RTLSDR V4 not receiving

SatNOGS Hardware
21

So this is the output now:

vu2uuu@satnogs:~ $ SoapySDRUtil --probe=“driver=rtlsdr”

######################################################

Soapy SDR – the SDR abstraction library

######################################################

Probe device “driver=rtlsdr”
[INFO] [UHD] linux; GNU C++ version 10.2.1 20210110; Boost_107400; UHD_3.15.0.0-4+b1satnogs1
Found Rafael Micro R828D tuner
RTL-SDR Blog V4 Detected

– Device identification

driver=Audio
hardware=Audio
device_id=0
origin=GitHub - pothosware/SoapyAudio: Soapy SDR plugin for Audio devices

– Peripheral summary

Channels: 1 Rx, 0 Tx
Timestamps: NO
Other Settings:
* Stereo Sample Offset - Offset stereo samples for off-by-one audio inputs.
[key=sample_offset, default=0, type=string, options=(-2, -1, 0, 1, 2)]
* Rig Control - Select hamlib rig control type.
[key=rig, type=string, options=(29001, 25016, 25017, 25013, 25018, 5008, 5006, 5005, 5004, 5014, 5003, 5015, 5002, 5001, 5013, 5016, 17001, 17002, 25006, 32001, 25003, 23003, 23004, 31002, 31001, 9002, 9003, 33001, 2021, 2029, 2043, 2047, 2044, 2045, 2038, 25001, 25007, 4, 25012, 23001, 2036, 2048, 25015, 1, 6, 2, 2046, 25019, 3054, 3002, 3003, 3072, 3004, 3006, 3007, 3060, 3055, 3085, 3009, 3010, 3011, 3012, 3070, 3013, 3061, 3014, 3015, 3016, 3017, 3073, 3019, 3020, 3021, 3022, 3067, 3023, 3046, 3024, 3026, 3027, 3047, 3057, 3063, 3028, 3078, 3029, 3062, 3030, 3045, 3056, 3031, 3075, 3032, 3034, 3044, 3068, 3065, 3035, 3081, 30001, 30003, 30002, 30004, 4002, 4001, 4003, 4004, 3036, 3058, 3080, 3077, 3040, 3037, 3041, 3038, 3039, 3079, 3043, 3066, 3069, 3042, 3083, 3082, 3084, 3071, 6005, 6006, 6007, 25011, 18001, 2015, 2033, 2042, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2023, 2026, 2034, 2027, 2030, 2025, 2014, 2002, 2003, 2028, 2001, 2004, 2016, 2031, 2037, 2024, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2041, 2022, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2039, 10004, 3074, 25014, 2040, 3053, 3052, 28001, 24001, 11005, 11003, 8004, 27002, 27001, 27003, 25002, 2032, 14004, 14002, 25009, 22001, 5, 3064, 3051, 16003, 16012, 16004, 16005, 16007, 16002, 16001, 16008, 16009, 16011, 16013, 8002, 8006, 8001, 8003, 8012, 8010, 8011, 1033, 26001, 26002, 12004, 15001, 15002, 15003, 15004, 15005, 15006, 15007, 15009, 3076, 1017, 1019, 1018, 1021, 1003, 1024, 1029, 1027, 1039, 1010, 1005, 1006, 1007, 1009, 1020, 1041, 1011, 1001, 1038, 1022, 1015, 1036, 1023, 1013, 1014, 1028, 1031, 1016, 1035, 1034, 1037, 1032, 1030, 1040, 1004, 1025, 1026, 25008)]
* Rig Serial Rate - Select hamlib rig serial control rate.
[key=rig_rate, default=57600, type=string, options=(1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600, 115200, 128000, 256000)]
* Rig Serial Port - hamlib rig Serial Port dev / COMx / IP-Address
[key=rig_port, default=/dev/ttyUSB0, type=string]

– RX Channel 0

Full-duplex: YES
Supports AGC: YES
Stream formats: CS8, CS16, CF32
Native format: CS16 [full-scale=65536]
Stream args:
* Channel Setup - Input channel configuration.
[key=chan, default=mono_l, type=string, options=(mono_l, mono_r, stereo_iq, stereo_qi)]
Antennas: RX
Full gain range: [0, 0] dB
Full freq range: [0, 6000] MHz
RF freq range: [0, 6000] MHz
Sample rates: 0.008, 0.016, 0.02205, 0.032, 0.0441, 0.048, 0.096 MSps

22

This is looking good, now lets see if SatNOGS will also work.

Found Rafael Micro R828D tuner
RTL-SDR Blog V4 Detected
23

@PE0SAT thank you so much.
I see few observations scheduled by you and one of them NOAA-19 captured signal too !!
This is amazing. Check this :

https://network.satnogs.org/observations/9142835/

The system is connected to a Diamond CP22e Ground Plane antenna. I will soon try to improve the antenna to a Turnstile. I thing that will improve the SNR to decode DATA.

1 Like
24

Indeed, I saw some successful observations, great this finally worked.

Good luck with the next steps and tweaking the station.

1 Like
25

@PE0SAT my ground station is now picking up signals. I am able to see NOAA-18 &19 signals on waterfall and can hear audio.

You are kindly requested to send me a list of Satellites which I should try to Prioritise and Auto Schedule to see the effectiveness of my homebrew Turnstile antenna setup.

26

Below a list from my VHF priority list, but keep in mind I am located in the Northern hemisphere (Europe) there are satellites that I can’t receive.

25338 0.8 mjsHcYajEgbiS9cbKfecGo # NOAA 15 APT
28654 0.6 u2h8AaSR7ZJPreFgVDtcfP # NOAA 18 APT
33591 0.8 kE4VaYKpnFmzEquEjKKi8D # NOAA 19 APT
39427 0.1 TMxTiKcBFxGmTcWv2qYfUC # TRITON-1
39428 0.1 aRboijNaKGSDZu3ZVyTFX2 # DELFI-N3XT
39444 0.8 Pt4MFHSC8UFHu3aTQTLz9K # FUNCUBE-1
40903 0.2 cpx9PNK4TVM2nWMsQCNAph # XW-2A
40910 0.2 JF5HmyNqCqa5zb76EiaHgL # XW-2F
40911 0.2 HReEBxwoWJDuuvF5CfiyET # XW-2B
40912 0.4 EifSE4XNdP9LyoFNcbcNJo # KAITUO 1B
41171 0.1 btX4S4t58zxggKoLHYWGMR # VELOX-2
42761 0.2 7fV9xpVQEQfSHipnioTrFg # CAS-4A
42778 0.1 52jVE9w8EnSpF8YFssD5KD # MAX VALIER
43017 0.1 KgazZMKEa74VnquqXLwAvD # FOX-1B
43137 0.1 3rLGJWqj3XZ6Z8vADCRwiW # FOX-1D
43678 0.3 nc9CoLLaPDMyqj9m2RfxAU # DIWATA-2
43780 0.8 SHLTokcdgbMyoDdCHrSqAx # MOVE-II 25k
43786 0.4 Mhtbkk6uei97oKEmLkGLBm # ITASAT-1
43803 0.1 ocoEf6MEZtiZgvEWSWsqtY # JY1Sat
44881 0.2 yRQzWTsHUnr8QEqG4ZafTH # CAS-6 CW
47309 0.2 DBcdEyAU3pEqjkiRr4cBDX # CAPE-3
47310 0.1 kFjfKquGRZ4PVGp93siPgq # FOX-1E
47950 0.2 gQfXoAeK5xak5zNaQCpGJo # NANOSATC-BR2
49399 0.4 GNQrSU3cFmoNhhcCGwZMQr # Z-SAT
55098 0.8 kVJShQmZWCgGS3CbbiRgMq # BDSAT-2
57166 0.9 Qc2PqaS7n9WYtne3U9EmKJ # METEOR M2-3 137.900
59051 0.7 5jHSvqdsnPhMTVUGDEF5AF # METEOR M2-4 137.100
59065 0.8 34wa7RmYJLhjfwom3sBRBr # PARS-1
27

Good morning,
I post here because is a similar issue, V4 model.
I reinstalled the driver as described in https://www.rtl-sdr.com/v4/, (Linux-Debian instructions), with no errors.
I checked with rtl_test command
cristian@yo4dft:~$ rtl_test
Found 1 device(s):
0: RTLSDRBlog, Blog V4, SN: 00000001

Using device 0: Generic RTL2832U OEM
Found Rafael Micro R828D tuner
RTL-SDR Blog V4 Detected
Supported gain values (29): 0.0 0.9 1.4 2.7 3.7 7.7 8.7 12.5 14.4 15.7 16.6 19.7 20.7 22.9 25.4 28.0 29.7 32.8 33.8 36.4 37.2 38.6 40.2 42.1 43.4 43.9 44.5 48.0 49.6
Sampling at 2048000 S/s.

Info: This tool will continuously read from the device, and report if
samples get lost. If you observe no further output, everything is fine.

Reading samples in async mode…
^CSignal caught, exiting!

I made a check also with SoapySDRUtil --info the old configuration:
cristian@yo4dft:~$ SoapySDRUtil --info
######################################################

Soapy SDR – the SDR abstraction library

######################################################

Lib Version: v0.7.2-2
API Version: v0.7.1
ABI Version: v0.7
Install root: /usr
Search path: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/SoapySDR/modules0.7
Search path: /usr/local/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/SoapySDR/modules0.7 (missing)
Search path: /usr/local/lib/SoapySDR/modules0.7 (missing)
Module found: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/SoapySDR/modules0.7/libHackRFSupport.so (0.3.3)
Module found: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/SoapySDR/modules0.7/libRedPitaya.so (0.1.1)
Module found: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/SoapySDR/modules0.7/libairspySupport.so (0.1.2)
Module found: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/SoapySDR/modules0.7/libaudioSupport.so (0.1.1)
Module found: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/SoapySDR/modules0.7/libbladeRFSupport.so (0.4.1)
Module found: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/SoapySDR/modules0.7/libremoteSupport.so (0.5.2)
Module found: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/SoapySDR/modules0.7/libuhdSupport.so (0.4.1)
Available factories… airspy, audio, bladerf, hackrf, redpitaya, remote, uhd
Available converters…

  • CF32 → [CF32, CS16, CS8, CU16, CU8]
  • CS16 → [CF32, CS16, CS8, CU16, CU8]
  • CS32 → [CS32]
  • CS8 → [CF32, CS16, CS8, CU16, CU8]
  • CU16 → [CF32, CS16, CS8]
  • CU8 → [CF32, CS16, CS8]
  • F32 → [F32, S16, S8, U16, U8]
  • S16 → [F32, S16, S8, U16, U8]
  • S32 → [S32]
  • S8 → [F32, S16, S8, U16, U8]
  • U16 → [F32, S16, S8]
  • U8 → [F32, S16, S8]
    So, I used PE0SAT procedure described here:
    cristian@yo4dft:~$ git clone GitHub - pothosware/SoapyRTLSDR: SoapySDR RTL-SDR Support Module
    Cloning into ‘SoapyRTLSDR’…
    remote: Enumerating objects: 511, done.
    remote: Counting objects: 100% (131/131), done.
    remote: Compressing objects: 100% (71/71), done.
    remote: Total 511 (delta 70), reused 107 (delta 58), pack-reused 380
    Receiving objects: 100% (511/511), 125.05 KiB | 140.00 KiB/s, done.
    Resolving deltas: 100% (316/316), done.
    cristian@yo4dft:~$ cd SoapyRTLSDR
    cristian@yo4dft:~/SoapyRTLSDR$ mkdir build
    cristian@yo4dft:~/SoapyRTLSDR$ cd build
    cristian@yo4dft:~/SoapyRTLSDR/build$ cmake …/
    – The CXX compiler identification is GNU 10.2.1
    – Detecting CXX compiler ABI info
    – Detecting CXX compiler ABI info - done
    – Check for working CXX compiler: /usr/bin/c++ - skipped
    – Detecting CXX compile features
    – Detecting CXX compile features - done
    CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:7 (find_package):
    Could not find a package configuration file provided by “SoapySDR”
    (requested version 0.4.0) with any of the following names:
SoapySDRConfig.cmake
soapysdr-config.cmake

Add the installation prefix of “SoapySDR” to CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH or set
“SoapySDR_DIR” to a directory containing one of the above files. If
“SoapySDR” provides a separate development package or SDK, be sure it has
been installed.

– Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!
See also “/home/cristian/SoapyRTLSDR/build/CMakeFiles/CMakeOutput.log”.

Because I am not skilled using Linux, I am not sure what I have to do to fix. What prefix I have to add ?
Most probably I have to modify the last command, cmake …/

Thank you in advance for support,

Cristian

User cancel, exiting…
Samples per million lost (minimum): 0

28

I tried to find those two files, but I couldnt find:

cristian@yo4dft:~/SoapyRTLSDR/build$ find SoapySDRConfig.cmake
find: ‘SoapySDRConfig.cmake’: No such file or directory
cristian@yo4dft:~/SoapyRTLSDR/build$ find soapysdr-config.cmake
find: ‘soapysdr-config.cmake’: No such file or directory
cristian@yo4dft:~/SoapyRTLSDR/build$ cd
cristian@yo4dft:~$ find soapysdr-config.cmake
find: ‘soapysdr-config.cmake’: No such file or directory
cristian@yo4dft:~$ find SoapySDRConfig.cmake
find: ‘SoapySDRConfig.cmake’: No such file or directory
cristian@yo4dft:~$ find SoapySDRConfig
find: ‘SoapySDRConfig’: No such file or directory
29

Hi,

It is not the commandline that is wrong, but missing dependencies.
I do not recommend this route based on the above statement.

The specific package missing is libsoapysdr-dev, when installing it’ll probably pull in more packages. The file linked is a list of packages I use when building the dockerized addons.
Mixing packaged software with built always runs into getting a mix of the two.
Also note that the upstream rtl-sdr is missing patches that satnogs developed for stability, ymmv.

30

Most probably I made a mistake trying several times to upgrade to V4,
I found a folder in root,
/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/SoapySDR/modules0.7, with missing support files for rtlsdr

31

my configuration is Toshiba Satellite L300 / Debian 11 Bullseye, so your sollution was docker ?

32

So, I installed libsoapysdr-dev from Debian -- Package Download Selection -- libsoapysdr-dev_0.7.2-2_amd64.deb
and I used again your steps.
cristian@yo4dft:~$ SoapySDRUtil --info
######################################################

Soapy SDR – the SDR abstraction library

######################################################

Lib Version: v0.7.2-2
API Version: v0.7.1
ABI Version: v0.7
Install root: /usr
Search path: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/SoapySDR/modules0.7
Search path: /usr/local/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/SoapySDR/modules0.7 (missing)
Search path: /usr/local/lib/SoapySDR/modules0.7
Module found: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/SoapySDR/modules0.7/libHackRFSupport.so (0.3.3)
Module found: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/SoapySDR/modules0.7/libRedPitaya.so (0.1.1)
Module found: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/SoapySDR/modules0.7/libairspySupport.so (0.1.2)
Module found: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/SoapySDR/modules0.7/libaudioSupport.so (0.1.1)
Module found: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/SoapySDR/modules0.7/libbladeRFSupport.so (0.4.1)
Module found: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/SoapySDR/modules0.7/libremoteSupport.so (0.5.2)
Module found: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/SoapySDR/modules0.7/libuhdSupport.so (0.4.1)
Module found: /usr/local/lib/SoapySDR/modules0.7/librtlsdrSupport.so (0.3.3-d5119cc)
Available factories… airspy, audio, bladerf, hackrf, redpitaya, remote, rtlsdr, uhd
Available converters…

  • CF32 → [CF32, CS16, CS8, CU16, CU8]
  • CS16 → [CF32, CS16, CS8, CU16, CU8]
  • CS32 → [CS32]
  • CS8 → [CF32, CS16, CS8, CU16, CU8]
  • CU16 → [CF32, CS16, CS8]
  • CU8 → [CF32, CS16, CS8]
  • F32 → [F32, S16, S8, U16, U8]
  • S16 → [F32, S16, S8, U16, U8]
  • S32 → [S32]
  • S8 → [F32, S16, S8, U16, U8]
  • U16 → [F32, S16, S8]
  • U8 → [F32, S16, S8]
    cristian@yo4dft:~$ SoapySDRUtil --find
    ######################################################

Soapy SDR – the SDR abstraction library

######################################################

[INFO] [UHD] linux; GNU C++ version 10.2.1 20210110; Boost_107400; UHD_3.15.0.0-4+b1satnogs1
Found Rafael Micro R828D tuner
RTL-SDR Blog V4 Detected
Found device 0
default_input = True
default_output = True
device_id = 0
driver = audio
label = PulseAudio

Found device 1
driver = rtlsdr
label = Generic RTL2832U OEM :: 00000001
manufacturer = RTLSDRBlog
product = Blog V4
serial = 00000001
tuner = Rafael Micro R828D

Let see now if will work or I have more steps to do.

33

I make a “blind test” (with a short antenna, not with LNA and eggbeater antenna) and it seems is working.
https://network.satnogs.org/observations/9679548/

I hope the station will be operational this evening.
Thank you for support,
Cristian

34

I am afraid something is wrong, despite the receptions I made.

cristian@yo4dft:~$ SoapySDRUtil --probe 2>&1 | grep Sample
* Stereo Sample Offset - Offset stereo samples for off-by-one audio inputs.
Sample rates: 0.008, 0.016, 0.02205, 0.032, 0.0441, 0.048, 0.096 MSps

and when I run this,
cristian@yo4dft:~$ SoapySDRUtil --probe
######################################################

Soapy SDR – the SDR abstraction library

######################################################

Probe device
[INFO] [UHD] linux; GNU C++ version 10.2.1 20210110; Boost_107400; UHD_3.15.0.0-4+b1satnogs1
Found Rafael Micro R828D tuner
RTL-SDR Blog V4 Detected

– Device identification

driver=Audio
hardware=Audio
device_id=0
origin=GitHub - pothosware/SoapyAudio: Soapy SDR plugin for Audio devices

– Peripheral summary

Channels: 1 Rx, 0 Tx
Timestamps: NO
Other Settings:
* Stereo Sample Offset - Offset stereo samples for off-by-one audio inputs.
[key=sample_offset, default=0, type=string, options=(-2, -1, 0, 1, 2)]
* Rig Control - Select hamlib rig control type.
[key=rig, type=string, options=(29001, 25016, 25017, 25013, 25018, 5008, 5006, 5005, 5004, 5014, 5003, 5015, 5002, 5001, 5013, 5016, 17001, 17002, 25006, 32001, 25003, 23003, 23004, 31002, 31001, 9002, 9003, 33001, 2021, 2029, 2043, 2047, 2044, 2045, 2038, 25001, 25007, 4, 25012, 23001, 2036, 2048, 25015, 1, 6, 2, 2046, 25019, 3054, 3002, 3003, 3072, 3004, 3006, 3007, 3060, 3055, 3085, 3009, 3010, 3011, 3012, 3070, 3013, 3061, 3014, 3015, 3016, 3017, 3073, 3019, 3020, 3021, 3022, 3067, 3023, 3046, 3024, 3026, 3027, 3047, 3057, 3063, 3028, 3078, 3029, 3062, 3030, 3045, 3056, 3031, 3075, 3032, 3034, 3044, 3068, 3065, 3035, 3081, 30001, 30003, 30002, 30004, 4002, 4001, 4003, 4004, 3036, 3058, 3080, 3077, 3040, 3037, 3041, 3038, 3039, 3079, 3043, 3066, 3069, 3042, 3083, 3082, 3084, 3071, 6005, 6006, 6007, 25011, 18001, 2015, 2033, 2042, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2023, 2026, 2034, 2027, 2030, 2025, 2014, 2002, 2003, 2028, 2001, 2004, 2016, 2031, 2037, 2024, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2041, 2022, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2039, 10004, 3074, 25014, 2040, 3053, 3052, 28001, 24001, 11005, 11003, 8004, 27002, 27001, 27003, 25002, 2032, 14004, 14002, 25009, 22001, 5, 3064, 3051, 16003, 16012, 16004, 16005, 16007, 16002, 16001, 16008, 16009, 16011, 16013, 8002, 8006, 8001, 8003, 8012, 8010, 8011, 1033, 26001, 26002, 12004, 15001, 15002, 15003, 15004, 15005, 15006, 15007, 15009, 3076, 1017, 1019, 1018, 1021, 1003, 1024, 1029, 1027, 1039, 1010, 1005, 1006, 1007, 1009, 1020, 1041, 1011, 1001, 1038, 1022, 1015, 1036, 1023, 1013, 1014, 1028, 1031, 1016, 1035, 1034, 1037, 1032, 1030, 1040, 1004, 1025, 1026, 25008)]
* Rig Serial Rate - Select hamlib rig serial control rate.
[key=rig_rate, default=57600, type=string, options=(1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600, 115200, 128000, 256000)]
* Rig Serial Port - hamlib rig Serial Port dev / COMx / IP-Address
[key=rig_port, default=/dev/ttyUSB0, type=string]

– RX Channel 0

Full-duplex: YES
Supports AGC: YES
Stream formats: CS8, CS16, CF32
Native format: CS16 [full-scale=65536]
Stream args:
* Channel Setup - Input channel configuration.
[key=chan, default=mono_l, type=string, options=(mono_l, mono_r, stereo_iq, stereo_qi)]
Antennas: RX
Full gain range: [0, 0] dB
Full freq range: [0, 6000] MHz
RF freq range: [0, 6000] MHz
Sample rates: 0.008, 0.016, 0.02205, 0.032, 0.0441, 0.048, 0.096 MSps

Device identification is not for RTL V4.
Still need help.

Cristian

35

You cannot do a --probe without specifying driver, it will just pick the sound card and display that instead.
--probe="driver=rtlsdr" will select the first rtl-sdr on your system.

36

That is in fact working, everything else is tuning the settings and antenna system.

37

Sorry, my apologize, my mistakes.

I shall open a new topic, because the issue doesnt match with V4 not receiving (in fact, the issue is my poor experience with Linux)

Thank you for your patience,
Cristian - YO4DFT

38

No problem, keeping topics relevant is good, a bit of a detour to catch some additional details is also ok as a entirely new topic may need a bunch of explanation from the old thread.

I’m noticing the ppm value being a bit off in the observations, you have set it to 30 which is pretty high.
Looking at this obs you can clearly see the signal but it is off center by some 12-15kHz. If the ppm value was calculated to 30 it might be inverted, like it is supposed to be -30 instead. But I would certainly start with 0 ppm and go from there and verify that the signals are going in the correct direction.

1ppm at 435MHz is 435Hz, 435*30=13050 and that is pretty close to the shift observed, so I’d say set it to 0.

39

Good morning,
Just now I am writing the new post (new topic) with explanation. It seems I can not modify setting in satnogs-setup. ppm is the old one from V2 model, also the gain…
in 5 minutes I shall post the info.

Cristian - YO4DFT