26411 Cluster FM7 - solar wind and magnetosphere experiment 2273.000 29658 SAR-Lupe-1 TT&C / ISL link (known as Magnifying Glass) (01/10/07) 2273.000 31797 SAR-Lupe-2 TT&C / ISL link (known as Magnifying Glass) (01/10/07) 2273.000 32283 SAR-Lupe-3 TT&C / ISL link (known as Magnifying Glass) (01/11/07) 2273.500 27430 Haiyang-1B (27/02/08) 2277.000 26410 Cluster FM6 - solar wind and magnetosphere experiment 2278.377 24912 ACE (Advanced Composition Explorer at L1 - 1.5M km from Earth) (02/10/07) 2277.500 26905 NOSS 3-1 2277.500 28095 NOSS 3-2 2277.520 29249 USA-184 2280.000 31698 Terrasar-X TT&C - German X-band synthetic aperture radar (01/10/07) 2280.000 26405 CHAMP (19/02/08) 2280.500 19822 Edos-D / Akebono - 1.5MHz wide, multiple sidebands 2282.500 29678 COROT wideband data (01/10/07) 2282.500 31304 AIM - Polar Mesospheric Clouds study 2282.500 26953 Quickbird-2 (06/10/07) 2282.500 19460 USA-32 (Wav recording by xBr) (13/11/07) 2282.500 23851 MSX (1kHz tone) (13/11/07) 2287.500 25544 ISS / Space Shuttle 2287.500 28485 SWIFT (1/11/07) 2287.500 28230 Gravity Probe-B (11/11/07) 2287.500 25682 LANDSAT-7 (possibly only on over the north west USA) 2287.500 14780 LANDSAT-5 (possibly only on over the north west USA) 2295.000 26631 EROS-A1 (27/02/08) - may be commanded from Kiruna E/S 2295.000 29079 EROS-B (13/11/07) - may be commanded from Kiruna E/S 2401.200 28375 AO-51 Amateur radio satellite (not always on) HEO's / Molniya orbit (log started by xBr) Sven Grahn has written an excellent article on tracking OKO. 2298.000 Cosmos-2388/2393 channel A. (OKO early warning) 2304.000 Cosmos-2388/2393 channel B. (OKO early warning) 2286.000 COSMOS-2422 2292.000 COSMOS-2422 2320.1865 26390 Sirius-1 TT&C (20/03/08) 2322.290 Sirius-1,2,3 QPSK audio downlink 2329.3825 26483 Sirius-2 TT&C (20/03/08) 2329.400 26626 Sirius-3 TT&C (20/03/08) 2330.710 Sirius-1,2,3 QPSK audio downlink Lunar Orbiter Downlink Frequencies Frequency Catalogue # / Satellite Name / last heard date dd/mm/yy and by who 2212.000 32054 KAGUYA R-Satellite 2212.000 32054 KAGUYA VRAD-Satellite 2218.000 32054 KAGUYA R-Satellite 2218.000 32054 KAGUYA VRAD-Satellite 2234.533 32274 Chang'e'1 Chinese lunar orbiter (27/10/07) 2241.579 32054 KAGUYA R-Satellite 2260.416 32054 KAGUYA R-Satellite 2260.416 32054 KAGUYA VRAD-Satellite 2263.602 32054 KAGUYA main spacecraft downlink (30/10/07) 2287.313 32054 KAGUYA R-Satellite 2287.313 32054 KAGUYA VRAD-Satellite Earth Orbiter Downlink Frequencies - The satellites listed below have NOT been heard Frequency Catalogue # / Satellite Name 22xx.000 07816 DMSP 7 - probably dead 2202.500 30773 Midstar-1 2204.000 32062 CBERS 1 2205.000 27598 Fedsat-1 2208.000 27004 Maroc-Tubsat 2209.680 29268 Kompsat-2 2215.000 26619 EO-1 2215.000 26953 Quickbird-2 2220.000 27597 ADEOS-2 2230.280 22823 Spot-3 2232.120 22823 Spot-3 2238.150 22823 Spot-3 2238.500 22823 Spot-3 2244.000 26620 SAC-C may be only TX'ing over Argentina 2245.000 28931 ALOS / DAICHI 2252.000 25756 Kitsat-3 2252.000 27945 Kaistsat 2255.000 26620 SAC-C may be only TX'ing over Argentina 2256.000 26032 Kompsat 2256.220 25731 SJ-5 2267.520 32062 CBERS 1 2264.000 28891 Topsat 2282.500 25756 Kitsat-3 2282.500 27945 Kaistsat 2287.500 25994 Terra - may be uplinking to tdrss NASA/USAF Space Ground Link Subsystem (SGLS): (list supplied by xBr) Uplink Channel Downlink 1763.7210 Channel 01 2202.5 1767.7250 Channel 02 2207.5 1771.7290 Channel 03 2212.5 1775.7320 Channel 04 2217.5 1779.7360 Channel 05 2222.5 1783.7400 Channel 06 2227.5 1787.7440 Channel 07 2232.5 1791.7480 Channel 08 2237.5 1795.7520 Channel 09 2242.5 1799.7560 Channel 10 2247.5 1803.7600 Channel 11 2252.5 1807.7640 Channel 12 2257.5 1811.7680 Channel 13 2262.5 1815.7710 Channel 14 2267.5 1819.7750 Channel 15 2272.5 1823.7790 Channel 16 2277.5 1827.7830 Channel 17 2282.5 1831.7870 Channel 18 2287.5 1835.7910 Channel 19 2292.5 1839.7950 Channel 20 2297.5

The pictures below show FFT spectrum analysis of various S-Band downlinks - they were made using RF-Space SDR-14 or SDR-IQ software radios. There is a large collection of FFT pictures on the S-Band Gallery page.

2238.530 - Low earth orbit - TX is doppler corrected!	2237.483 AMS2 Low earth orbit - a wobbling carrier
2232.500 DSP 38W	2217.500 ISS / Space Shuttle
2202.005 Beidou-1M TT&C	2282.500 AIM -switching mode during pass
2278.377 ACE TT&C	2273.000 SAR-LUPE-2

The Spectran screen shot below is of the signal from the Smart-1 satellite that was in orbit around the Moon. The signal was very strong, peaking 20dB over noise in 2.5KHz. The nominal frequency of Smart-1 wass 2235.100MHz. This signal was captured on the 6th May 2006 at 18:46GMT. Further information on Smart-1 can be found here.

(above) Smart-1 2235.1MHz signal received on a 1.8m dish with 3.5 turn S-Band helical feed (as described above)

(above) METOP-A 2230MHz TT&C signal received on an S-Band omni a few days after launch.