Satellite is fun. The problem with the ISS is that you have to catch them during a pass when they are awake, not involved with other duties and on the radio. That combination has to occur during the roughly 4 min pass from AoS to LoS (Acqusition of Signal and Loss of Signal) over your location. The cool part of trying the ISS is that you can usually get a visual, so it's easier to track. I have tried several times, buy have not been successful yet.
However, I was successful in tracking the first Lithiuanian cube-sat (aka LO-78). I recorded the data, the segment I got anyway, and sent it to the research team. The coolest part was during one of the last passes, before it re-entered, I didn't make contact, but just as I was about to reach LoS, I saw a streak of light, right where my antenna was pointing. So, I actually had a visual of the satellite. The reason that was a big deal for me is that the satellite was only 10x10x10cm
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lituanica_SAT-1
I remember being out one morning, pre-dawn, with my daughter in tow. There I was, standing in the front yard with a radio, a tracking device (my phone), a recorder (also my phone), a compass and a hand held yagi pointed toward the sky calling CQ. We got some looks.
I run the AmSat Droid app for tracking. I usually run a Baofeng with three sequential frequency pairs to accommodate for the Doppler shift. I've got a small 3-element (6 really, if you count both sides) dual band Yagi that I use handheld. And a good sighting compass to map the azimuth of AoS and LoS. Not to mention a good watch/clock. I'll be doing it again, when I get the chance.
