Red Pitaya Remote Receiver Station: Unterschied zwischen den Versionen

Version vom 13. August 2017, 00:04 Uhr

1 Project Scope

The goal of this project is to set up a remote controlled shortwave receiver station that is connectable via HAMNET.

First, I installed two Chinese wideband preamplifiers. Later I heard that there was a special kit from Box73 / FUNKAMATEUR that did the job much better. My observation with the Chinese preamp was that the input of the SDR was highly overloaded, so I needed one with an adjustable amplification. Please check the instruction: http://www.box73.de/download/bausaetze/BZ-100.pdf

Once deployed, I understood that I needed to install Pavel Demon's firmware. Since the deployment at DB0MHB is a little out of reach, I needed to log into my Red Pitaya and make sure that the installation files go to the right place. I decided to build a deb package so that this job was easier.

The final goal is to have a recording / monitoring receiver that can fully be remote-controlled. The Pitaya can be switched on and off with the remote control switch described here: A relay box for control from Linux and A remote Ethernet switch for my relay box

2 Component List

• Aluminium diecast case HAMMOND 1550F: 50 €
• Red Pitaya: 235 €
• Neutrik socket Cinch (power supply): 10 €

https://www.amazon.de/SOCKET-NICKEL-YELLOW-NF2D-4-NEUTRIK/dp/9790827369

• Neutrik socket USB thru: 10 €

https://www.amazon.de/Neutrik-NAUSB-W-Reversibler-USB-Adapter-D-Geh%C3%A4use/dp/B003L79T06

• Neutrik socket Ethernet thru: 10 €

https://www.amazon.de/Neutrik-NE8FDP-Durchgangs-Einbaubuchse-vernickeltes-D-Geh%C3%A4use/dp/B002BER402

• 25cm USB cable: 2 €
• 2x Telegärtner Lightning protection: 2x 50 €

http://www.elektrotools.de/Produkt/J01028A0044-Telegaertner-N-Ueberspannungsableiter-Bu-Bu-mit-Gasentladung-J010

• 2x pigtail N-SMA: 5 €
• DC DC Converter: 10 €
• Chinese wideband preamplifier: 10 €

http://www.ebay.de/itm/0-01-2000MHz-2Ghz-LNA-RF-Broadband-Low-Noise-Amplifier-Module-32dB-HF-VHF-UHF-/222149675468?hash=item33b92709cc:g:gAAAAOSwKtlWlX0h

• FUNKAMATEUR preamplifier specially designed for Red Pitaya: 50 €

http://www.box73.de/product_info.php?products_id=3737

• Teflon cable with SMA plug: 5 €
• Semi Rigid SMA/SMA: 5 €
• Voltage Limiter IC for 12V: 3 €

LM2940L-12 ensuring that possible input voltage spikes will not damage my preamp

• 2x Ferrite Core: 3 €
• 2x N socket with pigtail: 10 €
• 1 PCB: 1 €
• M4 spacers: 5 €
• M3 spacers: 5 €

Overall total: 529 €

3 Software Stuff

Firstly, unless there is some special configuration on the Pitaya, you should be able to detect ot from another machine.

In our case, we are using a Raspberry Pi for OpenWebRX and the Pitaya for receiving.

This is some background info, but not applicable in our case since we are using the Soapy toola below...:

http://pavel-demin.github.io/red-pitaya-notes/sdr-receiver/

So we needed to implement this on the Raspberry Pi:

#Installing SoapySDR:
git clone https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR
cd SoapySDR
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make 
sudo make install
sudo ldconfig
cd ..

#Installing rx_tools:
git clone https://github.com/rxseger/rx_tools
cd rx_tools
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make 
sudo make install
sudo ldconfig
cd ..

git clone https://github.com/pothosware/SoapyRedPitaya.git
cd SoapyRedPitaya
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make
sudo make install

git clone https://github.com/pothosware/SoapyRemote.git
cd SoapyRemote
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make
sudo make install

The detection should work then with the command

SoapySDRUtil --probe="driver=redpitaya, addr=44.225.41.10"

giving the following result:

######################################################
## Soapy SDR -- the SDR abstraction library
######################################################

Probe device driver=redpitaya, addr=44.225.41.10

----------------------------------------------------
-- Device identification
----------------------------------------------------
  driver=redpitaya
  hardware=redpitaya

----------------------------------------------------
-- Peripheral summary
----------------------------------------------------
  Channels: 1 Rx, 1 Tx
  Timestamps: NO

----------------------------------------------------
-- RX Channel 0
----------------------------------------------------
  Full-duplex: YES
  Supports AGC: NO
  Stream formats: CF32
  Native format: CF32 [full-scale=1]
  Full gain range: [0, 0] dB
  Full freq range: [0.05, 60] MHz
    RF freq range: [0.05, 60] MHz
  Sample rates: 0.02, 0.05, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1.25 MSps 

----------------------------------------------------
-- TX Channel 0
----------------------------------------------------
  Full-duplex: YES
  Supports AGC: NO
  Stream formats: CF32
  Native format: CF32 [full-scale=1]
  Full gain range: [0, 0] dB
  Full freq range: [0.05, 60] MHz
    RF freq range: [0.05, 60] MHz
  Sample rates: 0.02, 0.05, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1.25 MSps

Since we now can access the Pitaya via a standard interface, it's time to configure OpenWebRX accordingly:

The following link will provide some partly applicable support:

https://github.com/simonyiszk/openwebrx/wiki/Setting-up-OpenWebRX-on-a-Raspberry-Pi-2

This is also helpful:

https://forum.redpitaya.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1911

And this is extremely helpful:

https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki

4 Images