New DIY RXer- Can't Get Signal Lock

Wow. What a fickle little paradigm. Same spot I was getting Signal State 3 last night, getting 0 today. Same exactly as I have antenna in fixed position to reduce variables. Stretched battery away to see if any impact (using cable that came with batt pack ordered in kit)- no difference. Changed cable and swapped in big Ventev 2.1 Watt pack (powers big iPad Pro) no difference. RF plumbing is secure. Same signal variations I originally saw where SNR is as negative as it is positive every couple of secondsā€¦ Though itā€™s mildly cloudy, where as last night it was clear sky and I got to SS3 in same fixed position. But my understanding is that L-Band handles clouds just fine, generally and from same location I get GPS lock with no issues at all. We have no interfering sources around us, live out in the country.

Iā€™m stumped at this point. Ordered a pigtail so I can hook up an RF Space antenna, but am also feeling like Iā€™m one step away from throwing up my hands.

The CHIP did shut down once again outside, as well but this time came right back where as it needed 10-15 min to come back before (inside).

I know I keep harping on the SDR, but even though you have the same one as I bought it may be defective. Since you are having such a ruff time and getting frustrated it may be good to order a new SDR and maybe even a new LNA just to eliminate the possibility of those two components being faulty. They can be the same brand/model of course.

Havenā€™t been playing with this long enough myself so I donā€™t have more ideas. Iā€™ve also done a lot with RF equipment over the years both Amateur Radio and 802.11 gear. Usually when I have unexplained problems it ends up being either interference or a hardware issue with the radio, coax or antenna. Since you eliminated the coax and antenna, and you donā€™t suspect interference, it is likely the radio even if it does work on ADS-B. My faulty radio also worked fine for FM stereo broadcast reception and ADS-B.

Thanks, kf4hzu- but my budget doesnā€™t support ordering redundant parts to validate brand new kit working or not. The appeal of the kit was that I could afford the asking price at the time. Start adding $25 here and there, and (for me at least) the value fades quick. To me, these parts are all new, and should work. Iā€™m agreeing that the SDR could well have a problem based on the way itā€™s acting. Iā€™ll keep plugging at what I have for a bit to practice my troubleshooting but something is certainly not right. Iā€™ve got other dongles, not sure if they have BIas T compatibility and only have the MCX connectors, so thatā€™s a point of frustration but Iā€™m also trying to be placid about the whole thing.

Most excellent- I got this setup running and receiving with the second CHIP. Will check in a while for files, but nice to see steady values and signal lock with data flowing. Skylark is really pretty, havenā€™t used enough to comment on functionality but the UI is just gorgeous. Well done on that:wink: Like others here, next up is rigging an enclosure.

Lee
KI2K

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Hello Lee

Did you figure out what was wrong with the first CHIP? As you have seen from my other posts, I have had my share of bizarre mechnaical problems of late from newly delivered Outernet products. Ken

Hi Ken,

It sounds silly given what the CHIP is, but it seems either thermal (never quit in the cold, almost always died after 10-15 min in the house) or some kind of corruption that convinced me it had a temperature related problem. The SNR was hyper erratic even when it wasnā€™t quitting, like too erratic to be RF and more just nonsensical reporting. So, not sure specifically, but new one jumped right to life with the rest of my original components and working well so far.

Lee