MicoAir MSTAR24-BASE 2.4G telemetry multipoint radio

MicoAir MSTAR24-BASE is the ground module of the MSTAR24 telemetry system, which operates in one-to-many mode ("point-to-multipoint") and allows one ground station to monitor and control up to 8 aircraft at the same time. It transmits in the 2.4GHz band with up to 1000mW (30dBm) and uses LoRa spread-spectrum modulation, which makes the link resistant to interference. It is typically used to transmit the MAVLink protocol from the control units of an entire drone swarm to one ground station.

The module connects to a computer via USB. After the driver is installed, it does not appear in the system as a single serial port, but as eight separate ports ChA to ChH — each corresponding to one air module (ChA to the air module with ID 0, ChB with ID 1, and so on). In Mission Planner and QGroundControl, individual aircraft are therefore connected as separate links and can be monitored side by side on one map. The transmission is transparent, so in addition to MAVLink telemetry, any other serial data can also pass through the link.

The module offers two speed modes. In standard mode, the total downlink throughput is 10,5KB/s; in high-speed mode, 22KB/s. This bandwidth is shared among all connected air modules — with four aircraft and standard mode, each gets roughly 2,6KB/s. We recommend setting the number of air modules to the actual number of aircraft being flown, otherwise the bandwidth will be unnecessarily divided among unused channels as well.

On the front is an OLED display that shows the module name, selected speed mode, and signal strength of individual channels in percent. Parameters are configured in the MicoAssistant app (version 0.9.16 and newer) after connecting to port ChA — you can change the speed mode, number of air modules, transmit power, module address (1-30000), and communication frequency (channels 0-82, i.e. 2400-2482MHz). The address and frequency must be the same across the entire set; when operating multiple sets at the same time, different values are selected so they do not interfere with each other.

MSTAR24-BASE works exclusively with the MSTAR24-F and MSTAR24-F-Mini air modules, which are not included in the package (sold separately). 

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