Re: [amsat-bb] Navy space radar??

["Steven N. Bienvenu" <bienvenu@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Tony,

I second Bob's direction.  Point your beam toward a point about 
15-20 miles southwest of Wichita Falls, Texas, and listen patiently.
IF a satellite with enough radar area passes through the "fence" 
produced by the east-west beam, and IF it is at that instant above
your radio horizon you may hear it.  These last typically 100-200
milliseconds, and MAY be also be caused by meteors.  Large objects
such as the ISS, MIR and the Space Shuttle may be audible for
a few seconds.  All have significant doppler, with the 100-200
ms variety producing chirps and "whooshes".

For information, graphics and short .wav files you can listen to:

	http://www.science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast22dec98_1.htm

Check MIR passes that pass near the transmitter site (sw of Wichita
Falls)
and see if at that moment the craft is above your horizon...if it is,
you have a chance.  Remember, to hear specific spacecraft you may have
to calculate the resultant doppler-shifted frequency to be sure you
monitor the correct frequency(two doppler shifts occur).  For an initial
understanding of THIS problem try this page:

	http://members.aol.com/copradar/chapts/xappC/xappC.html

Just monitoring the 216.980 mHz frequency should net some returns,
however(see the web site mentioned above), if you are within
range/close enough. Significant time may pass between signals, and
monitoring with a recording program will allow you to detect rare
signals over a long period of time(I used a free demo of "Recall"
from Sagebrush Systems).  I find this works well for me.

I've enjoyed experimenting with this system...I hope you are able to
hear some returns.

73,

Steve Bienvenu  W5ZA   (Shreveport, La.-about 300 miles ESE of the site)

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