Want increased frequency stability and lower noise threshold from the Ti Phase Locked Loop LNBF? Check out the external reference signal hack just tweeted and posted on the OSMOCOM site. Very accurate information other than the incorrect bit about a screw hole open to the feedhorn in the C1W-PLL model...
A radio astronomy group has been blogging the past year about hacking an external reference to our PLL LNBFs. Their project has had me thinking about a test project using several mini 75-90cm reflectors in tandem with external phase lock reference for C-band reception (or multiple 18" for KU FSS).
Jonti is probably the only source of hard information at the moment with some observations from the handful of us decoding these signals. I was only made aware of it by a John Locker who helps develop Planeplotter software.
This system has been put in place since MH370 highlighted the poor coverage of flights on trans oceanic flights, much of the early work was focussed on L-Band as it's relatively simple to attach a GPS or patch antenna to a suitable receiver but now Jonti has updated the software to decode the 10500 bd burst signals being relayed by Inmarsat from planes. The interest here of course is positioning data for air enthusiasts, I guess you'd liken it to a global ADS-B set up.
As luck had it the list of requirements that John posted perfectly matched everything attached to the PC under my bench so it was a five minute job to get it running. The 1.8m dish connects to a ProfTuners 7301, that loops out into an Airspy SDR running SDR Sharp tuned to the IF frequency and virtual audio cable allows the recovered audio to be used in Jaero. DVB Dream runs in the background to power the card and set the polarity.
Talking of polarity that is circular so you'll need to insert the depolariser plate into the LNB, I'm using a homebrew version that improves circular reception with good results from the two satellites I've been monitoring at 15W and 64.5E. I'm going to do some further searching today to see if 54W is active on C-Band. Jonti has a PDF showing possible activity on 98W and 178E but worth checking these on N2YO if you don't hear anything because 64.5E is quite heavily inclined so there are times when it's at +/-3° from arc that I don't see it.
Although I'm using an Airspy this does work on nothing more than a ten quid sdr dongle so no need for a lot of expensive outlay if you're set up for C Band and have a receiver with loop out. I think some of the dongles work better than others so worth checking which chipset it has before buying one.
The next stage of development is to add support to Planeplotter, Jonti has already added UDP streaming output to Jaero so hopefully Bev will soon have a test version of PP that accepts the streamed data. If you're into transoceanic flight monitoring, C Band and HFDL should cover all bases!
Just a brief update on this project, there are now versions of Jaero and Planeplotter that display planes on maps. Jaero does the hard work and can output data to either Virtual Radio Server or Planeplotter. I've been experimenting with SDR Sharp and can now decode both channels on each satellite to increase the available data even further. This weekend I've added a second actuator to my dish so I can track the inclined orbits of the Inmarsat I3s over the Western Atlantic and Eastern Pacific.
A short video showing decoding of two channels being merged into one feed on VRS.
Hope no one minds me updating the thread here , but above is the latest development from PP for those receiving and viewing ADS from Inmarsat at C band.
Thanks to some hard work by a number of dedicated sharers we now have a wide network of satellite ground stations .....but we still need more ! :O)
Thanks to all those who have so far helped to build this unique amateur network.
:Welcome to the site gsmforensics!!!!!
Yes, Thanks for posting this.
Maybe start a new thread with all the how to stuff, on how to set one of these up.
I'll create a starter thread in this section if that's OK with you. Be great to get a few more satellite ground stations up and running ...and its a great project to have a go at :O)
But.....if you like Tulsa King....looks like you would probably like this as well. I don't mind spin-offs as long as they don't involve a sassy niece who moves from the big city
I thought I would come here and find lots of complaints about the update to the dish anywhere mobile app, but am not seeing any. It used to look just like the desktop webpage. Now you can no longer filter by sports channels or movie channels. Plus that they made it look like a big button telephone and you see fewer channels in the screen which requires more scrolling. Yes I realize you can look at sports then select which sport you want to look at, I just liked being able to see all sporting events in the guide with all other channels being filtered out. Am I alone in the wilderness on this?
I'm not a big fan of the new layout, especially on my Apple TV. It used to look like the old Guide layout on the Hopper 3, but they changed parts of that, too.
Might be worth a watch when it comes out. Looks like typical big corp against the little guy movie BUT....there is a reason this plot type is so oft repeated, it draws audiences.
BTW, I noticed right after I posted this that someone else had already mentioned it....sorry for the duplicate thread. Still looking forward to seeing the movie.
Forgot to comment. I did watch when it first came out on MGM. I enjoyed it a lot. I think reading the book made it easier to watch. Several friends commented it was a little hard to follow.
I agree. That can go for pretty much any book vs movie. Back when I was single I would read any Stephen King or John Grisham book I could get my hands on. When you read a book you make up the scenes and characters in your mind.....the movie version always disappoints.
Browns lose a close one with... The Jets. That is a classic Browns loss (granted, any loss is a classic one it seems). 49'ers, Vikings, and Chiefs remain undefeated. The AFC north have a three way tie at 3-2 for second place.
After having experienced Gus Ferguson trying to call soccer games, I'm uncertain why NFL football analysts get hate. Even the "worst" of them are pretty good.
I had quit watching this show years ago because I ended up more annoyed than entertained. Well......I'm STILL more annoyed than entertained. I DO find it interesting to see how things work behind the scenes at many businesses. What annoys me is how utterly out of touch CEOs are with the companies they run. At the end of almost every episode the head of the company is amazed at how hard the employees have to work and many times have to work around impossible guidelines set forth from headquarters.
I found this one interesting because the new CEO had big plans for this company, Muscle Maker Grill, and it looked like the stores were all pretty busy. Recent history hasn't been good to this company however. I bet the covid lockdowns were the real killer.
Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.
Example:
Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow
Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio
Another example:
Ride the Lightning -- Metallica
Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne
Get it?
An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
For quite a while now, people with a VIP211k have been losing their recordings on their activated external HDDs... even when there's nothing physically wrong with HDD. I believe this is an intentional and underhanded tactic that Dish is pulling in an attempt to force users away from the VIP211k.
They are obviously regretting that they ever let users have a "non-dvr" dvr in the first place. You would think they would be happy charging you a $40 one time fee... and then be happy letting the customer be the one responsible for HDD failures.
Dish clearly hates the 211k bitter-clingers. This recording deletion problem is intentional (IMO), and I think it is just one more tool that they are using. Hopper and a 2-year agreement... that's what they want you to have. Think about that... a 2-year agreement... with a company $30 Billion in debt (that's with a B). What happens when all that debt causes them to drop the channel that may have been your whole reason for having Dish in the first place? Guess who's stuck with a service that no longer suits their needs... for the remainder of the 2-year agreement.
On top of that, they don't want you to install it yourself. I purchased and installed all my equipment myself. That used to be common. Now, they lie to me and tell me that my dish must be updated to use a Hopper. Funny thing is... they don't even know what dish I have because they didn't install it, and I didn't tell them. If you ask what type of dish/LNBs the hopper needs... good luck getting an answer. All they know is that whatever you have needs to be upgraded by an installer.
It is quite apparent to me that they care much more about staying in their box, than they do working with the customer. That's too bad, because it hasn't always been that way. It's like they are totally unaware of the current business environment that they are trying to compete in.
I have been a customer since 2010. I will be cancelling my service before the next period. Yeah, I know, my $1,200 a year won't make a difference to them. It just seems like they have forgotten who needs who, especially when you consider the competition in today's streaming world. But hey, they will have succeed in forcing me off the 211k.
Got a 211k that works fine, and I no longer need it if someone wants to throw me a few bucks and pay shipping. Not tied to my account as of last week. Used with a tailgater and got a wally
Got a 211k that works fine, and I no longer need it if someone wants to throw me a few bucks and pay shipping. Not tied to my account as of last week. Used with a tailgater and got a wally
Actually, it is. A couple of people PMed me when I posted this, and when I asked for an address, they never responded. Then I just sort of let it go. Send me a PM to continue the discussion
Well, after nine months of being on pause, I finally figured out that I was wasting $5 a month. So I cancelled. For the first time since 2010, I no longer have a Dish account.
I do have to say that I did appreciate the account pause option. That just gives a person some time to see what the fallout of cancelling will be... without having to go all the way over the cliff first.
Since I never once had an "oh shoot, I need Dish Network for..." moment, the decision was a lot easier.
Funny enough, when I called to cancel (for real, not playing the pricing game), all of a sudden, they were offering me deals that I was told before that I couldn't get without changing out my VIP211k. Now, I could have had those specials with them just sending me a new card for the receiver. LOL!
Of course, my mind was already made up because of having not missed the service while on pause. That, and the fact that I bet the 211k still kills recordings.
All in all, I'm glad that I had Dish for all those years. I just outgrew the need, and they pressed the issue by deleting recordings. I would have eventually went this route without the deleted recordings issue. But, for sure, that did hasten the outcome.
I'll still pop in at this site from time to time. Believe it or not, I still have a C/Ku BUD that I intend on playing with again if life ever slows down.
Actually, it is. A couple of people PMed me when I posted this, and when I asked for an address, they never responded. Then I just sort of let it go. Send me a PM to continue the discussion
Unless things have changed at Dish, which is entirely possible, they won't activate the 211, even as a replacement. I gave one to a customer a while back....which when I turned it off I made sure to tell the CSR I wanted it freed up so another customer could use it, I was assured it was.....and when they called to swap out there's they were told it couldn't be done. Now like I said, things MIGHT HAVE CHANGED.
For some reason, the satelliteguys.us site is loading a lot slower than usual on both Chrome on my Asus laptop and Safari on my iPhone.
I'm also seeing longer appearances of the blue bar at the top and the "3 blue bars" loading symbol.
Is anyone else also having the same problem? Thanks in advance.