Author Archives: trango

2019-11-13
15:14
by: trango

Mercury Transit of 2019

Got up way too early to capture this rare Mercury Transit. Mercury is small, about 1/3 the size of the Earth. Good thing there was no sunspots or Mercury would have been difficult to locate.

Posted in Astronomy Tagged ,

2018-12-06
21:36
by: trango

GOES-16 / 17 Setup Guide

Here is a great write up by Rodney AAA6RD, Region 6 Director for US Army MARS on his GOES-16/17 setup. The write-up includes what’s required, the setup details and the results. GEOS-16_Receiver_Project-12022018

Posted in Uncategorized

2018-02-14
19:32
by: trango

XHRPT Update

Getting close to releasing XHRPT decoder. Upgraded to now decode MetOp-A/B, FengYun-3A/B/C in addition to the previously supported NOAA-18/19/15 and Meteor-MN2. Here is a short video of a typical pass of MetOp-B AHRPT. The video has been speed up, so … Continue reading →

Posted in Satellites, Spacecraft Tagged ,

2017-08-21
21:08
by: trango

Solar Eclipse 2017

I have posted a few images here.  

Posted in Astronomy Tagged

2017-05-03
21:34
by: trango

Cyberspectrum #20 (WX Satellites) Slides

Yep, better late than never… Here are the slides from my WX Satellite presentation at Cyberspectrum #20 in the Fall of 2016. cyberspectrum_wx_sats_r4 Warning, it’s a big (45MB) PDF file because it includes quite a few images. Good Luck!  

Posted in GOES, Satellites Tagged

2017-05-03
15:33
by: trango

XRIT Decoder for GOES Satellite

NOAA’s GOES-13 (East), GOES-15 (West) and now GOES-16 produce some amazing images. Both GOES-13 and GOES-15 broadcast weather images to users with suitable ground stations using a protocol called LRIT (Low Rate Information Transmission). GOES-16, a more advanced satellite does … Continue reading →

Posted in GOES Tagged ,

2015-01-10
23:12
by: trango

Heat sink and shielding for HackRF One

The HackRF one PCB is manufactured with an option for a shield. This shield is available from NooElec. It’s a simple and quick addition, just some easy soldering. The hardest part is just removing the HackRF one from it’s plastic … Continue reading →

Posted in Projects Tagged

2014-12-09
00:50
by: trango

AirSpy working with Inmarsat Decoder

My new AirSpy SDR arrived last week. The goal this weekend was to make a small application to stream the IQ over Ethernet and then test it with one of the Inmarsat decoders that I have previously developed. The API … Continue reading →

Posted in Inmarsat, Projects Tagged ,

2014-12-07
00:14
by: trango

RF Selection for AOR AR2300

In an serious effort to reduce patch panel management, another Mini-Circuits USB 4SPDT-A18 RF Switch has been added. Now, along with the original RF Switch, selections can be made from up to 10 different RF sources, including various dishes, yagis, … Continue reading →

Posted in Projects

2014-11-10
02:01
by: trango

Blue Force Tracking on Inmarsat

Blue Force Tracking is a GPS-enabled system that give US Military the location of “friendly” military forces. You can read more about it on Wikipedia. Inmarsat is one of the commercial satellite providers that has a contract with the the … Continue reading →

Posted in Inmarsat Tagged