Posts by FR4RX

  • Software DVB-S demodulator

    Hi,


    First of all, I spent a few hours trying to figure out how to make this work with my RSP2 Pro. So now that I got it working (a couple days ago) here is a current, up to date tutorial on how to install DVB-S2 Demod GUI so it works (especially with the SDRPlay RSP SDRs). For other SDRs, steps 1 and 2 are not needed.


    1. You need to download the SDRPlay RSP API/HW Driver v3.03 (Aug. 2019). It absolutely has to be version 3.03.

       The latest to date being 3.06, which won't work with this version of the software!

       This software has been developed around v3.03 (v3.04 works with some modifications too, but don't do that).

       You can get it from this link: https://www.sdrplay.com/softwa…_RSP_API-Windows-3.03.exe

       Or alternate link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/c5xsl9w3du54gy9/SDRplay_RSP_API-Windows-3.03.exe?dl=1


    2. Install the API, following the instructions. Do not change the installation folder, keep the default one.

       "C:\Program Files\SDRplay"


    3. Download the latest version of DVB-S2 Demod GUI. The latest to date when writing being version 2.0.14.

       Original link: http://v.1337team.tk/dvb-s_gui_amsat.zip

       Or alternate link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/f20j…ui_amsat_v2.0.14.zip?dl=0


    4. Extract whereever you want.


    5. Go into the folder you just extracted "s2_gui_amsat_release/", and run "dvb-s_gui.exe".

       Your RSP SDR should appear in the list of devices. Click on "Open Device", it should be working. That's it!


    6. Basic settings :

    - Adjust the frequency near the downconverted frequency from your LNB, 741MHz.

    - Set the "BB Gain" control to adjust the gain of your SDR, not too high, and adjust "FFT Intens." to have a clear view of the signals on the waterfall.

    - You can left click to the left or right of the waterfall to move the frequency down or up, and you can right click (and drag the mouse with the right click pressed) on the exact signal you want to demodulate.

    - Now you can fiddle with the settings, enable Carrier recovery... Try to get "sync_confidence" to go green.


    7. If you don't have VLC Media Player, you can download and install the latest version from the official website.

    Official website: https://www.videolan.org/


    8. Launch VLC Media Player, and go to "Media" > "Open Network Stream..."

    Enter the address "udp://@:8888" (without the quotes) and click on "Play".


    Unfortunately I don't have the best setup yet, 80cm offset TV dish with modified PLL LNB with external ref (DX Patrol), I can decode the beacon and a few transmissions, not all of them. Maybe the sensitivity could be improved in future versions, the software feels kinda fiddly right now, but apart from that keep up the great work! Really nice to have a piece of software like that. Hope to see it being improved and polished over time.


    Have fun, and good experiments.

    73, Etienne FR4RX