ShackDeck
Download Free Now
SATCOM on 255.550 MHz: the satellite's second frequency
The second busiest channel of the same military satellite over the Atlantic, where the Brazilian pirates chat when the main frequency, 262.175 MHz, is crowded or quiet. The same receiver, the same FM.
What you hear
The same as on the main frequency: Portuguese speech with the satellite hiss, roll calls, music from a phone, tone bursts. The crowd here is usually smaller, the talk calmer, and Spanish and English turn up more often. When several stations trample each other on 262.175 MHz, 255.550 carries one conversation whole.
Who transmits and why
The same US Navy FLTSATCOM and UFO satellites that relay everything they receive on 243 to 270 MHz, and the same Brazilian pirates, for whom the satellite replaces the mobile network on the roads and rivers. The details, the history and the legal side are in the main article.
When and where to listen
Evening and night in Europe, through receivers with the 240 to 270 MHz band, best of all in Spain, Portugal and the Canaries. A receiver that hears 262.175 MHz hears this frequency too: it is one satellite.
In ShackDeck
Station catalogue, Military, SATCOM 255.550. Or the SATCOM chip in the receiver list, then type the frequency by hand.