Build your Ground Station - VCSFA-MARS/ThinSat-Program GitHub Wiki

Build Your Ground Station

When you are preparing for a balloon mission, UAV flight, or any other remote sensing experiments with a Weather Sat, you will need a Ground Station to receive the data and send it to the Space Data Dashboard.

A Ground Station is paired with a Weather Sat through the CR03 radio modules. You will need a pair of CR03s that have been flashed with the same firmware file (on the same frequency, with compatible radio IDs).

Follow the xLoader Tutorial for two CR03's, make sure they use the same firmware file. One goes on the Ground Station and one goes on the WeatherSat

Follow the FlashTool Tutorial for one CW01. Only our ground station will have the Wi-Fi Module.

Materials

To build your groundstation you will need:

  • (1x) IP01 USB module
  • (1x) CW01 Wi-Fi module and processor
  • (1x) CR03 Radio Modules
  • (1x) OD01 OLED Display module
  • (1x) Connector pieces

The CR03 module is slightly thinner than the other modules and may need extra support to keep a stable connection

Click them together firmly. Pick an orientation for the OD01 that allows you to read the screen easily when the IP01 is plugged into your power source.

This is your ground station. You may power it with a USB charging adapter or a computer's USB port. All data and communications are through Wi-Fi and the Radio Modules.

Operation

Your Ground Station needs a Wi-Fi internet connection. When it first powers on, the LED on the CW01 will turn blue, indicating it is waiting to be configured. Follow the configuration steps from the Quick Start guide to get your Ground Station's CW01 connected to your internet hotspot.

That's all you need to do. The Ground Station will try to connect to the Weather Sat using the CR03 radio module. When it connects, the LED on the CR03 will switch from red to green.

The LED screen on your Ground Station will display some signal strength information. Occasionally you may loose your radio connection and the LED on the Ground Station's CR03 will turn red for a few moments while it reestablishes the connection.