Advice Needed Better conditions for borderline reception

[sat-dxer]

I have been enjoying receiving frequencies with minimal signals for some time, but I cannot understand what factors influence these receptions.
My test is on Yamal 402 at 54.9°E.

There are three frequencies with a very low lock and a Russian beam, but which sometimes go beyond the beam and reach Italy.
11265 V 30000 1/2 - 11345 V 30000 1/2 - 11385 H 30000 2/3

In the first two, under certain conditions, it is possible to “break through” the lock.
I have noticed that with the same rotor positioning (not precise, it is a bit loose, but finely tuned with EBS Pro and held steady on the satellite), these frequencies, with a 100 from central Italy, manage to have a signal greater than 0 and lock with the minimum signal, with the same clear sky:
- in summer in the early hours of the morning;
- in winter (now) after about 9.30 p.m.

I can't understand if it depends on:
- thermal inversion, which may have mechanical effects on the dish (but why in winter at that time?)
- “astronomical” weather (but it shouldn't have a periodicity)
- the position of the satellite relative to the earth
- ???

As a long-time HF and MF radio listener, I thought of some propagation conditions, but after studying them a bit, they don't seem to apply to these frequencies (tropospheric propagation? MUF? etc.) and wouldn't make sense with such a marked seasonal periodicity.

Do you have any experience in this regard, even on other satellites?
What factors influence signal variability on satellites under the same sky conditions?

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I would also like to ask if you know of any software that allows continuous monitoring of a frequency and allows you to save a graph or perhaps the values every x minutes on an Excel spreadsheet.
I haven't been able to find anything that does this. EBS Pro shows the signal on a graph but you can't export it.

 

[hvdh]

Yamal-402 is becoming inclined since April 2025. It must be low on fuel already with its 13 years age.
By now inclination is up to 0.7° which is very notable on a fixed dish.
Best signals will be around noon or midnight, when the satellite crosses the Clarke-belt.

 

[sat-dxer]

So I would need software such as gpredict to identify the minimum distance from Earth for each satellite and attempt reception at that point.
Is that correct?

 

[Lexzie]

You can see the path of the satellite on N2YO, so also the lowest inclination.

 

[satesco]

I have been enjoying receiving frequencies with minimal signals for some time, but I cannot understand what factors influence these receptions.
My test is on Yamal 402 at 54.9°E.

There are three frequencies with a very low lock and a Russian beam, but which sometimes go beyond the beam and reach Italy.
11265 V 30000 1/2 - 11345 V 30000 1/2 - 11385 H 30000 2/3

...

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

I would also like to ask if you know of any software that allows continuous monitoring of a frequency and allows you to save a graph or perhaps the values every x minutes on an Excel spreadsheet.
I haven't been able to find anything that does this. EBS Pro shows the signal on a graph but you can't export it.

Yamal-402 is becoming inclined since April 2025. It must be low on fuel already with its 13 years age.
By now inclination is up to 0.7° which is very notable on a fixed dish.
Best signals will be around noon or midnight, when the satellite crosses the Clarke-belt.

@hvdh is right about the inclination of Yamal 402.

The signal on Yamal 402 in my area at two times of the day, when the satellite is on arc without deviation, and the signal is stronger, so that at noon—12:15 EET—I can receive the Russian beam (112000-11450 HV), and 2, after three hours, at 15:25 EET, this spot disappears from the spectrum. The signal also drops by 3~4dB.

As usual, in the case of inclined satellites, the solution is dual tracking.

 

[sat-dxer]

Thank you for all this information.
To your knowledge, are there other satellites that have reception variability during the day?
Only those with an inclined orbit?
(I see that this information is indicated on kingofsat).

 

[satesco]

Thank you for all this information.
To your knowledge, are there other satellites that have reception variability during the day?
Only those with an inclined orbit?
(I see that this information is indicated on kingofsat).

With multiple spots (Russian, Northern, Steerable, Southern), the signal is different in my area.
The strongest in my area is the northern beam, but now that the satellite is tilted, the signal is significantly affected, with an SNR drop of up to 3 dB (see the two spectra posted earlier). However, it is still receivable on vertical polarity all the time.

In the upper band, the signal on the northern spot has dropped significantly since Yamal was tilted.
The steerable spot is not favourable in my area. Still, it is difficult to determine which signal comes from it, as most of the muxes are for data, making identification challenging. I don't think I can receive it in my area with my small antenna.

The Russian spot was mentioned in the previous post.
The only thing I'm not sure about is the signal below the band(10700-10950 MHz) that I receive at night. There aren't many reports about transponders that have been found and disappeared over time. I detected some of them recently.

Here's what I receive at night in my area from 54.9E. I haven't found an explanation for its origin. FlySat gives it as the Russian spot, but I don't receive it at noon.

By the way, of all the satellite sites, FlySat posts the most reports of transponders received. It's also a good idea to check reception lists.
KingofSat and Lyngsat are sites more for those looking for TV/radio programs. Enthusiasts post more on FlySat.

 

[stephan94]

Here is my reception in early November.

 

[morpheus883]

Thank you for all this information.
To your knowledge, are there other satellites that have reception variability during the day?
Only those with an inclined orbit?
(I see that this information is indicated on kingofsat).

In the past there were satellites that usually had a stronger signal in the early morning hours and others sats more powerful at night:
- Morning: 24,8°W - 8.0°W - 4.0°W - 0.8°W - 21.6°E - 28.2°E - 42.0°E - 68.5°E
- Night: 16.0°E - 26.0°E

I don't know if this list is still updated.

About inclined orbit sats, you can try to scan their transponders when they cross Clarke's Belt or Geostationary orbit.

I would also like to ask if you know of any software that allows continuous monitoring of a frequency and allows you to save a graph or perhaps the values every x minutes on an Excel spreadsheet.
I haven't been able to find anything that does this. EBS Pro shows the signal on a graph but you can't export it.

In the past, there was an enigma2 plugin (based on TuneTest) scanning all the satellites/transponders included in satellites.xml, retrieving and saving all SNR/AGC/BER data from frontend and generating reports and graphs (with a spectrum view too) but it's not available anymore.

 

[sat-dxer]

I’ve recently noticed a drop in reception quality on several “borderline” transponders across different satellites, even though the sky is completely clear.
At the same time, I’ve seen that the K-index and solar activity levels are fluctuating.
Are you experiencing similar reception issues?
Just to be sure, I even went up on the roof and checked the dish alignment, in case the motor had shifted slightly. However, it’s already positioned for the strongest possible signal.