The Tracker and Radio Receiver

To create the tracker we needed three key components - the GPS unit, the radio transmitter unit and the flight computer to control it all. After reading around we settled on the following:

For the Tracker:

• Arduino Uno bought new from an eBay shop
• Arduino / 5V Compatible uBLOX MAX-6 Breakout With Sarantel Antenna bought from HAB Supplies
• NTX2 434.650MHz Radio Module bought from HAB Supplies

For the Receiver:

• EZCAP USB TV Tuner Dongle bought from HAB Supplies
• HABAmp 70cms Filter & Preamp For Dongles bought from HAB Supplies
• SMA male to SMA male double straight pigtail RG316 bought from HAB Supplies

Arduino Uno, EZCAP TV Tuner, Antenna Amplifer,
Antenna Joiner, GPS Unit and NTX2 Transmitter.

These are commonly used in the high altitude balloon community and much of the example trackers are based on these or similar. The idea was to get widely used components as this was our first tracker - firstly so that we can follow examples to get things started and secondly the common components are usually more easily sourced.