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UHF-Satcom.com - X-Band satellite monitoring updated: (04/03/2010 10:55:26 -0000)
New : handy X-band satellite beacon summary
Many satellites carry X-band (7250 MHz to 7750 MHz) payloads - mostly for military communications. Some military payloads share a common spacecraft bus with TV payloads, for example the Syracuse military payload aboard the French Telecom satellites. You are not likely to hear any clear audio or data traffic via these satellites, except for Sicral-1 which has two cross-strapped UHF to X-band / Ka-Band transponders. If you like exotic waveforms, then X-Band does offer the chance to see a lot of data modes in use. Typically the traffic is either frequency hopping, time / code division multiplex, PSK, spread spectrum or IP DVB-S . You can however easily see these signals on a spectrum analyser or SDR. Details of X-Band receive hardware and ground segments have been split out into the X-Band Hardware page.
Regular readers of this page include Paradigm Communications who run the Skynet satellites for the British Military, and Thales-Group / Thales Computers who regularly visit this page for Syracuse info. Many other satcom companies and operators use this page for up to date beacon frequency information.
The SHF frequency list below has been compiled from internet sources and reception reports etc. All frequencies in the list have been verified and were active on the date given under the satellite name / orbital slot position.
If you are using this list, please contribute with updates, which can be sent anonymously via email to xband at uhf-satcom.com - beacon frequencies are particularly welcome along with satellite name / orbital slot etc.
Position Freq(MHz) Modulation Scheme / Comments (Frequencies logged by pjm & nils) 175 East TBA WGS-1 63 East TBA SATCOMBw Stage2 60 East 7446.000 16 MHz wide PSK WGS 2 7466.500 15 MHz wide PSK (27.12.09) 7600.000 Carrier with TT&C Data +-1024kHz of Carrier (Probably SGLS standard) 57 East 7583.000 PSK DSCS 3-8 7600.000 TTC (26.12.09) 7604.707 TTC (No user tfc) 7674.701 Continuous carrier 53 East 7256.200 Continuous carrier Skynet 5B LHC 7267.220 PSK (26.12.09) 7269.140 PSK 7269.425 PSK 7270.300 PSK 7284.685 Framed PSK 7284.735 Framed PSK 7284.785 Framed PSK 7284.875 Framed PSK 7284.935 Framed PSK 7285.560 Framed PSK 7285.760 Framed PSK 7285.960 Framed PSK 7286.360 Framed PSK 7287.300 PSK 7293.000 PSK 7295.000 PSK 7330.560 PSK 7331.090 PSK 7334.415 PSK 7334.730 PSK 7335.130 PSK 7436.400 PSK 7445.786 Continuous carrier 7495.350 PSK (possible TT&C) 7495.800 Beacon / Continuous carrier 7495.845 TT&C (possibly regenerative) 7496.160 TT&C generated on board satellite 7689.400 PSK 47 East 7268.000 PSK Syracuse 3A LHC 7269.000 PSK (27.12.09) 7272.000 PSK 650MHz offset 7273.000 Weak PSK 7284.000 Beacon / Continuous carrier 7300.300 PSK 7301.100 PSK 7302.750 PSK 7326.500 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7327.000 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7328.200 PSK 7329.700 PSK 7378.000 PSK 7433.100 Wide PSK 7435.600 Wide PSK 7500.500 PSK 7507.500 Wide PSK 7512.000 PSK 7533.925 Narrow band PSK 7554.075 PSK 7554.400 PSK 7554.750 PSK 7612.200 PSK modem (idle) 7616.700 PSK modem (idle) 7720.000 DSSS TT&C (Identical to 7560/7580 from Telecom 2x) 7737.500 TT&C generated on board the satellite (sidebands at +-40Khz, +-82KHz) 42 East 7410.000 Beacon / Continuous carrier Turksat 2A LHC 7431.000 Framed telemetry (19.11.06) 7431.600 Framed telemetry 7431.800 to 7437.400 Framed telemetry every 200KHz 7460.250 Strong PSK (idle) 7460.750 PSK 7469.250 PSK 7469.750 PSK 7490.200 PSK 7491.000 PSK 7500.000 PSK 7501.000 PSK 7505.000 PSK 7506.000 PSK 7507.000 PSK 7508.000 PSK 7512.000 PSK 7513.000 PSK 7515.000 PSK 7522.000 Wideband PSK 7546.000 PSK 7548.000 PSK 7550.000 PSK 7552.000 PSK 7554.000 PSK 7558.000 PSK 7559.000 Very weak PSK 7560.000 PSK 7561.000 Very weak PSK 7562.000 PSK 7564.000 PSK 7556.000 PSK 7568.000 PSK 35 East 7249.995 Beacon / Continuous carrier (probably 10X 725~MHz used for TX/RX split) Nato 4B (NIVb) 7345.000 Beacon / Continuous carrier (strong) No signals! 7365.000 Beacon / Continuous carrier (not always on) (1.09.08) 7587.500 Beacon / Continuous carrier 35 East 7249.997 Beacon / Continuous carrier Skynet 4E LHC 7326.800 Beacon / Continuous carrier (1.09.08) 7368.438 Continuous carrier 7397.500 TT&C Beacon (verified) 800bps BPSK 29 East 7251.001 Beacon / Continuous carrier Xtar-EU LHC 7419.500 Strong PSK (25.12.07) 7420.000 PSK 7508.250 PSK with multiple streams 7574.500 Idle PSK modem 7618.000 PSK 7623.500 PSK 7626.655 PSK 7629.550 PSK 7634.000 Massivly strong carrier 7638.250 PSK 7662.500 Carrier with sidebands 7669.000 PSK - possibly DVB data 7720.750 PSK carrier at CF 7730.250 PSK carrier at CF 7748.994 TT&C 16.3 East 7257.400 PSK Sicral LHC 7259.500 PSK PDF on Sicral 7393.200 UHF TPX cross-strap (17.11.07) 7393.310 Continuous carrier weak 712.5MHz offset 7393.330 FM - pirates accessing Sicral, recordings here and here 7393.350 UHF TPX cross-strap 7408.100 UHF TPX cross-strap carrying low rate PSK or FSK data. 100KHz wide. 7408.250 UHF TPX cross-strap 7500.000 TT&C (sidebands at 7499.937 and 7500.063 also framing once per second, carrier +-125KHz) 7504.900 WFM relay of German language radio station (QRT when checked 16/7/2006) 7516.400 Very strong PSK 150KHz wide 7518.950 PSK 7525.850 PSK 7528.500 PSK 1.5MHz wide 7530.500 PSK 7534.550 PSK 7539.725 PSK 7547.500 PSK 7554.250 PSK 7555.250 PSK 7556.250 PSK strong 11.94 East 7249.375 Continuous carrier Sicral-1B LHC 7259.600 PSK 4MHz wide (26.12.09) 7284.150 PSK 712.5MHz offset 7305.000 TTC beacon (sidebands +- 312KHz) 7405.000 TTC beacon (sidebands +- 312KHz) 7515.000 Continuous carrier 7572.902 Continuous carrier (weak) 7587.700 PSK 7587.960 PSK 7590.575 PSK 7591.5625 PSK 7594.675 PSK 7596.575 PSK 7598.000 PSK 7598.950 PSK 7600.000 TTC beacon (sidebands +- 30KHz) 7601.650 PSK 7602.150 PSK 7603.900 PSK 7605.700 Continuous carrier (weak) 7609.000 PSK 2MHz wide 7611.050 PSK 7612.120 PSK 7612.925 PSK 7700.905 PSK 7702.200 PSK 7703.310 PSK 7704.050 PSK 7704.900 PSK 7709.0675 PSK 7709.4375 PSK 7710.850 PSK 7715.400 PSK 7716.800 PSK 7717.800 PSK 7723.450 PSK 7368.000 Continuous carrier Strong (possibly the beacon) 8.5 East Inc. 7294.000 +- 5MHz Frequency hopping modem DSP-F20 (281106) 5.7 East 7275.000 PSK Skynet 4C LHC 7331.500 TT&C Inclined Orbit 7344.625 spurious carrier (27.12.09) 3.1 east 7580.000 DSSS TT&C Telecom 2C LHC 7602.500 TT&C generated on board the satellite (sidebands at +-40Khz, +-82KHz) (18.10.07) Note: No user traffic has been seen on this satellite. Transponders From To Bandwidth (note these are 7559.6875 7560.3125 625KHz observed from 7579.6875 7580.3125 625KHz (currently carrying TT&C) noise floor 7599.6875 7600.3125 625KHz measurements) 7400 7440 40MHz 7335 7375 40MHz 7250 7310 60MHz - Tpx currently in use 7665 7745 80MHz 7562.45 7562.55 100KHz 7582.45 7582.55 100KHz 7567.5 7572.5 5MHz 7587.5 7592.5 5MHz 7607.5 7612.5 5MHz 7465 7505 40MHz 1.1 West 7250.900 PSK Skynet 5A LHC 7251.225 PSK (27.12.09) 7251.650 PSK 7252.400 PSK 7253.100 Narrow PSK 7253.400 Narrow PSK 7253.800 PSK 7254.250 PSK 7254.600 PSK (cyclic frames) 7257.500 PSK 7259.200 2MHz wide PSK 7260.850 PSK 7261.650 PSK 7264.250 2MHz wide PSK 7265.850 Narrow band Framed PSK modem 7265.900 Narrow band Framed PSK modem 7266.200 Narrow band Framed PSK modem 7266.525 Narrow band Framed PSK modem 7266.725 Narrow band Framed PSK modem 7267.125 Narrow band Framed PSK modem 7281.125 PSK 7286.160 Narrow band Framed PSK modem 7286.220 Narrow band Framed PSK modem 7286.260 Narrow band Framed PSK modem 7286.310 Narrow band Framed PSK modem 7286.840 Narrow band Framed PSK modem 7286.440 Narrow band Framed PSK modem 7303.900 PSK 7305.000 PSK 7306.800 PSK (carrier at CF) 7308.925 weak PSK 7309.400 weak PSK 7310.225 PSK 7311.100 PSK 7335.550 Idle PSK modem 7336.600 PSK 7336.925 PSK 7344.590 strong PSK 7344.900 strong PSK 7345.150 strong PSK 7345.700 Possible ranging tones (possibly from SN4C at 1.1W inclined orbit) 7345.960 PSK 7347.100 1.5MHz wide PSK 7348.600 PSK 7349.800 PSK modem in idle 7390.965 Continuous carrier 7405.750 Frequency hopping modem 7433.100 narrow band PSK 7433.200 narrow band PSK 7434.350 1.75MHz wide PSK 7458.400 PSK modem in idle 7460.200 PSK modem in idle 7463.200 PSK modem in idle 7466.150 PSK 7493.550 PSK 7494.000 TT&C QPSK? 7494.045 Narrow band Framed PSK modem 7494.360 Narrow band PSK 7741.675 Very strong PSK 5 West 7255.000 - 7290 Frequency hopping PSK modem Syracuse 3B LHC 7312.300 PSK - Carrier at CF (26.12.09) 7320.000 Continuous carrier 650MHz offset 7332.000 PSK - Carrier at CF 7333.050 PSK - Carrier at CF 7333.650 PSK 7335.000 PSK 7337.000 PSK 7339.000 PSK - Carrier at CF 7353.508 PSK - Carrier at CF 7357.500 PSK 7362.750 PSK 7364.350 PSK 7367.900 PSK 7368.800 PSK 7374.500 PSK 7375.950 PSK 7383.650 PSK - Carrier at CF 7385.300 PSK - Carrier at CF 7421.350 QPSK 1623KSym/sec 7425.000 PSK 7458.500 QPSK 1230KSym/sec 7466.000 PSK 7473.800 QPSK 1230KSym/sec 7477.000 PSK 7483.000 PSK 7485.000 PSK 7487.000 PSK 7489.000 PSK 7555.800 PSK 7626.500 PSK 7636.150 QPSK 1230KSym/sec 7638.900 QPSK 1230KSym/sec 7705.000 DSSS TT&C Beacon (Identical to 7560/7580 from Telecom 2x) 7722.500 TT&C Beacon generated on board the satellite (sidebands at +-40Khz, +-82KHz) 8 West 7268.000 Carrier possibly ranging Telecom 2D LHC 7292.900 500KHz PSK (20.02.07) 7296.000 PSK 7560.000 DSSS TT&C Beacon 7582.500 TT&C generated on board the satellite (sidebands at +-40Khz, +-82KHz) Note: virtually no user traffic is on this satellite - perhaps its being prepared for decommissioning Transponders From To Bandwidth (note these are 7559.6875 7560.3125 625KHz (currently carrying TT&C) observed from 7579.6875 7580.3125 625KHz noise floor 7599.6875 7600.3125 625KHz measurements) 7400 7440 40MHz 7335 7375 40MHz 7250 7310 60MHz 7665 7745 80MHz 7562.45 7562.55 100KHz 7582.45 7582.55 100KHz (7582.500 Carrier with 2 sidebands) 7567.5 7572.5 5MHz 7587.5 7592.5 5MHz 7607.5 7612.5 5MHz 7465 7505 40MHz 12 West 7250.000 Beacon / Continuous carrier DCSC III-12 LHC 7265.000 PSK (18.10.07) 7277.300 PSK 7283.600 1.5MHz wide PSK 7295.400 2MHz wide PSK 7298.500 1MHz wide PSK 7320.000 PSK 7333.600 Narrow band PSK 7333.800 Narrow band PSK 7429.000 PSK 7451.500 PSK 800KHz wide 7453.600 PSK 7463.000 1MHz Wide PSK 7526.500 PSK 7534.500 PSK 7549.600 Narrow band PSK 7549.800 Keyed narrow band PSK 7600.000 TT&C (EC Beacon 1 Frequency - 1000bps BPSK) 7604.708 TT&C (EC Beacon 2 Frequency - 1000bps BPSK) 7671.905 narrow band FSK framed data 7671.980 two stations tx'ing framed data 7672.605 30KHz wide framed data (similar format that that on Skynet 5A) 7672.700 30KHz wide framed data (similar format that that on Skynet 5A) 7700.300 PSK 7706.000 Beacon / Continuous carrier 17.9 West 7346.600 QPSK 1623KSym/sec Skynet 5C LHC 7356.400 QPSK 1623KSym/sec (27.12.09) 7359.250 PSK 7413.250 QPSK 1623KSym/sec 7491.74904 PSK 7492.200 Beacon / Continuous carrier 7492.24404 PSK 7492.55904 PSK 7561.000 QPSK 2960 1/2 DVB-S PID16,60,62,100,200,900,902 (encrypted TCP/IP traffic) 18 West. 7293.700 +- 6.4MHz Frequency hopping modem DSP-unknown LHC (18.1.08) 30 West 7250.506 TT&C Beacon multiple sidebands SpainSat LHC 7261.500 Weak PSK 7262.300 Weak PSK (29.11.06) 7300.000 Beacon / Continuous carrier 7312.000 Beacon / Continuous carrier 7347.600 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7348.000 Strong PSK with pilot tone at CF 7351.200 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7351.850 Narrow band PSK 7353.350 PSK 7353.750 PSK 7354.400 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7354.800 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7355.150 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7355.450 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7355.680 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7356.000 Strong PSK 7356.270 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7357.350 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7357.750 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7358.070 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7358.430 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7358.800 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7359.230 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7359.300 Narrow PSK with pilot tone at CF 7360.320 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7360.690 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7361.000 PSK 7361.330 PSK 7361.850 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7362.190 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7362.950 PSK 7363.860058 PSK 7365.000 PSK 7366.060 Narrow PSK 7366.600 Idle PSK modem 7368.775 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7369.925 PSK 7370.390 PSK 7370.830 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7371.380 PSK 7372.150 PSK 7373.200 PSK 7374.300 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7374.750 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7375.070 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7375.910 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7376.150 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7376.850 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7377.220 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7378.950 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7379.570 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7380.250 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7380.850 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7381.500 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7382.950 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7383.750 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7384.400 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7394.630 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7395.160 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7397.950 Wide PSK 7400.150 Wide PSK 7402.800 Wide PSK 7404.960 Wide PSK with pilot tone at CF 7406.640 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7415.880 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7418.100 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7418.990 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7420.330 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7436.070 Strong PSK with pilot tone at CF 7436.530 Strong PSK with pilot tone at CF 7437.500 Strong PSK with pilot tone at CF 7438.000 Very strong PSK with pilot tone at CF 7438.300 Strong PSK with pilot tone at CF 7493.000 Beacon / Continuous carrier 7494.325 Narrow PSK 7494.660 Idle PSK modem 7532.000 PSK with pilot tone at CF 7565.115 Narrow PSK modem 7665.465 Wide PSK 7665.970 Narrow PSK RHC 7749.504 TT&C Beacon multiple sidebands 34 West 7250.001 Beacon / Continuous carrier Skynet 4f LHC 7250.026 Continuous carrier (26.12.09) 7425.000 PSK 7425.300 PSK Narrow band 7426.000 PSK Narrow band 7426.100 PSK 7426.300 PSK 7428.800 PSK 7429.130 PSK 7429.950 PSK 7432.600 PSK 7432.900 PSK 7434.500 PSK 7435.000 PSK 7437.900 PSK 7438.190 PSK 7456.300 PSK 7456.700 PSK 7458.500 PSK Narrow band 7458.700 PSK 7459.000 PSK 7460.000 PSK 7460.400 PSK 7460.600 PSK 7540.001 Beacon / Continuous carrier (strong) 7557.000 PSK 7569.875 PSK 7620.500 PSK 7621.000 PSK 37 West SATCOMBw Stage2 39.4 West LHC 7293.700 Frequency hopping modem 6.4MHz bandwidth Milstar DFS1 52.5 West 7300.000 10MHz wide FHSS modem carrying low-rate PSK data, possibly the SCT DSCS-3 LHC 7488.000 PSK (26.12.09) 7489.000 PSK 7600.000 TT&C (EC Beacon 1 Frequency - verified) 7604.706 TT&C (EC Beacon 2 Frequency - verified) 7749.125 Framed PSK 7749.200 Two stations exchanging data (slight freq offset between TX's) 7749.425 PSK 7749.525 PSK
DSCSIII Transponder layout (models A-1,A-2,B-4,B-5 and B-7) 7250.000 to 7310.000 TPX1 60MHz bandwidth (SCT UHF crosslink) 7335.000 to 7395.000 TPX2 60MHz bandwidth 7420.000 to 7505.000 TPX3 85MHz bandwidth 7530.000 to 7590.000 TPX4 60MHz bandwidth 7615.000 to 7675.000 TPX5 60MHz bandwidth 7700.000 to 7750.000 TPX6 50MHz bandwidth DSCSIII Transponder layout (A-3,B-6,B-8,B-9,B-10,B-11,B-12,B-13 and B-14) 7250.000 to 7300.000 TPX1 50MHz bandwidth (SCT UHF crosslink) 7315.000 to 7390.000 TPX2 75MHz bandwidth 7405.000 to 7490.000 TPX3 85MHz bandwidth 7505.000 to 7590.000 TPX4 85MHz bandwidth 7615.000 to 7675.000 TPX5 60MHz bandwidth 7700.000 to 7750.000 TPX6 50MHz bandwidth
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7580.000 MHz beacon from Telecom 2c at 3.1 East:
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7395.000 MHz beacon from Skynet 4D at 34 West
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7454.000 MHz - FHSS modem from 1West Skynet 4C |
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7622.900 MHz - Tracking Telemetry and Command from 1West Skynet 4C |
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7431.000 MHz from Turksat 42east - multiple framed carriers |
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7504.900 MHz from Sicral 16.2e - a German language
radio feeder - note in the 'quiet' period you can see the 19 KHz stereo pilot
either side of the main carrier. This is now off the air. |
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7250.500 MHz RHC TT&C from the newly launched SpainSat, on station at 30w. A similar TT&C exists in LHC at 7749.500 MHz |
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7421.30245 MHz RHC Classic DSSS signal from Skynet at 1.1 west. |
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7402.930 MHz TT&C from Nato 4A at 17.8 West |
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7260.000 MHz TT&C from DSP-2 at 28.7 East. This TT&C is similar to that from Telecom / Syracuse, presumably a similar format in use. |
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7570.000 MHz transponder tests via Syracuse-3B at 5west - note the high phase noise of the programmable synthesiser. |
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7553.100 MHz signal from Skynet 4C at 1.1west. Possibly ranging? Also to the right is a normal PSK modem. |