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TINYGS — OPEN SOURCE GLOBAL SATELLITE GROUND STATION NETWORK

Flash one LoRa board and you can receive telemetry from satellites in orbit, feeding a global open network of ground stations whose packets show up live on tinygs.com.

by TinyGS community

FULL CAD BOM FIRMWARE DOCS

Open-hardwareScience

Built withESP32

difficulty
●●○○○
time
an evening
license
GPL-3.0
repo
repo ACTIVE1,466 stars

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

1
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COMPAREE VERDICT

TinyGS is one of the most accessible ways into satellite reception: you buy a single ESP32 LoRa board, flash the firmware from your browser, and you are live. The stock stick antenna is the weak point - the project's own wiki warns it most likely will not give any result - so a simple dipole or ground plane antenna is part of the build. The firmware is stable, updates itself over the air, can be auto-tuned for upcoming satellite passes, and every packet the network hears appears live on tinygs.com. Listening needs no radio licence in most places; the firmware's transmit option stays off unless you enable it, and you should only do that where your licence and local rules allow. The single biggest trap is buying a board without an SX126x or SX127x LoRa chip in the right band - stick to the officially supported list or a board you can describe with a template. If you are willing to spend an afternoon on an antenna, this is a genuine weekend win.

GOOD TO KNOW

  • —The firmware flashes directly from a Chrome web installer — no IDE or compiler required.
  • —There is no bill of materials as such - the README lists the officially supported ESP32 LoRa boards, and the wiki covers antennas, filters and LNAs.
  • —The documentation covers setup, but the antenna guides are scattered across community posts and third-party videos.
  • —No PCB or enclosure files — you buy a commercial LoRa board off the shelf.
  • —Licensed GPL-3.0 with no commercial restrictions.
  • —The repo is active (pushes in October 2026), with a large community on Telegram.

Parts to buy

2 items

From our check of the build. Exact quantities and part numbers are in the creator’s BOM.

  • One supported ESP32 LoRa boardFind
  • Wire and connectors if you build a better antennaFind

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Can I build this?

Printnothing required
Buyone supported ESP32 LoRa board (TTGO, Heltec, or others listed in the wiki), plus wire and connectors if you build a better antenna
Toolsa Chrome-based browser for flashing, basic hand tools if you build an antenna
Skillsbasic electronics and WiFi setup; antenna building is optional but improves results significantly
Timean evening to flash and verify, plus an afternoon if you build a proper antenna
CostLow to moderate - a single supported ESP32 LoRa board, plus wire and connectors if you build a better antenna.
SafetyLow-power USB electronics, no mains. The firmware's transmit option is off by default; leave it off unless your licence and local regulations allow transmitting.

Build at your own risk. Projects involve tools, electronics and sometimes mains voltage — follow the creator’s safety notes.

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Gallery

Start here

Navigation into the creator’s own docs — we don’t rewrite the guide, we route you to the source.

  1. 1.Check the officially supported boards list in the README and buy one in the band you want - other ESP32 boards with an SX126x or SX127x radio can be set up with a board template (The README lists the officially supported boards; the wiki explains board templates for other ESP32 + SX126x/SX127x boards.)
  2. 2.Flash the firmware using the web installer in Chrome — no IDE or build tools required (The installer detects your board's chipset and picks the right firmware variant; if it fails, the wiki recommends flashing with PlatformIO instead.)
  3. 3.Get your MQTT credentials from the TinyGS Telegram bot (/mqtt), then connect to the board's "My TinyGS" WiFi network and enter your station name, home WiFi, time zone, coordinates and those MQTT credentials (After this step, your station appears live on the map and you start receiving packets.)
  4. 4.Try the stock antenna if you like, but plan on a dipole or ground plane antenna from the wiki's antenna page (A dipole or ground plane antenna is what most people use as their first antenna; the wiki says the stock stick antenna most likely will not give any result.)

KNOWN ISSUES

  • Buying a board with the wrong radio chip or frequency band — TinyGS needs an ESP32 with an SX126x or SX127x LoRa module in the right band (433 MHz or 868-915 MHz). Officially supported boards work out of the box; others need a board template.
  • Relying on the stock stick antenna - the project wiki warns it most likely will not give any result; start with a dipole or ground plane antenna.
  • Filling in the wrong coordinates or skipping the MQTT credentials - the station needs your latitude, longitude and the MQTT login from the Telegram bot to report packets; radio settings themselves are pushed by the server (leave Auto Tuning on).
  • Placing the antenna indoors or near metal — satellite signals are weak, and even a single wall or metal desk can cut reception significantly.
  • Assuming you need a radio licence just to listen - you do not in most places, as long as you keep the 'Allow Tx' option off; enabling transmission is a different matter and depends on your licence and local rules.
  • Not joining the community early — the TinyGS Telegram chat is the main place for real-time help and antenna tips, and the Telegram data channel shows packets as the network receives them.

Do I need a radio license to run a TinyGS station?

Not for listening: with the 'Allow Tx' option left off, the station only receives, which is generally unrestricted. The firmware can also transmit if you enable Allow Tx - only do that if your licence and local regulations permit it.

Which board should I buy?

Start with the officially supported list in the README — Heltec WiFi LoRa 32 (V1-V3), TTGO LoRa32, T-Beam and others. Pick the 433 MHz version unless you know you want the 868-915 MHz band. Other ESP32 boards with an SX126x/SX127x radio can be set up with a board template.

Can I use this without building a better antenna?

You can try - the wiki FAQ says stock duck antennas have caught some packets in good conditions - but the project's antenna page warns the stick antenna that comes with the board most likely will not give any result. A simple dipole or ground plane antenna is the recommended first step.

How do I know if my station is working?

Once registered, your station appears on the live map at tinygs.com. When satellites pass overhead, you will see packet counts increment in real time. If you hear nothing after an hour, check your antenna placement and frequency settings.

What can I actually receive?

Telemetry packets from LoRa satellites and cubesats - mostly amateur and educational missions - plus weather probes and other objects using FSK, GFSK, MSK, GMSK or OOK that the radio can decode. No images or voice. The tinygs.com satellites page shows what is currently supported.

Community builds

No community builds yet — be the first, we feature the best ones.

Discussion1

FROM THE COMPAREE TEAM

Every TinyGS station's received packets show up live on the public tinygs.com feed, alongside the rest of the community's. What would you point yours at first?

CompareeTEAM2mo agoedited

Practical notes from our verification: the repository now lives under the tinygs organisation (older links still point to the founder's G4lile0 account), the firmware is GPL-3.0, and the main community channel is Telegram rather than a forum or YouTube channel. Setup is about as easy as hardware gets: the web installer at installer.tinygs.com flashes a supported ESP32 LoRa board from Chrome, and stations can update themselves over the air and be remotely tuned for upcoming satellites. Officially supported boards include Heltec WiFi LoRa 32, TTGO LoRa32 and T-Beam variants, and any other ESP32 with an SX126x or SX127x module can be configured with a board template. Everything your station hears shows up in the public station list and live packet feed at tinygs.com. Correction (4 October 2026): we re-checked this page line by line against the project's own repository, documentation and videos, and fixed errors in earlier versions.

TinyGS community

TinyGS was born in November 2019 as the ESP32 Fossa Groundstation, a weekend project to listen to the FossaSAT-1 LoRa satellite, and was renamed TinyGS in 2021 as it opened to any LoRa satellite. It is developed by a core team (4m1g0, G4lile0, gmag11) with Telegram as the main community channel.

GitHub Web

Star the project on GitHub

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