I have a SBS unit with an indoor aerial but no pre-Amp unit, and have recently developed an issue with my signal fading every now and then. Occasionally, the number of planes goes back to it's original level, but soon reduces again down to about 10% of the normal traffic.
The way to solve this is to unplug the usb cable and restart Basestation again which works, but I don't want to keep restarting every 2-3 hours. Clearly this is related to either the USB cable or my USB port on my laptop. I have checked the Control Panel/Device Manager settings and have ensured that the USB does not go into power saving mode.
Has anyone else had this issue and managed to solve it?
Many thanks for your help, and seasons greetings to all!
Andy.
What version of Windows are you running? And what model SBS?
Hi Anmer
SBS-1 (software 1.2.3.168 and firmware 306), and running Windows 7 (64 bit).
Andy.
Thanks Andy.
Have you tried this:
http://9b5.org/2011/10/windows-disable-usb-power-saving-disableselectivesuspend/
Yes, both the mains and battery settings are set to Disabled (I assume that's what the article is saying they should be set to).
Andy.
Do you lose all traffic or just a reduction? And is the time lapse the same each time?
Can you try a different USB cable?
It goes down from around 60 aircraft being received down to about 10-12. There is not set time when it happens, it can be 10 minutes after starting up, and other times in can be a couple of hours.
I think my printer has a similar USB cable, so will try that and let you know if it makes a difference.
Strange as it started happening all of a sudden the other day
Thanks Anmer.
Check the antenna connections and cable. Try moving it to a new position. What timeouts have you got set in Basestation?
Anmer
Tried a new cable and all was fine and then I went from 59 signals down to 9 exactly an hour later. My timeouts are 30 seconds for position lost, 5 for signal lost, 300 remove and 1800 delete.
I am still convinced this is a pc settings as it started after I had run a scan using pc pro, so may try reloading basestation software and seeing if that makes a difference (and will try moving the unit).
I will let you know in the next couple of days how I get on.
Thanks very much for your help and have a great Christmas.
Andy.
I don't think reloading Basestation will help.
Are you running the laptop oif a mains charger or the battery?
Have you tried this:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/147369-usb-selective-suspend-turn-off.html
Had a similar sounding problem a few months back.
Tried everything I could think of changing aerials, USB lead, aerial lead, Updating software and firmware, PC settings all to no avail.
Unplugging usb lead and restarting had a limited success.
Re-installing the firmware each time restored it to 'normal'
There seemed to be no set pattern sometimes it would be OK for an hour sometimes a couple of hours it was all a bit random. Eventually though the contacts would 'disapear' to about half a dozen!!
Coincidentally at the time I bought a netbook to replace the Laptop which had died. Installed my SBS-1 on the netbook (Windows 7, PC/Laptop are XP)
Low and behold Basestation works fine on the netbook. The only difference between the PC/Laptop and the netbook is the PC/Laptop had Comodo firewall installed (all have Avast AV) whereas the netbook doesn't.
Uninstalled Comodo from the PC and low and behold Basestation has been fine for the last three months........
Not saying it is your firewall causing your problem but might be worth considering, especially if you've tried everything else. It certainly seemed to be causing 'my problem'
Regards
Ian
Thanks Ian/Anmer
I removed the PC Pro software from my laptop and have been running Basestation for nearly 3 hours now and apparently with no loss of signal. Obviously, there is less traffic around today, so will continue monitoring it over the next couple of days to see what happens, but fingers crossed (just hope I haven't jinxed it!).
Anyway, thanks to Anmer and Ian for your help, and wish you all a very happy christmas!
Andy.
Hi all
Just a bit of an update on my situation. I have tried a few different things, such as changing cables, using different USB ports but I still got regular dropped signals. I also did a bit of extra googling about this and another thing I tried was going into Control Panel - Hardware and sound - Devices and Printers and right clicked the SBS Kinetic option and picked trouble shoot which seemed to find a fault and fixed it. After a restart, SBS seems to work much better, albeit a few dropped signals every couple of hours or so, but nowhere near as many as before.
Some of the google suggestions indicated this may be a registry issue which makes sense as it started after I ran a PC Pro software pc check (which I think did a clean up of registry files).
I am going to try and make a restore of my registry if the problem comes back again (would still be interested to hear from anyone who has had something similar happen).
Andy.
Thanks for the update.
The SBS-1/3 and Basestation don't make any regsitry entries to the best of my knowledge.
I gave up using "registry cleaners" years ago. I found they caused more problems than they solved.
Anmer
I think the registry file that has been changed manages the USB drivers and I think it is that which has been changed.
Agree about registry cleaners - the last one I tried fatally crashed the hard drive of my last laptop!
Andy.
Hi guys
Just thought I would update you on my 'issue'. I have now been running my sbs on and off for over a week now and I have lost signal just once or twice in this time. I have not made any changes to my basestation software, nor to the usb posts or cables, but the issue is definitely not as bad as it was - in fact I have actually increased the range of signals and numbers of aircraft that I get on a regular basis, so I am prepared to accept the odd loss of signal for now.
Obviously, if anyone does have a permanent answer, I would still be interested to hear if you have had a similar issue.
Regards
Andy.
Surges from halogen lights and even CCTV cameras operating locally have been known to disrupt the USB connection.
Have you got an RF choke on your USB cable?
Tom
No, I just have the basic aerial connected directly to the box.
My signal seems to be much more consistent now, and has even increased recently, so whatever it was seems to have corrected itself (for now!).
Thanks to you, Anmer and all others that replied with possible solutions.
Andy.
Glad you got it running OK, Andy. A USB cable with a choke fitted is worth considering
Tom.