Choosing an antenna plus UHF vs VHF

SatNOGS
,
1

Hello! We have recently started evaluating the idea of building SatNogs Ground Station in Milan, Italy

Currently the funding is limited, so we will start with one antenna. I would like to know whether an UHF or a VHF is the best option for receiving the most signals. We were thinking UHF given there are more cubesats transmitting in that frequency, but would like feedback from the community. We are considering the 436CP16 from M2 and the X-Quad from WiMo. We haven’t been able to find other suppliers in Europe that are in the ~€300 range

Additionally, here is our proposed architecture (feedback is appreciated!)

Platform: Raspberry Pi 3 or 4 (depending on availability)
Rotator + Controller: We are planning on building the SatNogs Rotator
SDR: Currently considering RTL because of price and hope that paired with an LNA it will be enough

Please let me know what you think!
Thanks,
MD

2

Absolutely go with a UHF yagi (appears a directional is good because you have a rotor). With an LNA it should be more than enough to pull in most weak sats.

73!

VE3SVF

1 Like
3

Take a good look at the following link if your thinking of building something. I Built mine 8 months ago for UHF and it’s worked great.

image
image1920×2560 410 KB