Thanks for all the responses on SO-50 preamps and portable setups. I'm still digesting the info.
TL;DR: I heard automated packet transmissions on the ISS packet frequency when the ISS wasn't in sight and recorded them to try and figure out who/what they are, but my software isn't decoding anything. Can you help me understand what they were, or even better, decode them yourself?
http://cupcakecarnival.net/sites/default/files/New_Jersey_Terrestrial_Packet...
http://cupcakecarnival.net/sites/default/files/New_Jersey_Terrestrial_Packet...
Here's another question that has me excited:
Yesterday after having visited with family in Maplewood, New Jersey for several days, I drove home to North Carolina. I knew there was an ISS pass at 10:26 AM/1426 UTC, right when I started my trip, so I tuned to 145.825 MHz and heard its digipeater easily.
Then I left the radio on.
I'm not sure where I was in NJ, but about one hour later, around 11:33 AM local/1533 UTC, I heard packet on the frequency again but I was confused because there weren't supposed to be any more passes for a while. I confirmed on my phone that the ISS was over some far away ocean at the time I was hearing these new transmissions, so I knew they must be terrestrial. Still, it seemed odd that someone or something was transmitting when the ISS wasn't in sight...
Maybe it's an internet gateway I thought. Or do people leave their stations on the ISS frequency 24/7 so they can "work" any pass that happens?
I tried recording videos of the transmissions for later decoding to figure out who or what it was. Eventually I realized it was transmitting every 2 minutes. It was almost certainly an automated setup, adding credence to the idea that this was an internet gateway. Unfortunately, before I realized that, and after recording one video of it, the best reception I received during my drive by "pass," I wasn't recording. As I drove further away it only got weaker and weaker. I did manage to get two half way decent recordings of it, but I have tried decoding them with Soundmodem on Windows and it's not printing out anything like it normally does. I am very new to packet, only becoming interested in it because the ISS uses it, so I thought maybe someone else might be more equipped to decode it. Or certainly someone could shed some light on what I heard, maybe the operator in NJ is on this list.
I used Audacity to record the audio off the videos I made as well trim and amplify the audio, but I haven't done anything else, though if someone wants the unedited videos I can put them up too.
http://cupcakecarnival.net/sites/default/files/New_Jersey_Terrestrial_Packet...
http://cupcakecarnival.net/sites/default/files/New_Jersey_Terrestrial_Packet...
John Brier, KG4AKV, Raleigh, NC, FM05