Downloading Images From US Military Satellites

[@SergiMorant]

Man hears chopper, man stops everything he's doing, looks up and then resumes whatever he was doing, man happy.

[@tekvax01]

dang black helos!

[@RT-qd8yl]

I'm just glad to know I'm not the only one

[@TommyBoy7Heads]

I was dying for him to take the opportunity to joke like "Ahh shit, guys. Looks like copying those military satellite signals wasn't such a great idea."

[@ezye97]

thats prolly the CIA ngl

[@FrankLowe1949]

Men !! Coppers and Tits they will always stop and look.😂

[@timetuner]

Sufficiently advanced jank is indistinguishable from wizardry

[@caseyhefner1966]

"Any insufficiently documented technology is indistinguishable from magic."

[@RSAgility]

Magic does exist. Just gotta word things like magic. We extract up the liquified bones of our ancient ancestors from deep within our solidified yet molten space hovering giant ball of dirt and water, to fly, to play, to kill! I am........man.

[@kyraellearyk604]

@@RSAgility Further that, you wanna summon something? You wave your little slate in the air, do some funky hand glyphs, and voila, an idiot with a beater brings you mcdonalds! Also you can instantly communicate with anyone anywhere with a different set of hand sigils. Basically, magic.

[@Boris_Chang]

Got jank in your trank?

[@StormForthcoming]

bro is a hedge mage 😭

[@crusaderanimation6967]

11:40 pulling green screen just to do simple overlay without keying is one of those youtuber f'yous i absolutely adore.

[@saveitforparts]

I was going to do the chroma key thing but this was easier 😂

[@asailijhijr]

It's nice to have a visual reference in the scene of you are a forgetful video editor or actor/lecturer. It's also nice if you aren't forgetful.

[@thelonestead]

@@saveitforparts I appreciated the unintended comedic effect.

[@Surannhealz]

@@thelonestead I actually had tears from laughing at the comedy gold of that scene. I rewatched a couple times just to make sure I wasn’t missing something obvious. Love it. 🖕😎🖕

[@robstone9628]

this part absolutely killed me

[@TheOneAndOnlyNeuromod]

I don’t care if it’s just clouds and weather images - you downloaded coherent data from space - that’s awesome!

[@Thee-_-Outlier]

People have satellite phones, gps is everywhere e.g Google earth and starlink exists. Civilians downloading coherent data from space is fairly ubiquitous.

[@TheOneAndOnlyNeuromod]

@@Thee-_-Outlier Of course - but have YOU *built it*? Or do you just troll the efforts of others?

[@Thee-_-Outlier]

@@TheOneAndOnlyNeuromod it would be the latter sir. First satellite video, thought I'd come in a'blazi'n, ya know.... YOU'VE BEEN BLAZED!!!!!!

[@hydra8138]

@@Thee-_-OutlierI’m beating it to your comment

[@Thee-_-Outlier]

@@hydra8138 lol

[@AntiMusicManV1]

Remember guys, saveitforparts is not suicidal.

[@coreyhodgson1238]

This man is an HOA's worst nightmare....and I am here for it.

[@TheProspectStudios]

ahhahahahaha

[@jcorey333]

Fun fact, HOA is actually legally aren't allowed to regulate ham radio towers, so if you have one that's particularly annoying you, feel free to throw a big ham radio tower up in your yard

[@coreyhodgson1238]

@@jcorey333 Same thing for Bat shelters if I remember right.

[@Xxc-iw7yj]

I'd googled "HOA" (sry non-American here) and what I've just read is beyond ridiculous.

[@TheProspectStudios]

@@Xxc-iw7yj yeah you buy a house pay a fee to the community and they tell you what you can and can't do. boomers.

[@arran4285]

Keep us updated if you get sent to jail

[@Ef554rgcc]

The title will only be changed to 'Downloading images from US military satellites from jail'

[@Megabean]

When* jk

[@W8RIT1]

I hope you'll be among the first to post bail for him.

[@JBBost]

@@W8RIT1 Yeah, we'd gofund me that, for sure

[@jesperwall839]

You need to be living in some real crappy country if you get jail for listening to radio communication 😂 The air is free!

[@PCMcGee1]

Your attitude, even when everything is going wrong, is the most impressive part of all your videos.

[@Buschwick]

He's so passionate about what he does and doesn't get discouraged by failure. People like him can do anything they want to do in life.

[@destroytheboxes]

Uh yes. This. He just made my day. And I subbed.

[@alexandergaus493]

It's just amazing! For that alone I already would watch the videos!

[@SacredAssault]

The stranger the facial hair is, directly correlates to how much of a tech wizard they are. Great video man

[@derderper]

I flew DMSP at Offutt AFB from 86-90, then again from 02-06 at Schriever AFB. DMSP DID NOT become obsolete after its initial classified purpose. Quite the opposite, it became the backbone of strategic and tactical weather forecasting for all global US military operations. And there were not battery issues across the platform, only two incidents occurred, citing a discovered design flaw on those two specific birds...Terrific video. Thanks!

[@saveitforparts]

Good info, thanks!

[@dougtaylor7724]

You remind me of a guy that bought several russian rebreathers for diving. He liked the case they were in and some of the parts. The rest was scrapped. He built several of his own design. Problem was he was close to the Norfolk shipyard. Well one morning several black SUVs rolled up and asked why he was wanting so many rebreathers. He never thought anyone would care about his hobby.😂 He invites them in and shows them his stuff and by the time the agents see all the dive stuff and pictures he has and the fact that he is proud of his design convinced all the agents that he is a good old boy just having fun.

[@decespugliatorenucleare3780]

"the next month, though, 3 aircraft carriers and 6 destroyers have been sunk with underwater charges"

[@RalphHightower]

You sunk my battleship.

[@myaccount__7269]

That’s when you tell the Spooks to get lost and come back with a warrant. Scumbags

[@Vexas345]

They were concerned for his safety.

[@kael13]

Goes to show every purchase you make is tracked and run through a flagging algo in-case something odd comes up.

[@Wes_Jones]

In the late 70's I was active duty Air Force and I was stationed at Offutt AFB NE with the 4000th Aerospace Applications Group. We were responsible for launching and controlling the DMSP satellites.

[@saveitforparts]

Awesome!

[@dalelestourgeon3355]

They were launched at Vandenberg , some by my 10th Aerospace Defense Squadron on Thor missiles. I was guidance officer. One launch failed due to fuel miscalculation by McDonnell Douglas.

[@luislongoria6621]

Hope you learned something useful from reading Dianetics at ITT tech

[@RarefiedError]

10years later, I was there at the same place working ops/maintenace in the ground stations (1853rd)

[@frigglebiscuit7484]

@@RarefiedError what is ops? im trying to figure it out, since my grandpa was in the A.S.A. 1957-58 at kagnew station as "ops co." he would never say exactly what they were doing, just "stuff"

[@MMBVideoFiles]

I had no clue what he was talking about for about 87% of this video, but as a maker, I LOVED watching it. Definitely going to check out some more of his videos.

[@luislongoria6621]

"Don't drink the Kool-aid" True Untrue Story. I definitely did

[@luislongoria6621]

COD: All Ghillied Up

[@Greenhelix5]

Dude. What's with this bit comment on every video ever.

[@brasscatcherproductions5480]

Same lol

[@psps6623]

"Space Wi-FI"

[@belly_nelly]

7:57 “There’s no prices listed which means you absolutely cannot afford it.” Too real😂

[@jackutley1509]

This video blew my mind. Nice job. The imagery you were able to capture is incredible. Your inventiveness and determination are tremendously inspiring.

[@KarlWhales]

I’ve never wanted to be friends irl with a KZbin creator more than this dude.

[@CarlGolden]

Me too. I don't understand half of it but find all of it cool to watch.

[@QualityDoggo]

automatically toggling encryption on one satellite based on location is pretty amazing. very smart design since the domestic data is useful for a variety of agencies, and it's a lot cheaper than sending multiple separate satellites or signals!

[@EarthIsNotFlat]

Heck yeah. I’d commented almost the same thing before I came down and found you’d beaten me to it. The fact that the government took the time to provision for direct access for us taxpayers to this asset that we paid for is awesome.

[@jameshughes6078]

Yup, and better for bandwidth+latency that trying to do a read replica, given the medium (air/atmosphere) is essentially a shared bus.

[@dagmarsuarez3033]

The appearance of the Black Helicopter was long over due.

[@QCumber57]

😂 frr

[@laulaja-7186]

Federal budget delays.

[@jamesleesley]

Lol.

[@luislongoria6621]

I know a cockroach when I see one. "Jumpman, Jumpman, Jumpman, Jumpman..."

[@canalcomentario]

Five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[@JamieBainbridge]

I am not into radio and I don't understand much of what you're saying, but I love your videos because you love tinkering and messing around and just giving anything a try no matter how silly it seems. Thank you for giving old-school hackers everywhere some good entertainment :)

[@IronbornBTW]

I don’t know how I ended up here, but I watched the whole thing. Cool hobby dude, I admire your enthusiasm and tenacity!

[@KeiranR]

You get a clear recive and it's an image of you zoomed with your dish ... I bet that would scare the crap out of ya hahaha

[@pbp1701]

Thats funny, i was thinking that when the helicopter came over.

[@waynemccammon6992]

Legend status

[@thejhonnie]

LOL

[@lemmingsfly]

Funny but they could barely get an image of a human to show up. Look at the photo Trump held up. That’s about as good as you can get with satellites That’s why they still fly the U-2 and are interested in stealth drones. They can see way better than satellites

[@voornaam3191]

rcv?

[@ImXyper]

6:48 "i think it maybe kinda works" the most confident someone has ever been making something

[@gonun69]

When you think the chance of it working is 50.001% so it's more likely to work than not, but also not really.

[@luislongoria6621]

Recruiter: "Do you want to be Special Forces? Do you want to be military adjacent? Congratulations, you're a civilian! Hit the road Jack!"

[@Canes365]

Working in Satcom in the mid 90's was so much fun and this hacky stuff really brings me back. I miss the old magic-T, getting shocked by the mouthpiece of the handset while manually cranking the 60 foot FSC-78, replacing submicron filters on the FSC's transmitter coolant system and taking a huff of helium in the dish's equipment room before making a call on the site's intercom. Thanks for brining back the nostalgia with this channel!

[@saveitforparts]

Sounds like a good time! I'd love to check out a real ground station some time, the closest was the observatory in Carp and most of the gear aside from the dish had been removed.

[@poindextertunes]

i looked up fsc transmitter coolant for satellites and all i could find was a movie prop 😂 Your former job sounds really ngl

[@luislongoria6621]

Woo-hoo! I can feel my teeth grinding just thinking about Ol' Sparky. Mel Gibson "Lethal Weapon" or Jack Nicholson "Cukoo's Nest"?

[@Kutulu369]

Black helicopters…. Zephram’s first warp flight…. This video has everything! Thank you for all of your hard work. It doesn’t go unnoticed.

[@Fredfredfredfredfredfredfred]

Hey guys, I’m new around here at 40, and I’ve been really interested in military technology lately and sort of tertiarily interested in things like communications at just a Birdseye view. This channel seems to have the history, technology, and crazy whimsy coming together just right

[@saveitforparts]

Thanks! I do a little of everything, the satellite stuff just seems to stay popular!

[@Ziraya0]

Love pulling down the greenscreen and then just plopping the videoframe in

[@saveitforparts]

Yeah I was way too lazy to do the chroma key thing

[@Ziraya0]

@@saveitforparts sometimes lazy makes art

[@yumagawlers]

Yeah, thought that was funny!

[@luislongoria6621]

No point collecting stamps when "there's no place like home". "Private Joker, you think you're Mickey Spillane?!"

[@luislongoria6621]

Craig Morgan "Cleaning This Gun"

[@plls5]

You know damn well there's an FBI van parked a half mile down the street.

[@robertgirtakovskis1670]

"Oh sweet, the guy is making another video! :D"

[@mr.textwall5327]

I wonder if they are hanging out together in spare time. Off record obviously.

[@jacobhayes9992]

He's probably already listing to them

[@andrewbrady3139]

I’m sure I’m red flagged to when I’m looking up 2 gallons Nitric Acid & other misc chemicals to recover silver & gold scrap as my side hobby.

[@khalfrankisatool1162]

Next video, “How to locate federal agents by using local cell towers to detect Langley, Virginia cellular telephone numbers”

[@nebula0024]

I love these kinds of videos. I understand less than half of it, but for some reason I just keep geeking out over grabbing data from these old satellites.

[@brianbarker2551]

Same here, I have no clue what half the stuff is, but the host is just so darn excited about, you can't help but want to watch more.

[@cabbelos]

Same! He's getting stuff from SPACE, this is probably the closest any of us will get to interacting with space.

[@MacMcIntire]

I really don’t know much about satellite signals or RF in general but I really liked your video. It’s nice to watch someone who really enjoys their work/hobbies and can explain how things work.

[@Voyacan]

"Welcome back to the Saveitforparts channel. Today we are going to alter the orbits of multiple satellites into each other using some pocket lint and this power strip I found in my garage." Love your videos, keep up the solid work!

[@sal18001]

I love the persistence to try and capture a signal. When nearly everything has already been discovered and available on the Internet, it's still rewarding to find things out for yourself. A modern adventure. Great video!

[@f1guremeout]

This was the coolest video I have found on KZbin, buddy is tapping into old military satellites from his driveway! Both encouraging and concerning just how *powerful* U.S citizens are just walking around living amongst us, I have a bit more pride knowing I can rest easy we got people on both sides of the listening station ;)

[@AuTo69420]

Soldering guy here - For cables like what you were soldering, use a much higher wattage soldering pen. the

[@DrDeuteron]

40W plasma riffles are fine, for The Terminator.

[@thomasklima215]

80W not 800W! xD

[@bt3411]

Give the 800w a go, turn that PCB into a puddle

[@hithere7382]

@@thomasklima215 I have old weller and newer hakko 100-250 watts but they have a dial and can vary in the range.

[@bujfvjg7222]

Flux

[@Grassy20]

I have no idea why I clicked on this video... but this was amazing. That's really awesome that you can do things like this. Nice work!

[@RinoaL]

2030 is going to roll around. You'll still be hand tracking satellites, I'll still be soldering directly to lithium batteries like an idiot. lol

[@saveitforparts]

I have a spot welder wasting space in my garage if you need one! Shoot me an email gabe (at) saveitforparts (dot com).

[@brucebaxter6923]

/me looks at all the crap laying around here and wishes he would get off his ass and do half as much as daveitforparys.

[@daviniusb6798]

@@brucebaxter6923 Same

[@oakgroveridgewelding]

@@brucebaxter6923 /me says yeah we will do something with it someday /me goes back to doing ham things

[@brucebaxter6923]

@@oakgroveridgewelding Yea. About that. /me looks at very thick service and alignment book for ft-707

[@dropdedd]

If i was your neighbor I would be trying to hangout with ya all the time, I dealt with passive radar systems on my ship and loved all the time i spent with it. Seeing your enthusiasm for this niche warms my heart so god damn much. Keep killing it man!

[@brianbarker2551]

Scratched the crap out of the car, gets signal. That's a win in my books.

[@guruoo]

This guy's level of patience, determination, and commitment is off the charts!

[@leonberada3848]

You remind me of the friend you had in school that never really wanted friends was just interested in doing what they wanted and anytime I would talk to them I would learn some crazy shiz just like this. Love the video your a mad man

[@mikeselectricstuff]

I've done hundreds of orders on Aliexpress over the years - very rarely had any issues

[@Megabean]

I love it when one of my favorite channels comments on another one of my favorite channels.

[@codefeenix]

the rare issues you had, what were they

[@pileofstuff]

Similar experience for me. I can't remember the last one that didn't show up... eventually.

[@bierbarrel]

I have had a few issues but not many. Usually the product is misrepresented or it sits there waiting to ship and they cancel it for whatever reason. They always hold you money for awhile...that sucks. Other than that it has been ok.

[@Summit_60]

Especially when it comes to shipping, maybe 5 years ago it took forever but now most things come in 7-14 days from china

[@x_CrossHair_x]

Your dedication to your viewers (Getting up at 5 AM) to create content is appreciated.. and the fact you managed to achieve a decodable signal. Is most certainly allowing yourself bragging wrights.🏆

[@karcinogen]

It’s always a good day when Saveitforparts uploads

[@abgrafix]

I love your enthusiasm in the craft mate . I did electronics and communication engineering . I wish my if profs were as passionate as you , I would have been of use to this society . Please keep doing what you're doing . The future gen def need nerds like you . Much love brother.

[@djhaloeight]

your obvious enthusiasm for this is infectious. loved the vid.

[@anantakesharipanda4085]

24:00 Sacrificing your car roof for demonstrating satellite data capture, and then genuinely believing it’s worth it because *satellites are way cooler than cars!* Man, I’m telling you, if I had a school teacher/uni professor as passionate as you are, I would have remembered and honoured them by inviting them to my wedding. Never change, Gabe!

[@bastiaan7777777]

pls put the folding dish on a motorized tracing mount :)

[@mediocreman2]

Well it was a subaru. Pretty much at the bottom of the cool list. 😅

[@brianatbtacprod1989]

This was in no way boring. Anyone who tries do make our own things, or find out about old, or existing tech on the cheap go through the same process. Keep going...And don't worry about the black helicopters, they're just making sure you're safe.

[@Chiberia]

I imagine the "six times a second" signal sweep from that time are mechanical in nature... I can't imagine how many cycles those sensors must have gone through by now. That's some intense engineering to last that long.

[@lmaoroflcopter]

Mirrors. You wouldn't move the sensor, wires flexing would break, you'd move a mirror.

[@SuprSBG]

Luckily oxidation isn’t a problem lol (Well ik technically it is, but minimal)

[@Chiberia]

@@lmaoroflcopter it’s still a moving part

[@lmaoroflcopter]

@@Chiberia it is, but it doesn't require fine wires that would be required for any sensor, to be moved several times a second on a small armature. It just requires a mirror to be moved that has no thin wires getting constantly moved.

[@Live.Vibe.Lasers]

I help make a lubricant for satellites. It never evaporates..and is the slickest material I have ever encountered.

[@MarkHonea-dx6mv]

I love this channel. Even though much of it is over my head, the content is fascinating and presented in a comfortable manner. In my next life I would like to know what this man has made as his interest of choice. ❤

[@RedN3ctar]

This is the first video I've seen from you and I found it intriguing. It's amazing what you can do if you understand the tech. I'll be watching some more videos in the future! :)

[@afog]

Your patience level is insane. I always expect you to be like "as you can tell from this baseball bat we are dealing with a S-Band antenna today"...and just proceed to destroy anything that tx or rx in view of the camera... And honestly I'd still thumbs up and stay subscribed...

[@cherrymountains72]

Your dedication is impressive and contagious! I love these kind of videos where things barely work yet you keep going as if your previous attempt was your biggest success ever. 10/10 will watch again! Love from the Netherlands!

[@Iron_Condorr]

You got an amazing result with your know-how and spare parts man. That is soo cool. Just that you got an image from a satellite is 🤯 mind-blowing to me.

[@rogergrimsby5805]

You might want to search about satellite aspects of Ham Radio. The ham community launches satellites for hams to play with. Best marketing was a photo of a guy standing in the parking lot where he works at lunchtime, holding a handie-talkie in one hand, which was connected to a 3 foot long directional antenna in the other hand that he pointed up at the sky, talking to another ham via satellite.

[@spladam3845]

I'm super impressed with your dedication to this project. This was fantastic.

[@pedrobarbas69]

This is that technical-wise dude at a zombie apocalypse who never loses hope in the revival of the human race.

[@GreenFuel00]

Recently came across your channel, I'm a licensed Ham who's been out of the hobby for several years. Watching your video's on satellites has been reigniting my interest into the hobby in a new way!

[@saveitforparts]

I have a technician license and keep meaning to get on the air more, but I'm easily distracted by satellites :-)

[@gumpycognac4505]

I have zero interest in satellites or at home involvement but for some reason your whole vibe kept me interested. Awesome video man! I hope more amateur stuff like this shows up on my feed. Subbed!

[@Gunbudder]

My great grandpa was one of the people contracted to develop analog film taken by "spy planes". From what he told me, it was footage taken by U-2 planes. It was all compartmentalized, so he never knew what he was looking at really. They would just give him the big canister and he'd develop it carefully (you don't want to screw that up) and give them back the shots. He didn't know anyone else that was contracted for that work, and from i can gather after the fact, the NRO kept it all fairly compartmentalized despite using largely Hollywood resources to develop the film. The best analog film guys were in Hollywood, so it makes sense they went there to get the best developers. I've always wondered what reports or slides his pictures made it into lol

[@saveitforparts]

That's really cool! It makes sense they'd want to compartmentalize things, but I didn't realize the Hollywood connection!

[@UD503J]

Depending on when he worked on it, a lot of it could be declassified by now. A lot of the Corona program stuff was opened up in the public archives.

[@colinpinchbeck7792]

I'm a big fan of your shirts and the support you give the other KZbin channels. Keep up the good work 👍

[@saveitforparts]

Thanks!

[@LudvigFjell]

Stumbeled on your video and its really interesting stuff. Got two tips for you: 1. Use soldering wax/flux on the pads your soldering, makes it much easier. 2. For very precise motor mounts, try getting hold of a old "moving head" studio spot, preferably one that uses old bulbs which is now obsolete due to the transition to LED lights, e.g they are usually cheap and can handle larger weights. These devices can be controlled by dmx which is probably the easiest digital protocol available and these moving heads usually have 2 bytes resolution for each axis (65384 distinct positions for pan and tilt). This is much more than even the most expensive PTZ studio cameras available which maxes out at 9999 positions). I bought a bunch of old HighEndSystems Studiospot 575 for reference.

[@gwesco]

During the 1970's, there was a terrestrial microwave service called ITFS. It was around 2200 - 2300 Mhz. It was used for schools to beam programs but the FCC licensed it in a way that schools could sublease it to commercial companies when it was not being used for school use. It was often used to carry premium channels like HBO before cable became widely available. I was a subscriber and they installed a weird YAGI antenna that was connected to a PLL type power supply that powered and tuned the rooftop antenna and down converter. It didn't take long for some smart engineers to reverse engineer it and design a unit that used a standard 1 lb metal coffee can with an N connector and short piece of wire for the active element. There was even a company called Rainbow Electronics that sold kits where you could make up equipment that was very similar to the OEM stuff. Eventually cable TV killed it off in the 80's but occasionally you can still see some of the antennas and down converters on residential roofs.

[@KA4UPW]

Love these satellite videos, but geeez your patience amazes me. Thanks !

[@HattmannenNilsson]

I love your use of a green screen. That's how you do it! You clearly got most of your ducks in a row. Oh, and as usual; interesting video. I'm really not a radio (or satellite) guy so all this is basically black magic to me, but black magic can be very interesting. It's always impressive to see that you get results even if they're not always perfect.

[@avflyguy]

I could stand by this guy and let him talk for an hour, and I'd walk away thinking I had been teleported to a different galaxy.

[@EeekItsSnek]

Every time you post, it makes me smile. I've tinkered with radio and have always been interested in wireless data transfer (especially early tech like these satellites), and seeing someone with the time and knowledge way better than mine will ever be is incredible. So cool to see old hardware find new purpose in these projects as well.

[@Huhsaywhat1964]

Great video! I’ve been watching for a couple of years and you raise the bar every video.

[@saveitforparts]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@MichaelJohnson-gm4rt]

I was in the Air Force stationed at Fairchild AFB outside Spokane Wa. I was a Space Systems Operations Data Analyst and Command Specialist for DMSP> i.e I was a satellite repairman for 3 yrs. 1984-87.

[@RG-gk4yi]

And???? Don't leave us hanging - is this guy on the right track or what?

[@saveitforparts]

Awesome!

[@MeanGene2005]

@@saveitforparts

[@luislongoria6621]

I bet you have a whole hat full of plates!

[@hexarts]

The pain this guy go to budge thing together is astonishing! Like your work! Will send you a duck tape roll to help your project !

[@5GIlYsq2fmZYv8pIAnR2b6jiu]

this is my favorite YT video I have seen in awhile. Loved every moment of it and appreciate you bringing us along in your journey.

[@RamiGB]

If KZbin was a thing in the 90s and I saw your channel when I was growing up, I would've had a different career path! thanks man! awesome stuff.

[@jackdanielsjunky]

19:07 Manitoulin Island looks very clear! Can see all the way to James Bay and pick out most of the cities in Northern Ontario there, clouds were in your favour. Great job, can't believe the effort going into your channel.

[@alphaadhito]

I 100% thought that he was going to use that soldering iron stand at 6:34 as helical feed 😂

[@RT-qd8yl]

The soundtrack in that archival footage was _awesome_

[@moetocafe]

Obtaining those images from the satellites is amazing and Earth is so beautiful!

[@Anth8787]

Of the four images you captured, I found the image at 19:04 to be the best one. The detail on Lake Michigan looked so cool, as if someone were really up that high and seeing things "as they are". I took out Windows Magnifier and zoomed in super far on one of the parts that jut out, on the west end of lake Michigan. It turns out the area I was looking at was "Two Rivers, Wisconsin". I had never noticed that on both the east and west side of lake Michigan in that area, the lake bows out symmetrically on both sides. A very small detail I never would have seen otherwise. Really makes me consider the geological process that lead to that symmetrical shape. Again, all these thoughts spurring from that photo alone! Thanks for posting

[@bubaks2]

0:37 they throw in the word meteorological to make it sound like its not for spying

[@dahmond]

wdym? it's just another weather satellite

[@jcdenton2819]

It is standart excuse to this day for every government that has spy satellites "government of X country just mistook our meteoroligical satellite/probe for a spy one"

[@neymarjr_.]

@@dahmond information passed down to the CIA operations table, same people giving coordinates for missile strikes LOL

[@TennageToaster]

long time subscriber, great work lately! do what you love, I love it too. :))

[@blpblp-tj7ux]

Great video! Also, that SO-239/PL-259 connector combo is probably not doing you any favors on S-band.

[@Billye48]

The stuff this bloke has in his head is amazing. Completely knocks me out. :)

[@jtr159]

Man, to say this went viral is an understatement! Over 400K views! I also found this on my KZbin recommended page, and I'm glad I did. Hope you got a ton of new subscribers too

[@johnlockesghost5592]

I understood about 10% of what you were saying, but even I recognized the music coming from space at 23:21 was what they guy was playing when he took the first warp speed flight.

[@dant.3505]

In the US, a citizen is allowed to RECEIVE any signal transmitted through the air. Regardless of who or what it is. Someone needs a license, or permission from the government, to transmit signals for most frequencies but no law stops you from receiving any signals entering your property (the radio you are using).

[@FreejackVesa]

If you try to do things like decode an encrypted signal though, that pushes receiving into criminal territory.

[@jamesbracken6751]

Back in the days of mds you could make simple receivers to get hbo. The signal was not encrypted. I use to build the the receivers and sold them for 50 bucks. had all my equipment seised and threatened with theft of service charges. Fotunetly i was only 16 at the time so i was not charged. But the police took every piece of electtonic equipment i owned down to my soldering iron. I tried arguing that it was not encrypted but they did not care.

[@lashlarue7924]

Don't count on it. There is some truth here, but the communications that he intercepted are not intended for public consumption. If operated by DoD they are private by default. Even if the DoD decides to share that data with the public later the actual data from the satellite itself is not fair game. After some research I'm certain that there are laws being broken here, and our man (as likeable as he is) is taking very significant risks to his wealth and freedom in posting this. Cops, prosecutors, and military types do not care if you're a white hat; they throw the book at you regardless.

[@dant.3505]

@@jamesbracken6751 you were making and selling equipment. There may be laws regulating the manufacturing and sale of such equipment. There is no law stopping anyone receiving any radio signals. If an amateur radio operator builds his own receiving equipment he can receive anything. If he is able to decrypt the info, that's still allowed. As long as he keeps the info to himself.

[@jasonpatterson8091]

Stellarium is great; it's just not a satellite tracker. It's good for "Hey what's that thing?" at night.

[@unlucky5442]

Also amazing to plan astrophotography sessions. The desktop version allows you to put in your camera and telescope specs and see what the field of view is on an object.

[@jasonpatterson8091]

@@unlucky5442 I like Telescopius for that, but yes, Stellarium is very useful in the right context.

[@wysoft]

Pretty funny that as a kid in the 90s I'm pretty sure I met a guy who was doing exactly this. I was interested in computers from an early age. A family friend introduced me to a sort of crazy old dude who was an EE. He showed me his lab in his basement. He popped open a regular old PC and inside he had an ISA breadboard card where he had designed his own prototype for receiving satellite data from met satellites, had written his own application to receive and decode the data. He booted up the PC, ran the program, and I watched in amazement as an image of the current cloud condition over North America slowly started filling the screen. This was probably in 1991-1992. One of the coolest things anyone had ever demonstrated to me on a computer as a young kid.

[@mikeomaly]

My dude! Hope all is going great for ya and i appreciate all the interesting content! Thx homie

[@big64willie]

I love nerding out and learning from this channel!

[@rweckert]

We should be friends. Love this and share your sat view hobby. My experience is more computer based, but have downloaded and parsed lots of data from Montana using simpler methods. Your knowledge is awesome. I will be doing this again in Texas. I certainly wish you the best and saving this video as reference. Thank you!!

[@xqxxy686]

They're on to you! Congratulations. You're on a list!

[@neepsmcfly4176]

Dude, your passion, your obvious concern in navigating the informative/interesting razors edge, and the incredible investment in time.... Both in the project and in production make me wish I had more than the lame "like & sub"

[@Twanneh]

As a Dutch citizen, i really dig the use of a Stroopwafel can! Besides that, I admire your enthousiasm and perseverance. Great to see what you can do with some "saved parts" and enthousiasm.

[@Cannabis_Connoisseur]

Dont sell yourself short in the data quality. I can see the potential for sure. If you just had better equipment i think would make all the difference. You definitely have the skills.

[@mxlje]

I understood some of the words you used but I immensely enjoyed it!

[@HonigbergJ]

Keep it up, sharing your skill-set and knowledge for the uninitiated like me is much appreciated, Thanks!

[@saveitforparts]

Thanks! And thanks for the support!

[@ravibrewster]

I love that people do this. So cool. You are awesome and your patience and ingenuity are impressive. Thank you for this video.

[@nullpwn]

got recon by chopper and still uploads video; bloody legend

[@Aldekein]

What I love is a geese family at 20:52 crossing on a background! That links well with all those radio things around in neighbors' heads :D

[@matchke1]

2:47 Lets be honest. The military gets its money from government so it is also sort of publicly funded. Or isn’t it?

[@Holgzac6]

Sounds about right.

[@JoelGrant-ie4ly]

My friend, you are the missing Lone Gunman from the X-Files.

[@John.0z]

... and people call _me_ a geek? I just play with computers. Well done, you raise the bar beyond anything I could ever aspire to.

[@yuhanlong8330]

This is so cool. I don't have too much RF background but I still followed through and maybe understand 30% what you are doing. But I still feel it is super cool and feel the happiness when you capture the images. Aliexpress is indeed a Chinese e-commerce website. It's Chinese version Taobao is the main e-commerce site being used by Chinese people. I am really happy to help if you need helps to check some parts on Chinese e-commerse websites or need to find or translate some datasheet or manuals. Please let me know if I can help.

[@wastenotwantnot5953]

"When Gabe does it, that means that it is not illegal." -Richard Nixon