1. airspy@groups.io
  2. Messages
   Date   
Re: Portable Computer recommendation

Kriss Kliegle
 

Check your local Craigslist and search in the Computers section. I have a local guy that gets nice laptops off of commercial leases and puts SSD's into them and sell them. I have many in operation today, most are operating 24/7 as SDR Console Servers. Batteries, if needed, can be obtained online for small money.

73 Kriss KA1GJU
Home of the Super Station SDR Console Servers in NH (FN42mw)
Re: Portable Computer recommendation

Ian Brooks
 

My answer to the 32GB wired-in SSD on my Chillblast WAPPRO NUC (HongKong clone of Intel NUC) was to use Win2USB and run Windows 10 from external 256GB SSD via USB3. This setup has 4GB of memory and Intel J4105 dual-core CPU. I can run SDR#, SDR++ or SDR Console with my Airspy HF+ or Discovery and also use RTL-SDRv3 or Airspy Mini for receiving DAB or DAB+ radio around 220 MHz, using welle.io or QtDAB. SDRAngel proved to be beyond its capabilities. however. Not a portable solution, but pretty "barebones" setup. Lubuntu Linux runs from 2.5" laptop SSD in base of NUC.

Regards, Ian Brooks, Dorset, UK.

On 15/06/2022 00:03, Michael Cadiere wrote:

I was gifted a Surface Laptop Go when my brother got it for free from a jeweler while buying  a ring. Had my doubts, and it still isn't one I would buy myself, everything soldered in it, so no upgrading it, has 60gb of soldered to the board ssd 😆 so allot of stuff I run of external drive. That said it handles running sdruno, sdr#, fldigi, scytale-c ,chrome browser all at the same time(currently what I have open) 

Re: Portable Computer recommendation

prog
 

I did gather from some light reading on this forum that Windows 11 is not working well with SDR#….
That's just not true. 
Re: HELP - New Winows 11 laptop and SDR#

Dewey
 

Yes... this instruction was given for Unitrunker (a trunked radio control channel decoder) about a year ago.  If I understand correctly... that's a lot to be said... killing Bulk In 1 & 2, and installing the driver for the RTL device was better.  This has worked for SDR# and SDR-Radio since that change.

Dewey

On Wed, Jun 15, 2022 at 8:55 AM jdow <jdow@...> wrote:

There is a fix - sorta kinda. It's strange.

1) Plug the dongle in.

2) Find the "universal serial bus devices" list.

3) Find the "Bulk-in interface" entries. Right click on the entry and select "uninstall device" entry on the popup menu. Be sure to check the "Delete the driver software for this device" entry.

4) Run Zadig.

5) Select Options->List all devices.

6) Unselect Options->Ignore hubs or composite devices.

7) Scroll down the list presented for the RTLxxxxxxx composite device entry. Select it. (It should be 0bda 2832 or 0bda 2828 in most cases.)

8) Install it for WinUSB.

It appears this is sufficient to get the frimping dongles recognized. (My rtlsdr.dll driver may not work. I am diagnosing that. But, really, it is time for bed.

Thanks to badgenes' entry on RadioReference.com for his post that solves the problem.

{^_^}
Re: HELP - New Winows 11 laptop and SDR#

jdow
 

Actually not. See my note about the fix.

{^_^}

On 20220615 05:51:54, Paul N via groups.io wrote:

Paul,

I think someone has said that Windows 11 shows these but Interface 1 is the correct one to choose. Thanks Alan
At least I now know which it should be,
Best Wishes
Paul

Re: Portable Computer recommendation

jdow
 

One of the higher end BeeLink machines may provide you with more head room that will allow running Simon's SDR Console after you are used to how SDRs work. Simon has gone overboard with capabilities. These are basically laptop "inwards" in a slightly larger than index card chassis that can be mounted on the back of your monitor.

That Win 11 issue may be solved. News when I know more and confirm the fixes.

{^_-}

On 20220615 04:52:07, Jim Upson wrote:

Thanks to everyone for your responses!!!

Seems like a pretty “bare bones” computer will do the job (Michael’s free computer & Pietro’s sub 400-Euro computer)

Joanne said-“What price range is interesting to you for intro? Are you thinking of "get my feet wet then upgrade when I know more?" Or are you thinking you want one and done?”  

My response:  well……probably somewhere in the middle…🤪…..I am more of a “once and done” guy…but don’t what to overspend either.  Probably doesn’t help you …but I am assuming $500-$1000 is in the middle ground…???  I’ll go higher in cost but ONLY if it would be very very very nice-to-have whatever added capabilities it might provide.  I’ve concluded (so far) I won’t have to spend more.  Right?   I am not a technical guy…prefer “plug-n-play” …..

Pietro…thanks for the idea to get a Windows 11 compatible computer but run Windows 10….(fits my “grow with releases”…yet works well with SDR and also addresses my preference for “once-n-done”)….I did gather from some light reading on this forum that Windows 11 is not working well with SDR#….

Thanks again everyone…maybe I’ll share my final purchase and results in the future….

Jim

Re: HELP - New Winows 11 laptop and SDR#

jdow
 

There is a fix - sorta kinda. It's strange.

1) Plug the dongle in.

2) Find the "universal serial bus devices" list.

3) Find the "Bulk-in interface" entries. Right click on the entry and select "uninstall device" entry on the popup menu. Be sure to check the "Delete the driver software for this device" entry.

4) Run Zadig.

5) Select Options->List all devices.

6) Unselect Options->Ignore hubs or composite devices.

7) Scroll down the list presented for the RTLxxxxxxx composite device entry. Select it. (It should be 0bda 2832 or 0bda 2828 in most cases.)

8) Install it for WinUSB.

It appears this is sufficient to get the frimping dongles recognized. (My rtlsdr.dll driver may not work. I am diagnosing that. But, really, it is time for bed.

Thanks to badgenes' entry on RadioReference.com for his post that solves the problem.

{^_^}


On 20220615 02:47:53, jdow wrote:

And one more time before I go to bed. With debug messages on in rtlsdr.dll I can get RTLTool to recognize it and work with it - same code as without the debug messages in the dll. The debug messages are simply outputs saying what function was entered and what was exited from. This is the kind of bug that's really difficult to find. (And don't expect squat from the Osmocom folks - they seem to hate WIndows of any flavor.

{^_^}

On 20220615 02:22:04, jdow wrote:

So far I have it isolated down to the dll not finding any dongles even though DeviceManager reports everything is ducky. So now I have to do a dive into my rtlsdr.dll source and annotate what it is doing. The very first thing done, get the device count, reports 0 with either one or two dongles plugged in. I'll have to see what libusb is doing. I need to piddle with my compiler tomorrow. I hope this is not down to "pick your bugs with libusb" again.

{^_^}

On 20220615 00:28:21, jdow wrote:

For what it is worth Paul may have a real difficulty here. I took my new Win 11 mini-pc and installed the dongle with Zadig. It shows as installed. The sale SDRSharp folder that finds and uses rtlsdr dongles on my Win 10 machine does not work on 7. I am troubleshooting that. This may take awhile. It's probably balled up with Windows "security". (We own your machine; you don't; we are Microsoft of Borg.)

{^_^}

On 20220615 00:10:19, Alan G4ZFQ wrote:
On 12/06/2022 14:39, Paul N via groups.io wrote:

ZADIG also found and recognised other SDR'S. However it has failed to find my (jolly good) RTLsdr, which is in use and running well

Bulk-in (Interface 0)

Bulk-in (Interface !)

None of these is appropriate, the drivers being specific or non-existent.

Paul,

I think someone has said that Windows 11 shows these but Interface 1 is the correct one to choose.
Note Zadig offers nothing, you have to use it to select and install the WinUSB driver.

Try both above, no harm to assign the driver to the unused HID device. The safest way is to create a restore point before you do anything!

Alan







Re: HELP - New Winows 11 laptop and SDR#

Paul N
 

Paul,

I think someone has said that Windows 11 shows these but Interface 1 is the correct one to choose.
Thanks Alan
At least I now know which it should be,
Best Wishes
Paul
Re: Portable Computer recommendation

Pietro Molina
 

Yeah, problems seem to be related to WSJT-X, logging SW and so on.

Pietro I2OIM

Il giorno mer 15 giu 2022 alle ore 14:29 Dirk <dottensm@...> ha scritto:
Short:
Windows 11 is working very good with Nooelec SMArt RTL & E4000 sticks, RTL-SDR Blog V.3, Airspy HF+ Discovery, HackRF One, ...
No problems here.

Re: Portable Computer recommendation

Dirk
 

Short:
Windows 11 is working very good with Nooelec SMArt RTL & E4000 sticks, RTL-SDR Blog V.3, Airspy HF+ Discovery, HackRF One, ...
No problems here.
Re: Portable Computer recommendation

Jim Upson
 

Thanks to everyone for your responses!!!

Seems like a pretty “bare bones” computer will do the job (Michael’s free computer & Pietro’s sub 400-Euro computer)

Joanne said-“What price range is interesting to you for intro? Are you thinking of "get my feet wet then upgrade when I know more?" Or are you thinking you want one and done?”  

My response:  well……probably somewhere in the middle…🤪…..I am more of a “once and done” guy…but don’t what to overspend either.  Probably doesn’t help you …but I am assuming $500-$1000 is in the middle ground…???  I’ll go higher in cost but ONLY if it would be very very very nice-to-have whatever added capabilities it might provide.  I’ve concluded (so far) I won’t have to spend more.  Right?   I am not a technical guy…prefer “plug-n-play” …..

Pietro…thanks for the idea to get a Windows 11 compatible computer but run Windows 10….(fits my “grow with releases”…yet works well with SDR and also addresses my preference for “once-n-done”)….I did gather from some light reading on this forum that Windows 11 is not working well with SDR#….

Thanks again everyone…maybe I’ll share my final purchase and results in the future….

Jim
Re: HELP - New Winows 11 laptop and SDR#

jdow
 

And one more time before I go to bed. With debug messages on in rtlsdr.dll I can get RTLTool to recognize it and work with it - same code as without the debug messages in the dll. The debug messages are simply outputs saying what function was entered and what was exited from. This is the kind of bug that's really difficult to find. (And don't expect squat from the Osmocom folks - they seem to hate WIndows of any flavor.

{^_^}

On 20220615 02:22:04, jdow wrote:

So far I have it isolated down to the dll not finding any dongles even though DeviceManager reports everything is ducky. So now I have to do a dive into my rtlsdr.dll source and annotate what it is doing. The very first thing done, get the device count, reports 0 with either one or two dongles plugged in. I'll have to see what libusb is doing. I need to piddle with my compiler tomorrow. I hope this is not down to "pick your bugs with libusb" again.

{^_^}

On 20220615 00:28:21, jdow wrote:

For what it is worth Paul may have a real difficulty here. I took my new Win 11 mini-pc and installed the dongle with Zadig. It shows as installed. The sale SDRSharp folder that finds and uses rtlsdr dongles on my Win 10 machine does not work on 7. I am troubleshooting that. This may take awhile. It's probably balled up with Windows "security". (We own your machine; you don't; we are Microsoft of Borg.)

{^_^}

On 20220615 00:10:19, Alan G4ZFQ wrote:
On 12/06/2022 14:39, Paul N via groups.io wrote:

ZADIG also found and recognised other SDR'S. However it has failed to find my (jolly good) RTLsdr, which is in use and running well

Bulk-in (Interface 0)

Bulk-in (Interface !)

None of these is appropriate, the drivers being specific or non-existent.

Paul,

I think someone has said that Windows 11 shows these but Interface 1 is the correct one to choose.
Note Zadig offers nothing, you have to use it to select and install the WinUSB driver.

Try both above, no harm to assign the driver to the unused HID device. The safest way is to create a restore point before you do anything!

Alan







Re: SDR# and RTL-SDR Blog V.3 #sdrsharp #RTL

Dirk
 

True. The same here.
But I e.g. cannot switch the RTL-SDR V3's Bias-Tee on/off from within SDR# (with the default rtlsdr.dll).
The Nooelec sticks have no switchable Bias-Tee option and no direct sampling function.
Re: HELP - New Winows 11 laptop and SDR#

jdow
 

So far I have it isolated down to the dll not finding any dongles even though DeviceManager reports everything is ducky. So now I have to do a dive into my rtlsdr.dll source and annotate what it is doing. The very first thing done, get the device count, reports 0 with either one or two dongles plugged in. I'll have to see what libusb is doing. I need to piddle with my compiler tomorrow. I hope this is not down to "pick your bugs with libusb" again.

{^_^}

On 20220615 00:28:21, jdow wrote:

For what it is worth Paul may have a real difficulty here. I took my new Win 11 mini-pc and installed the dongle with Zadig. It shows as installed. The sale SDRSharp folder that finds and uses rtlsdr dongles on my Win 10 machine does not work on 7. I am troubleshooting that. This may take awhile. It's probably balled up with Windows "security". (We own your machine; you don't; we are Microsoft of Borg.)

{^_^}

On 20220615 00:10:19, Alan G4ZFQ wrote:
On 12/06/2022 14:39, Paul N via groups.io wrote:

ZADIG also found and recognised other SDR'S. However it has failed to find my (jolly good) RTLsdr, which is in use and running well

Bulk-in (Interface 0)

Bulk-in (Interface !)

None of these is appropriate, the drivers being specific or non-existent.

Paul,

I think someone has said that Windows 11 shows these but Interface 1 is the correct one to choose.
Note Zadig offers nothing, you have to use it to select and install the WinUSB driver.

Try both above, no harm to assign the driver to the unused HID device. The safest way is to create a restore point before you do anything!

Alan







Re: SDR# and RTL-SDR Blog V.3 #sdrsharp #RTL

Pietro Molina
 

I'm using RTL-SDR V3 and Noeelec, both choosing RTL USB. No difference between the two.

Pietro I2OIM

Il giorno mer 15 giu 2022 alle ore 08:51 Dirk <dottensm@...> ha scritto:
Just a question:
I'm using SDR# of course with my Airspy HF+ Discovery, but also with Nooelec RTL-SDR sticks and with an original RTL-SDR Blog V.3 stick.
With the Osmocom rtlsdr.dll I can well use all functions of the V.3 stick (Bias on/off and HF direct sampling).
But I don't want to always copy .dlls when I use my V.3 versus the other RTL-SDR sticks.

Would it be possible to add the V.3 e,g. as "RTL-SDR Blog V.3 (USB)" in the Source dropdown menu of SDR#?

Re: HELP - New Winows 11 laptop and SDR#

Michael Cadiere
 

So many machines it's hard to keep the solutions in mind. I know one laptop I had to turn off Core isolation/memory integrity 


On Sun, Jun 12, 2022, 9:43 AM Paul N via groups.io <p.newland=btinternet.com@groups.io> wrote:
Hi All
SDR# running just fine on this machine - using HF+ Discovery (obviously found and recognised by ZADIG. 
ZADIG also found and recognised other SDR'S. However it has failed to find my (jolly good) RTLsdr, which is in use and running well
on SDR# on my Windows 10 laptop.
What ZADIG recognises whilst the RTLsdr is plugged in are the following:
Integrated Webcm(Interface 0)
Bulk-in (Interface 0)
Intel (R) Wireless Bluetooth (R)
USB Receiver (Interface 0)
Bulk-in (Interface !)
USB Receiver (Interface 1)
USB Receiver (Interface 2)
None of these is appropriate, the drivers being specific or non-existent.
Your/any advice would be much appreciated
Regards
Paul

Re: HELP - New Winows 11 laptop and SDR#

jdow
 

For what it is worth Paul may have a real difficulty here. I took my new Win 11 mini-pc and installed the dongle with Zadig. It shows as installed. The sale SDRSharp folder that finds and uses rtlsdr dongles on my Win 10 machine does not work on 7. I am troubleshooting that. This may take awhile. It's probably balled up with Windows "security". (We own your machine; you don't; we are Microsoft of Borg.)

{^_^}

On 20220615 00:10:19, Alan G4ZFQ wrote:

On 12/06/2022 14:39, Paul N via groups.io wrote:

ZADIG also found and recognised other SDR'S. However it has failed to find my (jolly good) RTLsdr, which is in use and running well

Bulk-in (Interface 0)

Bulk-in (Interface !)

None of these is appropriate, the drivers being specific or non-existent.

Paul,

I think someone has said that Windows 11 shows these but Interface 1 is the correct one to choose.
Note Zadig offers nothing, you have to use it to select and install the WinUSB driver.

Try both above, no harm to assign the driver to the unused HID device. The safest way is to create a restore point before you do anything!

Alan







Re: Portable Computer recommendation

Pietro Molina
 

Any one new and most of the refurbish is enough.
I'm using the smallest Acer travelmate, less than 400€. I suggest a W11 compatible, but with W10: in the future will no become obsolete but up to now I see that W11 has some problem more the 10 for what concerns the SW we use as hams.

Pietro I2OIM

Il giorno mer 15 giu 2022 alle ore 00:54 Jim Upson <jim72upson@...> ha scritto:

Hi all… I am new to using SDR.  I have just received my new Airspy HF+Discovery and Airspy’s YouLoop antenna for my entry into “SWLing”….

Now I want to buy a Windows computer…..it will be dedicated for only one purpose:  my radio hobbies….Airspy SW/MW/LW, ham and SWL radio logging software and other relatively “light-duty” programs.  Of course I will load up SDR#….

I am GUESSING the computer doesn’t need much power…and my budget is “medium” ($500-$1000?), but I want to be able to grow with new software releases and be sure to be protected while connected to the internet (antivirus, etc.).

Finally…I want a “plug-and-play” portable computer (or other solutions such as notebooks, etc.)  with good battery life and no, or very low RFI issues to minimize noice interference on my radio capabilities.

I am thinking about Microsoft Surface computers….but have no idea how “much” I really need…

Can you provide me with your recommendations….as well as solutions to stay-away from?

I hope this request is reasonable to ask ….

Many thanks,
   Jim 
Re: HELP - New Winows 11 laptop and SDR#

Alan G4ZFQ
 

On 12/06/2022 14:39, Paul N via groups.io wrote:

ZADIG also found and recognised other SDR'S. However it has failed to find my (jolly good) RTLsdr, which is in use and running well
Bulk-in (Interface 0)
Bulk-in (Interface !)
None of these is appropriate, the drivers being specific or non-existent.
Paul,

I think someone has said that Windows 11 shows these but Interface 1 is the correct one to choose.
Note Zadig offers nothing, you have to use it to select and install the WinUSB driver.

Try both above, no harm to assign the driver to the unused HID device. The safest way is to create a restore point before you do anything!

Alan
SDR# and RTL-SDR Blog V.3 #sdrsharp #RTL

Dirk
 

Just a question:
I'm using SDR# of course with my Airspy HF+ Discovery, but also with Nooelec RTL-SDR sticks and with an original RTL-SDR Blog V.3 stick.
With the Osmocom rtlsdr.dll I can well use all functions of the V.3 stick (Bias on/off and HF direct sampling).
But I don't want to always copy .dlls when I use my V.3 versus the other RTL-SDR sticks.

Would it be possible to add the V.3 e,g. as "RTL-SDR Blog V.3 (USB)" in the Source dropdown menu of SDR#?
2141 - 2160 of 45411