FAQs

FAQs

How can I power FlatSat?

From the USB-C port of your computer, with a data-capable cable. The board has no power switch, no battery connector, and no external power input: the 5 V from USB passes through a 0.75 A fuse and a regulator to the 3.3 V rail.

What can I do with FlatSat?

• Follow the PwnSat course with a real satellite link.
• Run the training lab with three security levels, from cleartext radio to AES-128-CTR.
• Capture, decode, modify, and replay CCSDS space packets. See FlatSat Ground Station Usage.
• Configure both LoRa radios and read the onboard sensors. See config and sensors.
• Make an external TinyGS station decode your board as an orbiting satellite.

Do I need two boards?

Only for the radio exercises. Everything that talks to the board over USB, such as reading the sensors or changing the radio settings, works with a single board. Capturing telemetry, replaying frames, or talking to a TinyGS station needs two boards: one that transmits and one that listens.

No FlatSat devices detected.

No board with USB ID 0x1209:0xBABC is visible to the tool. Check the following:

1. The USB cable carries data. Many USB-C cables are charge-only.
2. The board is connected directly to the computer, not through a hub without power.
3. The board is not running the correct firmware; check How to update FlatSat.
4. The ports can be opened by your user. On Linux, add your user to the dialout group and log in again.

The board is listed, but the tool cannot use it

The Health column of the device list tells you what is wrong. HEALTHY means the shell and both radios could be opened. PARTIAL means the shell is open but at least one radio port was not found: that radio cannot be used. CRITICAL means the shell itself could not be opened, so no command will work. On Linux the usual cause is the dialout group; on Windows, close any other program that has the COM port open.

Radio 1 is not physically available on this board.

The board you are using does not have a second radio, which is the case with CatSniffer hardware. Every command that accepts --radio 1 works with --radio 0 only.

No CCSDS frames captured. Is the satellite transmitting on this radio?

The tool listened, and nothing that it could decode arrived. Check the following:

1. The two boards are on the same frequency, spreading factor, bandwidth, coding rate, and sync word. Compare them with flatsat config on each board.
2. An antenna is fitted on the SMA connector of every radio involved.
3. The boards are close enough to hear each other.
4. The board that should transmit is in a streaming role. Run flatsat mode mission on it and flatsat mode ground_station on the one that listens.

Shell completion is not available on Windows.

Tab completion is only installed on macOS and Linux. On Windows, use PowerShell command history or the PowerShell profile entry that the installer adds.

Which login do I use in the web dashboard?

Use the user admin with the password password. The software seeds that account the first time the database is created, together with a second account named operator whose password is set in the seed script of the host software.

Which port does the web dashboard use?

Port 5000, or port 5001 when you set FLATSAT_PORT=5001, which is what macOS needs because it reserves port 5000 for AirPlay Receiver.

How do I enter the bootloader?

Run flatsat reboot. The board restarts and waits for a firmware image. See Bootloader mode.

My question is not here

You can always contact our Support Team on the Contact Us page.