Something about one year ago I fell ill. Nothing serious, but satellites. I passed all steps, including reading forums, watching Youtube, building receiving (and, later, transmitting) antenna, and, finally, reaching the Space. Unfortunately, my mind has some disadvantage - I can't memorize the callsign right after I heard it. Therefore to be successful I have to write everything down. In order to be able to do this, I have to have my hands free of the antenna. This means I need the antenna rotator.
There is a lot of antenna rotators being manufactured by well-known companies. They are robust, mature, durable, and... too expensive. I have no 600-800 bucks for this kind of equipment. Not right now.
Then I started looking for the homemade rotators, and have found one, requiring not very much efforts. The name of this rotator is SatNOGS rotator v.3. They say about themselves:
From now I'm building their rotator and will try to describe all my steps to help people following me.
Rotator consists of two main rotation pieces: one for azimuth and the second for elevation. Both pieces are identical because they have the same purpose: rotate the shaft. The bottom piece rotates the rotator itself (the shaft is locked onto the ground) and is used for azimuthal directions, the top one - elevates the antenna(s). In fact, every piece is a separately built box of the same content. Both pieces are firmly secured to each other.
Below is a complete list of elements of the single cube. As far as both cubes are identical, you have to have as twice as more elements. The list contains original codes from the SatNOGS site.
1. C1001 - Aluminum tube, 240 mm (9.4 in) long. This is the shaft. It is firmly secured to the gear.
2. C1010 - Ball bearing holder (x2). They are mounted to the T-slot opposite to each other. The tube (C1001) pierces the ball bearings.
3. C1011 - Ball bearing cover. Is attached to C1010 and disallows the ball bearing to get lost. Can be made either by 3D print or laser cut.
4. C1021 - Shaft collar. Is mounted and secured to the shaft.
5. C1020 - Shaft gear. Is screwed to the C1021 and passes rotation from the motor to the shaft. Should be very durable and rigid. Although people from SatNOGS specify that ABS should be enough for this part, I guess the nylon is more appropriate material for such hard-working parts.
6. C1022 - washer. Separates the ball bearing from the shaft gear. Can be made either by 3D print or laser cut.
7. C1030 - Motor holder. Attached to the frame. Should be durable. Nylon is a good choice.
8. C1040 - Encoder gear. Attached to the shaft. Is being used to encode the turn angle of the shaft. ABS should be enough.
9. C1041 - Homing pin. Attached to the encoder gear. Presses the end-stop in some zero position. ABS.
10. C1042 - End-stop mount. Attached to C1010 using bolts. Can be made either by 3D print or laser cut.
11. C1043 - Encoder mount. Attached to C1010 using bolts.
12. C1050 - Aluminum profile. 20x20 B-type slot. You have to cut it on pieces of different length.
13. C1060 - M5 threaded rod.
14. C1061 - Worm gear holders. It is required to have TWO different items, which are mirrored versions of each other. Are attached to the frame. Must be durable. ABS should be enough.
15. C1062 - Worm gear. Hard-working part, passing rotation from the motor to the shaft gear. Nylon is strongly advised.
In case you plan to use the DC motor instead of the stepper motor, you have to have parts C1070, C1071 and C1072. ABS is enough.
To put everything together you have to have allen bolts (Philips or PoziDrive can be used too, but allen bolts are much easier to screw in limited space), T-nuts, hidden corner connection slots, ball bearings, and a lot of time, patience and passion.
You can find out all the 3D models on the GitLab repository. These models can be opened using the free 3D modeling software FreeCad. There is a lot of lessons on the YouTube so that you will be able to start using the software very soon. Please don't hesitate to ask your questions. It will be a pleasure for me to give you answers. Or read further articles regarding the building of the SatNOGS rotator.
There is a lot of antenna rotators being manufactured by well-known companies. They are robust, mature, durable, and... too expensive. I have no 600-800 bucks for this kind of equipment. Not right now.
Then I started looking for the homemade rotators, and have found one, requiring not very much efforts. The name of this rotator is SatNOGS rotator v.3. They say about themselves:
SatNOGS is an integral part of the Libre Space Foundation. The project aims to build a global network of satellite ground stations. Designed as an open source participatory project, the hardware is straightforward to build using commonly available parts and some 3D printed elements. A ground station is built to interact with a website that holds key satellite information. The web interface allows a user to schedule a satellite observation of any of the networked ground stations.
From now I'm building their rotator and will try to describe all my steps to help people following me.
Rotator consists of two main rotation pieces: one for azimuth and the second for elevation. Both pieces are identical because they have the same purpose: rotate the shaft. The bottom piece rotates the rotator itself (the shaft is locked onto the ground) and is used for azimuthal directions, the top one - elevates the antenna(s). In fact, every piece is a separately built box of the same content. Both pieces are firmly secured to each other.
Below is a complete list of elements of the single cube. As far as both cubes are identical, you have to have as twice as more elements. The list contains original codes from the SatNOGS site.
1. C1001 - Aluminum tube, 240 mm (9.4 in) long. This is the shaft. It is firmly secured to the gear.
2. C1010 - Ball bearing holder (x2). They are mounted to the T-slot opposite to each other. The tube (C1001) pierces the ball bearings.
3. C1011 - Ball bearing cover. Is attached to C1010 and disallows the ball bearing to get lost. Can be made either by 3D print or laser cut.
4. C1021 - Shaft collar. Is mounted and secured to the shaft.
5. C1020 - Shaft gear. Is screwed to the C1021 and passes rotation from the motor to the shaft. Should be very durable and rigid. Although people from SatNOGS specify that ABS should be enough for this part, I guess the nylon is more appropriate material for such hard-working parts.
6. C1022 - washer. Separates the ball bearing from the shaft gear. Can be made either by 3D print or laser cut.
7. C1030 - Motor holder. Attached to the frame. Should be durable. Nylon is a good choice.
8. C1040 - Encoder gear. Attached to the shaft. Is being used to encode the turn angle of the shaft. ABS should be enough.
9. C1041 - Homing pin. Attached to the encoder gear. Presses the end-stop in some zero position. ABS.
10. C1042 - End-stop mount. Attached to C1010 using bolts. Can be made either by 3D print or laser cut.
11. C1043 - Encoder mount. Attached to C1010 using bolts.
12. C1050 - Aluminum profile. 20x20 B-type slot. You have to cut it on pieces of different length.
13. C1060 - M5 threaded rod.
14. C1061 - Worm gear holders. It is required to have TWO different items, which are mirrored versions of each other. Are attached to the frame. Must be durable. ABS should be enough.
15. C1062 - Worm gear. Hard-working part, passing rotation from the motor to the shaft gear. Nylon is strongly advised.
In case you plan to use the DC motor instead of the stepper motor, you have to have parts C1070, C1071 and C1072. ABS is enough.
To put everything together you have to have allen bolts (Philips or PoziDrive can be used too, but allen bolts are much easier to screw in limited space), T-nuts, hidden corner connection slots, ball bearings, and a lot of time, patience and passion.
You can find out all the 3D models on the GitLab repository. These models can be opened using the free 3D modeling software FreeCad. There is a lot of lessons on the YouTube so that you will be able to start using the software very soon. Please don't hesitate to ask your questions. It will be a pleasure for me to give you answers. Or read further articles regarding the building of the SatNOGS rotator.
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