The document outlines the setup and specifications for a self-contained SDR satellite ground station using a Raspberry Pi 3, including hardware requirements and software installations. Key features include a compact, cable-free design and programmable satellite communication capabilities. Detailed instructions for power management, automatic updates, and network configuration are also provided to ensure optimal performance and reliability.

1. ©SIProp Project, 2006-2017 1
The Self-Contained SDR Satellite Grand
Station with Raspberry Pi 3
Noritsuna Imamura(JI1SZP)
noritsuna@siprop.org

2. ©SIProp Project, 2006-2018 2
Contents
The Self-Contained SDR Grand Station with
Raspberry Pi 3
Setup
Raspberry Pi
GNU Radio
Gqrx
TeamViewer
OS Image
Download

3. ©SIProp Project, 2006-2018 3
What’s The Self-Contained SDR Grand
Station with Raspberry Pi 3
This Satellite Grand Station has Full Functions
for Satellite Radio, Power Supply and WAN
Connection with Raspberry Pi in small box.
Feature
Space-Saving
8inchi ^ 3 size
All Cable-Less
No Power Cable, No RF Cable, No Network Cable
WAN Connection
Reachable from Anywhere
SDR+GNU Radio
Programmable Satellite Grand Station
Automatic Satellite Communication
Qt based Tracking Satellite Software (Our software)
• https://github.com/siprop/satella.git
• Coming Soon!!!

4. ©SIProp Project, 2006-2018 4
Based Devices
SDR
RTL-SDR
http://www.rtl-
sdr.com/buy-rtl-sdr-dvb-
t-dongles/
Antenna
Mobile Antenna
144/430MHz
LNA
0.1-2000MHz Wideband
RF Low Noise Amplifier
Main PC
Raspberry Pi 3
https://www.raspberry
pi.org/products/raspbe
rry-pi-3-model-b/
Rainproof Box
Aluminum Box

5. ©SIProp Project, 2006-2018 5
Power Devices
Solar Power
Solar Panel
12W
Lead-acid Battery
12V/6Ah
Solar Battery Charge and Discharge Controller
Solar Panel Input: 16-20V
Battery Input: 12V
Output: 8-12V
DC-DC Converter
Input: 8-12V
Output: 5V /3A

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WAN Communication Devices
3G/LTE
USB Dongle
Data Type SIM

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Softwares
SDR Controller
Gqrx
http://gqrx.dk/
Programmable SDR Controller
GNU Radio
https://www.gnuradio.org/
Remote Operation
TeamViewer
https://www.teamviewer.com/

8. ©SIProp Project, 2006-2018 8
All Devices
18W Solar Panel
Mobile Antenna
DCDC
Converter
Solar Battery
Charge and
Discharge
Controller
Lead-acid
Battery
RTL-SDR
LNA
Rainproof Box
Raspberry Pi 3
3G/LTE USB Dongle

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Required Power Specifications

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Saving Power Settings
USB OFF = 0.5W （「0」→「1」 to ON）
HDMI OFF = 0.1W
POWER SAVE = 0.02W
1. sudo apt install libusb-dev
2. wget http://www.gniibe.org/oitoite/ac-power-control-by-
USB-hub/hub-ctrl.c
3. gcc -O2 hub-ctrl.c -o hub-ctrl-armhf-static -lusb -static
4. sudo cp hub-ctrl-armhf-static /usr/local/bin/hub-ctrl
5. sudo hub-ctrl -h 0 -P 2 -p 0
1. /opt/vc/bin/tvservice --off
1. echo "powersave"| sudo tee
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor

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Calculating Power Specifications
Power Consumption
Standby: 2.0W
GNU Radio: 5.0W
Gqrx: 5.2W
3G/LTE: 5.5W
Fan: +0.2～0.5W
Required for 1 Day
Standby：22h
+Operation:2h
= 44Wh + 11Wh
= 55Wh/d
Charging&DCDC Loss
= 20%
= 66Wh/d
Daily Chargeable Time
6h
Required Electric-
Generating Capacity
= 11W/h

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Setup Raspberry Pi

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Setup Raspbian
Target OS
RASPBIAN xxx with DESKTOP
https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspbian/
How to Setup
https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/setup/

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NTP

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Setup NTP(Network Time Protocol)
A clock will be reset if a power supply is shut
down. Because Raspberry Pi does not have RTC
(Real Time Clock).
Install NTP client
1. sudo apt install ntpdate

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Setup NTP(Network Time Protocol)
Schedule Every 5 minutes
Add last line
Execute at Startup
Add before “exit 0”
1. 05 * * * * /usr/sbin/ntpdate ntp.nict.jp
1. /usr/sbin/ntpdate ntp.nict.jp
1. sudo crontab -e
1. sudo nano /etc/rc.local

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Automatic Update

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Setup Automatic Security Update
Install
Setting
/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/50unattended-upgrades
Only Update Security Patch
If reboot is necessary, reboot at 2:00.
1. Unattended-Upgrade::Origins-Pattern {
2. "origin=Debian,codename=${distro_codename},label=Debian-Security";
3. };
4. Unattended-Upgrade::Automatic-Reboot "true";
5. Unattended-Upgrade::Automatic-Reboot-Time "02:00";
1. sudo nano /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/50unattended-upgrades
1. sudo apt install unattended-upgrades

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Reduce Writing to Disk(SD Card)

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Reduce Writing to Disk(SD Card)
SD Card has a low rewriting maximum. Then,
Changing a setup so that excessive writing may
not be executed.
1. Logging of RAM disk
2. Disable ext4 journal log
Logging of RAM disk
/etc/fstab
Delete the current logging files
1. tmpfs /tmp tmpfs defaults,size=8m,noatime,mode=1777 0 0
2. Tmpfs /var/tmp tmpfs defaults,size=4m,noatime,mode=1777 0 0
3. tmpfs /var/log tmpfs defaults,size=8m,noatime,mode=0755 0 0
1. sudo rm -fr /tmp
2. sudo rm -fr /var/tmp

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Logging of RAM disk
Create logging directories at startup
/etc/rc.local
1. mkdir -p /var/log/apt
2. mkdir -p /var/log/fsck
3. mkdir -p /var/log/ntpstats
4. mkdir -p /var/log/samba
5. chmod 750 /var/log/samba
6. chown ntp:ntp /var/log/ntpstats
7. chown root:adm /var/log/samba
8. touch /var/log/btmp
9. touch /var/log/lastlog
10. touch /var/log/wtmp
11. chmod 600 /var/log/btmp
12. chmod 664 /var/log/lastlog
13. chmod 664 /var/log/wtmp
14. chown root:utmp /var/log/btmp
15. chown root:utmp /var/log/lastlog
16. chown root:utmp /var/log/wtmp

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Disable ext4 journal log
Since it cannot execute case which has been
mounted by the system, execute on another
system.
or
1. sudo umount /dev/mmcblk0p2
2. sudo tune2fs -O ^has_journal /dev/mmcblk0p2
1. sudo umount /dev/sda2
2. sudo tune2fs -O ^has_journal /dev/sda2

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Saving Power Settings

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Saving Power Settings
USB OFF = 0.5W （「0」→「1」 to ON）
HDMI OFF = 0.1W
POWER SAVE = 0.02W
1. sudo apt install libusb-dev
2. wget http://www.gniibe.org/oitoite/ac-power-control-by-
USB-hub/hub-ctrl.c
3. gcc -O2 hub-ctrl.c -o hub-ctrl-armhf-static -lusb -static
4. sudo cp hub-ctrl-armhf-static /usr/local/bin/hub-ctrl
5. sudo hub-ctrl -h 0 -P 2 -p 0
1. /opt/vc/bin/tvservice --off
1. echo "powersave"| sudo tee
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor

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Change Power-Saving Mode at Startup
Execute at Startup
Power-Saving Mode: On
Power-Saving Mode: Off
1. @reboot /home/pi/savepower_on.sh
1. sudo crontab -e
1. sudo /home/pi/savepower_off.sh

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GNU Radio

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Setup GNU Radio
1. Install SDR Drivers
2. Install GNU Radio
3. When Using HDMI, The Raspberry Pi's Audio is
outputted to HDMI.
1. Change Output from an Earphone Jack.
1. Last Number: 0=auto, 1=earphone jack, 2=HDMI
1. sudo apt install rtl-sdr gr-osmosdr
1. sudo apt install gnuradio
1. amixer cset numid=3 1

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Example:Recipe of Receive FM Radio
SDR Block
Osmocom Source
Not RTL-SDR Source
audio.sink Block
device
plughw:0,1

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Gqrx

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Gqrx SDR for the Raspberry Pi
SDR Control Software
http://gqrx.dk/download/gqrx-sdr-for-the-
raspberry-pi

31. ©SIProp Project, 2006-2018 31
Device Support of Gqrx

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Setup Gqrx
1. Download Gqrx
1. http://gqrx.dk/download/gqrx-sdr-for-the-
raspberry-pi
2. Install Gqrx & Required Libraries
Execute on Raspberry Pi
1. tar Jxfv gqrx-2.9-linux-armv6.tar.xz
2. cd gqrx-2.9-linux-armv6
3. sudo apt install gnuradio libvolk1-bin libusb-1.0-0 gr-iqbal
4. sudo apt install qt5-default libqt5svg5 libportaudio2
5. sudo cp udev/rtl-sdr.rules /etc/udev/rules.d/

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3G/LTE Connection

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Setting Conditions
Communication Conditions
Global Connection by TeamViewer
Every day at 0:00 only for 10 minutes
Data Transfer
Each GNU Radio + ppp(Dial Up) Connection
3G/LT USB Dongle
Examle: LG L-03D
When connection is not stabilized
1. Use Self-Power USB Hub

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Disable CD-ROM function
Setting
/etc/udev/rules.d/40-usb_modeswitch.rules
/etc/usb_modeswitch.d/1004:6327
1. ATTRS{idVendor}=="1004", ATTRS{idProduct}=="6327", MODE:="0666",
RUN+="usb_modeswitch '%b/%k'"
1. DefaultVendor= 0x1004
2. DefaultProduct=0x6327
3. TargetVendor= 0x1004
4. TargetProductList="6326"
5. MessageContent="55534243123456780000000000000aff554d534348470000000
00000000000"

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Recognized as a USB Modem
Setting
/etc/udev/rules.d/50-l03d.rules
1. ATTRS{idVendor}=="1004", ATTRS{idProduct}=="6326", MODE:="0666",
RUN+="/sbin/modprobe usbserial vendor=0x1004 product=0x6326"

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Setup PPP connection
Use wvdial
1. sudo apt install usb-modeswitch wvdial

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Example：So-net’s 0SIM(Japan)
Settng
/etc/wvdial.conf
1. [Dialer Defaults]
2. Init1 = ATZ
3. Init2 = ATH
4. Init3 = AT+CGDCONT=2,"IP","so-net.jp"
5. Dial Attempts = 3
6. Stupid Mode = yes
7. Modem Type = Analog Modem
8. Dial Command = ATD
9. New PPPD = yes
10. APN = so-net.jp
11. Modem = /dev/ttyUSB2
12. Baud = 460800
13. ISDN = 0
14. Phone = *99***2#
15. Auto Reconnect = yes
16. Username = nuro
17. Password = nuro
18. Carrier Check = no

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Add ppp Network Interface
Add ppp Network Interface
/etc/network/interfaces.d/0sim
Connect
Disconnect
Warning: Power-Saving mode is turning OFF
1. sudo ifdown 0sim
1. sudo ifup 0sim
1. allow-hotplug 0sim
2. iface 0sim inet wvdial

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Global Connection：TeamViewer
TeamViewer for Raspberry Pi
https://download.teamviewer.com/download/linux/te
amviewer-host_armhf.deb
Setting
Create TeamViewer account in advance.
1. wget
https://download.teamviewer.com/download/linux/teamvie
wer-host_armhf.deb
2. sudo apt install ./teamviewer-host_armhf.deb
3. sudo teamviewer setup

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Setup Automatic Startup 1/2
1. Connect at 0:0 every day
2. Disconnect at 0:10 every day
3. At the time of starting and to unite time by
NTP
Setting
1. 0 0 * * * /home/pi/globalcon_on.sh
2. 10 0 * * * /home/pi/globalcon_off.sh
3. @reboot /home/pi/globalcon_init.sh
1. sudo crontab -e

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Setup Automatic Startup 2/2
Connect (with Power-Saving Mode) Script
/home/pi/globalcon_on.sh
/home/pi/globalcon_off.sh
1. #!/bin/sh
2. /home/pi/savepower_off.sh
3. sleep 20s
4. /sbin/ifup 0sim
5. sleep 10s
6. /sbin/route add default dev ppp0
7. /usr/sbin/ntpdate ntp.nict.jp
1. #!/bin/sh
2. /sbin/route del default dev ppp0
3. /sbin/ifdown 0sim
4. /home/pi/savepower_on.sh
5. sleep 1s
6. /home/pi/savepower_on.sh

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Setup Automatic Re-Connect
Re-Connect Script
/home/pi/globalcon_recon.sh
Check connection for every minute during connection
Setting
1. #!/bin/sh
2. isAlive=`ps -ef | grep " wvdial " |
3. grep -v grep | wc -l`
4. if [ $isAlive = 1 ]; then
5. echo alive
6. else
7. echo die
8. /home/pi/globalcon_off.sh
9. /home/pi/globalcon_on.sh
10.fi
1. sudo crontab -e
1. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 0 * * * /home/pi/globalcon_recon.sh

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About The OS Image which the
all the soft setups have finished

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The OS Image which the all the soft
setups have finished
About The OS Image which the all the soft setups
have finished
1. http://www.noritsuna.jp/download/raspi-sdr_GS_en.zip
1. Image Size
1. 8GB or more microSD
2. LAN IP
1. DHCP
3. Remote Operations
1. Local Network: VNC
2. Global Network: TeamViewer
1. No Account. Please execute “teamviewer setup”
4. Login
1. User: pi , Password: raspberry
5. Power-Saving Mode
1. Control /home/pi/savepower_[on|off].sh
2. Startup Setting “sudo crontab –e” & Enable comment out lines
1. Warning: If on, Disable USB Devices & HDMI.

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Example: Connect by TeamViewer &
Use GNU Radio