Is North Korea's Spy Satellite Legit? 

I have never checked my cat's polarization, but I know she isn't radioactive.

I left a thumbs up as soon as I heard, "Remember to always check the polarity of your cat before doing any serious ham radio work." That's when I knew I was watching professional level content.

I was just chatting with my wife about this launch and said "I watch this really awesome guy on youtube who I bet will try and track it." And then got to explain to her all about your absolutely wonderful channel and how fascinating it is. Favorite channel I have found in a long time and thanks for giving me more excuses to hoard all the gizmos I do!

What a great video and a brilliant little channel this is. This is exactly what this hobby is about, having an idea and testing stuff out.

The frequency information comes from a SatNOGS forum thread where someone spotted a signal at that frequency when looking for the older DPRK satellite, the KMS-4. As far as I know that has never been confirmed to be from KMS-4 or even come from a satellite at all. The KMS satellites are also said to have X-band hardware, meaning downlink frequency around 8 GHz, possibly with a directional antenna only transmitting when in sight of a ground station. You can receive modern satellites in the 466 MHz band, it's used by weather satellites for negotiating with ground-based sensors. The MetOp-B and SARAL satellites transmit a very narrow signal at 465.988 MHz, while the ARGOS-4/Gazelle and OceanSat-3 satellites use a new downlink type on 466 MHz that's over 2 MHz wide, you would need to use a sample rate of at least 4 MHz to clearly see it against the interference.

It doesn't matter that you're not an expert. You're doing a great job. You can also see that you are having fun. You also explain everything clearly. For me one of the best channels if you love technology. Thanks for that :)

In 1957 I listened to Sputnik on 20 MHz using a Hallicrafters receiver made in the 1930s. :^)

This is one of the craziest videos I've ever seen. Two cat scans and a North Korean spy satellite investigation? All this needs is a laptop covered in snow and a giant Hogwash sign... wait... OH MY GAWD!!!

Cat polarity is crucial to the success of any radio activity. Edit: I've heard a few people mention that they assume that the NK satellite will only transmit as it's going over NK

You should be able to pick it up at 468.738 MHz using basic FM modulation. Use Orbitron or similar to predict orbit path. It's in LEO so you will need to point the antenna and move it as it moves across the sky. I've never done this manually but am amazed at seeing some of your past results. I used to downlink from foreign remote sensing satellites every day for work, but I had a multi-million dollar ground station at my disposal and the antenna tracked satellites automatically.

If no one in modern society can remember old tech, it could be considered still viable...

Nice, here some date you can use. Frequencies: Downlink frequency on 27 MHz Downlink frequency on 470 MHz (470,028Hmz) UHF uplink frequency unknown Downlink frequency on 470 MHz, UHF uplink frequency unknown X-band downlink frequency unknown

4:40 Gotta love that magnetometer calibration wave.

I know that phone hand motion! Map Accuracy was low, calibration needed, lol! I'm glad I found your channel, great stuff!

Channels like yours always fascinated me. you're doing in your garage what otherwise is only done in million dollar projects and companies. it reminds me of the "old youtube". I'm sure many here remember it, where half the content was cat videos and the other half was videos by tech enthusiasts. I hope your channel will continue to do well!

I appreciate the time you spent on this en-devour. Keep up the strong work.

To be fair, if I built a spy satellite for spying on the usa, i would probably set its transmitter to power down while outside the position my own country can send/receive radio to it. It would probably just target the area they wanted to spy on, take photos passively, then power back up once it was over korea and transmit down the data. Perhaps you should take a weekend vacation in south korea and bring your gear to the hotel. :)

I'm about to watch but I had to say that I'm SUPER HAPPY that you did this! When I first saw that they launched something I was wondering if you were going to try and "contact" it haha Cheers, Blessings, and please keep up the great videos!

This channel is great. I can't believe it only has 150k subs. I love very video. I'm binging on the older content. So awesome.

Man I have been following your channel for a while now. Your content and your personallity is so heartwarming. Just wanted to say best wishes for you.

man, I love that collection of dishes you have. Brilliant stuff.

SUBSCRIBED ! Already love your content, but this pipped it - cant wait for the updates !!!

Love the humor! Great channel, keep being you!!

Have you tried a circular polarized "Egg Beater" antenna? Not as much gain as a yagi but doesn't require aiming. You could also get rigs for ham radio that enable people to control the antenna as the satellite arcs through the sky. Since there are many amateur satellites and repeaters on 400Mhz, did you try your methods on those known signals. For example SO50 and the ISS come to mind as satilite repeaters that are relatively easy to work. I had success working satellites with a Arrow yagi antenna making some contacts with a 5w Yaesu HT. Even once receiving a beacon from a palm sized cube sat. Since many satellites tumble through space, the polarization of the antenna is sometimes continuously changing as it arcs across the sky. Meaning with an antenna like a yagi, you have to rotate the antenna to get optimal signal. Also the mode of satellite matters too.Not everything is FM. I would venture to guess any government satellite is running some sort of encrypted digital format in a much a higher frequency band to pass more data. However, it's possible the satilite might have a back-up 400MHz transceiver on board. Some satellites will have a separate transmitter to transmit the health of the systems on board. For those in the USA who want to work satellites, all you need a Technician class Amateur radio license, a 2m/70cm FM HT with two VFOs (or two radios to receive and transmit), and a UHF/VHF yagi. While Arrow makes one that is ready to go, there are plans to make them out of a tape measure and PVC pipe. The ISS is by far the easiest to receive and hit. It's possible to receive it with just stock antenna. Some people are far more invested in the hobby with radios like the Icom 9700 controlled by software that also tracks their antenna.

This type of ad-hoc video are / was awesome.

Just a nice video as always. Its important to show stuff like this too. Not only the super flashy "OMG look what i can do vids". So often its much more to learn from a nagativ result than a postive one. Keep you reat content going! THX!

As soon as I heard about the NK satellite your channel was the 1st thing I thought to check! Thanks for the update

BTW, ham radio transmissions are NOT in the 460+ MHz range. There are some in the 430-440+ MHz but there wouldn't be any interference between the two ranges unless the North Koreans are using over the counter Chinese radios which are pretty dirty.

I rarely ever understand much of what you're saying, but I really enjoy watching your videos. Find that stuff that's out there!

I LOVE HOW YOU ARE EXPLAING THIS STUFF

I really appreciate you documenting the less-successful ventures along with the great successes!

You sir have some fascinating topics, very much appreciated 🤙

thanks for the video! that was really interesting and thanks for the shout-out!

was waiting for this vid as soon as I heard about their new sat

great! this was the last straw to join the patreon. looking forward to more

4:13 I think your earlier comment about "old School" is applicable here. What is that in terms of modern day satellite stuff?

Oh that was cool! Was hoping we'd hear something

Love this channel, great video

You put up solid videos! Keep it up!

I am currently listening to the South Korean shortwave radio on 3955 kHz. There was just a report about the North Korean spy satellite; it seems to have already transmitted images. According to the information, some additional tests are still required, and then it will officially become operational.

thx for the content. we love it!

Love your videos keep posting 🎊

There are still some active downlinks in the 460s, you just need the bandwidth sample to get above noise floor. But I have noticed a carrier with no (discernible to me) data at 1417.6 (best guess at an average with unknown doppler shift) mega hurtings, which I thought was guarded for RA. My listening gear is all scrap/salvage/borrowed or Strategically Transferred Equipment (you know,) to Alternative Location. I imagine that you can relate. But I'm IVO a certain SE US port city so maybe that's why I got something. Just odd the band and the timing.

Good video. Thank You, JR

No Effort November.

Very cool and enternatining. Cat scans are a must

Commenting to help the Algorithm! Your videos (Even the adhoc ones) have greatly improved. I'm glad your channel is getting the attention it deserves.

This guys wholesomeness ranks right up there with Steve Irwin and Brian Barcyzk. Guard this man!!!

Hey been watching your channel for awhile now, just wondering if you live in MN? I’m also a Minnesotan, just noticed the shirt is all lol love the content my friend

experience, it's what’s you get when you don't get what you want! Great stuff as always 73.

Really interesting. How long has it been up, I hadn't heard about it. Also I'm in MI and we're having snow come in now too, makes me have to motivate myself more to go out and listen to satellites 😂

Can you upload a self destruct instruction to the satellite?

How is that satelite-tracking-gyro-thing coming along, mr Parts? :)

You could try the cold war military HF bands USB and LSB Russian or chinese bands ?

1:43 as usual I have a ton of jobs to finish, but here I am watching a dude trying to pick up a North Korean spy satellite's signal 🤣

It's to bad you don't have the radar dome up. You coulda been protected from the weather.

Love your satellite videos thumbs up

interesting ! its good to have independent reporting on these matters.

It can't possibly be dead. North Korea published news that Dear Leader was given photographs that the satellite had taken, and they would never lie to us.

from 155k subs a week ago to 158k now. Congratulations sir!

great episode

pre-scan on cat came back as bi-polar. what do now?

no production value, everything is probably terrible and this channel is awesome!

Leading with a disclaimer and catibrating antennas, I can relate.

Excellent channel. Thank You ! BTW: The bioluminescence of the larvae of fireflies is circularly polarized ! 🙂 !

Your pre-amp is probably getting overloaded from out of band signals. The SDR can get overloaded by itself. Bandpass (or Bandstop) filter can take care of a lot of overload and intermodulation problems. Plenty of filter designs on the Interwebs.

if it falls out of orbit make sure to save it for parts, nice video :)

Sir What Material Is that on the Black C Band Umbrella Antenna, Can you Name or Suggest anything to make a Good Folding Reflector Please ? ❤️

Can they turn it on and off? Could it be a photo sat?

My guess is North Korean hasn't powered up the onboard radio equipment just yet. That could be why you didn't get a signal from it. Generally the idea is, satellites remain "dormant" until they reach their intended operating altitude to save onboard battery power. It generally takes up more power to operate the satellite's thrusters than it does the radio equipment.

Great Video.

What a fun and positive guy you are!

An even slightly smart implementation of a spysat DOWNLINK would only be enabled when passing over a friendly ground station.

The amatue radio 70cm band ends at 450MHz but a try spy sat would never be listed for public let alone frequencies but they also do seperate launches for them at times but also when theres other sats goin up for science/public they get a rid and no one knows any different (apart from a certain few that is)

Thank you!

"Always check the polarity of your cat..." OMG I'm dying...

I noticed the copy of "Atlas Obscura" on your bookshelf.

Brother,I love all your videos,

It's a sucessful video as it demonstrates how to test and verify yourself random online claims and perhaps discover something new that is of use to the rest of the community :)

Interesting - thanks.

Since when does 'legit' apply in North Korea? That's short for 'legitimate'. Things can only be legitimate or illegitimate in a country where rule of law applies

just found this video in a recommendation. Thattle be an instant subscribe from me! super interesting. i miss my rtl-sdr. need to get a new one and get back into this stuff

Save it for parts I subscribed to other channels and found your through them You make cool vidz

thank you!

To me all sounds and looks okay. You did great.

The technology acquisition system for the Norks is probably less efficient than driving to Axman on a Saturday afternoon. Nice touch with the cat polarity stuff. When the humorless men in sunglasses show up for a little chat with you they might twitch slightly in their equivalent of a beaming smile.

The cat polarity test 😂, I love this channel.

Ive read that December 1st is when the satellite begins its mission in orbit, maybe this is wrong but I remember seeing it somewhere on youtube

Can I show how to connect to a TV satélite or free TV

This is the type of videos I love

this is awesome man!

need a video on how to correctly check cats frequencies!

It stopped sending signal when the string between the steel cans broke.

6:48 insert any MadTV - Stuart “look what I can do!” Clip here 😂😂😂

Great efforts Brother, it shows how hard and time consuming it is to scan to unknown frequencies. how do you spot/ track these North Korean satellites ? 73

could also be.. no freqs public at all... who knows

This man is the type of person that when the zombie apocalypse happens, he is still able to contact army high command of a country on the otherside of the world

Maybe it's stealth, in the sense that its transmitter only turns on when given a command by the base station in NK. They could be collecting data for weeks before doing one single download on a pass. But more realistically, it probably doesn't work.

Recently, a North Korean delegation including Kim Jung Un visited the Russian Space facilities which was publicized both in Russia and North Korea. There was discussion in the West that large artillery round transfers were taking place from NK for Russia in Ukraine with a trade off regarding some type of space tech. It's possible that Russia provided them with needed tech for their new spy satellite. After all, since the beginning of the Ukrainian conflict, there has been a large increase in the flaunting of sanctions by China and Russia which could involve getting North Korea up to speed in it's ability to project new capabilities as a thorn in the NE Asian sphere regarding South Korea and Japan. The likely success of their recent launch at least in getting their payload into orbit could reflect on these geopolitical changes taking place between the West and BRICS countries. Just a thought.

is it possible, that the Satellite is receiving in its current state and only sending if asked to? Should be possible, right? edit: and your videos are ALWAYS interesting, don't worry about that :)