Prototype of Telemetry, Tracking, and Command module for Tel-USat with BCH code

Tel-USat is an underdevelopment CubeSat of Telkom University. The satellite consists of various subsystems. Telemetry, Tracking and Command (TTC) is one of satellite subsystem which is used to transmits the housekeeping data of the satellite and periodically sends beacon signal to the earth. However, the satellite communication system is a long-distance communication so that any disturbance, interference, and attenuation of communication channels are possible to disrupt the data. Therefore, an Error Detection and Control (EDAC) or Forward Error Correction (FEC) is implemented to control and minimise errors without the need for re-transmission. This work has designed and developed the prototype of the TTC subsystem integrated with the AX.25 protocol as EDAC and the BCH (63.45) coding method as FEC. The BCH used in this research is capable to correct a maximum of 3 bits per frame. Moreover, the BCH code can reduce the Eb/No needed to get the corresponding BER value that equal to 10^-6. The Eb/No peak value reduces from -6.56 dBm to -12.71 dBm using BCH coding with the 4-FSK modulation. The range test was performed to ensure the functionality of the prototype with the highest success rate in 1200kBaud and -30 dBm configuration at approximately 80 metres.