Tag Archives: Satellite

Raspberry Pi Satellite Rotator Interface

We’ve been using our Portable Satellite Station 2.0 for some time now and it works great. One area that can be improved is the interface between the MacDoppler Satellite Tracking program we use and the GHTracker application which controls the Green Heron Engineering RT-21 Az/El Rotator Controller in our setup…

Source: Raspberry Pi Satellite Rotator Interface | Our HAM Station

The Raspberry Pi is an inexpensive computer and control platform for many Ham Radio projects. We recently used a Raspberry Pi 3 to build an interface between the MacDoppler Satellite Tracking Software in our Portable Satellite Station and the Rotator Control System points the ground station antennas during satellite tracking. We put together an article about how we went about this project and some details of the hardware and software we used to put a Raspberry Pi 3 computer together for our project.

Fred, AB1OC

Icom IC-9700 VHF/UHF/1.2GHz Prototype Transceiver

Icom IC-9700 Prototype Transceiver
Icom IC-9700 Prototype Transceiver

Icom Inc will be showing a prototype of a new VHF/UHF/1.2GHz transceiver called the IC-9700 at the Tokyo Hamfair, taking place on September 2nd and 3rd. This radio has been kept under wraps and we…

Source: Icom IC-9700 VHF/UHF/1.2GHz Prototype transceiver Shown at Tokyo Hamfair 2017 | QRZ Now – Amateur Radio News

This radio looks like a SDR-based successor to the IC-910H.  It appears to be based upon the same SDR platform that is used in the IC-7300 and the upcoming Icom IC-7610. This should make a very good radio for Satellite and EME work!

IC-9700 Rear Panel
IC-9700 Rear Panel

I am hoping for an external monitor capability via USB or Ethernet to take full advantage of the panadapter display. Availability is probably a year away or more…

Sharing Our Club’s Activities at Boxboro Hamvention 2017

We had the good fortune of attending and speaking at the Boxboro Hamvention this past weekend. We shared three presentations related to our club’s activities and projects. I wanted to share copies of these presentations here.

All of these presentations were well attended. In particular, there was great interest in the second presentation among other clubs in the New England area.

Also, we are planning to have our 2.0 Satellite Station setup at our upcoming Technician License Class on Sept. 30 – Oct. 1. If you are in the area and would like to see the station in operation, please contact us at [email protected]  to arrange for a visit. If you’d like to register for one of our license classes, you can do that here.

Videos from our Boxboro Hamvention Presentations

Our High-Altitude Balloon Launch Video

Growing HAM Radio – How Clubs Can Help

Satellite Station 2.0 Operation and Contacts



More Information

You can find more information about our HAB Project via this link. Also, you can learn more about our club’s portable satellite station activities via this link. Finally, you can visit Anita’s and My Station Project Blog for more articles and information about Satellite Station construction and operation.

Fred, AB1OC

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