Projects · 433 MHz
TinyGS Ground Station
A solar-powered LoRa receiver that listens for small satellites and reports what it hears to the TinyGS network.
- Band
- 433 MHz
- Current draw
- ~0.065 A
- Runtime · 2× 18650
- ~42 h
- Build cost
- $124.57
How it started
I came across the TinyGS project one day while watching YouTube, where I get most of my ideas, and thought it would be a fun one to build. After watching a few videos and browsing the web, I ordered the hardware. I was already familiar with the ESP32 from other projects, so I understood its role. I 3D printed a mount for it.
The battery puzzle
I experimented with power and found it pulls around 0.065 amps, so I tried running it off a single 18650 3000 mAh battery. It didn't last a full day! The math says it should have lasted 40+ hours. Turning the screen off didn't help much. I ended up adding a second battery, as seen in the pictures below, and now I get around 42 hours.
I don't know why the batteries drain so fast. The 5 V solar panel I'm using seems to keep it charged well enough. The charge controller I found on Amazon is pretty cool — power can go in and out several different ways — and I suspect it has something to do with how fast my batteries drain.
The antenna
This project sat on my test bench for months before I finally settled on an antenna. My plan was not to spend a lot of money, so I ended up using a cheap low-gain 433 MHz antenna. Overall, this was a very easy build, and it's serving a good cause.
Parts
- HiLetgo ESP32 LoRa V3 (SX1262)Board with 0.96" OLED display
- UAYESOK 433 MHz antennaExternal, low gain
- Ankway 5 W solar panel5 V
- 900 mA MPPT solar power managerSolar and USB charging
- QOJH 18650 3000 mAh × 23.7 V lithium-ion
- QILIPSU IP67 junction boxWeatherproof enclosure
- JXMOX USB-C to Micro USB adapterAdapter
All from Amazon. Total cost at the time: $124.57.
The build in photos
Projects · 915 MHz
Meshtastic Node
A LoRa mesh node up on the tower, with an environmental sensor reporting temperature, pressure and humidity.
- Band
- 915 MHz
- Core
- RAK4631
- Antenna
- 5.8 dBi
- Sensor
- BMP280
Why a node on the tower
I recently got into Meshtastic. I bought a LILYGO T-Echo to play with, then decided to put up my own node. I'm a bit far from most of the other nodes, so putting one on my tower lets me reach them.
So far it works great — I haven't had to touch it since the day I installed it. I recently added an environmental sensor that reads temperature, pressure and humidity.
You can learn more about Meshtastic on the project's website.
Hardware
- RAKwireless WisBlock Meshtastic Starter KitUS915 · RAK19007 base + RAK4631 core
- Unify Enclosure IP67150 × 100 × 45 mm, from rakwireless.com
- 3.7 V LiPo battery3000 mAh
- 915 MHz LoRa fiberglass antenna5.8 dBi
- BMP280 sensorTemperature, pressure, humidity
Photos
Projects · Weather satellite
GOES-16/19 Satellite Station
A solar-powered ground station that pulls full-disk images of Earth straight from a geostationary weather satellite.
- Satellite
- GOES-19
- Previously
- GOES-16
- Computer
- Raspberry Pi
- Power
- Solar
The setup
I set up a GOES-16 satellite receiver to get images of Earth. After testing a few homemade setups, I decided to buy the right hardware. I found a kit on Amazon, and after a day of putting it together and programming the Raspberry Pi, it's up and running full time on solar power.
I learned everything from USRadioGuy — I recommend checking out his website if you're interested.
2025 update
GOES-16 has been replaced by GOES-19. Same setup and hardware, just a different script running on the Pi.
Photos & images
Click any image for full size
Full-resolution downloads (large files): full-disk false color · sea surface temperature · full-disk animation
Projects · Antennas
Antenna Projects
I like to build my own antennas from time to time. Here are a few I've built lately — more to come!
This is an 8-element collinear antenna made from LMR 400 coaxial cable. The first and last elements are 1/4 wavelength, while the others are 1/2 wavelength, adjusted for the velocity factor. The entire assembly is housed inside a 3/4" PVC pipe.
The results, shown in the images below, exceeded my expectations—I’m very satisfied with its performance.
I built this antenna specifically to feed data to FlightAware using a Raspberry Pi and a FlightAware dongle. You can view my real-time results here.
