Some of us “older” or rather senior Hams remember the Russian satellite Sputnik 1 very well!!
On this day in 1958, the world’s first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, ended its historic journey. After completing over 1,400 orbits and traveling some 70 million kilometers, atmospheric drag finally won the battle, and the satellite burned up on re-entry.
While its famous transmitters had fallen silent months earlier when the batteries died, its fiery return marked the definitive end of the “First Space Age” chapter. It was the mission that launched a thousand careers in RF engineering and paved the way for every OSCAR, CubeSat, and ISS pass we track today.
Tip: You can keep the spirit alive. Try tracking a modern, easy-to-work FM satellite like AO-91 or the ISS repeater (145.800 MHz) with a simple handheld Yagi. Check these sites on beginners guides to working satellites: http://w0yl.com/sites/default/files/2021-05/Beginners_Guide_Amateur_Radio_Satellites-K0FFY.pdf
https://amsat.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/For_Beginners_Compilation.pdf
I certainly had a lot of fun and neat contacts working satellites and the ISS!
Enjoy de Ken VY2RU