[amsat-bb] KMS-4 Antennas?

[Daniel Cussen]

> I got a photo of the KMS-4 sat and started wondering about the possible
> frequencies based on what could be antenna.

I wrote an email to the amsat-bb a while ago which I will repeat
below. You should note there has been no reported emissions, and the
photos linked below may have been from a model made for the press, so
may have had fake/non flight hardware. The photos are also from the
previous launch a few years ago.

Where did you get the photos you linked to and when were they taken/broadcast?

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Not sure if it has been posted yet, but there is a good technical
write up of previous North Korean satellites here:

http://38north.org/2012/09/nhansen091212/

Some sites suggest 450 to 470Mhz is likely band. Ideally would need a
very high gain setup with a wideband SDR dongle to see any
transmissions. If they wanted they could turn all transmitters off
unless commanded or else only when the GPS says they are within range
of the ground station. Note the article linked is only the older
satellites.

I don't believe there was any public reception of actual emissions
from previous models. It does look likely UHF will be used. In this
day and age if it does emit on UHF constantly someone probably will
detect it and share. with possibly 6 UHF antennas there may be
multiple downlinks. I will buy a pint for whoever decodes the GPS
location downlink first!