Welcome! To The GI0DVU Website

One of the most interesting aspects of amateur radio operation is communication via satellite. Amateur satellites have come a long way since they first appeared in the sixties. Many of those currently in orbit are sophisticated communication and research satellites. AMSAT, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, is the principal organisation involved in the launch of the amateur satellite programme. However the Russians, particularly the old USSR, have also launched several amateur radio satellites and more recently, scientists at the University of Surrey have developed satellites designed specifically for amateur operation.

Space does not permit detailed discussion of satellite operation on this website. Suffice it to say that a variety of communication modes can be used, CW and SSB probably being the most popular. High duty cycle modes are discouraged as is the use of high power transmissions. Doppler shift is often experienced by ground stations but the degree of this depends on the satellite concerned, the frequency in use, the position of the satellite in its orbit, and the position of the ground station. Depending upon which satellite is within radio range, transmissions via satellite can cover great distances especially when propagation conditions are not favourable to long distance communication.

A new Amateur Radio satellite Delfi-C3 was launched at the end of April 2008. It was placed in a 630 km 90 degree sun-synchronous orbit from the Indian launch site at Sriharikota and carries a 70 cm to 2 metre linear transponder for SSB and CW working. The satellite was in telemetry only mode for approximately the first three months of it's mission, but the amateur radio 435 to 145MHz linear transponder onboard the satellite will be activated during the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium. The transponder mode beacon is on 145.870MHz CW. The linear transponder downlink is 145.880 - 145.920MHz and the linear transponder uplink is 435.570 - 435.530MHz. All frequencies are plus or minus Doppler shift that can be up to 2kHz at 145MHz

Russia has recently orbited a new amateur radio satellite designated as RS-30. The CW beacon is operational on 435.315MHz with reports of other signals also on 435.215MHz as well. It appears to be in a 1500km orbit, which would give a pass time of up to 20 minutes and enable stations over 7000km away to be worked.

Detailed information on satellite operation may be obtained from the  AMSAT UK website.

Amateur radio communication also takes place with licenced amateurs aboard the International Space Station. GB2RS reports radio amateurs have begun receiving SSTV images from the ISS using the new SpaceCam 1 software which has been designed to allow hams to download pictures of the crew aboard the space station.

Transmissions from the ISS take place on 145.800 MHz FM. To run the SpaceCam software you will need at least a 2 metre radio receiver and an omnidirectional antenna along with a PC to run SSTV software. Satellite tracking software such as  Heaven's Above or Satscape are worth lookinng at.


One of the first people to use SpaceCam 1 was David Worboys, M0ZLB who captured two pictures from the space station.. It took him around a minute to download the pictures.

A new page on the ISS and amateur radio operations has been added to  the site and may be viewed here.