Electronics, hardware

EQMOD adapter for telescopes. Version 2

This is a short note about the upgraded version of my old EQMOD adapter for telescopes. Technically, this device it’s a USB – UART adapter with galvanic isolation. That’s why it might be used not only for telescope control. It’s a third revision of the board.

Electronics, hardware, Networking, Reverse engineering

Reverse engineering of the Starlink Ethernet adapter

The new generation of the Starlink terminal was released at the end of 2021. The Dishy antenna is square now, and a completely redesigned indoor unit combines a WiFi router and power supply. The new design should be more cost-effective, so there is no AUX Ethernet port on the router, only WiFi. Later SpaceX released an official Ethernet adapter that…

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Electronics, Firmware, hardware, Linux kernel, Networking, Reverse engineering

Analysis and reverse-engineering of the original Starlink router

While waiting for my Dishy, I decided to find and buy the Starlink router separately. Sure, it might be just a WiFi router, but it was very curious what’s inside. Spoiler: there are some interesting implementation details. Lucky enough, I found the router on eBay. It’s the first generation of the router. Currently, it’s impossible to buy (separately) the second…

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Electronics, Radio & antennas

1PPS distribution circuit

1PPS is a great way to synchronize multiple devices and measure time intervals. A typical source of the 1PPS is a GPS receiver. This clock is disciplined by GPS atomic clock and has a reasonable precision. GPS receiver 1PPS output should have enough loading capability, but it’s a good idea to use a buffer. Especially when voltage level translation is…

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