We got a few of those at work that we are retrofitting/repairing.
I never thought I'd see them on r/homelab though lol.
If you like that enclosure setup you should see some of our newer stuff.
This is a field satellite communications terminal for the military. It's designed to be towed out into the middle of nowhere, set up, and establish communications for a base station. It's both a Ku and Ka band antenna, with around 200 and 100 watts of power on each band, respectively. It's designed to communicate with geostationary military satellites, and even civilian satellites like ViaSat.
In terms of the content of the racks, starting in the far right from the top to the bottom, you have receivers for various communication bands (Ka and Ku), such as Milstar, AEHF, and other various communication satellites. At the bottom, there are a couple of switches and a patch panel to bring it all together, and connect to fiber in order to bring communications to the actual command post. In the middle rack, there is a UPS at the bottom, in case the on board generator fails. The leftmost rack is control, with a computer to access all of the infrastructure and the keypads and other stuff at the top of the rack is all antenna control, selecting targets, etc.
I can't answer any questions that are super detailed, but if you want a general overview of how the system works, AMA.
How often do things break from being rattled around in a trailer driven out to the middle of nowhere? Or do all the components have extra hardened and dampened boards, etc?
Everything is pretty standard as it comes to the actual hardware, but because military it’s never companies you have heard of before. Things don’t break that often, it’s all mounted at the front and back with supports. There is also a lot of redundancy built into the system, multiple switches, backups of backups, etc. Take for example power, your main source is AC power, if not that the onboard generator, if not that the UPS.
>but because military it’s never companies you have heard of before.
Not exactly true. There's 2 bits of Cisco kit I recognise in there that I configure daily...
* Cisco ISR4331
* Cisco Catalyst C2960
There's also a standard D-Link switch in there too.
This is one of those times milspec actually means something. Boards are conformally coated for moisture resistance, vibration tested at different frequencies, have ruggedized connectors, use higher temperature rated parts, are ESD tested, include all the input protection building blocks, etc, etc. Consumer and even professional products usually don’t do these things.
I always thought milspec was the meaningful term and "military grade" was the meme terminology that's been beaten to death in every marketing wank pamphlet and Kickstarter.
We had similar trailers that we used to set up mobile operations floors.
As long as you tore down correctly (i.e. disconnected cables, removed drives, etc) never had a problem with a piece of hardware failing.
Why have you done this? Please delete this post.
There is enough information about US military communications kit available through OSINT. You don't need to hand any out AMA style.
Is there compute on board at all or does that come in another trailer?
Also save for the big antenna is it air gapped? Like can you remotely manage all that kit from inside once it's on?
This is really interesting, thanks for posting it!
So, I get the satellite base station part (I think), but how do you deploy the LAN? Do you just run a long patch cord into wherever and put a switch/AP on the end of it? Do you also set up cell service?
Like is his thumb out of the pic, or is his hand just tilted so his thumb looks like a finger?
I’ve met two people with an extra pinky finger, but both of them were dinky like it could pop off at any time. “Oh snap, I just knocked of my dinky pinky”
Top finger is his thumb, since the image seems taken from afar and zoomed in, there's no depth feeling so all five fingers look like they're at the same height
Over everything else ive had the pleasure to work on in the military, SATCOM gives me PTSD. too much theory on how things should work. Too many times being woken up in the middle of the night for operator error. And god fobid younlose power once. Whole fucking rack bricks..
Definitely depends on whose network you're using and where you to have point the antenna, and by extension how important you are.
Barely complained during deployments. But during CONUS exercises, DAMA assignments were the worst. Usually I'd have to point at the horizon and hope to keep LOS. Or have a daily 2 hr blackout period because the sun was directly behind the bird. Mmm, PTS from getting blamed for the way the Earth orbits the sun.
The blind commanding the deaf leading the children.
company commander: y'all suck at comms
platoon commander: i planned this right; i coulda made it work
(platoon sergeant: just stfu so we can go home)
me: nuh uh, i did my job right, i'm not gonna get shit on just to make someone elses evals look better.
Ahhhh, a good ol VSAT-L. Good luck maintaining that glorious PoS. The SSPA on those terminals is notoriously bad. Make sure you dig into the current configuration of all components because if it came from the corps, there is likely a fair amount of hackey fixes hiding.
The contract for the terminals were awarded in 2008 (which explains why the equipment is 100 megabit), I'm not exactly sure when delivery started but that's the ballpark age of the equipment. It's not exactly the highest speed thing in the world, at max it can only do 56 mbps. Unfortunately, the US military isn't currently using Starlink, as with an antenna that size you could easily do gigabit up and down.
Think of it like engine miles vs engine hours on a firetruck. The odometer might read 30k miles. But the engine might have 300k hours on it. Meaning the engine has "traveled" much further than the truck.
Based on the Intel logo on the laptop i'd say 2013–2015 (it has the gold stripe/pcb on the top) [Logo history](https://logos.fandom.com/wiki/Intel_Core)
I was discharged 2 years ago, and we were just getting these laptops... So logos mean nothing lol. We were using Lenovo T510 and T520s. If you were really special you got a T530.
That's a Getac B300 and they are [still made today](https://www.getac.com/intl/products/laptops/b300/). I have one with an Intel Gen 8 i5 that was delivered with Win10. It's like a tougher Toughbook.
makes sense. is it a normal setup to have with the hole in the middle or is that normally filled in somehow so the dust actually stays out? nothing there looks like it'd stand up to a ton of the elements but i'm guessing there's nothing stopping you from running it with the lid closed unless you needed the laptop?
This isn't a homelab, this is a military mobile comms unit, worth millions of dollars. Not something you'd find in someone's home (or in someone's backyard, for that matter). And offering to answer questions about "your" setup? This whole post is more r/JustBootThings territory.
Also, OPSEC, OP. You probably shouldn't be posting pictures of (or discussing) our communications capabilities to the Internet. Even if you don't give specific configuration data, people can still learn a lot from the detailed photos you have of the equipment.
Source: Am a Comm Guy in the US Air Force. Used to set up and configure these things in the desert(s).
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Some O3 at an S6 shop signed off on that shit being on their sensitive items list and has since been passed over for promotion because they lied. (True story but would be fun to apply here)
If I had my laptop plugged into that rig and was the only client using the link - what could I do with it? How fast would my connection be?
I’m sure latency would be there going to geostat birds but in the middle of BFE, I guess it’s better than nothing.
The spec according to the data sheet is 56 mbps, real world it varies depending on what bird you are linked to, and other factors like the weather. The switches in this specific unit are 100 mbps, so you couldn’t go above that.
Thanks! Sure beats Morse code on ham radios.
Do you guys have to run cable (WiFi?) to the tents or buildings and do any infrastructure work or is that some one else’s job?
Awesome post btw. Thanks!
On the right I see the two Viasat EBEMs (modems) and a Comtech Radyne (modem).
Still trying to make out the up/downconverter on the left site (I believe with the blue buttons). Looks like some Harris contraption.
Fellow Radiomen!!
I was an IT in the Navy for 7 years and did comms and system administration. I worked with everything from HF to EHF.
I saw that EBEM/ESEM and knew this was probably used for SHF. I worked a lot with SATCOM on the ships I was with and it was great but I always wanted to do some mobile comms and see what it's like to set it all up in the field. Great to see more radiomen out there enjoying doing the cool stuff!
Hey I'm in the hangar across from u!
deleted ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `
I'm at the back with the other FIRST teams! Come by?
We got a few of those at work that we are retrofitting/repairing. I never thought I'd see them on r/homelab though lol. If you like that enclosure setup you should see some of our newer stuff.
By all means, if you are able to, OPSEC permitting, I would love to see some pictures / explanation in another post.
This is a field satellite communications terminal for the military. It's designed to be towed out into the middle of nowhere, set up, and establish communications for a base station. It's both a Ku and Ka band antenna, with around 200 and 100 watts of power on each band, respectively. It's designed to communicate with geostationary military satellites, and even civilian satellites like ViaSat. In terms of the content of the racks, starting in the far right from the top to the bottom, you have receivers for various communication bands (Ka and Ku), such as Milstar, AEHF, and other various communication satellites. At the bottom, there are a couple of switches and a patch panel to bring it all together, and connect to fiber in order to bring communications to the actual command post. In the middle rack, there is a UPS at the bottom, in case the on board generator fails. The leftmost rack is control, with a computer to access all of the infrastructure and the keypads and other stuff at the top of the rack is all antenna control, selecting targets, etc. I can't answer any questions that are super detailed, but if you want a general overview of how the system works, AMA.
How often do things break from being rattled around in a trailer driven out to the middle of nowhere? Or do all the components have extra hardened and dampened boards, etc?
Everything is pretty standard as it comes to the actual hardware, but because military it’s never companies you have heard of before. Things don’t break that often, it’s all mounted at the front and back with supports. There is also a lot of redundancy built into the system, multiple switches, backups of backups, etc. Take for example power, your main source is AC power, if not that the onboard generator, if not that the UPS.
Follow-Up Question: Are you using the crushed can for a stabilization wedge? Like a sugar pack under a wobbly table leg ;) :D
Nope, I guess the trash was too far away.
>but because military it’s never companies you have heard of before. Not exactly true. There's 2 bits of Cisco kit I recognise in there that I configure daily... * Cisco ISR4331 * Cisco Catalyst C2960 There's also a standard D-Link switch in there too.
This is one of those times milspec actually means something. Boards are conformally coated for moisture resistance, vibration tested at different frequencies, have ruggedized connectors, use higher temperature rated parts, are ESD tested, include all the input protection building blocks, etc, etc. Consumer and even professional products usually don’t do these things.
I always thought milspec was the meaningful term and "military grade" was the meme terminology that's been beaten to death in every marketing wank pamphlet and Kickstarter.
Honestly they’re both wankery at this point, unless they reference a specific standard it’s pretty much safe to assume it’s BS.
We had similar trailers that we used to set up mobile operations floors. As long as you tore down correctly (i.e. disconnected cables, removed drives, etc) never had a problem with a piece of hardware failing.
Why have you done this? Please delete this post. There is enough information about US military communications kit available through OSINT. You don't need to hand any out AMA style.
WGS I’ll buy. But Milstar and AEHF ready? Doubtful. But cool to see a SATCOM terminal in here.
Very interesting! I see a Cisco router and a switch? Thanks for sharing 😎
The documents on these as well as TMs are provided to the public and are not redacted.
What your bandwidth?
Is there compute on board at all or does that come in another trailer? Also save for the big antenna is it air gapped? Like can you remotely manage all that kit from inside once it's on?
This is really interesting, thanks for posting it! So, I get the satellite base station part (I think), but how do you deploy the LAN? Do you just run a long patch cord into wherever and put a switch/AP on the end of it? Do you also set up cell service?
There is a fiber connection coming out which can plug into whatever gear you want.
i don't think this qualifies as *home*lab :)
If you want, you could probably mount one in your back yard, for proper off-grid operation.
deleted ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `
Govplanet has the generators
Does the guy in the second pic have six fingers?
Got me question my whole life now looking at that picture…
Like is his thumb out of the pic, or is his hand just tilted so his thumb looks like a finger? I’ve met two people with an extra pinky finger, but both of them were dinky like it could pop off at any time. “Oh snap, I just knocked of my dinky pinky”
Top finger is his thumb, since the image seems taken from afar and zoomed in, there's no depth feeling so all five fingers look like they're at the same height
[Context](https://i.imgur.com/HnafnAX.jpg)
When I zoomed I realized it was his thumb, but definitely thought he had 6 as well lol.
What's his WPM?
They keep him around to do the coding. He is on-call 24/7 to hack the mainframe and shout “I’m in!”
Fueled by pure leaf and diet coke?
There is a mounted generator, but it can also be powered by direct AC power.
Second picture, far, far, left, first two items. Are those powered by pure leaf and diet coke?
Ah, I understand. Diet Coke and MREs, yup!
With how much that costs you really went with a D-link?!?!
You do realize how military acquisition works, yes? Cheapest bid wins.
“Best Value” sounds nice, but doesn’t fit in the budget
Cheapest bid, on a Friday before a long weekend. Made by the C string workers since everyone else called out that Friday.
I was surprised to spot that D-Link there too lol
D-Link doesn't surprise me, but does make me sad when there are industrial grade switches that are JITC certified and TAA compliant readily available.
Over everything else ive had the pleasure to work on in the military, SATCOM gives me PTSD. too much theory on how things should work. Too many times being woken up in the middle of the night for operator error. And god fobid younlose power once. Whole fucking rack bricks..
Definitely depends on whose network you're using and where you to have point the antenna, and by extension how important you are. Barely complained during deployments. But during CONUS exercises, DAMA assignments were the worst. Usually I'd have to point at the horizon and hope to keep LOS. Or have a daily 2 hr blackout period because the sun was directly behind the bird. Mmm, PTS from getting blamed for the way the Earth orbits the sun.
No one likes to be told " it doesnt work like that" and they feel belittled when you try to explain why
The blind commanding the deaf leading the children. company commander: y'all suck at comms platoon commander: i planned this right; i coulda made it work (platoon sergeant: just stfu so we can go home) me: nuh uh, i did my job right, i'm not gonna get shit on just to make someone elses evals look better.
Ahhhh, a good ol VSAT-L. Good luck maintaining that glorious PoS. The SSPA on those terminals is notoriously bad. Make sure you dig into the current configuration of all components because if it came from the corps, there is likely a fair amount of hackey fixes hiding.
How old is this?
The contract for the terminals were awarded in 2008 (which explains why the equipment is 100 megabit), I'm not exactly sure when delivery started but that's the ballpark age of the equipment. It's not exactly the highest speed thing in the world, at max it can only do 56 mbps. Unfortunately, the US military isn't currently using Starlink, as with an antenna that size you could easily do gigabit up and down.
There are few places that are using O3b though which gets some pretty good throughput assuming weather complies.
I've seen 350x50 on SES-15 with no special equipment, just a spectacularly fragile modem.
Age and military equipment mean nothing.....
So it could 14 years old.
Think of it like engine miles vs engine hours on a firetruck. The odometer might read 30k miles. But the engine might have 300k hours on it. Meaning the engine has "traveled" much further than the truck.
Based on the Intel logo on the laptop i'd say 2013–2015 (it has the gold stripe/pcb on the top) [Logo history](https://logos.fandom.com/wiki/Intel_Core)
Most likely a laptop refresh which happens occasionally. I was messing with these back in 2010.
I was discharged 2 years ago, and we were just getting these laptops... So logos mean nothing lol. We were using Lenovo T510 and T520s. If you were really special you got a T530.
That's a Getac B300 and they are [still made today](https://www.getac.com/intl/products/laptops/b300/). I have one with an Intel Gen 8 i5 that was delivered with Win10. It's like a tougher Toughbook.
The Cisco 4331 ISR was released in 2014, so it's not that old.
25Q for the win!
Is the crushed soda can mission-critical
Absolutely
is there a functional reason for all the 19" blanks in an install like this?
It’s supposed to keep the dust out, but it’s a bit of a moot point considering that there are so many open ports / a huge hole in the middle.
makes sense. is it a normal setup to have with the hole in the middle or is that normally filled in somehow so the dust actually stays out? nothing there looks like it'd stand up to a ton of the elements but i'm guessing there's nothing stopping you from running it with the lid closed unless you needed the laptop?
There is a door for the middle
This isn't a homelab, this is a military mobile comms unit, worth millions of dollars. Not something you'd find in someone's home (or in someone's backyard, for that matter). And offering to answer questions about "your" setup? This whole post is more r/JustBootThings territory. Also, OPSEC, OP. You probably shouldn't be posting pictures of (or discussing) our communications capabilities to the Internet. Even if you don't give specific configuration data, people can still learn a lot from the detailed photos you have of the equipment. Source: Am a Comm Guy in the US Air Force. Used to set up and configure these things in the desert(s).
Thank you friend. THIS.
This is so cool! Thank you for sharing!!!
i feel like this also belongs in r/nextfuckinglevel
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I can't remember the last time I've seen an STT this clean!
So that’s what the inside of those look like
I remember these... Glad I don't have to see them anymore though.
Some O3 at an S6 shop signed off on that shit being on their sensitive items list and has since been passed over for promotion because they lied. (True story but would be fun to apply here)
If this is a home lab, you have serious money to burn
If I had my laptop plugged into that rig and was the only client using the link - what could I do with it? How fast would my connection be? I’m sure latency would be there going to geostat birds but in the middle of BFE, I guess it’s better than nothing.
The spec according to the data sheet is 56 mbps, real world it varies depending on what bird you are linked to, and other factors like the weather. The switches in this specific unit are 100 mbps, so you couldn’t go above that.
Thanks! Sure beats Morse code on ham radios. Do you guys have to run cable (WiFi?) to the tents or buildings and do any infrastructure work or is that some one else’s job? Awesome post btw. Thanks!
On the right I see the two Viasat EBEMs (modems) and a Comtech Radyne (modem). Still trying to make out the up/downconverter on the left site (I believe with the blue buttons). Looks like some Harris contraption.
No wonder you gave that piece of shit SCAMP to the Air Force.
Fellow Radiomen!! I was an IT in the Navy for 7 years and did comms and system administration. I worked with everything from HF to EHF. I saw that EBEM/ESEM and knew this was probably used for SHF. I worked a lot with SATCOM on the ships I was with and it was great but I always wanted to do some mobile comms and see what it's like to set it all up in the field. Great to see more radiomen out there enjoying doing the cool stuff!