SAT-TRAC – Part 2 Formulating a prototype design
Part 2: Formulating a prototype design
Probably the hardest part of starting a project (prototype) is how to begin. Should it be square, rectangle, round, cylindrical, or a combination of these? How would it be controlled, powered, interfaced, etc. My head was ready to explode. So I broke it down to some basic elements to get some kind of direction.
Criteria established:
1). Has to be portable and sit on this laser leveler tripod I had.
2). It had to have reasonable accuracy. +/- 3 degrees
3). The tracker must be computer and/or RF controlled.
4). It must be energy efficient and capable of running off batteries assisted by solar cells.
5) It must have a boom that can mount a 2mtr(144mhz) , 70cm(430mhz) and 23 cm (1.295Ghz) multi-element high gain antennas.
6). Must have protection circuitry to prevent excessing travel on AZ or EL motors.
7). It’s got to be portable. Got to be able to take it apart. I might want to take it to the schools, hills, mountains, etc.
8). It’s got to be fairly easy to program and enhance.
9). Must have a camera to see what’s happening.
10). The base controller must receive telemetry data from the remote tracker.
As you can see, this project is exploding in every direction. I had some experience with 2.4 Ghz RC and associated receivers, and some Arduino experience, so I set sail to create the remote Satellite tracker.