Satellites

Heavens Above lists the orbits for most satellites. Look up the orbits visible from your area.

Wired article on Amateur satellite tracking

If you're going to try out satellite tracking, I would recommend you start with a LEO (low earth orbiting) or the ISS (International Space station) which are easier, and work your way out further upon success.

Nations with satellite launching capability

• Canada
• USA
• France
• Britain
• Soviet Union
• Israel
• South Africa
• Australia
• China
• India
• Pakistan
• North Korea
• Japan
• Switzerland
• Egypt
• Brazil
• Cuba
• Iran
• Myanmar (Burma)
• Ethiopia

One interesting article is to read up on the town of "coventry" in england. Here is the wikipedia article, search down to "peeping tom" basically it was like this..a queen decided to ride down into the town on a horse completely naked in protest of something political. The lord of coventry then said if anyone looks at her will lose their eyesight. A guy named "Tom" looked at her through a peep hole and then they stung out his eyes. That's where the name "peeping tom" comes from. Make sure that you're not spotted when looking for "birds" because someone may just aim a laser into your binoculars...ok?

Watching

Some satellites ("birds" in slang) are visible with the human eye, and some may require binoculars. Make sure you have a good idea of its orbit, and time in your sky, so you can train your eye to follow the general path for when it actually does become visible.

Listening

Find the downlink frequency for the amateur radio satellite you're tracking, and adjust it accordingly on your frequency scanner/radio. A directional antenna is preferred, however the standard "rubber ducky" (resistor) antenna may work.

Transmitting

If you have a radio with a moveable Yagi-Uda antenna, and an amateur radio licence for the uplink frequency, you can try to point your antenna in that direction. You have to be quick to transmit off a satellite, as usually the passes go by quite quickly.