• The Serenity Orbital Education Platform

    From Don@21:1/5 to All on Tue Jul 23 04:17:40 2024
    The Serenity satellite is a CubeSat that offers low-cost
    opportunities to test educational experiments in space.
    It has a suite of data sensors and a camera that will
    send data back to Earth.

    Licensed as an amateur radio broadcaster, Serenity can
    communicate with radios on the ground. Anyone with a ham
    radio can "talk" to Serenity. With a simple ground station,
    you can connect with the satellite during its orbital
    period and can collect data and pictures as they are
    transmitted back to Earth. Read on for lessons on building
    an inexpensive radio and tracking system.

    <https://tis.org/serenity-satellite/>


    real time satellite tracking
    <https://www.orbtrack.org/#/?satSCN=60208>

    Danke,

    --
    Don, KB7RPU, https://www.qsl.net/kb7rpu
    There was a young lady named Bright Whose speed was far faster than light;
    She set out one day In a relative way And returned on the previous night.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Jan Panteltje@21:1/5 to g@crcomp.net on Tue Jul 23 05:25:21 2024
    On a sunny day (Tue, 23 Jul 2024 04:17:40 -0000 (UTC)) it happened "Don" <g@crcomp.net> wrote in <20240722a@crcomp.net>:

    The Serenity satellite is a CubeSat that offers low-cost
    opportunities to test educational experiments in space.
    It has a suite of data sensors and a camera that will
    send data back to Earth.

    Licensed as an amateur radio broadcaster, Serenity can
    communicate with radios on the ground. Anyone with a ham
    radio can "talk" to Serenity. With a simple ground station,
    you can connect with the satellite during its orbital
    period and can collect data and pictures as they are
    transmitted back to Earth. Read on for lessons on building
    an inexpensive radio and tracking system.

    <https://tis.org/serenity-satellite/>


    real time satellite tracking
    <https://www.orbtrack.org/#/?satSCN=60208>

    Danke,

    Thank you, interesting, may look for it with a RTL_SDR stick on my Pi4.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Don@21:1/5 to Jan Panteltje on Tue Jul 23 18:40:19 2024
    Jan Panteltje wrote:
    Don wrote:

    The Serenity satellite is a CubeSat that offers low-cost
    opportunities to test educational experiments in space.
    It has a suite of data sensors and a camera that will
    send data back to Earth.

    Licensed as an amateur radio broadcaster, Serenity can
    communicate with radios on the ground. Anyone with a ham
    radio can "talk" to Serenity. With a simple ground station,
    you can connect with the satellite during its orbital
    period and can collect data and pictures as they are
    transmitted back to Earth. Read on for lessons on building
    an inexpensive radio and tracking system.

    <https://tis.org/serenity-satellite/>


    real time satellite tracking
    <https://www.orbtrack.org/#/?satSCN=60208>

    Thank you, interesting, may look for it with a RTL_SDR stick on my Pi4.

    Pi 2s are the only Raspberry devices available to me for the time being.
    So my plan is to use a FreeBSD PC instead. Supposedly a multipurpose
    dipole antenna works. But a Yagi probably works better.

    Danke,

    --
    Don, KB7RPU, https://www.qsl.net/kb7rpu
    There was a young lady named Bright Whose speed was far faster than light;
    She set out one day In a relative way And returned on the previous night.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Jan Panteltje@21:1/5 to g@crcomp.net on Wed Jul 24 06:06:31 2024
    On a sunny day (Tue, 23 Jul 2024 18:40:19 -0000 (UTC)) it happened "Don" <g@crcomp.net> wrote in <20240723a@crcomp.net>:

    Jan Panteltje wrote:
    Don wrote:

    The Serenity satellite is a CubeSat that offers low-cost
    opportunities to test educational experiments in space.
    It has a suite of data sensors and a camera that will
    send data back to Earth.

    Licensed as an amateur radio broadcaster, Serenity can
    communicate with radios on the ground. Anyone with a ham
    radio can "talk" to Serenity. With a simple ground station,
    you can connect with the satellite during its orbital
    period and can collect data and pictures as they are
    transmitted back to Earth. Read on for lessons on building
    an inexpensive radio and tracking system.

    <https://tis.org/serenity-satellite/>


    real time satellite tracking
    <https://www.orbtrack.org/#/?satSCN=60208>

    Thank you, interesting, may look for it with a RTL_SDR stick on my Pi4.

    Pi 2s are the only Raspberry devices available to me for the time being.
    So my plan is to use a FreeBSD PC instead. Supposedly a multipurpose
    dipole antenna works. But a Yagi probably works better.

    For an rtl-sdr stick all you need is an USB port.
    I have an old Pi 2? that logs my outside weather station that way,
    uses rtl_433 (also open source one the web).
    The xpsa spectrum analyser I wrote runs perfectly on a PC:
    https://panteltje.nl/panteltje/xpsa/index.html
    that is an old version, should compile on a PC.
    The latest version also has FM stereo, and many more options and I ported it to raspi:
    https://panteltje.nl/pub/xpsa-0.7.gif
    runs perfectly on a Pi2

    I checked that 437.1 MHz frequency last night, no signal there,
    will have to look up the right times.
    Also my indoor antenna is likely no good, I do have a big old TV antenna with 4 bowties
    and a small yagi somewhere.
    As to tracking: I tested a yagi connected to 2 servos some years ago,
    there is some open source code for tracking some Oscar sats IIRC.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Don@21:1/5 to Jan Panteltje on Wed Jul 24 14:34:30 2024
    Jan Panteltje wrote:
    Don wrote:
    Jan Panteltje wrote:
    Don wrote:

    The Serenity satellite is a CubeSat that offers low-cost
    opportunities to test educational experiments in space.
    It has a suite of data sensors and a camera that will
    send data back to Earth.

    Licensed as an amateur radio broadcaster, Serenity can
    communicate with radios on the ground. Anyone with a ham
    radio can "talk" to Serenity. With a simple ground station,
    you can connect with the satellite during its orbital
    period and can collect data and pictures as they are
    transmitted back to Earth. Read on for lessons on building
    an inexpensive radio and tracking system.

    <https://tis.org/serenity-satellite/>


    real time satellite tracking
    <https://www.orbtrack.org/#/?satSCN=60208>

    Thank you, interesting, may look for it with a RTL_SDR stick on my Pi4.

    Pi 2s are the only Raspberry devices available to me for the time being.
    So my plan is to use a FreeBSD PC instead. Supposedly a multipurpose
    dipole antenna works. But a Yagi probably works better.

    For an rtl-sdr stick all you need is an USB port.
    I have an old Pi 2? that logs my outside weather station that way,
    uses rtl_433 (also open source one the web).
    The xpsa spectrum analyser I wrote runs perfectly on a PC:
    https://panteltje.nl/panteltje/xpsa/index.html
    that is an old version, should compile on a PC.
    The latest version also has FM stereo, and many more options and I ported it to raspi:
    https://panteltje.nl/pub/xpsa-0.7.gif
    runs perfectly on a Pi2

    I checked that 437.1 MHz frequency last night, no signal there,
    will have to look up the right times.
    Also my indoor antenna is likely no good, I do have a big old TV antenna with 4 bowties
    and a small yagi somewhere.
    As to tracking: I tested a yagi connected to 2 servos some years ago,
    there is some open source code for tracking some Oscar sats IIRC.

    These trackers work for me:

    <https://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=60208> <https://www.orbtrack.org/#/?satSCN=60208>

    but this one doesn't:

    <https://stltracker.github.io/>

    These two Apps allowed me to use an rtl_433 to track flights from my
    FreeBSD PC:

    <https://osmocom.org/projects/rtl-sdr/wiki/Rtl-sdr> <https://github.com/antirez/dump1090>


    pkg install rtl-sdr

    My Wouxun 70cm transceiver lacks built-in capabilites to send and
    receive text messages, so it must use another App:

    <https://github.com/dalethomas81/HamMessenger>

    At this point my rig ought to be able to send commands to the satellite
    from my shack. ROTFLMAO.

    Danke,

    --
    Don, KB7RPU, https://www.qsl.net/kb7rpu
    There was a young lady named Bright Whose speed was far faster than light;
    She set out one day In a relative way And returned on the previous night.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Jan Panteltje@21:1/5 to g@crcomp.net on Thu Jul 25 06:27:08 2024
    On a sunny day (Wed, 24 Jul 2024 14:34:30 -0000 (UTC)) it happened "Don" <g@crcomp.net> wrote in <20240724a@crcomp.net>:

    Jan Panteltje wrote:
    Don wrote:
    Jan Panteltje wrote:
    Don wrote:

    The Serenity satellite is a CubeSat that offers low-cost
    opportunities to test educational experiments in space.
    It has a suite of data sensors and a camera that will
    send data back to Earth.

    Licensed as an amateur radio broadcaster, Serenity can
    communicate with radios on the ground. Anyone with a ham
    radio can "talk" to Serenity. With a simple ground station,
    you can connect with the satellite during its orbital
    period and can collect data and pictures as they are
    transmitted back to Earth. Read on for lessons on building
    an inexpensive radio and tracking system.

    <https://tis.org/serenity-satellite/>


    real time satellite tracking
    <https://www.orbtrack.org/#/?satSCN=60208>

    Thank you, interesting, may look for it with a RTL_SDR stick on my Pi4. >>>
    Pi 2s are the only Raspberry devices available to me for the time being. >>>So my plan is to use a FreeBSD PC instead. Supposedly a multipurpose >>>dipole antenna works. But a Yagi probably works better.

    For an rtl-sdr stick all you need is an USB port.
    I have an old Pi 2? that logs my outside weather station that way,
    uses rtl_433 (also open source one the web).
    The xpsa spectrum analyser I wrote runs perfectly on a PC:
    https://panteltje.nl/panteltje/xpsa/index.html
    that is an old version, should compile on a PC.
    The latest version also has FM stereo, and many more options and I ported it to raspi:
    https://panteltje.nl/pub/xpsa-0.7.gif
    runs perfectly on a Pi2

    I checked that 437.1 MHz frequency last night, no signal there,
    will have to look up the right times.
    Also my indoor antenna is likely no good, I do have a big old TV antenna with 4 bowties
    and a small yagi somewhere.
    As to tracking: I tested a yagi connected to 2 servos some years ago,
    there is some open source code for tracking some Oscar sats IIRC.

    These trackers work for me:

    <https://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=60208>

    Works great, will look for signal when it passes.


    <https://www.orbtrack.org/#/?satSCN=60208>

    Cool, that sat moves very fast!


    but this one doesn't:

    <https://stltracker.github.io/>

    These two Apps allowed me to use an rtl_433 to track flights from my
    FreeBSD PC:

    <https://osmocom.org/projects/rtl-sdr/wiki/Rtl-sdr> ><https://github.com/antirez/dump1090>



    Yes, dump1090 runs here 24/7, the output is sent to other progran I wrote, 'xgpspc':
    https://panteltje.nl/pub/xgpspc_5_planes.gif
    and I trace ship traffic too:
    https://panteltje.nl/pub/boats_and_planes.gif
    Basically xgpspc is a server and navigation program:
    https://panteltje.nl/panteltje/xgpspc/index.html
    also runs on that same Pi2
    There are better navigation programs, but had to write my own...
    Curiosity, and best way to know in how stuff really works..
    And how to hack it if needed.


    pkg install rtl-sdr

    My Wouxun 70cm transceiver lacks built-in capabilites to send and
    receive text messages, so it must use another App:

    <https://github.com/dalethomas81/HamMessenger>

    Only have a Baofeng portable for 70 cm now, so... would require some soldering. I do have some powerfull shortwave stuff.
    And satellite stuff.



    At this point my rig ought to be able to send commands to the satellite
    from my shack. ROTFLMAO.

    Well let us know if you can get a response from that thing!


    I have 3 Raspberry Pis running 24/7 now., on a UPS, plus an other 2 standby. Posting this from a Pi4 8 GB with the Usenet newsreader I wrote.
    Lots of camera stuff on those, IR camera module too..
    several other sensors, temperature, air pressure, CO2, combustable gasses, radiation..., GPS...
    2 4TB harddisks on USB hubs... POE module...
    No shortage of computahs


    I was reading that Musk now has $500 portable satellite terminals and a $50 a month subscription for 50 GB / month
    So far US only...
    May go for it if global.
    Beats local G4 prices.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Jan Panteltje@21:1/5 to g@crcomp.net on Thu Jul 25 15:04:47 2024
    On a sunny day (Thu, 25 Jul 2024 14:21:10 -0000 (UTC)) it happened "Don" <g@crcomp.net> wrote in <20240725a@crcomp.net>:

    Jan Panteltje wrote:
    Don wrote:

    <snip>

    My Wouxun 70cm transceiver lacks built-in capabilites to send and
    receive text messages, so it must use another App:

    <https://github.com/dalethomas81/HamMessenger>

    Only have a Baofeng portable for 70 cm now, so... would require some soldering.
    I do have some powerfull shortwave stuff.
    And satellite stuff.



    At this point my rig ought to be able to send commands to the satellite >>>from my shack. ROTFLMAO.

    Well let us know if you can get a response from that thing!


    I have 3 Raspberry Pis running 24/7 now., on a UPS, plus an other 2 standby. >> Posting this from a Pi4 8 GB with the Usenet newsreader I wrote.
    Lots of camera stuff on those, IR camera module too..
    several other sensors, temperature, air pressure, CO2, combustable gasses, >> radiation..., GPS...
    2 4TB harddisks on USB hubs... POE module...
    No shortage of computahs


    I was reading that Musk now has $500 portable satellite terminals and a
    $50 a month subscription for 50 GB / month
    So far US only...
    May go for it if global.
    Beats local G4 prices.

    It turns out HamMessenger is not for me because it runs on a bespoke
    backpack board:

    <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dalethomas81/HamMessenger/master/Media/CAD/Isometric.png>
    <https://github.com/dalethomas81/HamMessenger/blob/master/Media/Unibody-Frame-v1/front.jpeg>

    Now THAT is some keyboard!


    Although a used PK-232 was acquired about a decade ago, an Elecraft >transceiver with built-in digital data modes was purchased shortly >thereafter. So the PK-232 was shelved, until now. It's very old
    school. A peek under its cover depressed me:

    <https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/6hsAAOSwIw5kaABG/s-l1600.jpg>

    Ah an old Z80 system, I did a lot of Z80 stuff, even wrote a CPM clone
    https://panteltje.nl/panteltje/z80/index.html
    https://panteltje.nl/panteltje/z80/system14/diagrams/index.html
    Not so attached, all went into the dustbin 15 years? or so ago.
    https://panteltje.nl/pub/z80/graphics_card_top.jpg
    https://panteltje.nl/pub/z80/soundcard_top.jpg
    https://panteltje.nl/pub/z80/ramdisk_top.jpg
    No peeseebees needed for one off, just wired..



    In the end, Dire Wolf on a RPi seems like the best bet at this point in
    time:

    Why waste $200 and settle for mediocre receive performance
    from a 1980's technology TNC using an old modem chip? Dire
    Wolf decodes over 1000 error-free frames from Track 2 of
    the WA8LMF TNC Test CD, leaving all the hardware TNCs,
    and first generation "soundcard" modems, behind in the dust.

    <https://github.com/wb2osz/direwolf>

    Nice, may try it out some day on my Pi4
    Thank you.

    Where is everybody? did that cloudstrike take out part of Usenet?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Don@21:1/5 to Jan Panteltje on Thu Jul 25 14:21:10 2024
    Jan Panteltje wrote:
    Don wrote:

    <snip>

    My Wouxun 70cm transceiver lacks built-in capabilites to send and
    receive text messages, so it must use another App:

    <https://github.com/dalethomas81/HamMessenger>

    Only have a Baofeng portable for 70 cm now, so... would require some soldering.
    I do have some powerfull shortwave stuff.
    And satellite stuff.



    At this point my rig ought to be able to send commands to the satellite >>from my shack. ROTFLMAO.

    Well let us know if you can get a response from that thing!


    I have 3 Raspberry Pis running 24/7 now., on a UPS, plus an other 2 standby. Posting this from a Pi4 8 GB with the Usenet newsreader I wrote.
    Lots of camera stuff on those, IR camera module too..
    several other sensors, temperature, air pressure, CO2, combustable gasses, radiation..., GPS...
    2 4TB harddisks on USB hubs... POE module...
    No shortage of computahs


    I was reading that Musk now has $500 portable satellite terminals and a
    $50 a month subscription for 50 GB / month
    So far US only...
    May go for it if global.
    Beats local G4 prices.

    It turns out HamMessenger is not for me because it runs on a bespoke
    backpack board:

    <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dalethomas81/HamMessenger/master/Media/CAD/Isometric.png>
    <https://github.com/dalethomas81/HamMessenger/blob/master/Media/Unibody-Frame-v1/front.jpeg>


    Although a used PK-232 was acquired about a decade ago, an Elecraft
    transceiver with built-in digital data modes was purchased shortly
    thereafter. So the PK-232 was shelved, until now. It's very old
    school. A peek under its cover depressed me:

    <https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/6hsAAOSwIw5kaABG/s-l1600.jpg>

    In the end, Dire Wolf on a RPi seems like the best bet at this point in
    time:

    Why waste $200 and settle for mediocre receive performance
    from a 1980's technology TNC using an old modem chip? Dire
    Wolf decodes over 1000 error-free frames from Track 2 of
    the WA8LMF TNC Test CD, leaving all the hardware TNCs,
    and first generation "soundcard" modems, behind in the dust.

    <https://github.com/wb2osz/direwolf>

    Danke,

    --
    Don, KB7RPU, https://www.qsl.net/kb7rpu
    There was a young lady named Bright Whose speed was far faster than light;
    She set out one day In a relative way And returned on the previous night.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)