Development of an Open-Source Amateur
Radio Transceiver for Small Satellites
Author(s)
Saborío Borbón, Ricardo J.
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Abstract
The communications subsystem is a vital component of every space mission. However, the
necessary hardware and infrastructure often consumes a significant portion of the allotted
budget for a project. This poses a problem for University teams developing small satellites
with limited funds. Open-source projects like Planet’s OpenLST integrated hardware
transceiver have attempted to solve this issue. While the OpenLST project addresses the
hardware cost issue, it does not provide an affordable solution for the infrastructure problem.
In this paper, a series of firmware modifications were completed for the OpenLST transceiver
to allow for compatibility with amateur packet radio protocols. By implementing well-known
protocols like AX.25, it is possible to leverage the existing infrastructure of amateur radio to
reduce costs. The paper outlines the key differences between the existing protocol and AX.25,
how these were addressed, and the tests performed to validate the firmware modifications.
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Date
2021-05-01
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Resource Type
Text
Resource Subtype
Masters Project
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