u/AlphaSputnik

Hi !
I have a M4 Mac Mini that hosts some stuff :
- Private nextcloud
- Website
- Other computers backup
- Private network data storage
- Custom Machine Learning applications
- (soon) a website for tinkering with my apps, track nearby planes and do some radio astronomy

All of this starts to take space, and while I’m proud of the software part, the hardware is quite lame…
It’s for now a simple WD My PassPort for Mac drive plugged into a USB-C port. IIRC it’s a 2Tb or 4Tb version.

Do you guys know a small and good way to store more data, if possible in a RAID 1 config ?

I was looking at the Terramaster D4 4 bays enclosure, simple to use with only a USB-C to plug in. Of course SSD price is absolutely deadly right now, but I still want to prepare myself and buy when it’s time to.

Due to the radio astronomy and ADS-B plane tracking, I will only have one or two USB-C ports available, more with a hub if needed.

Thanks !

EDIT : Regarding space, I currently don’t have a lot available. If possible, I’d like the storage solution to be roughly as big as the Mac Mini itself.

Good day !

I am planning to improve my homelab (an M4 Mac Mini).

Right now it's used for web hosting, backups, custom machine learning analysis, but I would like to add some radio-related projects to it.

I have two plans :

- Host an ADS-B listening station with homemade code to display planes around me (iirc 1090MHz)

- Host a GRAVES radar (since I'm also in France) listening station to detect meteors scattering radiowaves when they ionize the air (143.05MHz)

- As a satellite operation engineer I have worked with professional space RF related stuff, but I'm a noob in SDR on computer. I've played with website hosting online SDR and I know how to pick my frequency and demodulation however.

- Due to limited space, the antenna will either be placed indoor, either on a desk near the wall, either stuck to the inner pane of the window. The antenna should ideally be "not that big" if possible.

I have several questions :

- Can I perform both experiments at the same time using only 1 SDR dongle and 1 antenna ?

- Which SDR Dongle do you recommend ? Which antenna ? I have eyes on this combo : https://www.amazon.fr/Impulsfoto-RTL-SDR-Skyscan-Scanner-magnétique/dp/B0FQVZ2734/ref=sr_1_12?__mk_fr_FR=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&crid=223K48F86DKIZ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.rj73Y7yVrmQviN3uvmtJJGrhMOHB2TfCSU1eUxg9rZqrFqWn49UauKzf3A6CVg7Nv0VGupLeKL2DUJ3_TCHZXcr4T7p4NejFEEn2io9xy1E9i6Q_jtNgdmc00zyHHiA_dH0v7_SvJHXWvyXmK64L2l4vGm5cJYzOdYbBhuamxFT5mqSWFYFPVscK0b8B0umddPirtb4yZump9SwxFvoC-5dbBr8jNqrg1E_oMKFWZznxoTgdc5zP64h1SLjsY1yMEOIZqhmeYFM1PuCAjr1VpW42gysoceWZKO58U212W6w.yBlhjBaYdzpFYWi6cI70RiZ78GO7AiI_1tjFkdh6sgk&dib_tag=se&keywords=rtl+sdr&qid=1782762195&sprefix=rtl+sdr+%2Caps%2C149&sr=8-12&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.49fccda8-a887-4188-817b-b9a64bb30e43

- Do I need an LNA as well ?

I am VERY curious about this domain but I don't have that much money to spend right now due to being unemployed.

Thanks !

Good day.
As per being jobless for a few months, I want to step up my homelab. I would like to both :
- Listen to ADS-B broadcast emitted by nearby planes
- Perform meteoroid detection using the scattered radio reflection of the GRAVES radar (as I live in France)

However my apartment is not that great for antenna setup, and of course the ADS-B one will fit near a window, it might not be easy for the radio astronomy setup to listen to shooting stars reflecting an army radar waves :/

Do you know a simple antenna that could be set on a window pane that will work with the 143MHz GRAVES frequency ?
What SDR dongle would you recommend ? I suppose I also need an LNA, what specs ?

Thanks in advance.

A friend that I try to help getting out of Bronze was sharing his screen on Discord. He drove quite correctly, had no warnings, no spins, no track limits, etc. It was a McLaren challenge Bronze race.

However :

- During quali ALL of the laps (not only the out laps) showed no time, thus he was considered as not driving any clean lap in quali and started last.

- During the race he made only 1 contact with a wall, driving 4 clean laps and 1 unsafe one. At the end of the race he was told "race 0 clean laps" without any warnings beforehand (track limits, spins, DT/S&G...)

Did anyone witness such an issue ?

Good day,
As a simracer who has friends playing LMU, we usually end up hosting our own server when not participating in team events. After the race, we like to debrief using the replay, to ensure that we all understood our mistakes.
I thought about two features that I think are both realistic and interesting :
- IRL drivers have a « Mark » button that adds a « point of interest » on the telemetry for later analysis. I’d love to have a « Mark » feature that adds such « hey here is important » mark to the replays, to find interesting stuff more easily (impressive overtake, weird loss of control…)
- When watching replay, it could be nice to have pedals graphs instead of just current input, to better understand the pilot’s inputs over time, like they have IRL or like we had in OG Assetto Corsa game.

What do you think ?