013 - It's Not Magic
Schneider, a key member of the rad1o Badge project team, explains the reverse engineering of the Iridium satellite network, detailing how they decoded pager and voice protocols using SDR tools like HackRF and gr-iridium. He discusses the technical challenges of identifying BCH error correction and interleaving, and the community-driven development of tools like Inspectrum and Phosphor. Schneider also highlights the privacy implications of unencrypted commercial traffic, including sensitive medical dispatches, and the ongoing work to monitor the new Iridium NEXT constellation.