Posts by 2E0ILY

I asked the same question on the BATC site, where you also kindly replied, so for completeness I copy and paste my reply again here, thanks Dominique!

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Thanks for the speedy reply Dominique. I ended up fixing the missing .dll by manually placing it in C:/windows/system32

I had assumed it needed a 64 bit .dll, but to be honest I am not good with this sort of thing [Blocked Image: https://forum.batc.org.uk/images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif]

The programme now launches and starts with no errors, but only the "LED" that lights is the right hand one. My Pluto is under the dish on an ethernet to USB adaptor and I don't think the application is seeing the (fixed IP address) Pluto. I know the notes say that USB over LAN is a work in progress, so I will wait to see how others get on with this. I may well be doing something wrong, but my Portsdown 4 sees it at the same IP address, so although I would like to give you useful feedback I am probably not the right person to give any opinion on this as I am a bit clueless, to say the least! [Blocked Image: https://forum.batc.org.uk/images/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif]

Thanks for the fantastic contributions you are making, good luck, and best wishes.

Firstly many thanks for your work on this application. I have been using the older Free Stream Coder V 2.80 with no issues. I downloaded the current version of DATV-Easy (V1.25) and it installed seemingly without errors, and when I launch it the application opens and can be modified, but when I press "Start" I get this:

"The program can't start because Api-ms-win-core-path-l1-1-0.dll is missing from your computer".

I installed the claimed missing .dll manually in C:/Windows/sysWOW64 but the error is still present.

OS is Windows 7 64 bit Pro. I am trying to run it on the same PC as is currently running Free Stream Coder fine. May I trouble you for any ideas how I might go about fixing this please, and thanks again for your work.

You need to be pretty brutal, they are on tight, and if I recall correctly have a thin section rubber O ring as a water seal. I found carefully heating mine up with a hot air gun on low, made the cap more pliable.

The second one I did on my Bridgeport universal milling machine without removing the cap and blew any debris out with an airline. I knew then what was behind the cap, and how far down. One of the perks of my job But yes, they're on tight ..

Testing a new cable is easy if you buy some break out boards that allow you to plug a mini or micro USB connector on and it brings its pins to a workable sized PCB. As to where to buy one I can't help, sorry. I got mine off eBay, but to get one that worked I did buy a few different ones, it's a bit of a lottery....

Perhaps you can get USB connectors with flying leads and make your own bespoke one?

I am getting outside my comfort zone here, but I know many of these OTG adaptors do not carry data on pins you might expect them to, only power, as I tested a few. You need to work out which connections only need power, and which need data, and make sure the OTG Y connector is able to do what's required. They seem to differ, plus the wires are like hairs and probably copper coated aluminium junk. I had trouble with junk Chinese USB cables for this application as well. Bit of a minefield... The ethernet to USB for the Pluto seems fickle.

If you download this trusted and free IP address scanner does it find and show the IP address of the ethernet to USB adaptor? If so that's the address you should use. If it can't see it either the ethernet connect is faulty or the ethernet to USB adaptor is faulty or not getting power. I am no expert, but when I got an adaptor that would not work this is how I isolated the problem. Analog Devices web site lists which adaptor chip sets it recommends as compatible. Good luck!

https://www.advanced-ip-scanner.com/

Quote from SV1BDS

Hi,

This syntax works :

fw_setenv ad936x_ext_refclk_override "<25000000>"

Thanks for this information, that is reassuring!

So how do people who also use a Revision D Pluto with an external 40 MHz reference on DATV wide band manage this frequency shift please? I want to buy a spare Pluto, but am currently using an earlier revision which doesn't have this problem. I was hoping the on board coaxial sockets would make an external injection of the reference easier, not more problematical!

Thanks!

Thanks for the reply, in my experiment to see what it is all about I had used Buster as the base OS.

I was remiss before in not thanking the developer(s) for their work creating such a neat application. Thanks for this, it will be useful to me I'm sure.

I await your findings with the Bullseye install with interest, good luck Martin!

I put together this set up on a Raspberry Pi 4 and it worked perfectly straight away with my Pluto on a LAN. A friend saw it in action and wants to build one too.

But it's all but impossible to find any new Pi 4's here in the UK at the moment. If I sell him my working Pi 4 set up will I have ANY issues duplicating it on an Odroid N2+ with 4gB RAM? I think these are currently available still and I have fancied trying one for a while. I am pretty hopeless with Linux so would like to be reassured there are no potential complications please, is anyone running it on this Odroid model, and if so what base OS is loaded before adding the transceiver software? Many thanks. Chris in the UK, 2E0ILY

Quote from DJ7TH

Which type of SG Lab PA you are using?

This one, thanks for the reply Rolf

https://www.sg-lab.com/AMP2400v3/amp2400_v3.html

I wonder if anyone can kindly help me with a drive issue I am having with my PlutoSDR and transmitting to the QO100 satellite via the narrow band transponder using SDR Console please?

Recently I am finding setting the drive level is incredibly tricky. Using the Tone or Tune functions in SDR Console a tad too much drive level and the Leila, the satellite's too great a signal level warning is triggered. I reduce drive until it is no longer triggered and all is OK for some seconds, then it is triggered again, as if my power is increasing of its own accord.

Once I find an acceptable level by very fine manipulation of the drive slider but I then find that after a period of reception there is no longer enough drive to set the Pluto / amp into TX again.

This appears to be a recent problem, as a while ago when I was on the narrow band transponder with SSB I didn't seem to have so much of an issue.

My set up is Windows 7 64 bit, SDR Console V 3.1, LAN connection to my Pluto at the base of my 1.8 meter prime focus dish. The Pluto is driving an Analogue Devices CN0417 pre amp driving an SG labs 20W amp via a 6dB attenuator, which in turn is triggered by its VOX PTT. The SG Labs amp then feeds the POTY antenna via a short length of low loss co-ax.

MAYBE the attenuator is between the Pluto and the CN0417, I can't reliably recall, and I am at work.

My own, novice thoughts are that to trigger the SG labs amp via VOX is needing enough drive power to put its output around the trigger point of Leila. Does that sound feasible? What about the rise in output when TX'ing, and the fact a signal level adjusted down when operating with Tune or Tone to stop triggering Leila becomes insufficient to set the ensemble into TX at the next transmission?

Thanks for any advice. I could JUST get a signal on SSB with only the CN0417, before I got the SG labs amp. I wanted a good deal more power as I also run the set up on DATV on the wide band QO100 transponder. Best regards, Chris, 2E0ILY

Thanks for the posts, I manage to get a watchable signal with my SG Labs 20W amp with a pre amp before it, fed from a Pluto, although I ended up with a 1.8 meter prime focus dish.

I have acquired a bigger PF dish and am in the process of making mounts for it, so hopefully I won't need any more power, we'll have to see. All the best there have been some exceptional quality signals from the satellite recently.

For what it's worth, on my earlier Pluto version, I have found on the odd occasion the LAN to USB connection has dropped just disconnecting the LAN adapter from the Pluto USB port and immediately reconnecting it brings the LAN connection bact up. I would not call that a reboot and not seen it mentioned before.

It's fairly rare so I haven't yet tried the Y power splitter cable many advocate.

I am not sure whether just reconnecting the LAN adapter working as a fix indicates anything useful...

I have bought a Bison three semiconductor PA and the seller warns that my Pluto, (and then an Analog Devices preamp) can cause high level TX spikes as it occasionally self calibrates. These can apparently kill the PA. I have not heard of this before, and have not had an issue with my current LAN connected Pluto - AD preamp - SG Labs 20W power amp into a POTY.

How should I go about stopping this risk?

I want to have as much gear as possible in the cabinet, which has mains power available, under the dish, including the new PA and AD preamp,

At the moment a LAN cable and the LNB coax for the wide band polarisation connection to the 4 port LNB are all that need to come back to the shack. This set up allows me to run SSB using SDR Console on the narrow band transponder via the LAN to the Pluto, and one LNB port, and low power to the wide band transponder for DATV, with a Minitiouner for RX off the LNB cable into the shack, from another LNB port. I am currently using a Portsdown for TX. The Portsdown is LAN connected to the Pluto at the dish.

Adding this much more powerful PA is looking more complicated than I thought as the SG Labs PA uses VOX instead of electrical PTT. Are others troubled by this calibration spike when running higher power PA's and need to get the Pluto TX'ing before turning on the PA, presumably manually or with some sort of PTT timer arrangement?

I have built the PTT relay board to go inside the Pluto, but had no need to fit it yet as the SG Labs 20W PA uses VOX to go to TX mode. I am getting a bit confused as to what's needed to protect the new PA now, with the bigger Bison PA which has been built to have a lot of gain meaning the Analog Devices preamp should very easily drive it.

Any advice most welcome, thank you.

*EDIT*

I have read a BATC article describing an out of band high level TX when the Lime Mini SDR is self calibrating, I wonder if the vendor is getting confused and thinks the Pluto SDR also do does this, or is the one that has this issue?

Sorry for this very late reply, I was watching for replies in the (wrong) place where I posted the question. An attenuator and / or a filter fixed this. I just used the filter and it's been fine since. Thanks everyone. 2E0ILY.

I am new to DATV and having only just, in the last few days, got a test card on the es hail satellite, and then a caption less video, I need to find a way to add stationary or scrolling text of at least my call sign and locator to existing videos I have on my PC. Most are in .mp4 or can be converted to .mp4 format.

I am currently using a BATC Portsdown and the script for OBS from F1EJP to stream a video on my PC to the Raspberry Pi and then the networked Pluto SDR.

My OS is Windows 7.

Thanks for any info. Chris 2E0ILY

For some reason my MiniTioune fed from a Megasat Diavolo LNB on a 1.8 meter PF dish has started to show the unhappy face and an average of 2.9dB LNA gain. The Diavolo is home modded to take a 25Mhz LO from a Leo Bodnar GPSDO. I tried putting the original Bullseye LNB back and get the same results. I realise I need to look at attenuating the LNB level, but meanwhile can anyone tell me if such a signal level can also cause a sudden rash of noise on the MiniTioune noise graph and a de-sensitising on low level signals?

The thing I find odd is this level of LNA gain has seemingly only started recently. Maybe it's just atmospheric conditions, the impact of which on 10GHz is a bit of a mystery to me I'm afraid..

Thanks.

Thanks SWL-jsilva, appreciated.

I have managed to find an Octagon quad outlet LNB that appears, as far as I can tell, to be the same as the one on a clear internet site. It shows how to modify it with photos. It's in Greece though and shipping is more than the cost of the LNB itself, but hey, you can't take it with you I guess [Blocked Image: https://forum.batc.org.uk/images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif] I will open it with some trepidation when it eventually arrives, hoping in reality it IS the same. This is all probably easy to the more experienced here, but the first time is always the most worrisome

Regards, Chris 2E0ILY

Thanks Martin, will keep an eye on those. I would have a go at modding one myself, but which dual or more output ones are currently available and known to be of a type where mods are documented somewhere?? If someone has one to sell please let me know