KI5KMQ Listening Station with Amateur Satellite Tracking (input requested)

[KI5KMQ]

Hi All,

I am well into building an internet controlled remote listening station. The station will comprise 3 HF/VHF/UHF capable SDR tuners, each with their own multi-antenna setup on a 180ft tower in an electrically quiet location.

The anticipated use of the tuners will be (Tuner 1) internet user controlled with Park Cities Amateur Radio Club (www.ParkCitiesARC.com) member priority, (Tuner 2) scheduled around amateur nets of general and personal interest, my personal use with priority over club members, and club members with priority over public use, (Tuner 3) scheduled around tracking Amateur Satellite (AMSAT) passes, with club use next in priority, and public use thereafter.

My question are (1) does this interest anyone who is not currently an amateur radio operator (2) would broadcasting the three streams over Broadcastify be allowed even though the frequencies are being changed, and (3) if not Broadcastify, what other service should I consider streaming audio through?

 

[K4EET]

Hi @KI5KMQ,, what you have there sounds like a good concept. Recently, I have been gaining interest and knowledge about working through the various OSCARs (Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio for those that may not be familiar with the acronym) and the new VHF/UHF repeater on the International Space Station (ISS). I believe that your system would be of interest to non-hams that want to explore what is one of the many areas of interest to us hams. I cannot answer your two questions about hosting the three data streams mainly because I'm not at all familiar with Broadcastify's hosting terms nor am I familiar with streaming in general. But I do encourage you to follow your dream here. While you may get minimal interest/users initially, I think in the long run it will become more in demand. You have a good concept there and I don't believe that there are any systems in-place that do what you want to achieve. Best wishes for a successful implementation! 73, Dave K4EET

 

[belvdr]

For USB over Ethernet, I've used Digi's AnywhereUSB line with great success. It's a bit pricey, but it's rock solid.

I'm also confused about your networking. You'll need a router (with NAT most likely) for your Internet feed, not a switch.

 

[KI5KMQ]

Hi @KI5KMQ,, what you have there sounds like a good concept. Recently, I have been gaining interest and knowledge about working through the various OSCARs (Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio for those that may not be familiar with the acronym) and the new VHF/UHF repeater on the International Space Station (ISS). I believe that your system would be of interest to non-hams that want to explore what is one of the many areas of interest to us hams. I cannot answer your two questions about hosting the three data streams mainly because I'm not at all familiar with Broadcastify's hosting terms nor am I familiar with streaming in general. But I do encourage you to follow your dream here. While you may get minimal interest/users initially, I think in the long run it will become more in demand. You have a good concept there and I don't believe that there are any systems in-place that do what you want to achieve. Best wishes for a successful implementation! 73, Dave K4EET

Thanks so much for the feedback and encouragement!

 

[KI5KMQ]

For USB over Ethernet, I've used Digi's AnywhereUSB line with great success. It's a bit pricey, but it's rock solid.

I'm also confused about your networking. You'll need a router (with NAT most likely) for your Internet feed, not a switch.

Hi Belvdr - I have really needed that USB over Ethernet insight...I appreciate you mentioning it. The tower is currently a receive point for line-of-sight internet service, so the internet modem feeds a switch which then splays out to two other radio links from the tower to locations miles away on the same property, one being the main lodge and one being my cabin. The idea here was to put only the required hardware in the tower house and keep the computers at the cabin so they aren't so much in the elements of frequent high humidity and very high heat. I'm not a networking expert, but I agree that the tower house will need a router at least for any wifi devices (a tower cam or tower house security camera) and perhaps for the general functionality of the listening station as depicted! (I just confirmed that we will additionally be converting a 440 commercial use repeater to amateur use and I hope to connect it to Echolink - probably another reason for the router. Eventually we'd like to add remote control HF transceiver functionality as well...Different systems and not sharing any of the depicted equipment.)

 

[belvdr]

You’ll need a router for any device, not just WiFi.