INTERCEPTING RADIO SIGNALS FROM THE SECRETIVE SOVIET SPACE PROGRAM DURING THE COLD WAR ERA SATELLITE SIGNALS RECEIVED FROM MY HOME IN SHERWOOD, ARKANSAS USA AARON GEORGE BAILEY - WA5HRC |
SCOOPING UP SATELLITE SIGNALS WITH SOME OF MY BEST HOMEMADE ANTENNAS |
| 100 MHz Discone |
| 143.625 & 142.417 MHz Dipole |
| 121.750 MHz Quagi |
| 20 MHz Short-Wave Dipole |
| Soviet Tracking Ship(s) stationed in the Western Atlantic or the Gulf of Mexico |
| Downlink Signals from Soyuz, Salyut 6 & 7 + Mir + Kosmos 1267, 1443 & 1686 + China 1 & 2 |
| Early one morning in the first part of 1978, I received a 121.750MHz voice transmission from the Salyut-6/Soyuz-27 orbiting complex. The Cosmonaut put out a call, trying to establish contact with the Tracking Ship Yuri Gagarin, named in honor of the first man in space. Click to hear that transmission. Click below to read how I done this. |
| See my EQUIPMENT SETUP in 1978 for RECEIVING 121.750 MHz VOICE SIGNALS from SALYUT- 6 and SOYUZ INTERCEPTING RADIO SIGNALS FROM THE SOVIET SPACE PROGRAM - My 121.750 MHz Radio CONTINUED ON PAGE TWO |
| Not shown in the above pictures is my 80 Meter Wire Loop which is the BEST muli-band HF antenna I've ever used. For receiving it reduces fading (frequency diversity) and it has lower noise than a dipole. And unlike a dipole, it is resonant at EVEN harmonics as well as ODD harmonics. It works equally well as a muli-band transmitting antenna when used with homemade Open Line Feeder and a Tuner. It is my secret weapon when operating with the low power HW-8, enabling me to make Ham radio contacts all over the world. Newcomers to the SHORTWAVE Radio Hobby, DON'T buy an expensive antenna. I recommend building a wire Loop Antenna. WARNING- STAY CLEAR OF POWER LINES I made mine out of old telegraph wire. Use 12 gauge copper wire and make its total length as long as your property will permit. Try erecting it in a square but any odd shape will work. It is forgiving. For starters, just feed it with RG-58U Coax. You will like it. |
| I take pride in my antenna work, like forming the ends in a special way. The small wire is a pruning stub. |
| ATTENTION- Newcomers to hobby radio, BE ADVISED, you wanta fast fry a radio receiver, just leave it hooked to a sky wire antenna during a lightning storm, and presto, you got yourself a boat anchor, or door stop, take your pick? Disconnect the antenna from your radio and get the feedline OUT OF and AWAY FROM your radio shack at the first hint of a thunderstorm. Make a grounding block for your antennas.-SEE BELOW Also, unplug your electronic gear from the AC power outlet. Air is one of the best insulators and lightning can arc through thousands of feet of air. Even with your radio switched OFF, the tiny air gap of the ON-OFF switch will not stop lightning. Even a nearby lighting strike can create high voltage spikes that ride in on a phone or cable TV line as well as the power line. So, DISCONNECT, UNPLUG, this goes for computers too. A Surge Suppressor is good, within limits, but it cannot handle a close lightning strike. Lightning / voltage spike damage does not always make a clean kill on electronic gear. Oftentimes the damage is limited and it will manifest itself in strange ways, quirky behavior, and features that don't work. I know, because I have a piece of damaged gear that was PLUGGED IN & SWITCHED OFF, when lightning hit. |
| HOMEMADE OPEN LINE IS USED TO FEED MY 80 METER WIRE LOOP -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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