auto-scheduler

This is a tool to automatically compute passes of satellites and schedule observations on the SatNOGS Network. It is based on the scheduling code from SatNOGS network and requires python-satellitetle for downloading TLEs.

Installation

(tested with Linux / Debian)

Ensure git and Python is installed, and create a directory for all upcoming files. Then create a Python virtual environment, activate it and install the desired version of satnogs-auto-scheduler with pip directly from the remote git repository.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get -y install git python3

mkdir auto-scheduler
cd auto-scheduler
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install git+https://gitlab.com/librespacefoundation/satnogs/satnogs-auto-scheduler.git@0.4

Verify the installation by checking the installed version:

$ schedule_single_station --version
satnogs-auto-scheduler 0.4

NOTE: Previous releases of this guide installed the virtual environment in a directory called env. This has been changed to .venv to follow the official Python Packaging User Guide on virtual environments.

Usage

Current command (supported for now):

schedule_single_station.py [options]
./schedule_single_station.py [options]  # Legacy method, works but may be missing version info

New command (preferred):

schedule_single_station [options]

Configuration

Run the following script:

satnogs_auto_scheduler_setup

Follow the prompts to enter your SatNOGS DB and Network API tokens, The configuration file .env is generated.

NOTE: Since auto-scheduler version {unreleased} both SatNOGS Network & DB API Tokens are required!

Test run

Perform a test run to download orbital elements and transmitter priorities (these are stored in /tmp/cache) with

schedule_single_station -s <ground station ID> -n

The -n option computes the passes but does not schedule them. To schedule these passes, run

schedule_single_station -s <ground station ID>

Setup priority scheduling

The script contrib/gen_prio_file.sh can be used to generate a list of transmitters for prioritization, selecting all DUV, BPSK1k2, BPSK9k6, [G]MSK and [G]FSK transmitters. To create the file priorities_37.txt, run

schedule_single_station --station 37 -n
contrib/gen_prio_file.sh 37 > priorities_37.txt

Please change the station id (here 37) to your corresponding one!

Automation

Add cron-job (Option A)

Start editing your default user’s cron (select your preferred editor):

crontab -e

Add a line like this - execute the scheduling script on each full hour:

0 */1 * * * <path_to_auto_scheduler>/.venv/bin/schedule_single_station -s <station_id> -d 1.2 -P <path_to_priority_list>/<priority_file>.txt -f -z

Omit the -f option to also fill in the gaps, but be aware if using a rotator setup! This will wear-out your rotator very quickly! Add -w 60 for a delay if you want to give your rotator a bit of time (60 s) to reset or home.

Add systemd-timer (Option B)

The advantage of using a systemd-timer for invoking the auto-scheduler lies in the better logging output (you can use journalctl -u satnogs-auto-scheduler.service to access the log output).

• Add a systemd service unit file at /etc/systemd/system/satnogs-auto-scheduler.service:

  [Unit]
  Description=Schedule SatNOGS observations for 1.2h on station 132
  
  [Service]
  Type=oneshot
  ExecStart=<path_to_auto_scheduler>/.venv/bin/schedule_single_station -s <station_id> -d 1.2 -P <path_to_priority_list>/<priority_file>.txt -z
  User=pi

• Add a systemd timer unit file at /etc/systemd/system/satnogs-auto-scheduler.timer:

  [Unit]
  Description=Run satnogs-auto-scheduler hourly and on boot
  
  [Timer]
  OnBootSec=2min
  OnUnitActiveSec=1h
  
  [Install]
  WantedBy=timers.target

• Start the timer with

  sudo systemctl start satnogs-auto-scheduler.timer

• Enable the timer to be started on boot with

  sudo systemctl enable satnogs-auto-scheduler.timer

If you want to run the auto-scheduler once manually, you can do so with

sudo systemctl start satnogs-auto-scheduler.service

Usage

The following command will list all available command-line arguments:

schedule_single_station --help

License

Copyright 2019 - Cees Bassa, Fabian Schmidt, Pierros Papadeas