COSPAS-SARSAT reception with RTL SDR and cheap WorldSpace patch antenna
This video shows how strong the downlink of the SARSAT payload on board most of the NOAA satellites can be picked up with a fairly simple antenna and built-in preamp and a 15$ RTL SDR (DVB-T USB dongle). The antenna is actually designed for the WorldSpace radio system operating on a frequency range 50-70MHz further downwards, but it seems to work well also on this frequency band. It also shows that besides the EPIRB distress beacons a lot of other transmissions originating from the +/- 406 MHz range in sight of the satellite are accidentally retransmitted. :-)
This video shows how strong the downlink of the SARSAT payload on board most of the NOAA satellites can be picked up with a fairly simple antenna and built-in preamp and a 15$ RTL SDR (DVB-T USB dongle). The antenna is actually designed for the WorldSpace radio system operating on a frequency range 50-70MHz further downwards, but it seems to work well also on this frequency band. It also shows that besides the EPIRB distress beacons a lot of other transmissions originating from the +/- 406 MHz range in sight of the satellite are accidentally retransmitted. :-)