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en:gc_interface

Mission Control Center

MCC Software

This section will acquaint you with the software used in the Mission Control Center (MCC). MCC operates on the “ground” computer and provides the requisite functionality for receiving and displaying data from the satellite – both telemetry data from orbiter systems and data from the payload. The “ground-based” devices comprise a HF receiver and a VHF/UHF receiver connected to the computer via a USB-RS485 cable.

When the Terra space environment simulator complex is used, the computer is also connected to the Earth simulator (the globe) and a unit for controlling the Earth magnetic field simulator (the magnetic loop).

Installing MCC Software and USB-RS485 Cable Driver

Install the USB-RS485 cable driver

  • Download the USB cable driver from the Drivers section of the Required software page;
  • Open the downloaded archive ch341ser.zip;
  • Launch SETUP.EXE and wait for a message confirming successful installation of the driver:

  • Click OK;
  • Close the driver installation window.

Then proceed with installing MCC software:

  • Download MCC software in the Mission Control Center (MCC) section of the Required software page;
  • Unpack contents of the downloaded archive into C:\ (the root folder of disk C);
  • Open the Ground_Control_(version) folder;
  • Run GroundControl.exe.
Alternatively, the MCC software can be installed in any other folder. Important: the folder name must consist of Latin characters only without any special symbols (!#@ etc.) or spaces and should not begin with a digit.

User Interface

Here is the MCC window.

MCC has a single window with a set of fields:

Port selection

After the USB-RS485 cable from the construction set is connected to the computer, the drop-down list should display the USB-SERIAL CH340 port.

Map

This field is used when working with the Terra Laboratory Setup. The satellite orbiting Earth is shown as a dot. Dark fields represent VHF/UHF station coverage areas while red dots show HF signal receiver stations.

Receiving telemetry

The field below displays information that comes from the satellite over the VHF/UHF radio channel (telemetry).

HF signal strength

This field displays the level of the light signal received by the HF receiver from the HF transceiver. When the program is started it may flash green to illustrate its operation and then will go off gradually.

Camera views

The SPUTNIX company logo in this field will be replaced by images received from the observation camera. For guidance on setting up the camera and receiving images, see the section titled Using the Earth Observation Camera.

en/gc_interface.txt · Last modified: 2020/03/25 16:28 (external edit)