Want to resurrect your D/D2 MAC kit?

Channel Hopper

Suffering fools, so you don't have to.
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www.sat-elite.uk
My Satellite Setup
A little less analogue, and a lot more crap.
My Location
UK
I will be at some point - just not sure when at this stage.

I've pushed the latest version of HackTV to my fork. New features are experimental subtitling and Eurocrypt in controlled access mode (i.e. need a card).

Let me know what else you might need and I'll have a dig into the parts bin.
 

steeviebops

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My Satellite Setup
A basic 28.2 Freesat config, but have had a long history of satellite TV dating back to the analogue 19.2 days. Using a HP ZBook 15 G5 laptop (Core i7-8850H, 32GB RAM, Quadro video card)
My Location
Drogheda, Ireland
Well I just got the fright of my life!

Through a friend of mine I was able to source a Nokia BSB receiver for nothing. Got it home today to test and within a couple of minutes it let out an almighty bang and plenty of smoke with a really vile smell. Surprisingly, the receiver didn't die when this happened but I was quick to power it off anyway.

Judging by the smell I figured it must have been a cap that blew. Took it apart to find a Rifa PME 285 MB capacitor had split open from the side and was leaking. All of the other caps look perfect. Even though it didn't die altogether, I'll be a bit reluctant to try it again!
 

jeallen01

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Somewhere in England (possibly?)!
That RIFA capacitor is there for suppression of incoming/outgoing mains EMI/RFI, and so cut the leads and remove it! I had exactly the same "problem" with a friend's ROTEL amp - so I did just that, and it worked fine after for the many years (I have no idea of how many that was) he continued to use it :D
 
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steeviebops

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My Satellite Setup
A basic 28.2 Freesat config, but have had a long history of satellite TV dating back to the analogue 19.2 days. Using a HP ZBook 15 G5 laptop (Core i7-8850H, 32GB RAM, Quadro video card)
My Location
Drogheda, Ireland
Thanks guys. I think it looked more scary than it actually was.

I have a soldering kit so I desoldered the cap and cleaned up the electrolyte on the board. Looks to be OK in my initial tests but I haven't hooked it back up to my TV yet. I'm sure it'll be fine though.
 

steeviebops

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My Satellite Setup
A basic 28.2 Freesat config, but have had a long history of satellite TV dating back to the analogue 19.2 days. Using a HP ZBook 15 G5 laptop (Core i7-8850H, 32GB RAM, Quadro video card)
My Location
Drogheda, Ireland
Success!


I'm using the following parameters:

-m dmac-fm -f 1322720000 -s 20250000 --deviation 16500000 --filter
 

fsphil

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My Satellite Setup
Still playing with analogue. Also running a Humax FOXSAT-HDR and a Thomson THS804.
My Location
UK
I see you're getting sparkles. There's a bug in the latest hackrf firmware (2018.01.1) that can cause this. I was able to fix it by building and flashing the newer firmware. I can upload the file but I think you can only flash it from linux.
 

Captain Jack

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I am still on the old firmware so if you have the latest one with the fix, I'd like to try it.
 

steeviebops

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My Satellite Setup
A basic 28.2 Freesat config, but have had a long history of satellite TV dating back to the analogue 19.2 days. Using a HP ZBook 15 G5 laptop (Core i7-8850H, 32GB RAM, Quadro video card)
My Location
Drogheda, Ireland
I see you're getting sparkles. There's a bug in the latest hackrf firmware (2018.01.1) that can cause this. I was able to fix it by building and flashing the newer firmware. I can upload the file but I think you can only flash it from linux.
Much appreciated. I have a Ubuntu installation so I went into that, compiled the latest firmware and flashed it. That did the trick and I see the noise level is a constant 000 now, it was fluctuating between 000 and 002 before hand.

hackrf_info shows the firmware revision as "git-43e6f99" now, it was previously the 2018.01.1 release as I had never touched it.
 

Captain Jack

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Nice - compiled mine from source and flashed. Also fixed the issue. The 2015 firmware wasn't as bad as 2018 but not as good as the latest.
 

BSBSquarial

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My Satellite Setup
Vu+solo2 with 1.2m motorised dish
Sky Q ( yes, its as crap as the HD box)
BSB receivers by Ferguson,Nokia,Philips,Tatung, Deccacolour.
BSB Squarials branded Ferguson, Philips, Tatung and unbranded made by Matsushita. Nokia but unbranded made by STC.
BSB square dish unbranded and Philips round mini dish made by Channel Master.
My Location
East Sussex UK
Hi peeps,
I hope everyone is well
Is there a way to check and update the HackRF firmware in windows?
I too have the sparklies and fluctuating noise level.
Would love to get this sorted but I don't have and really don't know anything about using Linux.
 

steeviebops

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My Satellite Setup
A basic 28.2 Freesat config, but have had a long history of satellite TV dating back to the analogue 19.2 days. Using a HP ZBook 15 G5 laptop (Core i7-8850H, 32GB RAM, Quadro video card)
My Location
Drogheda, Ireland
There is a Windows port of hackrf-tools so I'd say it's doable. I'll check it out.

I've started using hacktv more on Linux lately because I've been having problems with high sample rates on Windows, greater than 17 MHz from what I see. Looks to be a CPU power management issue because disabling the processor driver (intelppm) seems to resolve it, at the expense of power consumption and excessive heat.
 

andy29

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My Satellite Setup
80 cm motorised dish, sky minidish, skystar 2, foxsat hd, comag sl65, pace prima, pace 2200 sky box
My Location
Hampshire, England
I still have a squarial and Ferguson receiver which I bought for not much at a car boot sale years ago, and even that was long after BSB existed so it was just to have a look at one really. The receiver was just waiting for this it seems. Weird seeing these boxes and a dead system brought back to life with real signals, amazing.

What do you do to block the voltage coming from the receiver from the HackRF? Am I right in thinking you use a bias tee?
 

steeviebops

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My Satellite Setup
A basic 28.2 Freesat config, but have had a long history of satellite TV dating back to the analogue 19.2 days. Using a HP ZBook 15 G5 laptop (Core i7-8850H, 32GB RAM, Quadro video card)
My Location
Drogheda, Ireland
I use an old cable TV wall-plate which has a DC blocking splitter inside. It was designed to protect the cable TV network from faulty equipment on your side. If you have an F splitter, you can use it, provided that it doesn’t have power passthrough. It’s always safest to test with a multimeter before connecting.
 

andy29

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My Satellite Setup
80 cm motorised dish, sky minidish, skystar 2, foxsat hd, comag sl65, pace prima, pace 2200 sky box
My Location
Hampshire, England
Ah right, yes I saw the white box in your video and I wondered what it was, thanks. I didn't realise F splitters might do that so I'll have a look. (And check the capacitors in the receiver!)
 
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