I am encountering the known issue with a rotator azimuth limit stuck at 0-180 degrees rotator: Add optional min_az/max_az netrotctl settings (#477) · Issues · librespacefoundation / SatNOGS / satnogs-client · GitLab , which prevents full satellite observations.
I have attempted suggested workarounds, but none have worked in my specific configuration.
My System Details:
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Host: Raspberry Pi 4B
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Operating System: Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64-bit), Bookworm
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Installation: Followed the official guide (wiki - SatNOGS_Setup) using the curl installer script:
curl -sfL satno.gs | sh -s – -
Docker Containers:
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librespace/satnogs-client:2.1 (“satnogs-client”)
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librespace/hamlib:4.5.4 (“rigctld”)
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My configuration uses
- NETROTCTL
- rotctl_sim.py on the RPi host, controlling my
- motor (AZ only) directly from GPIO.
Attempted Solutions (Failed):
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Modifying rotator.py inside the container:
Attempting to add the lines self.rot.set_conf(“max_az”, “450”) and self.rot.set_conf(“min_az”, “-180”) resulted in the error: “Error response from daemon: container rootfs is marked read-only”. -
Using SATNOGS_CLIENT_SET_CONF or SATNOGS_ROT_OPTS via Ansible config:
I edited the file /var/lib/docker-bindmounts/ansible/etc/ansible/host_vars/ansible, adding the line:
SATNOGS_CLIENT_SET_CONF: “–set-conf=min_az=-180,max_az=450”
or
SATNOGS_ROT_OPTS: "–set-conf=min_az=-180,max_az=450
I then ran sudo satnogs-setup, but the configuration was not applied correctly, and the 0-180 limit persists.
The Question:
Given that directly editing the Python code (Method 1) confirms the min_az/max_az parameters are valid for my specific rotator hardware (I did it building dockers via own docker compose), but the official environment variable methods using Ansible are failing to apply them (the read-only problem). What is the functional, persistent configuration solution (workaround) for this SatNOGS installation using satnogs-setup (I want to use official setup following wiki - SatNOGS_Setup ) and have it working on my configuration utilizing NETROTCTL via RPi GPIO?
Is there a specific variable I’m missing, or a known solution to pass these options?