I have bought the DIY kit and it works great on JAERO (havent tried Outernet yet). Also I havent been able to decode the STD-C EGC channel, I see the signal but I dont know if it is strong enough, about 7 on the S-meter in HDSDR. So I got a second LNA and I am wondering if anyone have any ideas how I can connct it? The sdr seems to only be able to power up one of the LNAs if I connect them in series. Would it be better to get the RTL-SDR.com dongle to recive the EGC channel? I see Outernet provides that dongle now.
I’ve never tried 2 LNA’s in series. However, for AERO , AERO C-Band burst and STD-C EGC I have gotten a good signal with an SDRPlay (no external LNA is needed). The RTL-SDR’s don’t even come close, even with LNA’s.
For C-Band burst I use an 8.5’ satellite dish with a Titanium dual output LNBF. (One of the dual outputs is used to supply power to the LNBF). The other goes to the SDRPlay. JAERO works very well for C-Band burst.
Unfortunately there is no software for STD-C EGC that works as well as JAERO does with AERO (at least that I am aware of). Maybe JAERO could be adapted for that?
I have orderd a RTL-SDR just to try if any improvments. I also have an Funcube Pro but that one cant power up the LNAs I got. Decoding of AERO works but the EGC wont decode. I run 2 softwares I have found on the internet but nothing happens thats why I think the signal is to weak. As you say JAERO works ok, though it chrashes sometimes on my computer. Havent tried C-band but that would be cool. And I agree that it would be great if STD-C decoding could be implemented in JAERO. I wait for the new dongle and maybe I try the Funcube to. Next step would be to try the SDRPlay or maybe Airspy?
There should be no improvement from connecting multiple LNAs in series.
The limiting factor is not gain, it is the Eb/No (energy per bit over the noise floor).
Adding more gain will amplify both the signal and noise so the ratio will not improve.
The only thing the LNA does is assuring that the signal is amplified enough that it (and the amplified
noise) will be well above the noise of the RTL-SDR input stage. So a lower noise figure on the
LNA would help, but I presume it is already pretty low on the delivered LNA.
Hello again! Decoding of STD-C EGC works great now with the second RTL-SDR dongle and only one LNA. I use the demoversion to decode (http://www.inmarsatdecoder.com/) and it works very well. If you download it may say there is a virus but that is a false positive. Any one tried the full version that can be obtained for 100 €? I havent tried the Outernet yet. I can decode AERO from 2 satellites but the STD-C is from 15.4 W. (1541.450)