Spotted this thread on the "other" forum and was intrigued.
http://www.radarspotters.eu/forum/index.php/topic,6974.0.html
So about £20 later and after two hours of following the instructions about compiling the software on Linux (ubuntu worked best so far), it works.
The output on screen looks like this:
(http://www.ihld.co.uk/adsb0.jpg)
And connected to Planeplotter (different contacts!):
(http://www.ihld.co.uk/adsb.jpg)
Ok so this was just a small subset of what my SBS-1 was showing but this is in my study downstairs with the supplied aerial next to a window. As I recall similar to a Radarbox in same restricted location.
Need to try more experiments and also to see what ATC reception is like using the SDR software. Hours of fun ahead.
Ian
I didn't get much ADSB better reception when I moved the setup to the conservatory so that has been put to one side for now.
I realised that there was an FM aerial up in the loft connected to a tuner in the lounge. So time to see how that worked with the DVB-T stick.
Installed SDRSharp on Windows 7 (eventually - I need to write down the correct incantation) and found I could receive the local music stations!
So time to try an ATC frequency - success. Encouraged by all this, it was time to stream the radio into my study. That took the best part of a day because of the weirdness of the remote PC's audio but eventually VLC was streaming audio over the network.
Slowly figuring out the frequencies for ATC around here - it's great being able to find the aircraft on screen to match frequency against location.
SDRSharp obviously allows the selected frequencies to be stored and named. There is also a scanning add on which I haven't tried yet. Very pleased that I didn't spend a lot of money recently on a scanner. This set up is not portable but I don't get out much ;).
This morning I've tuned to the ACARS frequency (131.725), downloaded and run acarsd, and I'm getting ACARS messages from contacts within at least a 50 mile radius. Not sure how useful this is going to be but just exploring the possibilities.
For £20 plus an existing FM radio aerial, this is all good fun. You guys with the good kit may have a laugh, but this is about as far as I am ever likely to go with radio and it's opened my eyes.
Ian
Hi Ian Thanks for the up date .You've got alot to answer for Introducing me to it ;D ;D. I got HD/FM dongle last week for a Tenner Been fiddling with that all week. why pay out for DAB radios
Billko
Quote from: shakysen on September 13, 2012, 12:57:08 PM
.....why pay out for DAB radios
Because they're cheaper than a PC plus dongle. ;)
Watch this space Boss 8) 8)
Bilko
To install SDRSharp, I followed the instructions from here: http://rtlsdr.org/softwarewindows
Didn't work quite as described at the time, but just repeated those steps today with the current versions of the software and all ok.
Don't forget to run the Zadig software first. If nothing relevant shows up select "List all devices" like it says. You might need to ignore the instructions about "bulk interface". My dongle showed up as RTL2832 so selected that and then clicked on replace driver button. it replaces the standard Windows driver for a special one.
If you successfully installed the Zadig driver but SDRSharp still doesn't work, try unzipping this file into a new folder. It is a copy of my working version. [outdated link removed]
Let me know how you get on.
Ian
Hello Ian .Hope you enjoyed the hols. Will follow you post to the letter. Maybe it's this version I've loaded v1.0,0,0782-1 no front end showing on screen
Billko
Playing around with the sound from the dongle and I lost the sound and streaming capability. After best part of a day trying out every (?) streaming programme out there, I was not having any luck. Even if the network stream worked there was no sound.
Back to first principles and eventually cracked it.
In Windows 7, From Control Panel, Hardware & Sound, select Sound. In Recording tab, you are looking for "Stereo Mix". If it is not there, right click on a device and select Show Disabled Devices. If Stereo Mix is now showing, right click and select Enable.
On the Playback tab, note what the output is - mine is Speakers (Realtek High definition audio). This is what you select as the Windows Direct Sound audio output in SDRSharp.
Might be worth selecting a music radio station in SDRSharp at this point and check in Control Panel that you can see green bars for the Speakers in the Playback tab, and also for Stereo Mix in the Recording tab. If yes, then the output from SDRSharp is being sent to the Stereo Mix which is used to stream the audio.
In VLC, select Stereo Mix as the Capture Device, stream as HTTP and that should be it.
Ian
I have an application under development that is specifically designed for air band activity scanning and logging with E4000 dongles. The typical simultaneous reception capability of the dongles is 2 MHz (comparable to the 8 MHz of SBS-3). I want the application to automatically find activity in the band, log and record it.
The dongles are on ebay, but need to specifically be equipped with RTL2832U and E4000 chips. Other dongles do not work or work lousy only. e.g. http://www.ebay.de/itm/DVB-T-USB-Stick-RTL2832U-Elonics-E4000-Receiver-RTL2832-RTL-SDR-Digital-TV-/150809381607?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item231cf08ae7 (http://www.ebay.de/itm/DVB-T-USB-Stick-RTL2832U-Elonics-E4000-Receiver-RTL2832-RTL-SDR-Digital-TV-/150809381607?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item231cf08ae7)
(http://www.jetvision.de/images/jvsdr.exe.jpg)
In the picture you will notice activity on 125.85 and 126.85 MHz, which are local airband freqs. The peaks at 125.75, 126.01 and 126.3 are computer induced spikes.
There is no audio output available at this time, though. :-\
Hi Junglejet I got 3 them from the states.an 3 newsky from Uk. Keep us updated
Billko
Let us know when the software is released.
Many of us in the United States using the RTL2832U & Elonics E4000 USB stick receiver :)
I have used the following suppliers for my RTL2832/E4000 dongles:
UK supplier is https://www.cosycave.co.uk/category.php?id_category=56 (but prices have gone up since I ordered ny Newsky TV28T
And I bought a TV301U from the US: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TV301U-DVB-T-USB-Stick-DAB-DAB-FM-RTL2832U-Elonics-E4000-Receiver-RTLSDR-SDR-/150858463554
Same supplier as posted by junglejet. Took just over a week to arrive with no customs charges.
Ian
As usual and as I am new to SDR this will take some time....
:) :) :)
Anyone who wants to try can download the current experimental version
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8740826/runtime/jvsdr.zip
Please go to the readme.txt file for installation instructions and acknowledge the disclaimer.
If you have a working SDR# or similar installation you do not need to reinstall the drivers (with zadig.exe).
Most of the user interface is working at this time.
The FFT and the scope (partially) are working.
Memory can be stored (when valid Demod Freq) and restored.
Memory can be overwritten or edited by right mouse click.
Tune VFO (center freq) with SHIFT+MouseWheel (100 kHz steps) or Mousewheel in VFO display
Tune Demod Freq (red line) with MouseWheel (slow) or CTRL+Mousewheel (fast) or click.
No audio output yet.
Devices from U.S. and Hongkong on ebay:
http://www.ebay.de/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=dvb-t+rtl2832&_sacat=0&_from=R40
First what screen resolution is this intended for? I can't see the whole screen at various resolutions I tried. At 1024x768 I have to scroll, at 1280x1024 I can't see all the options and there are no scroll bars.
Have to copy msvcr100.dll to jvsdr directory before it works.
There is a Start button but no Stop button.
Where is the audio output going? I am wanting to stream the audio over the internet using VLC. Is it the "default" sound that the output is being sent to?
For SDRSharp, the squelch option was important for airband to reduce noise. Is the output here already squelched? I can't here anything so I don't know - the receiver PC doesn't have any speakers attached and is in another room - hence the need to stream the audio to my desk.
I will try again tomorrow when there is more traffic - all is quiet now.
Ian
Edit just realised that you state that there is no audio output - is that coming in a later release?
I suppose msvcr100 was required for zadig?
The jvsdr application is written with another package and does not use msvcr100.
The main window is 1180x810, as it comes from the development desktop at this time. This is totally experimental and please take this into account.
Audio and squelch will be added later, see above. It needs a mixer and a few digital filters before.
Andy
I have now extracted the 1090 MHz application from my SDR and it is working more or less. If you want to participate in a trial and join a Yahoo group please send a PM.
The Yahoo group has moved to here and is public now:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/rtl1090_english/
Quote from: junglejet on November 13, 2012, 04:49:07 PM
I have now extracted the 1090 MHz application from my SDR and it is working more or less. If you want to participate in a trial and join a Yahoo group please send a PM.
Hi.
I have been experimenting with an rtrl2832 dongle for ads-b decoding using linux and gr-airmodes.
I see references to a windows program rtl1090, but find no guidance anywhere to where to download it or how to install it and the needed drivers.
Is their an 'idiots guide' anywhere you could point me to? I looked at the yahoo group but found no solution to this.
Thanks
Dongle
In this same thread:
http://radarspotting.com/forum/index.php/topic,1449.msg8301/topicseen.html#msg8301
If you sign in to yahoogroups, you should be able to open the Files menu in the group linked above. That is where the latest version of rtl1090 is to be found.
Ian
Thanks.
Have downloaded files and instructions and will install when I get a minute.
Very tied up just now with other things to do with work.
This looks like a great development for making it easy to do ads-b.
The linux E4000 works really well with my little pre-amp, but it is a but tricky with the linux fiddling you have to do. I doubt I could get much more range than I do with gr-air-modes, because my range is only limited by the horizon and obstacles in the way, such as mountains, a tower block or two and a church steeple. They show up as blanks in exactly the right part of the chart when I leave plane plotter left to run with permanent trails enabled. I don't think that you can do much better than 230 miles which I can get in the better direction. 1090 mhz isn't going to go around obstacles that well, even if the planes are emitting 150 - 250 watts.
So - when I get the time, I'll swap in my 820t dongle up in the loft after the pre-amp and run the rlt10190 software on windows down in my radio cupboard at the end of my 10 meter usb lead and see how they compare. Looking forward to it. It should be interesting to compare the coverage I can get.
I've been tied up with other stuff lately and only just had time to install the RTL1090 program. It works better than gr_air-modes in my setup.
When I first had gr-air-modes running I had about the same sensitivity, but an update of modes_rx lost me about thirty miles of detection range. I wondered if some water had got into my antenna which is home made. I wrote to the author of the software and he said he could see no reason why I would lose range, so I left it.
Today, as soon as I installed and got RTL1090 running, the lost range was restored. I'm pleased with this and I don't need to run Linux now which is a blessing as I had a good netbook tied up running it.
I have read that the R820T dongles are more sensitive than the E4000 ones. I have a new and R820T which has been on the shelf for about six weeks unused. I'll crack it open and tap of +5v to run my pre-amp up in the loft. When I've done this we'll see how it goes and I will post feedback on that dongle.
Thanks for the update.
As soon as I get a chance I will try Andy's RTL1090.
As announced yesterday PP now has support for the RTL Dongle in conjunction with Andy's RTL 1090 sw
Once RTL1090 is running , just select RTL in PP I/O settings , that should automatically pick up the IP and port info...and away you go.
In addition , very shortly we should see raw data support so that the dongle can be used as a Ground Station for Mlat.
Extensive tests show that the curve scatter from the dongle is remarkably good.
Andy's last update to rtl1090 vastly improved the message rate from the dongle
and as a result Mode S Beamfinder and BeamFinder S plus work a treat. :)
Chuckle........
The R820T cost me less than £8..... and I thought the E4000 one was cheap
:)
Amazing performance for the money.
Quote from: dongle on December 20, 2012, 09:07:06 AM
The R820T cost me less than £8..... and I thought the E4000 one was cheap
Wait until the Pucks get released. £5 each or both for £8.
Beat that.
Quote from: Anmer on December 20, 2012, 09:09:23 AM
Quote from: dongle on December 20, 2012, 09:07:06 AM
The R820T cost me less than £8..... and I thought the E4000 one was cheap
Wait until the Pucks get released. £5 each or both for £8.
Beat that.
I'll be looking at the E4000 today as I think that it too will provide raw data and the latest version of rtl1090 has narrowed the gap in performance between the two.
There's also the prospect of using two dongles , one for Mode A/C one for Mode S
Quote from: satcom on December 20, 2012, 09:46:26 AM
Quote from: Anmer on December 20, 2012, 09:09:23 AM
Quote from: dongle on December 20, 2012, 09:07:06 AM
The R820T cost me less than £8..... and I thought the E4000 one was cheap
Wait until the Pucks get released. £5 each or both for £8.
Beat that.
I'll be looking at the E4000 today as I think that it too will provide raw data and the latest version of rtl1090 has narrowed the gap in performance between the two.
There's also the prospect of using two dongles , one for Mode A/C one for Mode S
As I understand it, the R820T tuner is more sensitive at 1090 mhz than the E4000 type. The E4000 is reputed to be more sensitive at the VHF end of the spectrum. The R820T is available very cheaply, much more cheaply than the E4000 is now, so I would go for that one. As I said, I haven't yet had the chance to put my new R820T into service since the outfit is in the loft and communicates to the laptop via a long usb cable (10 metres).
SCREEN SHOT TAKEN JUST NOW:
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-IHldqh0Nq20/UNLpnjQn7PI/AAAAAAAAEYw/mgcCHMUDzHo/s800/rtl1090%2520new%2520programme%2520screen%2520shot.JPG)
Agree about the E4000 just tried it and the range is about half of the 820T
Having said that , there's a chance that anyone with that might be able to use if for VHF airband.
You've got cracking coverage there , hope you'll consider being a GS at some time in the future.
Hi Satcom. I use both type's For VHF& UHF airband VHF gives great coverage. But UHF is a little unstable at the moment but I'll crack it. Plus they will do a great deal more if one can be bothered to experiment.
Billko
Perhaps in the new year we can look at running one dongle for Mode S and one for airband via PP 's SDR scanning facility and Andy's rtl 1090 multi dongle set up :)
Quote from: satcom on December 20, 2012, 10:43:08 AM
Agree about the E4000 just tried it and the range is about half of the 820T
Having said that , there's a chance that anyone with that might be able to use if for VHF airband.
You've got cracking coverage there , hope you'll consider being a GS at some time in the future.
That was with the E4000 and a rally simple home made GP antenna made out of wire, with a short 75 ohm coax to a small home brew pre-amp.
What is a GS?
:-\
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-EhULXOWjn_o/UIg3yXtUNWI/AAAAAAAAEQ0/iRD8wv8o10w/s640/arachnid%2520antenna.jpg)
As an example of how much better the RLT1090 is in comparison to gr-air_modes, since I installed it, I can see planes on the taxiway at the local airport which is four miles away. I never had that before, even though I could see them over the runway. Now I see them down and taxing back to the terminal. The altitudes shown are obviously in relation to sea level. Checking on Google Earth, the plane on the taxi way is at 74 meters above sea level which is more or less the 250 feet indicated.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JP-IuuRUSNk/UNNx0bMu0eI/AAAAAAAAEZI/TZyDQx1WLZU/s800/hughdown%2520at%2520ncl.JPG)
Further tests today show that the 4000 series rtl dongle does deliver good raw data , although it takes it a couple of minutes to run up to operating speed for some reason.
The curves it produces are good enough for Mlat , so if you have an old 4000 stick lying around , that will do fine with the caveat that it doesn'y match the range of the 820T
Quote from: satcom on December 21, 2012, 10:47:50 AM
Further tests today show that the 4000 series rtl dongle does deliver good raw data , although it takes it a couple of minutes to run up to operating speed for some reason.
The curves it produces are good enough for Mlat , so if you have an old 4000 stick lying around , that will do fine with the caveat that it doesn'y match the range of the 820T
You asked me earlier in the thread if I would consider becoming a GS...
What's a GS? Is it something to do with sharing plane data?
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-JIf-d7ns3ew/UNREdyPGQ5I/AAAAAAAAEZk/rYsP0gHFKuE/s640/rtl1090%2520morning%2520North%2520Sea.JPG)
Hi Dongle
yes , there are two levels of sharing with PlanePlotter , normal ADS B ..a/c that send their position , and raw data , thats a low level data that non plotting a/c send.
Using the latter you can help the network locate and plot military stuff , biz jets and GA traffic . The latter is achieved using PPs unique Multilateration [Mlat ] facility
But thats something you might consider in the future , for now , just enjoy your dongle and familiarise yourself with the world of Virtual Radar :)
Ah - OK Satcom. Thanks for the info.
By the way - when you said above that the E4000 seems to improve 'as it comes up to speed', I think it may be due to the Local Oscillator in the E4000 settling down to a steady state right on the frequency. I saw elsewhere a month or two ago, comments about the thing warming up and settling down like that. Very familiar to anyone who has run crystal control WSPR beacons and such like. I'm a radio ham with an interest in making weak signal beacons in another life and have seen that a lot. My 500 milliwat beacon on 10.140 MHZ is heard almost daily in Australia and in various other far flung places.