SDRplay ? ..in fer a penny etc

[TJExcalibur]

Sorted ..
Its good to have choices..
;)View attachment 91472

Looks pretty. Could make Elton John some pyjamas if I can order a few metres. Translated......To complicated for me to comprehend.

New section formed to discuss this. SDR radio, Software Defined Radio | Satellite & Digital TV Support forums

 

[Vipersan]

Looks pretty. Could make Elton John some pyjamas if I can order a few metres. Translated......To complicated for me to comprehend.

TBH TJ ...not as complicated as it looks ..
If you have ever used a communications receiver ...you'll know there are switches and buttons to insert various bandpass filters ..oscillators to reinsert carriers ...and switch between various modulation forms ..AM /FM ...to give 2 simple examples..
The difference is that on Software defined radio ...the buttons and switches are replaced with a GUI ....and switched electronically ..
Thats basically it..
The coloured 'waterfall' as it is referred to is just a graphical representation in real time of a section of the spectrum as it progresses ...and as such has a great advantage over conventional receivers in that it doesn't require physical knob twiddling to see everything in that chunk of spectrum ...and you can pounce instantly on an interesting peak ...without actually having to turn the dial and tune to it ..
pretty good eh'
and thats just radio ...with the plugins and addons ...so much more is possible ...by analysing and decoding thos signals (digital and analogue)
For example you could intercept and decode a pager signal (digital) ...or ...decode a morse code signal (analogue) without even knowing morse...
.--. .-. . - - -.-- / -.-. --- --- .-.. / . .... / ..--..

 

[hvdh]

Yes it is!
Your antenna is probably a piece of wire in your shack? The interference level is huge in both your scans, on 28 MHz and FM band. There is room for improvement, to put it politely.

 

[Vipersan]

If there was enough interest in this subject ...I'd push for a dedicated sub section ...
It is afterall I think a natural extension of our hobby..

 

[Vipersan]

Yes it is!
Your antenna is probably a piece of wire in your shack? The interference level is huge in both your scans, on 28 MHz and FM band. There is room for improvement, to put it politely.

not on a suitable antenna at all Hans ..
currently ..crudely hooked up to my WX QFHx ...so really aimed at about 137mhz
..and software not set up as yet ..
I only just got SDR# to work with th SDRplay...and tuned to a radio staion just to prove its functioning ..
Lots to do yet ..
lol

 

[battenfan]

Ok ...after at least 4 hours of searching found this version of SDR# which I suspect might be the last one to support SDRplay..

SDR# version 1361
But it IS in the list of supported hardware..
I've yet to get it working ...but at least offers me a lifeline.

rgds
VS

Good you have it sorted as I was too slow to reply. I have 1323 installed from a RTL install script but it lacks dll files for sdrplay.
I assume 1361 is the last one to support Windows XP as well.

 

[hvdh]

I am very interested in this SDR stuff, but know I will be frustrated actually trying this.
Two years ago I bought an NRD-525, it used to be my "dream rx" back in the 80's (when I couldn't afford)!
Then tried a "mini whip" type active antenna on it, sticking out a meter outside the apartment. Reception was much worse than the Twente WebSDR.
Reception is no good here either for VHF/UHF. So that leaves me with only Ku satellite reception!

Only thing I'd like to try with an SDR is at the loopthrough of the sat receiver, to see the narrowband signals.
But there are still few SDR's going up to 2150 MHz.

 

[Vipersan]

Good you have it sorted as I was too slow to reply. I have 1323 installed from a RTL install script but it lacks dll files for sdrplay.
I assume 1361 is the last one to support Windows XP as well.

If you want to try it ..
I am currently at work BF ...but if you PM me your email address ..I have 1361 rared up in 5 sections ...so can post it to you tonight as attatchments..
Sadly Too large in zip form ...and rars are rejected by our Forum so can't upload it here..

 

[Vipersan]

I am very interested in this SDR stuff, but know I will be frustrated actually trying this.
Two years ago I bought an NRD-525, it used to be my "dream rx" back in the 80's (when I couldn't afford)!
Then tried a "mini whip" type active antenna on it, sticking out a meter outside the apartment. Reception was much worse than the Twente WebSDR.
Reception is no good here either for VHF/UHF. So that leaves me with only Ku satellite reception!

Only thing I'd like to try with an SDR is at the loopthrough of the sat receiver, to see the narrowband signals.
But there are still few SDR's going up to 2150 MHz.

Same thing basically retriggered my interest with the Inmarsat thread...
Inmarsat .. something different
which basically uses the sat receiver loop through ..

 

[battenfan]

If you want to try it ..
I am currently at work BF ...but if you PM me your email address ..I have 1361 rared up in 5 sections ...so can post it to you tonight as attatchments..
Sadly Too large in zip form ...and rars are rejected by our Forum so can't upload it here..

Thanks, that won't be necessary as I used the links found in this thread:
LINK TO SDR# BUILD 1361 THAT WORKS - SDRplay Community Forum also plugins at the bottom.
Edit: Ok, I didn't find anything special in the plugins file. it's the same zip, I think. And I don't understand Russian.

 

[Analoguesat]

If you want to try it ..
I am currently at work BF ...but if you PM me your email address ..I have 1361 rared up in 5 sections ...so can post it to you tonight as attatchments..
Sadly Too large in zip form ...and rars are rejected by our Forum so can't upload it here..

Open a dropbox account. They are free & always useful for transferring files around to folk.

You can also get extra free space with a referral scheme if someone installs the software. If anyone wants a play send me a pm with an email address in it for my link ;)

Even if you just want to use the online version its wirth having - Ive been using it for a year or so and quickly transferred files to friends & collegues many times.

 

[TJExcalibur]

I am waiting and watching this topic, may even get a new toy for my birthday but awaiting news on the new TM box. As "she" said, you have so many gadgets it takes you hours to decide what to play with and then you change your mind and moan about the weather.......

 

[2cvbloke]

Yes, the weather is kind of dreary at the moment, needs to be looked at from a weather satellite using an SDR thing........

 

[Vipersan]

After much tweaking and modding ..
It aint as easy to set up SDR# with Orbitron in win 7
That FFing 'permissions' crap again ...but managed it ventually ..
After modding various config files so that Orbitron communicated with SDR # and vice versa ..
Finally got orbitron to alert me to the arrival of noaa19 and adjust frquency ...and keep on adjusting for doppler shift until 19 was out of sight..


So it seems only SDR# has plugin options ..and the ability to use orbitron was removed after v 1400+ .....and as I now know all support for EXTIO (thus SDRplay) was also dropped..
I'm gonna keep both SDR# and HDSDR in the pc ...but EXTIO has to be rerun to select the SDR app I want to run ..
They dont make life easy..
doh!

Question ...?...
perhaps someone will know ..
rather than change the various aspects of AGC gain bandpass Modulation etc ...depending on what signal I am searching for ..
it would be nice if a 'profile' could be loaded and recalled when needed..
Does anyone know if this is possible on SDR# ?
eg ..
A weathersat profile ..
A Radio Profile ..
A Pager profile..
An Aircraft band profile etc etc..
rgds
VS

 

[Vipersan]

Not got my Virtual audio cable set up yet ..
WXtoIMG is installed ..but not being fed with audio as yet ..
..so something to sort out later..
In the meantime an almost direct overhead pass of noaa19 ...so recordered it as audio and baseband with SDR#..
Hopefully this I can use later as a reference to set VBcable up and ulitimately WXtoIMG ..
I dont remember it being this tricky in XP ...using a £10 RTL dongle ..?
perhaps it's win7 ....perhaps I'm just getting old ..
lol

 

[Vipersan]

Got some more tweaking to do ...but thats for the weekend I think ..
Very pleased so far with SDR# working with SDRplay as a polar orbiting weather data collector ..
Not bad for a first attempt at noaa 15 under win7 with Orbitron-SDR# >VBcable>WXtoIMG
time to run my bath ...
later guys
;)


beware glitches over France
lol

 

[Vipersan]

Close direct-ish overhead pass of noaa 18 due so might delay the bath..
;)
Hmm ...might be a bit glitchy as there is a pager close by ...and it's strong enough to overload the receiver..
..we shall see..

Too far west ...mostly weather over the atlantic ..

 

[Analoguesat]

What a brilliant picture

 

[Vipersan]

What a brilliant picture

Yeah ..but the land is fake ...
coloured map is underlayed beneath the cloud layers ...which of course _are_ genuine..
There once were some noaa sats that could image vegetation and landmass ...
sadly these ones are no longer in service ..
Only 15 /18 & 19 ...all three only scan the atmosphere..
to varying penetration..

 

[Vipersan]

So ...around 12:30 local time I caught a half decent pass of noaa19
Passed roughly 20 deg azim East of the UK ...thus shows mostly scandinavian weather systems..
Pix to follow (hopefully)
I now have WXtoIMG set up to auto collect data when any of the three active noaas reach elevation levels above 8 deg ...and similarly cut collection when dipping below 8 deg ..
My azim capture is set roughly 24 deg E and W of my location ...which is usually shown on the collected images with a yellow +
I have taken 3 screen grabs during the data collection phase (raw data ) to show the doppler shift effect ...and how aggressive Pager signals in close proximity can severely disrupt the collection process.
rgds
VS