Example Setup

This page will show you my (DB8LE) personal portable satellite setup for working LEO satellites, as an example of how satgs can be used.

Here is a block diagram to visualize how the individual components are connected to eachother: Example Block Diagram

And a picture of the setup in real life: Setup Picture

The transceiver and rotor can be replaced with any part that meets your requirements, or even be skipped. The SDR is only limited by having to be supported by SDR++, or another SDR software that allows for rigctl control.

Configuration

The configuration is very straight forward. This is the configuration for the rotor:

rotors/pe1ckk.json
{
    "usb_port": "/dev/ttyUSB0",
    "rotctl_ID": 601,
    "min_az": 1,
    "max_az": 359,
    "min_el": 2,
    "max_el": 90,
    "control_type": 1,
    "home_on_end": true
}

And the FT897D plus SDR:

radios/ft897d_sdr.json
{
    "sdr": {
        "rigctl_port": 4532
    },
    "tx": {
        "usb_port": "/dev/ttyUSB0",
        "rigctl_ID": 1043,
        "serial_speed": 38400,
        "offset": 0
    }
}

Preparing for a pass

All that is needed to get this setup ready for a satellite pass is:

  1. Connect everything
  2. Start SDR++ rigctl listener and ensure correct settings
  3. Start satgs using $ satgs track <some satelltie> --radio ft897d_sdr --rotor pe1ckk

That's it!