# TinyGS vs. SatNOGS: A Comparative Analysis of Open-Source Satellite Ground Station Networks
## 5 Discussion
### Limitations and Implications  
In this section, some limitations of the prospective projects will be discussed. Regarding the limitations of TinyGS, the first is related to the fact that it can only work with one frequency, that is, the frequency of the LoRa module. On the other hand, with SatNOGS, there is an SDR allowing one to receive a wide range of frequencies. The second limitation is the fact that it only works with satellites that are in its database, and although this is its main purpose, it is a relatively restrictive approach. Other limitations are the lack of an API to collect the data and the tie to the Telegram user. So, if you lose your Telegram account, you will not be able to connect a new account to the old one. Instead, you will need to request new MQTT credentials, and you will have to exchange the old MQTT credentials for the new ones. This means that you will lose your GS history. In relation to the web application, one's access can be blocked if, for example, one refreshes the pages too many times to visualize the reception of a package. Consequently, one will not be able to access the data of the web application, and if one tries to access it while it is blocked, that blocking time resets. Additionally, the TinyGS software can not control ground stations with rotators. The incorporation of this capability would enable the use of directional antennas, known for their higher gain, and consequently, their capability to receive weaker signals. Finally, another limitation relates to the project documentation. Although the documentation for building and operating a GS is sufficient, mainly due to its ease, it does not exist for other aspects. For example, there is no documentation explaining how the TinyGS network works, how to add a decoder, or how to add a satellite. On the other hand, with SatNOGS [17], there is a lot of documentation from the previous examples and many others. With respect to SatNOGS, not many limitations were found. The first is related to the fact that one can only manually update the client. In certain circumstances, such as the GS being in a location far from one's home, if, for some reason, one needed to update the client, one would need to go to that location. Additionally, if new satellites were eventually supported, it would be necessary to update the SatNOGS client to be able to communicate with them. Therefore, it would be useful for the system to conduct these updates automatically, as TinyGS does. The second limitation is related to the number of decoders. As was previously observed, SatNOGS managed to communicate with several satellites; however, it only managed to decode a small portion of them. As such, it would be good in the future to increase the number of decoders to thereby increase the quantity of data available and, consequently, attract a greater number of people to the project. However, it is worth mentioning that many decoders are not made available by the satellite teams on purpose because the data are confidential. An additional constraint arises from SatNOGS relying on the libraries it utilizes, like SoapySDR (for SDRs) and Hamlib (for rotors). As a result, the components integrated into its ground station will be subject to the limitations  
Figure 14: Number of SatNOGS GSs by quarter from 30 September 2015 to 30 June 2023.  
of the devices supported by these libraries. For instance, if one possesses a rotor that Hamlib does not support, it is a definite or nearly certain fact that its ground station will not operate as intended. In addition, it can also communicate only with satellites that are in its database. Finally, and related to the security implications of both projects, there are at least three limitations that merit careful consideration:  
1. Public exposure of ground stations: One significant security concern arises from the public exposure of latitude and longitude coordinates associated with ground stations (GSs).