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USB-DVB-T-DAB-FM-RTL-SDR-Realtek-RTL2832U-R820T-Tuner-Receiver-PAL-IEC-Inp

Started by DavePEI, August 18, 2015, 02:41:58 PM

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twocvbloke


TelePlay

Quote from: twocvbloke on September 19, 2015, 03:30:43 AM
I'm still waiting for mine...  :-\

Yes, too bad you're not up and running for if you were, you could watch this flight arrive Sunday afternoon. It's amazing how many Chicago to distant northern hemisphere international destinations fly over me every hour.

twocvbloke

If you ever spot anything heating to Newcastle International Airport, then that's the closest airport to me (I see plenty of planes coming and going from there)... ;D

Kind of surprising it's called and international airport though considering it's only got one runway:

http://tinyurl.com/o4zx4z5

DavePEI

Charlottetown (YYG) has two runways, one very long N-S runway, and a shorter E-W runway. It is classed a regional airport, but occasionally we will get an international flight landing there for emergencies - the long runway is long enough to take the largest jets - a legacy from the days where it did get international flights. Seems to me, there is still one Caribean flight in the summers that still regularly flies from here. Of course we also have some New England flights.

Most of our flights are from within Canada or New England.

I remember years ago when I was working at the P.O. (which is located right next to the long runway at the airport), a large cargo or passenger jet landed there with a wheel that wouldn't come down. It was stranded there for a few days awaiting a new wheel assembly to come by truck. As the airport didn't have a proper height truck loading ramp, they brought it to the PO, and from there, we loaded it onto one of the airport fork lifts.

Also, several days a year, the Canadian Forces used the runway for training flights with a huge and very noisy cargo plane, taking off and landing over and over. It darn near deafened us!

Dave

Quote from: twocvbloke on September 19, 2015, 11:47:20 PM
If you ever spot anything heating to Newcastle International Airport, then that's the closest airport to me (I see plenty of planes coming and going from there)... ;D

Kind of surprising it's called and international airport though considering it's only got one runway:

http://tinyurl.com/o4zx4z5
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

TelePlay

I do believe that any airport that has a separate facility to handle customs and immigration is an international airport. Milwaukee only has two runways but it does have a small international terminal building and is named Mitchell International Airport (named after Milwaukee raised Gen. Billy Mitchell of WW-I flying fame and the so-called father of the US Air Force - there is a B-25 Mitchell Bomber on a stick outside the entrance to the airport).

As for the dongle, I put the antenna that came with it on a large metal surface in my living room today to see what it would do. I noticed it cut my reception significantly. Max range with it was about 60 miles where I was getting over 250 with my 5 element collinear in the same place in my living room.

Also noticed that I only get about 1/3 the distance to the south of what I get to the north, east and west. Makes sense, my living room faces north with a large glass window and any signals from the south would have to go through 30 feet of building and a brick wall.

Since ADSB is not required on all US airplanes until 2020, thanks to Dave for that, it explains why only 10-15% of the airplanes that show up plot on my scope software. Most of those are newer airplanes and larger airplanes used for international flights. My software shows a picture of most planes that show up and I've noticed that those that don't have ADSB are older domestic flights and smaller private airplanes. Picked up a C-17 Globemaster yesterday that way but it didn't show on the scope for that reason.

Picked up a few G5s yesterday doing near 600 knots at 42,000 feet. They didn't map but they did show that flight info.

This thing is a lot of fun and a big distraction . . .


DavePEI

My Ham it Up Upconverter arrived last week from Nooelec. Sadly, it wasn't working - I could only receive one station, Catholic Christian radio on 15 Mcs, and it was way down in the noise. I took the antenna off and plugged it into my General Coverage Ham transceiver, and the station was booming in at 30 over 9 - probably the strongest signal on the band.

I emailed Nooelec, and expected trouble convincing them there was a problem. I sent photos of the set-up, and of the SDR# screen, one showing the IF frequency at ~125 Mcs., and the other further up in the band showing its lack of response. Then, I began wondering why, since it was generating the IF frequency necessary to up-convert, it wasn't receiving, though I knew the antenna was good.

Experimenting, I touched a lead from the antenna directly to the input on the board, rather than going through the soldered on connector. Voila, signal. I then took a close look at the SMA female connector mounted on the board, with a magnifying glass and noticed the center conductor was malformed in such a way it couldn't make connection to the antenna. I sent a photo of it taken with my USB microscope, and was pleased to hear back from them it all made sense, and they are shipping a new board. Though, they say they check each board as it goes out, their check is using a jig which doesn't check the connector. As they replied, "Hah. go figure!  The picture made the issue very clear :) ", and they are shipping a replacement out immediately from their GTA warehouse so it doesn't take so long to arrive this time. No hassles, whatsoever.  So, I have to say despite the problem, I am very pleased with their customer service!

The up-converter will take the low frequency of the HF signals and up-convert them to the oscillator frequency plus the original frequency, placing them within the frequency range which can be received by the SDR dongle. When I have the replacement HIU board, I will then adjust the frequency compensation in SDR# so it shows the actual frequency of the signal rather then the sum.

A good experience after dealing with so many companies which assume their customers don't know what they are talking about  :(

Photos: 1) connections; 2) Microscope view of the connector barrel; 3) the roughly 25 mhz. oscillator signal as shown on the screen of SDR#.

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

19and41

Such companies can reap benefits from customers they work with as opposed to dictating to.  Some firms feel they have to spoon feed the entire experience with their product to their customers.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
— Arthur C. Clarke

DavePEI

My Amplifier arrived for my ADS-B setup. By using an amplifier close to the antenna, you can negate any losses through the feed line (which can be considerable at 1090 mhz with long co-ax runs). This is a 20 DB LNA designed for frequencies from 950-2150 mhz, and its associated power injector.

Power is injected into the line just after the SDR and fed to the antenna via the co-ax. At the antenna end, the amplifier, uses the injected voltage to amplify the receive signal and pipe them back down the line to the SDR. The injector and amplified must be oriented in the proper direction - you don't want to feed power back into the SDR. The amplifier should be located close to the antenna, and the injector next in line from the SDR.

Any similar amplifier will work, but it must be designed for satellite frequencies, and not the VHF and UHF TV band. The hardest part to find is the power injector, as these are normally used with satellite dishes which already have the power injected on the line.

This injector has an RCA jack on one side to inject the power from a transformer. You provide the transformer. If mounting the amplifier as it should be, outside next to the antenna, a few windings of self amalgamating tape over the connectors will seal the connections from the weather.

It isn't sufficient to use an amplifier next to the SDR, as it will also amplify any noise picked up by the co-ax. This remote amplifier amplifies the stronger, un-attenuated signal before it goes down the co-ax, resulting in much less noise.

Total cost for both, appx. $14.

When I gather together the appropriate adapters and I will put on comparison photos of received planes which should show an appreciable gain.

Both the LNA and the injector were found on Ebay.

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

twocvbloke

Looking at that contact, if you applied a sewing needle carefully, you could probably bend the contact out and re-shape it to make contact, so that way you'd have a spare board if anything were to happen to the replacement... :)

As for my USB whatsit, still waiting, also waiting for a few other things (a mix of LED filament bulbs, couple of US-style pull-chain light fittings, and of course, the USB doodley), I'm wondering if Customs has nabbed my orders for full-on, gloves-on, hands-placed-where-they-don't-belong inspection...... :o

DavePEI

Quote from: twocvbloke on September 23, 2015, 08:19:11 PM
Looking at that contact, if you applied a sewing needle carefully, you could probably bend the contact out and re-shape it to make contact, so that way you'd have a spare board if anything were to happen to the replacement... :)
Probably, but you would have to have far better eyes than I have! In case anyone notices I have to edit my messages a lot, it is because of my eyesight (or lack thereof). When I look at the computer screen at times, it is just a blur, and it can't be corrected with lenses - it is actually caused by damage to the macula of the eye. That is the part of the eye the light from the lens focuses on.

So the end result, is that I can no longer see detail close up, which rules out my being able to see that tiny connector well enough to do as you suggest. But yes, if you could get a needle in with enough precision, it should be repairable, as long as it isn't more deformed further in. Thankfully, there was no question - they are sending a replacement board.

That little microscope is coming in handy - I bought it back when my vision started to go bad. Its awkward to use, as its focus has to be very precise, but it does its job.

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

TelePlay

Quote from: DavePEI on September 23, 2015, 08:49:21 PM
Thankfully, there was no question - they are sending a replacement board.

Dave, they asking you to send the defective board back to them, or letting you keep it?

-------------------------------------

Talking with a guy I know who is an active pilot and I told him about the dongle. When I said I see a lot of airplanes crossing over my area going in all directions, he said that's because the FAA has a VORTAC here. That's what that thing is - I've known it was there for the past 20 years, can see the top half from the nearest road. It's called the Badger VORTAC (Wisconsin is known as the Badger State). Anyway, thanks to Google maps and another site that shows Lat and Long, I was able to confirm that large white cylinder is indeed the VORTAC. He told me it is a major navigational point and that's why I see so many long distance flights flying over my house. The satellite map shows major housing development in the area but not in the farm field surrounding the VORTAC. I'd bet that farm field will never be anything more than that because of the VORTAC. Here it is, thanks to internet mapping sites. Interesting, isn't it?

DavePEI

So far, John, they haven't asked for it back, but they may when I get the other one.  :)

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

DavePEI

I am posting this for Teleplay, but others might be interested. Here is the new 125 mhz IF version of the the Ham it Up! board from Nooelec, which up-converts the HF bands to allow them to be received by an SDR . This particular one has a bad antenna connector. Although I have an X on the USB connector, it is fine - I was just marking the side of the board that needs a new SMA connector.

The other connector goes to your SDR, and the switch selects upconvert or pass-through. It is powered via a USB connection to the USB port on-board.

You do need to play with your settings on SDR# a bit for best performance, and if you want SDR# to show the correct frequency, you need to set its offset. Without doing so, the actual frequency is the input frequency plus about 125 mhz, so CHU on 7.850 will read appx. 132.848 mhz.

Manual gain setting in SDR# is recommended to keep the noise level down.

First photo top or backplane; 2nd underside.

Dave
The Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island:
http://www.islandregister.com/phones/museum.html
Free Admission - Call (902) 651-2762 to arrange a visit!
C*NET 1-651-0001

twocvbloke

I'm sure you can predict what I want to say here, but I won't say it, cos I'd just be repeating myself... :-\

5 weeks, I've ordered stuff and had it delivered from china faster than that (my LED Filament bulbs namely), I'm beginning to wonder if it'll arrive at all...

19and41

If you bought through ebay.  Use their resources to get the seller with it.  At tbe minimum the iten is lost in fhe post and the seller must statr any action on that.  You should get with ebay on this.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
— Arthur C. Clarke