The Aero Thread..

[Vipersan]

Got a question for you Confucian ...as I know you have already done just this ..
You have 3 dishes ..with 3 lnbs pointing at 3 Inmarsats ...
Therefore you have presumably 3 SDR dongles ...
Are these all on one port connected via a hub ...?
Assuming this is the case ...and I'm fairly sure it is ...
you therefore run 3 SDR# ...?
Which therefore need 3 seperate Jaero running ...
That is lot of cpu for any PC ..but that aside ...
How do you independantly address each dongle ...since windows cant distinguish between them ?
If they were on seperate PC mainboard usb ports this still would be an issue ...as you can't identify them specifically A B C ...but all of them on one hub ...through one usb PC port that seems impossible ..
Obviously it isn't cos you manage it ...
Throw another dongle into the mix for 1090 ...and the problem just increases ..though the latter is port driven not audio linked.
how does one install 4 occurrances of the Zadig Driver and keep the dongle identities tied to specific dish inputs ..?
I assume you need at least 3 software audio pipes/cables as well ?
A description of this complex process is something I need to know ..if not just yet ...then certainly at some point.
rgds
VS

 

[Confucian]

Got a question for you Confucian ...as I know you have already done just this ..
You have 3 dishes ..with 3 lnbs pointing at 3 Inmarsats ...
Therefore you have presumably 3 SDR dongles ...
Are these all on one port connected via a hub ...?
Assuming this is the case ...and I'm fairly sure it is ...
you therefore run 3 SDR# ...?
Which therefore need 3 seperate Jaero running ...
That is lot of cpu for any PC ..but that aside ...
How do you independantly address each dongle ...since windows cant distinguish between them ?
If they were on seperate PC mainboard usb ports this still would be an issue ...as you can't identify them specifically A B C ...but all of them on one hub ...through one usb PC port that seems impossible ..
Obviously it isn't cos you manage it ...
Throw another dongle into the mix for 1090 ...and the problem just increases ..though the latter is port driven not audio linked.
how does one install 4 occurrances of the Zadig Driver and keep the dongle identities tied to specific dish inputs ..?
I assume you need at least 3 software audio pipes/cables as well ?
A description of this complex process is something I need to know ..if not just yet ...then certainly at some point.
rgds
VS

Hi VS , All you say is correct pluss VRS, PlanePlotter & TeamViewer. CPU usually runs between 75% - 80%.



I have a usb ext cable going from the room with the PC in to a hub in a separate room.

The PC Device manager sees all three Dongles but name them the same.


SDR# on the other hand names them seperatley





So I installed three copies of SDR# in Directories (dont do folders ! lol) named after each bird, I also have three copies of Jaero installed in the same way.
I plugged in the dongles one at a time and tuned up the relevant copy of SDR# then piped the output to the corresponding copy of Jaero then made a note of which was which.
If I have to re start the pc its a question of firing up say 25E SDR# which I know from my note is on Dongle (0) and set the output to Virtual Audio Cable 1 then start 25E Jaero which has input VAC 1 and output on 192.168.1.55:30003
15W SDR# --- Dongle (1) --- 15W Jaero VAC 2 --- 192.168.1.55:30013
54W SDR# --- Dongle (2) --- 54W Jaero VAC 3 --- 192.168.1.55:30023

If you happen to select the wrong Dongle in SDR# then you dont any signals as you are on the wrong Freq's.
Jaero doesn't store any config when you close it and SDR# saves Freq's but not the Signal Sorce. It would make things a lot easier if they both saved their settings then the separate Directory idea would make life easy.
Hope this makes sence if not please say and I wll attempt to clarify.

 

[Vipersan]

Nope that makes sense ...sorta ..
Much as I suspected tho...
problems would occur if you power down ..
again ..much as I expected..
pity you can't permanently assign idents to each sdr dongle...but it obviously works..
just dont power down if you want to avoid confusion...errr...confucian
next question ...
how do you obtain multiple virtual cables ?
rgds
VS

 

[Confucian]

Nope that makes sense ...sorta ..
Much as I suspected tho...
problems would occur if you power down ..
again ..much as I expected..
pity you can't permanently assign idents to each sdr dongle...but it obviously works..
just dont power down if you want to avoid confusion...errr...confucian
next question ...
how do you obtain multiple virtual cables ?
rgds
VS

Its no problem even after a power outage, when you open say SDR# for 25E but select the wrong dongle you get no signals as your on the wrong Freq so you simply try another dongle until you get signals then that one is no longer available to be selected when you open the next SDR#. I use Shortcuts and pin them on the task Bar.



You simply set up another cable in Virtual Audio Cables Control Pannel ,

 

[Vipersan]

...I guess I need to replace VB cable with something else then to get more cables ..
cos The control panel I have doesn't supply the option for more cables..
??

 

[Vipersan]

So ...is VAC freeware ?
and does it support 64bit ok ?
Trying to find a link atm for latest version ...and avoid downloaders and bloatware...

got my answer ...
it appears not ...
>>>
Virtual Audio Cable is an important software tool for the Windows rtl-sdr user. It allows an audio data stream to be piped from a software radio program such as SDRSharp, into a decoding program. Unfortunately Virtual Audio Cable is not free, which is not in the cheap spirit of rtl-sdr, and at $25 it costs more than the dongle itself. There is a trial version, but it periodically plays a watermark voice which can break decoding.


>>>>

 

[Confucian]

So ...is VAC freeware ?
and does it support 64bit ok ?
Trying to find a link atm for latest version ...and avoid downloaders and bloatware...

got my answer ...
it appears not ...
>>>
Virtual Audio Cable is an important software tool for the Windows rtl-sdr user. It allows an audio data stream to be piped from a software radio program such as SDRSharp, into a decoding program. Unfortunately Virtual Audio Cable is not free, which is not in the cheap spirit of rtl-sdr, and at $25 it costs more than the dongle itself. There is a trial version, but it periodically plays a watermark voice which can break decoding.


>>>>

It seems I have been using the trial version !!!!!!!

 

[Confucian]

It looks like you have to donate (£1) to get aditional cables in VB-Audio Virtual Cable
Free Virtual Audio Cable Alternative - rtl-sdr.com

 

[Vipersan]

It looks like you have to donate (£1) to get aditional cables in VB-Audio Virtual Cable
Free Virtual Audio Cable Alternative - rtl-sdr.com

Probably the occasional voice over on the trial would not affect your collection of burst data too much unless it just happened to coincide with theaero data arrival ..
you could turn on an audio repeater to listento and monitor this ..
BUT it would make a huge problem with continuous data streams suck as those collected at 1.5ghz L band...
might be worth buying at some point when I need more than 1 cable ..
VN is working fine atm ..
Or I could donate and buy more VB cables ...but no audio repeater ...so you can't listen in ..
which is a useful feature.
rgds
VS

 

[Confucian]

It looks like you have to donate (£1) to get aditional cables in VB-Audio Virtual Cable
Free Virtual Audio Cable Alternative - rtl-sdr.com

Just changed mine over to VB-Cable and all working fine.

 

[Confucian]

Just finished and installed a TCXO modified LNB , monitoring drift for the next 24hrs.
Thanks to S-Band for all the help and info that even an (old) novice like me could follow.

Normally I would of had to tweek SDR# 3 or 4 times per day to keep Jaero happy but not touched it for 2 days now so I think its safe to say that S-Band's TCXO mod is well worth doing.

 

[Confucian]

Just changed mine over to VB-Cable and all working fine.

Errr or maybe not ! . At first everything seemed to be running ok but the total aircraft tracked over the three birds dropped drastically overnight. On further investigation i noticed that although the SDR#'s were seeing good signals The Jaero's were producing loads of Bad R/T Packets. Stopping one of the SDR#'s improved the other two Bad R/T Packet counts. CPU usage was still in the 75-85% region as before but when I monitored one of the VB cables the signal was breaking up causing the Bad Packets. I uninstalled VB Cables and re installed Virtual Audion Cable full version and got the same results, now I'm confused !

 

[Vipersan]

Awful when that sort of unexplained problem occurrs ..
I can only suggest a logical process of elimination ..
First job ...
connect one of the 'good' signal sources to the RTL dongle ...on the suspect channel ..
retune and run periodically checking for the problem ..
then substitute the dongle itself if the errors are still seen ..
working your way back down the chain ..eventually swapping lnbs if neccessary between dishes ..
Sadly this sort logical approach is the only way imo ..
eventually you'll find where the problem lies ...it's inevitable..
good luck and keep us informed of progress..
rgds
VS
...chances are you have a substandard or defective TCXO ...but only one way to find out ..
Luckilly you have enough parts to do swapsies till you find it ..

 

[Confucian]

Awful when that sort of unexplained problem occurrs ..
I can only suggest a logical process of elimination ..
First job ...
connect one of the 'good' signal sources to the RTL dongle ...on the suspect channel ..
retune and run periodically checking for the problem ..
then substitute the dongle itself if the errors are still seen ..
working your way back down the chain ..eventually swapping lnbs if neccessary between dishes ..
Sadly this sort logical approach is the only way imo ..
eventually you'll find where the problem lies ...it's inevitable..
good luck and keep us informed of progress..
rgds
VS
...chances are you have a substandard or defective TCXO ...but only one way to find out ..
Luckilly you have enough parts to do swapsies till you find it ..

Sorry VS , I'm more than happy with the TCXO mod, cant wait to get time to do the other two. The problem that has arisen is PC/Software issue. The errors occur only when I have all three setups running , stop any one out of the three and the problem goes away. To me that say's that the PC is running out of steam but the CPU & Memory usage are much the same as its always been 75- 85% CPU and 60% memory usage. The problem occurred when I swopped from Virtual Audio to VB cables after our conversation the other night. But having swopped back its still happening. May have to resort to a bigger "Box", I have been looking at a Dell or HP server with Dual Quad Core CPU's and lots of memory the only issue is will they run Windows 7 or 10 or will our hardware and programs run on Microsoft Sever 2003 or 2008.

 

[Vipersan]

Sorry VS , I'm more than happy with the TCXO mod, cant wait to get time to do the other two. The problem that has arisen is PC/Software issue. The errors occur only when I have all three setups running , stop any one out of the three and the problem goes away. To me that say's that the PC is running out of steam but the CPU & Memory usage are much the same as its always been 75- 85% CPU and 60% memory usage. The problem occurred when I swopped from Virtual Audio to VB cables after our conversation the other night. But having swopped back its still happening. May have to resort to a bigger "Box", I have been looking at a Dell or HP server with Dual Quad Core CPU's and lots of memory the only issue is will they run Windows 7 or 10 or will our hardware and programs run on Microsoft Sever 2003 or 2008.

Aaaah that sort of makes sense ..
probably each channel had gaps in data reception due to the poor lnb performances pre-modification ..
and now all are running efficiently there are no gaps in the data stream to exploit ...so your PC maxes out ..
Oh dear..

You might be better off with a second PC ..and port the data onto ..the less busy unit for display..

 

[Confucian]

Aaaah that sort of makes sense ..
probably each channel had gaps in data reception due to the poor lnb performances pre-modification ..
and now all are running efficiently there are no gaps in the data stream to exploit ...so your PC maxes out ..
Oh dear..

You might be better off with a second PC ..and port the data onto ..the less busy unit for display..

That was one of my thoughts as the modified LNB does seem to perform better than the one it replaced. I will know more when that one is modified and returned to service.

 

[smoggy07]

May have to resort to a bigger "Box", I have been looking at a Dell or HP server with Dual Quad Core CPU's and lots of memory the only issue is will they run Windows 7 or 10 or will our hardware and programs run on Microsoft Sever 2003 or 2008.

If it's going to be dedicated or semi-dedicated I'd go for something like this, stick as much ram as I could afford and a half decent hard drive/ssd and pipe the audio from the SRDs into a few USB soundcards for decoding Gigabyte Brix BXBT-1900 Ultra Compact PC Kit - Barebones: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories
You will find units with better specs for better prices if you search but that's just an example

 

[Confucian]

If it's going to be dedicated or semi-dedicated I'd go for something like this, stick as much ram as I could afford and a half decent hard drive/ssd and pipe the audio from the SRDs into a few USB soundcards for decoding Gigabyte Brix BXBT-1900 Ultra Compact PC Kit - Barebones: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories
You will find units with better specs for better prices if you search but that's just an example

That is a solution well worth considering and has many merits. Currently I'm running the 3 birds on a single Quad Core 3gig pc with 4g ram which "almost" copes and it appears that its Cpu usage that lets it down. Using the above solution I would need 3 of these setups which would cost around £300 which would consume my budget for the next few months. lol The other solution I'm considering is a
HP PROLIANT DL380 G5 which will run Win 7 , has 2 x Quad Core 3.1g Cpu's and 8g ram and comes in at £97 including shipping.

 

[s-band]

Normally I would of had to tweek SDR# 3 or 4 times per day to keep Jaero happy but not touched it for 2 days now so I think its safe to say that S-Band's TCXO mod is well worth doing.

Pleased that it worked. The silver sun shield is also important, especially with that daft heat sink on the LNBF. With my normal greenhouse plastic bottle, LNB rain cover, mine drifted too far even with the TCXO.

Sorry VS , I'm more than happy with the TCXO mod, cant wait to get time to do the other two. The problem that has arisen is PC/Software issue. The errors occur only when I have all three setups running , stop any one out of the three and the problem goes away. To me that say's that the PC is running out of steam but the CPU & Memory usage are much the same as its always been 75- 85% CPU and 60% memory usage.

I got the feeling that JAERO itself can be intolerant of other stuff running, perhaps messing up the timing? I use a 2.5G quad core pre-i series with 4G ram & SSD. JAERO stops decoding and the constellation goes to a fur ball if I start either ADSB# or the later version for Airspy. I haven't tried multiple instances of JAERO. There's no problem running JAERO + Crazyscan streaming video. I can only run a single instance of SDR# + Airspy at 10Ms/s, adding a 2nd Airspy they will only run at 2.5Ms/s.
You posted this whilst I was typing:

HP PROLIANT DL380 G5 which will run Win 7 , has 2 x Quad Core 3.1g Cpu's and 8g ram and comes in at £97 including shipping.

That looks good, who is the supplier? Prior to that post I was thinking of a few cheap laptops to keep the primary power down.

 

[Confucian]

S

Pleased that it worked. The silver sun shield is also important, especially with that daft heat sink on the LNBF. With my normal greenhouse plastic bottle, LNB rain cover, mine drifted too far even with the TCXO.


I got the feeling that JAERO itself can be intolerant of other stuff running, perhaps messing up the timing? I use a 2.5G quad core pre-i series with 4G ram & SSD. JAERO stops decoding and the constellation goes to a fur ball if I start either ADSB# or the later version for Airspy. I haven't tried multiple instances of JAERO. There's no problem running JAERO + Crazyscan streaming video. I can only run a single instance of SDR# + Airspy at 10Ms/s, adding a 2nd Airspy they will only run at 2.5Ms/s.
You posted this whilst I was typing:

That looks good, who is the supplier? Prior to that post I was thinking of a few cheap laptops to keep the primary power down.

Sorry the £97 was for HP PROLIANT DL380 G5 SERVER 2X XEON QUAD 2.33GHZ 8GB RAM 4X 146GB Drives. 3.1g CPU's would be about £35 upgrade. Another Plus point is that a server such as this is designed to be Run reliably 24/7 and Run Hard with Raid and redundant power supplys all built in.