EQUIPMENT. update
Contrary to popular belief, you DO NOT need a lot of sophisticated equipment to work satellites.
It is even possible to operate via
satellite by using a single rig, providing it's equipped with a pair of VFO's.
However it IS advisable to use a pair of rigs, one for the UPLINK on one
frequency and the other for the DOWNLINK on a different frequency.
There are of course sophisticated rigs that contain two receiver / transmitter combinations that even track Doppler automatically but these are certainly NOT recommended for the potential newcomer, apart from which, they are extremely expensive.
A good satellite station for modes A, B and J need only comprise the following equipment. A 2m transceiver, a 70cm transceiver, an HF rig for the 10m Downlink of the Russian satellites together with appropriate antennas and a power supply.
As can be seen, almost all of these items are already installed in most ham shacks. Having a good HF receiver is advantageous, all manner of converters or transverters for various bands can be connected to the HF rig, which usually has a better noise figure than ‘dedicated’ VHF/UHF gear anyway!
There are literally thousands of old...(BUT STILL GOOD!) converters lying around in lofts etc. It's just a case of ‘tracking’ them down.
Antennas seem to be the most confusing item of ‘satellite’ gear. To begin with, use what you already have, even verticals can be used for LEO satellites.Obviously you'll never be accused of being an ALLIGATOR but they will give you a fair indication of what kind of antennas you'll need for different satellites.
If you already have a pair of terrestrial beams, a slight ‘retune’ is usually all that is needed, and sometimes even that isn't necessary. Circular polarisation seems to frighten a lot of would be satellite operators. It should be remembered that circular polarisation is usually an ADVANTAGE but it is certainly NOT a necessity.
A circularly polarised wave is only circular in the direction of the main lobe anyway .. so if you're working with LEO satellites that go from horizon to horizon in the space of 20 minutes or so .. it's fairly obvious that the polarisation can't be circular in all directions at the same time. In fact for almost all of the pass, it will be elliptical.