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An open-source 240-antenna array to bounce signals off the Moon

moonrf.com

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Re: An open-source 240-antenna array to bounce signals off the Moon

#61

Post by minetest2048 »

mrtnmcc wrote: post #39
xkbear89 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

the licensing of the software/firmware/hardware is shown at https://moonrf.com/updates/#faq

unfortunately the FPGA verilog source code isn't open source.. and I can't see any RF block diagram in the website

Some more questions because the website isn't clear:

- does the FPGA handle digital beamforming in the FPGA fabric? or it controls RF phase shifters for analog beamforming?

- will we have access to FPGA pin constraint file so we can write our own verilog

- can I get IQ samples from the antenna elements and run my own beamforming algorithm / calibration in a separate PC with possible GPU acceleration? or it will be bottlenecked by rpi5 gigabit ethernet?

Re: An open-source 240-antenna array to bounce signals off the Moon

#63

Post by CamelCaseCondo »

mrtnmcc wrote: post #48
jacquesm wrote: post #33

I don't think you should call something 'open source' until you've released the source, but other than that this is an extremely impressive project. HAM's have been doing EME since forever ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%E2%80%93Moon%E2%80%93Ear... ), it is a very neat trick. It almost looks as if the EME bounce capability of this antenna is a fig leaf or an afterthought, my own 'applications' list would be a l…

It's open source. Here is the GitHub: https://github.com/open-space-sdr/main

Have you actually looked in that repo? No hardware source and a few things related to sdr or fpga but nothing that allows someone to build this.

Re: An open-source 240-antenna array to bounce signals off the Moon

#64

Post by jacquesm »

CamelCaseCondo wrote: post #63
mrtnmcc wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's open source. Here is the GitHub: https://github.com/open-space-sdr/main

Have you actually looked in that repo? No hardware source and a few things related to sdr or fpga but nothing that allows someone to build this.

I think mrtnmcc put up that repo as a response to my comment. And you're right there is no way to build it from what's posted.

Re: An open-source 240-antenna array to bounce signals off the Moon

#66

Post by toyg »

royskee wrote: post #35

Every time I hear about Earth-Moon-Earth moonbounce comms, I think of this classic reddit comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/amateurradio/comments/8lpk45/commen...

Yeah, this stuff goes way back. My great-great-uncle Adelmo Landini, who had worked with Marconi, was already doing it (I think there used to be a patent somewhere).

Re: An open-source 240-antenna array to bounce signals off the Moon

#67

Post by mrtnmcc »

CamelCaseCondo wrote: post #63
mrtnmcc wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's open source. Here is the GitHub: https://github.com/open-space-sdr/main

Have you actually looked in that repo? No hardware source and a few things related to sdr or fpga but nothing that allows someone to build this.

You can find all the software there (for every demo shown on the website), but it's not "build-ready" given the hardware isn't released yet as the website makes clear. The repo is from last year but not generally advertised.

I suppose HN picked up on this project again because of the moon mission this week.

It was discussed a few months ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45790672

Re: An open-source 240-antenna array to bounce signals off the Moon

#68

Post by mrtnmcc »

jacquesm wrote: post #64
CamelCaseCondo wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you actually looked in that repo? No hardware source and a few things related to sdr or fpga but nothing that allows someone to build this.

I think mrtnmcc put up that repo as a response to my comment. And you're right there is no way to build it from what's posted.

Repo has been there, but I pushed an update for the latest demos, thanks for the reminder :)

You have to understand this is a relatively sleepy personal project at this point still.

Re: An open-source 240-antenna array to bounce signals off the Moon

#69

Post by mrtnmcc »

mrtnmcc wrote: post #54
royskee wrote: post #35

Every time I hear about Earth-Moon-Earth moonbounce comms, I think of this classic reddit comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/amateurradio/comments/8lpk45/commen...

phased array is better than whatever that guy was doing! MoonRF mostly takes care of the hardware and pointing, and then the fun is playing with software and signal processing: https://github.com/open-space-sdr/main

That post is truly hilarious though. If everyone talked like that on the nets, the hobby would surely grow a lot faster.

Re: An open-source 240-antenna array to bounce signals off the Moon

#70

Post by mrtnmcc »

minetest2048 wrote: post #61
mrtnmcc wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the licensing of the software/firmware/hardware is shown at https://moonrf.com/updates/#faq

unfortunately the FPGA verilog source code isn't open source.. and I can't see any RF block diagram in the website Some more questions because the website isn't clear: - does the FPGA handle digital beamforming in the FPGA fabric? or it controls RF phase shifters for analog beamforming? - will we have access to FPGA pin constraint file so we can write our own verilog - can I get IQ samples from the antenna elements a…

Yes the FPGA does digital beamforming and there will be published FPGA pin constraint files so you can write your own Verilog.

For IQ samples, you can stream a continuous 60 MSPS IQ beam over the Ethernet, but for custom beamforming algorithms, the processing needs to be distributed across the FPGAs (for MoonRF it is a SERDES daisy chain, using the same FFC connectors as the links to the RPi-5).

Yes I'll put some newer block diagrams on the website this week. Thanks for the reminder.

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