Satellites
The Satellite node tunes its decoders to a satellite's downlink and removes the Doppler shift as it passes, so the decoder never has to chase the carrier.
Build a satellite receiver
- Add GPS position. A fixed position is fine for a station that never moves.
- Add Satellite and wire GPS
positionto itsposition. - Search by name or NORAD number, or paste element lines.
- Pick a transmitter, or type the downlink.
- Wire Satellite
controlto each decoder'scontrol.
On auto tuning the radio follows the decoder, as it does for a scanner.
Readouts
| Readout | Shows |
|---|---|
| Look | Azimuth and elevation |
| Doppler | The shift being corrected, and how fast it changes |
| Send on | The Doppler-corrected uplink, if the transmitter has one |
| Next pass | Time until rise, or until set during a pass |
| Elements | Age of the orbit data. Refresh when it turns yellow. |
Orbits come from CelesTrak and transmitters from SatNOGS DB. Both are cached for two hours.
What remains after correction is the radio's own oscillator error and a small orbit error. Decoders that lock onto a carrier, such as DVB-S2, pull that in themselves.