July 5, 2023 (Spaceweather.com): Ham radio operators are picking up a strong signal from space. It’s NASA’s STEREO-A spacecraft returning home after 17 years.
“I’m having fun with STEREO-A,” reports Scott Tilley (VE7TIL) of Roberts Creek, British Columbia. “The spacecraft is coming close to Earth this summer, and I can now receive its signal using a small 26-inch dish in my backyard.” Here is what he picked up on July 2nd:
See also an animated version of these data. The X-flare is right here.
“We caught an X-flare in progress,” Tilley says. “Naked-eye sunspot AR3354 was really crackling.”
STEREO-A left Earth on Oct. 26, 2006, launched from Cape Canaveral with its sister ship STEREO-B. Both spacecraft were on a mission to the farside of the sun. Over the years, they would circle behind behind the sun, beaming images back to Earth so scientists could make 3D models of solar activity. In 2014, STEREO-B failed and was not heard from again. STEREO-A kept going, and now it is on its way back.
Above: STEREO-A coronagraph images of Mercury passing the sun, eavesdropped by Scott Tilley.
Earlier this summer, Tilley began hearing rumors that other radio operators were picking up signals from STEREO-A at 8443.580 MHz. He decided to check it out. “The central carrier is very loud, almost 30dB above the noise,” he says. “I also noticed data sidebands, which are unusual to see on such a distant object for my small antenna.”
At first, the signal was indecipherable. But Tilley found lots of information about its format posted by NASA on public websites; it wasn’t a secret. Using a program called “SatDump” written by Alan Antoine (F4LAU), he successfully demodulated the data. Now Tilley is monitoring data streams from almost all of STEREO-A’s science instruments including its extreme ultraviolet imager (EUVI), two coronagraphs (COR1 and COR2), the heliospheric imager (HI) and a solar radio burst receiver (S/WAVES).
At closest approach on August 17th, STEREO-A will be only 0.05 AU (7.5 million km) from Earth. By then, signals from the spacecraft will have more than doubled in strength, making it even easier to “hack.”
“What started out as a passing curiosity is now turning into a summer pastime,” says Tilley. “This is a unique time to play with STEREO-A.”
Hams, would you like to monitor STEREO-A? A technical blog post just published by Tilley explains exactly how to do it.
Spaceweather.com 
Wish one of our space billionaires would replace Stereo B. K7RA
LikeLike
The use of the word Hack gives a very negative impression of Ham Radio
. It is also incorrect as it implies that hams are sending maliscious information to the space craft which is is impossible to do when your receiving
LikeLiked by 1 person
Like alot of other words in the
English language some word
like the word hack has many
more meaning than just one.
For example a hack job generally
means someone has fixed something
but it isn’t a pretty or well done .
Or it can mean a total mess of things.
The point being the word hack as used in this article simply means that
the person attempting to do something was able to get it accomplished with a little inquity .
This is not written to mislead anyone but rather share some information.
Maybe articles should come with a
Legend so that a reader could figure out what context something was being said within an article.
This to would be a hack!
N0UDQ Extra Class Amateur Radio Operator, Wayne Yardley
LikeLiked by 1 person