So I finally gave in and bought the DIY kit as there were no other options available anymore. I have the antenna, amplifier, SDR, CHIP, and batter pack … and … no instructions.
There were 2 pieces of paper in the box, one an invoice and the other has two links that lead you on a merry go round of nothing very useful in the way of assembling and getting this to work.
Mind you , I’m no novice here - but I’ve not worked with devices like the CHIP before , so I’m at a loss as to what exactly to do with it. There are plenty of pages that say things like ’ first you connect to the CHIP ’ but no instructions as to how you go about doing that. The best clue so far is that I need a UART adapter to get a shell on it, which is not included and you don’t sell, or use a composite monitor (!) to see the output of the CHIP once it’s up and running ( which there are no instructions on how to do )
So basically I’ve got a $100 pile of parts that I can’t do anything with. Now before people start putting a ’ noob ’ cap on my head I think it’s only fair that you should at least have some kind of coherent instructions as to how these devices work and how to get them up and running. Anything would be useful at this point. I’ve been clicking around ’ documentation’ links that have no documentation, surfed across 3-4 different web sites that have nothing really to offer other than ’ and then you do this, and then you do that ’ with no middle ground of how you are to do these things.
I love the concept here, and I’m wanting to be part of it - but if you think you can dump a pile of parts into the hands of people with little to no experience with single board computers and they magically know how to use them , you might just need to rethink a few points.
So that said, is there a definitive guide to assembling the parts to the DIY receiver, or should I just return the parts and wait for the completed unit to become available again, or maybe some instructions on getting this thing going.
In the DIY spirit, if someone can point me in the direction of how to get things rolling I’ll write up some instructions for you and you can stuff them in the box with the shipped units so no one else need feel the sting of disappointment at not being able to join in the fun.
You are absolutely correct–we did just throw you in the deep end. But there was a reason for doing so. The purpose was to understand what you would initially do with the device. I think we probably took the experiment to an unnecessary extreme, but it did establish a baseline for us. Thanks for being such a good sport about it. Sharing your experience is really useful information for us and we’ll use it to create a solid user guide.
Regarding onwards: Have you tried pointing the antenna yet?
Yes I did. I was able to get it all to come together but I did not have enough time to get a signal lock and ensure all was working. I have the unit in a reasonably weatherproof box and I’m getting permission to put it on the roof of my office.
Location : San Francisco, CA
Clear line of sight : Yes, but southern? The newer instructions and the settings say 97 degrees West for Galaxy 19.
Antenna : 30 degrees
Cover : There was no cover provided. If there is a cover then it is not obvious and not in any process documented that it needs to be removed.
I picked up the DIY kit w/CHIP, connected and powered it up.
Setup for North America, it’s setup outside however, I really don’t know what I’m looking at or for.
Connect to the outernet wifi, but trying to connect with my browser yields:
"Your receiver doesn’t seem to have reported in. Err: null"
Is that telling me whatever satellite I’m looking for isn’t really there?
Syed, sorry for the delayed response (not used to checking the forum… especially after the issue was resolved )
I don’t know exactly what the issue was, but did a fw upgrade to the latest rxos and it worked fine.
unfortunately, I think I fried my C.H.I.P. by leaving it outside in the rain (yeah yeah, not good for an exposed
circuit board, eh?)… so ordered a new one and will try setting it up.
