Cultivating the next generation of wireless solutions.
In this episode of the Teardown Sessions, we’re speaking to Carl Laufer from RTL-SDR. They are running a Crowd Supply campaign for Discovery Dish, a system for weather and Inmarsat satellite reception, and hydrogen line radio astronomy for RTL-SDR users. The Discovery Dish aims to be the start of an ecosystem of hardware designed to get users set up with satellite reception, including a planned companion light-duty antenna rotator.
Carl Laufer has been running RTL-SDR.COM (RTL-SDR Blog) for ten years. In that time he’s created the RTL-SDR Blog V3 and V4, various accessory products, and uploaded many RTL-SDR related tutorials and stories on the blog that have helped popularize low cost, software defined radio.
In recent years he’s teamed up with Syed Karim to start KrakenRF, a company that created the KrakenSDR, a five-channel coherent software defined radio for applications like radio direction finding. KrakenRF has recently started crowd funding for a new product called the Discovery Dish, which aims to make radio projects that require a satellite dish more accessible.
Links & Resources
A lightweight, 70 cm diameter parabolic reflector with pole/mast mounting bracket and feed guide. The reflector comprises three aluminum petals that require assembly with a screwdriver. This is the dish and mount only - make sure you combine it with a feed!
A 1.69 GHz active and filtered feed in a waterproof enclosure for receiving data from GOES HRIT, GK2A/FengYun LRIT, FengYun-2 S-VISSR, Elektro-L LRIT and polar-orbiting HRPT satellites. Includes the feed arm that fits into a Discovery Dish feed guide and six meters of LMR240-equivalent coaxial cable. Discovery Dish not included.
A 1.525 - 1.660 GHz active and filtered feed in a waterproof enclosure for receiving Inmarsat satellite signals like STD-C and AERO. Includes the feed arm that fits into a Discovery Dish feed guide and six meters of LM240-equivalent coaxial cable. Discovery Dish not included.
A 1.42 GHz active and filtered feed in a waterproof enclosure for hydrogen line radio astronomy observations. Includes the feed arm which fits into a Discovery Dish feed guide and six meters of LMR240-equivalent coaxial cable. Discovery Dish not included.
A die-cast aluminum enclosure for housing electronics compatible with Discovery Dish. This enclosure mounts to a pole with a diameter between 20 mm and 45 mm. The inner volume of the enclosure is 304 mm x 184 mm x 60 mm. A custom mounting plate provides a grid of mount points for various devices such as Raspberry Pi's, software-defined radios and PoE splitters to be securely housed inside the enclosure. Two 100mmx100mm thermal pad squares are also included to help sink the heat of internal electronics to the enclosure to ensure that they keep cool while enclosed. Three metal cable glands and one membrane air vent are included. The coaxial cable from a Discovery Dish feed can be routed through one of the cable glands on the bottom of the enclosure. A mast/pole mounting bracket and wall mounting bracket are included. The enclosure has an IP65-rated seal. Discovery Dish not included.