A Low Cost Ground Station Setup for Introducing Undergraduate Students to Satellite Reception and Radio Astronomy

Abstract

A satellite ground station, being the only point of contact with satellites, needs to be receptive over a large frequency range. It also has to be efficient enough for clear and continuous data reception. Hence, antennas form an essential part of a ground station. Therefore, we have strategically chosen six specific antennas and analysed them to obtain seamless reception as well as scanning of signals over HF, VHF, UHF, L band, and S band, along with one horn antenna to detect the H I (1420.4 MHz) frequency. The antennas can also receive linear as well as circularly polarised signals. In this paper, we discuss the design of the ground station along with its results with an aim to serve as a succinct reference for beginners in the field.