I would like to say thanks to who ever started this webpage because about 3 years ago this page would have really helped me and some of the other engineers at my college that wanted to get started in this.Anyways, I wanted to ask something that may or may not be possible. I have looked around a little while on this forum and have not found very much info on using Satellite modems, but then again I may be blind. I have look around at Satellite modems and have found that they are expensive but I may have found an angle, Satellite Radio Satellite modems. This dawned on me when I found the link for the delphi DS101 here:http://delphi.com/manufacturers/other/telematics/ds101/This would be a very cheap thing to get a hold of if you went to a salvage yard or found a kind stranger who would part with it (I am an Installation Supervisor at Circuit City). Now, with this being said would you be able to translate this into a communication device for a UAV? Thanks for the advice.REASON FOR EDIT: Didn't realize I used GPS Modem instead of Satellite Modem when I posted. Sorry.
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A "modem" stands for "modulator-demodulator". A satellite modem's main function is to transform an input bitstream to a radio signal and vice versa. There are some devices that include only a demodulator (and no modulator, thus only allowing data to be downloaded by satellite) that are also referred to as "satellite modems". These devices are used in satellite Internet access (in this case uploaded data is transferred through a conventional PSTN modem or an ADSL modem).
Unfortunately this modem works with orbcomm's network, which is not a real-time system. The way it works, is that a modem (such as the one you linked to) stores up data until a satellite comes within range. It will then upload its data to the satellite. The satellite will store the data onboard until it comes within range of a ground station, which can then downloads it from the satellite and sends it to you over the internet.
I'm not aware of any ability to send traffic in the opposite direction using Orbcomm's network, although the modem lists a set of receive frequencies in its spec, so that may be a possibility.
Though this system was designed for scenarios such as tracking shipping containers on the back of semis and such, it could be possible to use in a UAV for some many-hour flights. One possibility would be getting status updates from a UAV flying across an ocean, where there are obviously no ground stations to send telemetry to. If you want to do something like this though, you would need to be sure to coordinate your flight so that there are satellites in range at the appropriate times, and that they will have an opportunity for a downlink soon after the pass.
In my mind realtime systems such as Iridium could be far more exciting for UAV developers, especially when combined with standard cell phone network systems, so that you'd only be paying for satellite access when you really need it.
sure but for $100 you can get a 32 channel 5 hz update unit .way better performance then what you will find on a car or cellphone ect . but sure you could make a junkyard uav , sounds cool !! i got a friend who hacks sattlite tv . its not two way, the signal is scrambled and you have to have a decoder.
the satellite modem @ satcom would work great for command and control but you cant send much info over them
yes it would work but the baud rate is usually slow and you have to pay for the service. there is also the iridium system that can be used with cloudcaps AP . why do you say you can find this in a junk yard? is this what on-star uses?
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Flight toI'm not aware of any ability to send traffic in the opposite direction using Orbcomm's network, although the modem lists a set of receive frequencies in its spec, so that may be a possibility.
Though this system was designed for scenarios such as tracking shipping containers on the back of semis and such, it could be possible to use in a UAV for some many-hour flights. One possibility would be getting status updates from a UAV flying across an ocean, where there are obviously no ground stations to send telemetry to. If you want to do something like this though, you would need to be sure to coordinate your flight so that there are satellites in range at the appropriate times, and that they will have an opportunity for a downlink soon after the pass.
In my mind realtime systems such as Iridium could be far more exciting for UAV developers, especially when combined with standard cell phone network systems, so that you'd only be paying for satellite access when you really need it.
the satellite modem @ satcom would work great for command and control but you cant send much info over them