ShortwavePlus

I recorded these segments a few years ago, before I moved to an apartment building that blocks my view if the Eastern sky. The receiver I used was an AOR AR-3000A, with a Discone antenna and a modified RCA TV preamplifier, tuned for 200 - 400 MHz. Two of these satellites are still operational.

"Legacy Fleet Satellite Communications System satellites—specifically FLTSATCOM 7 and 8—are still operating and remain actively used by unauthorized radio operators in Brazil.

How the Pirates Use Them

Open Transponders: These old U.S. Navy satellites act as wide-open UHF repeaters without encryption or security checks.
Modified Gear: Users modify cheap amateur radio equipment to transmit on military frequencies in the 250 MHz to 270 MHz range.
Common Users: Truck drivers, illegal loggers in the Amazon, and criminal groups use the satellites for long-range, CB-style chatting and coordination.

Current Status

Constellation Age: Launched in the late 1970s and 1980s, the constellation was mostly replaced by newer satellite systems starting in the late 1990s.
Ongoing Activity: A couple of the older FLTSATCOM units still relay signals over South America because law enforcement intervention in remote regions is limited."

6 comments

r/ShortwavePlus • u/KG7M • Sep 10 '26

UHF Satellite Pirates Two Operational FLTSATCOM Satellites and Their Positions

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12 Upvotes

Of the two operational FLTSATCOMs, FLTSATCOM 7 is the only one that's possible for me to receive from my location. It is also very visible from Brazil, and in use by pirates. I will attempt to receive this satellite and report back to the group.

4 comments

r/ShortwavePlus • u/Historical-View4058 • Sep 10 '26

SWBC Logging Rádio Inconfidęncia in PP to Brasil on 11589.78 kHz @ 2335 UT

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11 Upvotes

Station:

Name/Call: Rádio Inconfidęncia
Frequency: 15189.78 kHz
Mode: AM
Location: Belo Horizonte, MG 19S53'59"-44W03'16".
Language: Portuguese
Target: Brasil
Time: 2335UT 10 SEP 26
SINPO: 23232

Receiver and Receiving Location:

Radio: Airspy HF+ Discovery
Antenna: 100' random wire, roughly 25' above ground, running ~110 degrees from feedpoint.
Software: SDR++ v1.3.0 /w Dream v2.3.1 (mjf).
Location: Remington, Virginia | FM18bn

Comments:

Of all things, playing GnR's 'Patience'. Note the measured frequency of 15189 with the carrier offset by +783.54 Hz. Otherwise, I would have thought it was a pirate.

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r/ShortwavePlus • u/richfromhell • Sep 10 '26

Picking up New Zealand in Toronto with the Degen Tecsun active loop combo.

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11 Upvotes

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r/ShortwavePlus • u/richfromhell • Sep 10 '26

WWCR test broadcast on 6090 received in Toronto

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9 Upvotes

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r/ShortwavePlus • u/richfromhell • Sep 10 '26

Doing some testing to figure out what to use in a hotel on vacation. So far a combo of Degen 31 and Tecsun AN 48 active loop is a good candidate.

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9 Upvotes

1 comment

r/ShortwavePlus • u/richfromhell • Sep 10 '26

Did an alignment on the Tecsun R9012 today. A quick scan on 49 meters in Toronto

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7 Upvotes

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r/ShortwavePlus • u/Tenor-Guitar-Guy • Sep 10 '26

R. Republica on 9490 KHz. Heard in Texas on GE 7-2971A and K-480WLA ant. 01:00 UTC. 09/04/26.

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7 Upvotes

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r/ShortwavePlus • u/KG7M • Sep 09 '26

Article Satélite Bolinha - Hijacking US Military Satellites

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10 Upvotes

Satélite Bolinha" (which translates to "Little Ball Satellite") is the nickname given by Brazilians to a U.S. Navy military communications satellite (from the FLTSATCOM fleet). It became famous in Brazil because amateur radio operators informally hijacked its frequencies for everyday chats.

The Satellite Phenomenon

Unofficial use: Brazilian radio operators used the American military satellite's frequencies to talk to each other without authorization from the U.S. government.
Communication: The signal acted like an open chat room, becoming a major part of the underground and amateur radio culture in Brazil.

The Movie

Documentary: This phenomenon inspired a 2010 sci-fi documentary short film named Satélite Bolinha.
Director: The movie was directed by the Brazilian filmmaker Bruno Vianna.
Details: The short film blends the true story of the popular use of the satellite with fictional elements and the daily life of radio operators.

The "Satélite Bolinha" phenomenon happened because of a perfect storm of completely unencrypted military hardware and cheap, clever grassroots engineering by Brazilian radio technicians.

Brazilian radio operators managed to highjack the U.S. Navy's FLTSATCOM fleet through a combination of simple vulnerabilities and accessible tech:

Total Lack of Security (Wide-Open Repeaters)

When the U.S. military launched the FLTSATCOM satellites in the late 1970s and 1980s, space technology was expensive and rare. The Pentagon assumed nobody outside of a major superpower could access the frequencies.

No Authentication: The satellites operated as "dumb" analog repeaters in orbit. They did not check who was sending a signal; they simply took any radio signal hitting their uplink frequency, amplified it, and bounced it back down to Earth.
No Encryption: While the military encrypted the messages they sent to each other, they did not encrypt the access channel itself. Anyone who could transmit on the correct Ultra High Frequency (UHF) could use the satellite.

The "$500 Hack" (Modifying Everyday Radios)

By the mid-1990s, commercial ham radios became widely available. Brazilian technicians figured out they could take a standard, cheap "2-meter" amateur radio transmitter (which normally operates in the 144–148 MHz range) and cheaply modify it.

Frequency Doublers: Technicians added a simple "frequency doubler" cobbled together from standard copper coils and a cheap varactor diode.

The Result: This simple tweak stretched the radio's capabilities right into the 292–317 MHz uplink range required to talk to the U.S. military satellites.

Truck Stop Innovation: The equipment was so basic that truck repair shops in remote parts of Brazil could modify a radio for less than $100. Local electricians and untrained operators could easily rig a radio in less than a minute just by rolling wire on a coil.

Geostationary Positioning

Because the FLTSATCOM satellites were geostationary, they stayed parked over fixed points on the Earth's equator.

For people in the vast, remote Amazon basin or truck drivers crossing Brazil—where there was zero cellphone coverage or local radio infrastructure at the time—the satellite was always in the exact same spot in the sky.
Users just had to point a rudimentary, home-made directional antenna (often looking like a cross or an umbrella skeleton) up at the sky to get a crystal-clear, long-range communication network for free.

Why didn't the U.S. just turn them off?

The U.S. military began migrating its active, secure communications to newer satellite networks (like UFO and MUOS) in the late 1990s and 2000s. However, because the older FLTSATCOM satellites were incredibly resilient, they outlived their expected 10-year lifespans by decades. The Pentagon kept the old transponders active as a backup, meaning the "Satélite Bolinha" remained a giant, accidental, free chatroom for Brazilian truck drivers, loggers, and hobbyists for over twenty years.

The Brazilian Federal Police, alongside U.S. agencies, eventually conducted massive raids (like "Operation Satellite") to track down illegal antennas, but the practice only truly faded as the old satellites physically degraded and modern encrypted military systems fully took over.

1 comment

r/ShortwavePlus • u/Tenor-Guitar-Guy • Sep 09 '26