Category Archives: Satellite

Field Day 2015 Satellite Passes

Posted on June 24, 2015 by robert

With only a single operating FM satellite (FO-50), there is almost no chance to work it during Field Day.  The best chance is provided by one of the three operational analog satellites:  AO-7, FO-29 and AO-73.  AO-7 is an ancient … Continue reading →

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Open Source SGP4 Python Package

Posted on April 2, 2015 by robert

SGP4 is a Simplified General Perturbations mathematical model, which is used to calculate the position of satellites relative to the Earth.  The most frequently used model is SGP4, which is used with Two-Line Element (TLE) sets provided by NORAD and … Continue reading →

Posted in Raspberry Pi, Satellite, Tracker | Leave a comment

Setting the RPi System Clock via GPS

Posted on April 1, 2015 by robert

I am still learning and experimenting with the Adafruit Ultimate GPS HAT and the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B.  While I have the GPS tied into the system now, it doesn’t appear that the Raspbian NTP service is handling the … Continue reading →

Posted in Raspberry Pi, Satellite, Tracker | 10 Comments

Auto Login and Auto Run gpsd

Posted on March 27, 2015 by robert

As I continue to work on the Autonomous Satellite Antenna Tracking System (ASATS), to changes need to be made to setup the RPi so things happen automatically on power-up.  This requires two changes to the RPi: Setup for Automatic Login … Continue reading →

Posted in Raspberry Pi, Satellite, Tracker | 1 Comment

GPredict and RPi 2 Model B Power Consumption

Posted on March 23, 2015 by robert

I started today’s experimentation by loading the gpredict program.  This was written by Alexandru Csete, at http://gpredict.oz9aec.net/ While his repository has all the source code, there is no reason to do anything other than load it into the pi, at … Continue reading →

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Satellite Tracker – Finally Underway

Posted on March 21, 2015 by robert

Toward the end of last year I decided to make a small antenna satellite tracking system that was based on the Raspberry Pi.  It was to be entirely self-contained — no other computer devices required.  Seven months later, I’ve finally … Continue reading →

Posted in Raspberry Pi, Satellite, Tracker | 1 Comment

An Autonomous Automatic Satellite Tracker for a Small Crossed Beam

Posted on August 15, 2014 by robert

One of the goals I set for 2014 was to develop an antenna tracker that would be fully self-contained and not require an interface to a PC to obtain the tracking coordinates. The major components of the project are: Raspberry Pi … Continue reading →

Posted in Raspberry Pi, Satellite, Tracker | 3 Comments

Field Day 2014 Satellite Passes

Posted on June 17, 2014 by robert

This is a list of satellite passes that occur between 1400 Local on Saturday June 28 and 1400 Local on Sunday June 29 for the Rhode Island (FN41) area is shown below.  AO-7 will only be usable during daylight hours. … Continue reading →

Posted in Contests, From the OM, Operating, Satellite | 2 Comments

AO-73 Working Just Fine

Posted on December 4, 2013 by robert

I’ve left my rig on during the daylight hours to automatically collect telemetry packets, and have now received over 1100 of them.  And at night, I’ve had successful contacts with a half dozen people. The biggest challenge continues to be … Continue reading →

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CAT: A Water-propelled Cubesat

Posted on December 3, 2013 by robert

An interesting KickStarter campaign has shown up called CAT.  The objective is to devise a water-propelled plasma engine that can be fitted to a Cubesat in order to boost it to a higher orbit — even into deep space. You … Continue reading →

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