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by acqq 2104 days ago
> A 90 degree pass (overhead) is around 10 minutes.

Yes, that's approximately what I remember. The path of ISS is created with the goal that ISS doesn't fly over the same pieces of land or sea. Instead, it takes a lot of orbits before I can see it crossing exactly over my location, giving me around 10 minutes when that cross is ideal, otherwise, it's less, if the current path is close enough at all. Seeing is of course limited more than obtaining a radio signal, as to see ISS it has to fly above you at the time that the sun can reflect from it, and to have clear skies. One doesn't need that to catch just a radio signal, but the ISS path should still be such that it's close to your location, and the time during the FM signal can be received will still be short.