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Brazilian Pirates Hijack US Military Satellites

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the because-they-can dept.

blantonl writes "Brazilians all over the country are using modified amateur radio equipment to communicate with each other using US Military communications satellites — effectively creating their own CB radio network on the backs of the US Military. Recent efforts to crack down have resulted in arrests of some of the users, however the behavior still continues today."

3 of 359 comments (clear)

  1. Back in the day.... by Subgenius · · Score: 5, Informative

    I remember when those birds used to pickup terrestrial FM stations. You could listen to the downlink 'in the clear.' This use of military satellites goes back to, at least, 1978.

    --
    Toil is Stupid. Don't be Stupid.
  2. It's called pirate radio by langelgjm · · Score: 5, Informative

    Bad geek! It's called Pirate radio, and it's been around longer than the Pirate bay!

    --
    "Anyone who [rips a CD] is probably engaging in copyright infringement." - David O. Carson
  3. No, just old by Quiet_Desperation · · Score: 5, Informative

    These are old "bent pipe" FLTSATCOM birds from the 1980s. The transponder tech dates to the 1970s. It's all going to be superseded by the Mobile User Objective System very soon now, so it might even be a good idea to just sell Brazil the old system. Well, assuming the GEO slots aren't needed.