Build

Introduction

Building a ground station need not be complicated. There are a few things to consider when working out what it is you are going to do. Choices such as the desire to have a fixed or steerable ground station will play a big part in the amount of equipment needed and the time taken as well as the complexity of any build. If you are new to this and a little unsure then a fixed (no rotator) option is a good choice. If you fancy a challenge and want to pick out the weakest signals then the steerable ground station might be what you are after. There is more detail in the Ground Stations page

The illustration below sets out the various major components to give an idea as to what is commonly used.

Options for Ground Stations

A satellite ground station is made up from different parts. The following diagram can help you select your setup based on your needs and/or your existing setup.

Here are some links explaining the different options:

Platform	Controller	Rotator	Radio	Antenna
Raspberry Pi	SatNOGS Controller	SatNOGS Rotator	SDR	Yagi
Debian system (Debian 12 is well-supported)	Rot2Prog	SPID Big RAS		Helical
Linux Desktop (not well-supported)	lsf-g5500	Yaesu G5500		Vertical
Ubuntu - Client Installation (not well-supported)	Arduino UNO CNC Shield based controller	No rotator		Cross-Yagi
	RAMPS 1.4 Board for SatNOGS Rotator	SuperAntennaz

Use the above table to select your setup. E.g. RPi3 > Yaesu G550 > SDR > UHF helical & VHF Cross Yagi

How do I pick?

Client: The Raspberry Pi is the reference platform for SatNOGS, and is currently the option that has the best support from the community. Debian 12 on a desktop/laptop computer is also supported. Certain SDRs may benefit from a more powerful CPU, like what you'd find in a desktop machine.

Rotator: A rotator, like the SatNOGS Rotator v3, will allow your antenna to follow satellites as they move across the sky, and thus pick up fainter signals. But if you want to get started quickly, or don't have the hardware skills to build your own, you can still pick up stronger signals (the ISS, NOAA and Meteor weather satellites) with a no-rotator setup. If you already have a rotator supported by rotctl, you can use that.

Signal Reception: The reference radio for SatNOGS is the RTL-SDR v3, but other latest-generation SDRs like the NooElec NESDR SMart should work as well. Higher-end SDRs work as well, but can get a bit expensive. Alternately, any radio supported by rigctl should work.

Amplification is generally done by a low noise amplifier, or LNA. There are multiple options:

• A wide-band LNA next to your SDR (see LNA4ALL, SPF5189 and similar)
• A band specific (or two) pre-amplifiers next to your antennas (example)
• No amplification at all; just pump the gain of your SDR. (This is not recommended for the rtl-sdr.)

Antenna: Stationary antennas (eg: Turnstile, Lindenblad) will be easy to build and mount, as they won't require rotator hardware. They will let you receive stronger broadcasts, like NOAA weather satellites and ISS broadcasts, but may not work for receiving fainter cubesat broadcasts. Directional antennas (eg: Yagis, Helicals) can be more complicated to build, but will also require a rotator to track satellites across the sky. The advantage is that they will let you pick up fainter broadcasts from cubesats or ham radio satellites. Sometimes it's useful the ability of switch different antennas among observations.

Next steps

Once you've picked out all the hardware, follow the SatNOGS Setup software guide. If using a Raspberry Pi, see the system-specific guide on the Raspberry Pi page (e.g., flashing the specific image).

Once you have a ground station ready, you should go ahead and operate it! More info can be found on the Operation wiki page.