Until quite recently I’ve been tracking amateur satellites using software for the PC, my first experiments were with a package called SatPC32. It took a while to get to grips with it but I eventually managed to use it quite well with the FM and transponder sats. Then along came GreenCube or IO-117 an MEO (medium earth orbit) satellite, IO-117 is a digital mode satellite operating what is known as packet radio, the satellite has a pass time exceeding an hour. An add-on software was issued by the writer of SatPC32 (Erich Eichmann) to cope with the UHF uplink/downlink operation of IO-117. It wasn’t for want of trying but I was unable to get to grips with it. Either I had a problem with my MS Windows installation or I’m just too damn old to understand the instructions.
Reading of others success with a free software called Gpredict I decided to give that a try, this time I managed to get IO-117 tracked fairly quickly; plus all my usual LEO (low earth orbit) satellites. Gpredict works very well but I found the interface a bit fiddly with rather small buttons, it didn’t stop me using it, I enjoyed the success until I spotted S.A.T. (Self-contained Antenna Tracker).
S.A.T. is a little bit of magic manufactured by CSN Technologies in the USA, reviews for the product were great and it didn’t take me long to decide I wanted one. Unfortunately there are no suppliers in the UK so I bought it direct, their delivery service is excellent and the S.A.T. was with me in under a week.
From my link above you can read the specs for yourself, I just want to say I’m delighted with the unit which works superbly. Connected to my home network I can choose to use it from my phone, tablet or laptop. Because it generates a web page you can operate from any device using a browser, PC, MAC or Linux. The Built in WiFi is 2.4GHz only but it works solidly, likewise the GPS which doesn’t use an external antenna always receives signals from at least 6 satellites and usually in my case 9 or 10. Today I posted on my Twitter; saying it was the best radio hardware I’d bought since my Icom IC-9700 radio.
If you’re into amateur satellite tracking/operation it’s a remarkable device, Google it and read reviews from others. Below a couple of pictures showing my own S.A.T. Note I did not have my rotator connected to it at the time, the striped cable connects to my Icom CIV socket.
In the next picture is a view showing the top edge, the cable marked “Power” is the USB connection to the computer. There is no requirement for an external power supply, the USB cable supplies the power.
That’s it from me, just a satisfied customer with no connection to the manufacturer. I hear their support is great too.
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