Hey everyone, I’m totally new to the world of satellite signal reception and want to set up my own ground station using SatNOGS or TinyGS. I’d love to get some advice from those with experience—what’s the best way to start? What equipment do I need, and are there any good tutorials or resources that break down the setup process for beginners? Any tips or suggestions on how to make things smoother would be awesome. Thanks!
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Hi I did just this a few weeks ago if you go to this link and read through the information this is a good place to start. https://wiki.satnogs.org/Main_Page
Prior to setting up my ground station I already had built an antenna and had purchased a Nooelec SDR https://www.nooelec.com/store/nesdr-smart.html and had this connected to my laptop using SDR console to tune into, listen and receive signals from the NOAA weather satellites and much more.
start with the basic and then try more as you get more experience and more confidence.
Hope this helps.
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Hi@mav
@HS318’s advice is good. I would add to that with some more detailed advice based on my experience with satellites and SatNOGS.
Building a SatNOGS ground station s a great place to start but I would also encourage you to get a second setup so you can play around, experiment and learn.
My suggested basic setup is as follows….but you can vary it to suit your circumstances:
• Frequency: Most sats are on 435 MHz so start there….
• Antenna: Turnstile…. I use an Asymmetric Turnstile Antenna……very simple to build and very effective.
• Filter: Use a HPF with a cutoff about 350 MHz or so……this should manage any nearby WBFM and VHF station interference. You could use a BPF also. I use the Mini-Circuits SHP-400+.
• LNA: Use one that has a DC feed via the Coax. I use the RTL-SDR Blog Wideband LNA. This is 4.5V and is compatible with the RTL-SDR and a few other SDR’s.
• SDR: Start with a genuine RTL-SDR Blog V3 SDR. They have a built-in 4.5V Bias-Tee, are cheap and just work.
• Raspberry Pi: Go with a RPi 4B with 4GB of memory. You can get away with 3B+’s and less memory but the RPi 4B & 4GB is a good price point.
• Power & Cooling: The RPi needs a decent reliable power supply and it needs to be kept cool. Wall warts are not reliable. You need a 15-20W USB-C PS. Make sure it is not getting too hot. I actually use a RPi POE+ Hat. This is powered by an Ethernet POE+ Switch. It also has a fan which is good for cooling and very reliable.
That is my basic setup. Follow the Wiki for install instructions and ask here if you get stuck.
For the experimental system I would get a second RTL-SDR with a LNA for experimenting with. Use that with your laptop. You can make simple antennas to experiment with higher gain, different frequencies, etc. For software start with simple packages like Gpredict and GQRX (or what ever package you are familiar with)……Once you can reliably track and receive satellites with that setup, you can then move on to decoders using GNURadio, gr-satellites and other packages.
Between those two you will have a lot of fun with satellites……and if you get hooked like most of us, you will end up with a continual job of learning and improving your setup.
Hope this helps.
John – VK4JBE
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Thanks for the tips!! I will definitely follow up and try to begin with Noaa satellites.
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Hey John, wonderful deep insights, lot to take in as a beginner, but definitely will be a great info for my fundamentals. Thanks a lot!!
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