from Hacker News

SkyRoof: New Ham Satellite Tracking and SDR Receiver Software

by rmason on 6/5/25, 7:15 PM with 15 comments

• by JKCalhoun on 6/5/25, 11:04 PM

  Super cool.

  Tangent: I know this is communications related — but I was wondering today (just read something about some new FRB's) if radio astronomy, of a kind, could be something an amateur could deep dive into and actually contribute to.

  I recall a project that allowed you to tune into long radio emissions from the sun — perhaps keep tabs on the solar weather?

  (And stupid me thought astronomy was more or less headed for stagnancy decades ago.)

• by politelemon on 6/6/25, 6:43 AM

  Source code is here: https://github.com/VE3NEA/SkyRoof

  It's in .NET so I'd think it ought to be buildable on Linux too? Unless there are some specific hardware/driver requirements involved (there isn't much in the readme right now)

• by CapricornNoble on 6/6/25, 1:54 AM

  Nifty to see this. I was recently brainstorming about FOSS satellite tracking tools that could be pressed into service for military operations planning. Stuff ranging from planning attacks when certain space-based sensors have gaps in coverage, to working out minimum requirements for targeting adversary satellites. A lot of budget-constrained forces might be able to leverage SkyRoof to fill this gap.

• by ThaFresh on 6/6/25, 4:06 PM

  a satellite made of ham will never work

• by zombot on 6/6/25, 4:55 AM

  Since macOS 14 (Sonoma) I'm unable to find SDR software that works with my SDRPlay device. CubicSDR still worked in Ventura. I was hoping this app also had a macOS build.