# Satellite Hacking ## Goals 1. To communicate between north bay and seattle neg9 groups via satellite 1. To scan the sky, listen for, and intercept interesting data ### Goal Hardware Requirements * Antenna 2m SSB (Single Side Band 12-14dB gain is preferrable) * Rotor * Pre-Amp ( Pre-Amps __can__ boost your signal(s) by as much as 10dB, also help overcome long coax runs ) * Receiver ( Should cover 135 - 145Mhz, 435-437Mhz, 1.2Ghz, tune increments of 10-20Hz, 9600Bps Dig I/O Converter, and Non standard FM offsets should be available ) * DSP Modem ### Goal 1 General Information The analog satellites have voice and CW (Morse code) signals, as well as occasional [RTTY](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioteletype) (Radio TeleType) and [SSTV](javascript:void(0);<!--/*1277536355338*/-->) (Slow Scan Television) signals. All satellites also transmit telemetry signals, such as how much power the satellite is using to transmit, the satellite's temperature, solar cell current and many other interesting things. This telemetry is transmitted as AX.25 (packet data). Some data is also sent using ASCII, CW or RTTY. In order to accomplish a site to site link through an AMSAT connection the RTTY connection must be utilized. Albeit a slow connection it will enable RTTY communication direct cable-less link between [Seattle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle) Neg9 and [NorCal](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norcal) Neg9. An alternative to communicating via satellite due to its speed limitations is by Radio communication via [Packet Radio](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packet_radio) that relies on regular TCP/IP framework once link is established. ### Additional Information of Interest There are two kinds of weather satellites. They can either be geostationary or spinning in polar orbits around the earth. Geostationary satellites are satellites 36000km above our heads, whose position in space relative to us on earth never changes. Once you point your antenna at them you won't have to move it again. The [European Meteosat](http://www.eumetsat.int/Home/index.htm) satellite and the [American Goes](http://www.goes.noaa.gov/) satellites are geostationary weather satellites. Meteosat transmits continuously on 1.69GHz, and can be received using small satellite dish, a receive converter which converts the 1.67GHz into 137MHz, a receiver capable of receiving 137MHz with a 30KHz bandwidth, a simple interface to convert the receiver's analog data into digital data which is fed into the computer through the serial port. Shareware software like JVFAX 7.0 will then decode these signals and give you a photo on screen just like those in the weather forecasts you see on TV. The dish runs for $50-$100, the receive converter is about $150-$200, the receiver ranges from $100 to $500, and the software is shareware. There are also polar weather satellites. Among these are the [Russian Meteors](http://sputnik.infospace.ru/) and the [American Noaas](http://www.nws.noaa.gov/). These satellites have very low orbits (~1000Km) compared to those of geostationary satellites (~36000Km). Their photos are thus a lot more detailed, but will cover only a small portion of the earth. They transmit at around 137MHz, and can be received using a couple of simple round dipole antennas. The equipment needed is the same as for the Meteosat, with the difference in antennas and the unnecessary receive converter. ## Resources * http://www.blackhat.com/presentations/bh-dc-09/Laurie/BlackHat-DC-09-Laurie-Satellite-Hacking.pdf * http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5688983951037724249# * https://media.blackhat.com/bh-dc-09/video/Laurie/blackhat-dc-09-Laurie-Satellite-Hacking.mov * http://www.logsat.com/lsp-more-about-satellites.asp * http://heavens-above.com/?lat=0&lng=0&alt=0&loc=Unspecified&TZ=CET * AMSAT LOCATIONS from Santa Rosa POV * * [http://heavens-above.com/amateursats.asp?lat=38.4418&lng=%20-122.7234%20&loc=SantaRosa&alt=0&tz=CET](http://heavens-above.com/amateursats.asp?lat=38.4418&lng=%20-122.7234%20&loc=SantaRosa&alt=0&tz=CET) * AMSAT LOCATIONS from Seattle POV * * [http://heavens-above.com/amateursats.asp?lat=47.5793&lng=%20-122.3396&loc=Seattle&alt=0&tz=CET](http://heavens-above.com/amateursats.asp?lat=47.5793&lng=%20-122.3396&loc=Seattle&alt=0&tz=CET) * http://www.blackhat.com/presentations/bh-dc-10/Nve_Leonardo/BlackHat-DC-2010-Nve-Playing-with-SAT-1.2-wp.pdf * http://dvbsnoop.sourceforge.net/ * http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2009/04/fleetcom ---- CategoryProjects