S
S53MV
lea.hamradio.si/~s53mv · Personal blog · on HN since 2011
S53MV is a Slovenian amateur radio operator who documents homemade electronics, including GPS/GLONASS receivers and a DIY spectrum analyzer.
What HN saysHN links it for hand-built radio and navigation projects; commenters note the 1990s designs are analog and admire the hand-drawn schematics.
17HN people shared it
13linked it in comments
6stories submitted
360story points
4 months agolast shared
2011people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 1A homemade receiver for GPS and GLONASS satellites10 people · 229 points · first shared 2011 · 48 comments on HN
- 2Ne-Brezhibni Protokol (Non-Flawless Protocol) (2012)3 people · 28 points · first shared 2015 · 1 comments on HN
- 3DIY Spectrum Analyzer 0 to 1750MHz (1999)1 people · 101 points · first shared 2019 · 29 comments on HN
- 4DIY Radio Altimeter1 people · 2 points · first shared 2021 · discussion on HN
- 5Spectana1 people · first shared 2019
- 6Homepage1 people · first shared 2015
- 7New1 people · first shared 2021
- 8Lcd1 people · first shared 2019
- 9Software.zip1 people · first shared 2016
- 10Rtx1 people · first shared 2015
What HN people wrote when they linked it
wpietri · 2019-01-02
For what it's worth, this is a 2007 web translation of a 1999 article on hand-building a spectrum analyzer. To me it looks very analog; I can't imagine anybody building this today except as a sort of electronics historical reenactment project. If you're wondering how it all fits together, I think this is the better place to start:
http://lea.hamradio.si/~s53mv/spectana/lcd.html
But you'll find the whole series of articles in this directory: http://lea.hamradio.si/~s53mv/spectana
pingec · 2016-06-14
Yes common commercial wifi gear with all its pros and cons which some would argue is (among other technical and legal downsides) not true to the spirit of amateur radio anymore.
In Slovenia we have this guy working on a new protocol, software and hardware stack purposely built for packet radio with the intention that anyone can solder their own radio station.
http://lea.hamradio.si/~s53mv/nbp/nbp.html
Right now it is deployed on the 430Mhz band in Slovenia and you need a call sign to use it. Works quite well, can watch youtube from mountains where even 3g does not reach ^^
michaelt · 2013-05-16
Here's another chap who designed his own GPS+GLONASS receiver back around 1992: http://lea.hamradio.si/~s53mv/navsats/theory.html
The best bit is that all the diagrams, schematics and PCB layouts are hand-drawn.
rescbr · 2026-07-06
You can use a FPGA, like this 2013 project: http://www.aholme.co.uk/GPS/Main.htm
Or go old school (1991-1992): https://lea.hamradio.si/~s53mv/navsats/theory.html
So yeah, this regulation is absolutely an inconvenient measure.
dan-robertson · 2026-04-12
I like http://lea.hamradio.si/~s53mv/navsats/theory.html which has a different focus from the Ciechanowski article.
userbinator · 2024-07-15
I find the project it links to (and admits to be inspired by) even more impressive: https://lea.hamradio.si/~s53mv/navsats/theory.html
ajsnigrutin · 2022-01-18
Here's gps from another perspective:
http://lea.hamradio.si/~s53mv/navsats/theory.html
This guy made his own gps receiver from scratch in 1991-1992
brian-armstrong · 2018-07-26
If you're curious how GPS works, this is a surprisingly approachable guide where a guy built his own and detailed lots of the knowledge http://lea.hamradio.si/~s53mv/navsats/theory.html
Sephr · 2016-12-23
Does anyone have a mirror including http://lea.hamradio.si/~s53mv/navsats/software.zip ?
deutronium · 2015-07-23
That sounds very interesting, what kind of hardware do you need for NBP?
Edit: I just found http://lea.hamradio.si/~s53mv/nbp/rtx.html
But can you do it also with off the shelf, hardware?
maxerickson · 2014-07-16
This article has been posted here a couple of times:
http://www.aholme.co.uk/GPS/Main.htm
discussions:
https://hn.algolia.com/?q=gps#!/story/forever/0/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.holme…
It mentions an earlier project also done by an individual:
http://lea.hamradio.si/~s53mv/navsats/theory.html
So even a few individuals are able to wrap their heads around the problem (I guess commercial projects would also tend to have one or two people doing significant amounts of the work).
samlittlewood · 2011-10-03
Also, this article references an older project that has (for me) the clearest description of the theory of GPS:
http://lea.hamradio.si/~s53mv/navsats/theory.html
robryk · 2023-04-13