# Eight-foot dish rebuilt as a satellite station

A salvaged eight-foot satellite dish mounted on a concrete post with a custom metal base, a wheelchair motor for azimuth and a linear actuator for elevation. It tracks satellites and pulls weather data from GOES.

- Category: Hardware (build)
- Made by: [Cranktown City](https://hackaday.com/2026/10/20/going-whole-hog-on-a-first-satellite-ground-station/) on Hackaday
- Original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jto2xUEAp0Q
- On Afterware: https://afterware.xyz/p/eight-foot-dish-rebuilt-as-a-satellite-station

## Can I build this?

- Difficulty: Expert
- AI-buildability: 2/5 (Most of the work is physical: concrete, metal fabrication, large-dish mounting and heavy drive mechanics, with software being a smaller part.)
- Time: Several months
- Cost: $1,000–3,000
- Parts: Wheelchair motor, Linear actuator
- Tools: welder, concrete mixing equipment, drill, hand tools, multimeter, computer for tracking software

Estimates based on the original write-up. How the AI-buildability score works: https://afterware.xyz/ai-buildability

## Build sheet

- Dish: 8ft, found online
- Azimuth: Wheelchair motor, metal gear
- Elevation: Linear actuator
- Mount: Concrete foundation, steel post

## Starter prompt

```
Based on "Eight-foot dish rebuilt as a satellite station" on Afterware: https://afterware.xyz/p/eight-foot-dish-rebuilt-as-a-satellite-station

You are helping me set up a motorized satellite dish that tracks satellites. Write a tracking controller for a Raspberry Pi that reads TLE data for GOES weather satellites, computes azimuth and elevation for my location, and drives a motor controller for both axes. Add a wind-speed input that moves the dish to a safe vertical position when a threshold is exceeded.
```

## Story

Cranktown City found an eight-foot dish online and built a motorized base for it as a first step into satellite reception. The dish sits on a large post and concrete foundation, with a custom-fabricated metal base housing the receiver electronics and the drive system. A large metal gear turned by a wheelchair motor controls azimuth, and a linear actuator handles elevation.

Fitting the dish to the frame was difficult because it is not uniform in shape and must be mounted in one specific orientation. Once assembled with a circularly polarized antenna and computers running, the dish tracks satellites and downloads data from GOES weather satellites. A wind sensor drives the dish to a vertical position when wind speed passes a set limit.

The source notes that this is more effort than needed to receive satellite signals, and suggests the installation could be useful for radio astronomy later.

## Resources

- [Build video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jto2xUEAp0Q)

Tags: satellite, ground station, dish, weather satellite, azimuth elevation, linear actuator, metal fabrication

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