4.6 KiB
Mighty Satellite Ground Station
DRAFT
The Mighty Satellite Ground Station (MSGS) is a libre, heavy duty, extra features design for tracking satellites.
MSGS is intended for use with the Libre Space Foundation's SatNOGS network, and is based on their freely available files.
MSGS is a more robust version of the earlier Satellite Ground Station, documents available here:
Spacecruft SatNOGS Ground Station
Occassionally it is on a webcam stream:
Overview
Designed for artificial satellite tracking.
- Libre.
- Heavy duty.
- Completely documented design listing all parts and sources from Antennas to Zipties.
- All commodity-off-the-shelf (COTS) parts generally available in North American markets.
- Requires no special tools or skills to assemble. Just needs two adjustable wrenches, a screwdriver, and wire cutters.
- VHF and UHF antennas on crossboom.
- Software defined radio (SDR).
- Az/El rotator optimized for satellite tracking.
- 24/7/365 outdoor operation.
- Relatively low cost, but parts selected for quick deployment not price (e.g. no Arduino hacking, no soldering, no drilling, etc. which could lower price).
- Indoor computer and controllers.
- 110V AC power (e.g. not a solar system).
- Quick and easy mast deployment.
- Non-permanent mount, which can be easily moved.
- All parts shipping via courier (UPS, FedEx), no freight required.
- Easily serviced, upgraded, modified.
Bill of Materials
The core document is the Mighty Satellite Ground Station Bill of Materials (BoM). It is a spreadsheet in Libre Office format.
Cable Harnesses Version Two
See docs/harness-v2
for wire harness diagram source for a new version, currently DRAFT.
Diagram of the azimuth controller harness.
Diagram of the azimuth rotator harness.
Cable Harnesses
See docs/harness
for wire harness diagram source.
NOTE: The below setup is being re-worked.
- Yellow labeled azimuth rotator harness plugs into blue labeled azimuth controller harness.
Diagram of the azimuth controller harness.
Diagram of the azimuth rotator harness.
- Brown labeled elevation rotator harness plugs into orange labeled elevation controller harness.
Diagram of the elevation controller harness.
Diagram of the elevation rotator harness.
Green Heron RT-21 Az/El Rotator Controller
Green Heron RT-21 Az/El Rotator Controller.
Front Panel of Green Heron RT-21 Az/El Rotator Controller
Back Panel of Green Heron RT-21 Az/El Rotator Controller
SatNOGS
A global network of satellite ground stations, designed as an open source participatory project.
- SatNOGS Website --- https://satnogs.org/
- SatNOGS Network --- https://network.satnogs.org/
The base design comes from the Libre Space Foundation. The present design adds review of other designs in the SatNOGS network and feedback from the #SatNOGS Matrix channel.
Upstream docs:
- SatNOGS Introduction --- https://wiki.satnogs.org/Introduction
- SatNOGS Ground Station Build Overview --- https://wiki.satnogs.org/Build
- Ground Stations --- https://wiki.satnogs.org/Ground_Stations
- Raspberry Pi --- https://wiki.satnogs.org/Raspberry_Pi
- Antennas --- https://wiki.satnogs.org/Antennas
- Software Defined Radio (SDR) --- https://wiki.satnogs.org/Software_Defined_Radio
- Papers --- https://wiki.satnogs.org/Academic_Papers
TODO
- Update to Green Heron RT-21.
- Update to Alfa Spid RAS.
Copyright
Unofficial project, not part of official Libre Space Foundation software or website. Upstream sources under their respective copyrights.
License: CC By SA 4.0 International and/or GPLv3+ at your discretion.
Copyright © 2022, Jeff Moe.