Skylark V1.0 - new Outernet Firmware!

I found this, too. I do all the steps in the readme + the steps to make my linux ready to flash the chip. I only got error “couldn’t found fel”. Don’t know what im doing wrong

Have the same problems with these windows. Found out that i got an snr of 2 when i point it directly trough the plastic from the windows. But no lock at all. Don’t like to set the reciever outside by -8°C

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auto boot on powerup??
Hi @Abhishek
I thought that the new build of Skylark was supposed to boot by itself? My “DIY kit” version doesn’t…
I am about to go away for a week, and I am going to try to keep the beastie running whilst I am away… I am going to mains power it, but if the power is interrupted , it won’t restart without a finger on the power button, which isn’t going to happen…

It will also be completely enclosed in a waterproof housing outside anyway, as I want to put it back to a “default” configuration and put it in THE optimal spot to try to keep signal lock ( see my other posts!)

Hola.

Funcionando en un C.H.I.P. nuevo comprado en su pagina a NTC (creo que es el V1.).

Esta conectado a mi red wifi, alguna vez que se reinicia el router el CHIP no se reconecta al wifi, desconecto y vuelvo a conectarlo a corriente el CHIP y se conecta de nuevo al wifi.

Por lo demas funciona perfecto.

Google translator:

Hi.

Operating in a C.H.I.P. New purchased on your page to NTC (I think it’s the V1.).

It is connected to my wifi network, once the router is restarted the CHIP does not reconnect to the wifi, I disconnect and reconnect it to the current CHIP and connects again to the wifi.

Otherwise it works perfect.

Found someting interesting. If i put my antenne in a direction where the coax wire ponting to the left side (if you look on the back of the patch antenna) i get an snr of 4dB and Frame Lock. Also put the antenna as near under the window glass as you can. Try it :wink:

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So this happened…

So I checked…

Jan 8 05:56:54 skylark user.info ondd[417]: [carousel] completed: opaks/0765-Inmarsat_.html.tbz2

And then renamed the file to remove the question mark. That fixed it.

@neil
I have noticed the same thing here. anecdotal evidence on my end at least is pointing to temperature.
Here the temps have been around 9-14f, this has effected my RSSI, SNR as well as wifi performance.
It “looks” like the hardware is being affected by low temps. once it warms up everything improves.
again, anecdotal at this point. I am putting together a temperature probe and loggin via arduino in the box today. I will compare the temperature curve to the RSSI, SNR and wifi and see if there is any correlation.

thanks. I have tried everything to get a signal inside… I can put it inside at a glass door an get NOTHING, … open the door and I get signal :wink:

interesting…
Remember that the the ONLY part of the system that was outside yesterday was the antenna, and that was my home built one (as well!) as the supplied patch…
I have had it outside in a box in heavy rain and -6C here, and it was consistent… my “up & down” signal issues only started a few days ago… before that it was pretty steady!

Now you got signal inside?

No… The whole thing is outside again in a waterproof box :slight_smile:
(and a weak wifi signal!)

I see your confusion…
I had the SDR and the CHIP and the LNA INSIDE at the end of 5 metres of low loss cable, and the antenna ONLY outside on the other end of the coax

I had the LNA outside on the antenna originally, but brought it inside when the issues started

ah ok :smile: i thought you have it like me behind the window ^^

hmmmm good point. are you able to periodically log the SNR and RSSI values? Over time perhaps we will be able to determine the source of either the localized noise or some other factor.
I had a client one time who had an antennae outside of his window on the side of the house for years. Was just a receive antenna and worked flawless for many years. one day he was noticing that he was hearing a lot less traffic via this antenna and he started investigating and logging the data he was able to.
Turned out that the power company had installed a “smart meter” in place of his old analog power meter.
When the new smart meter would broadcast its updates to the power company it would wash out the front end of his receiver. His meter sent out updates every 30 seconds. Perhaps not your case but just wanted to share.

I usually see a 3-4db difference. My ant is inside on a windowsill and 2 meters from a Xfinity wifi. I surmise there is probably some “garbage” from the wifi that gets in there from time to time. I don’t have a spectrum analyzer anymore since I retired. Might fire up a Sdrplay and take a look at the L band spectrum. My SNR is good so is not really a problem.

A majority of the older smart meters are on 900 MHz. Would be interesting to look at the meter spectrum. Some of the newer meters are on higher frequencies and tied into utility networks with nodes located on streetlights.

Ta @Mudflap & @ki4its
The answer to logging the SMR is in Slylark V1.0
Waaaay ago in this thread @Abhishek said:
"Also,
for people who would like to log/plot the tuner stats,
http://(CHIP ip address)/DIRECT/getTunerStatus
should give you everything you need. "

I will see what I can do to start logging this BUT I am travelling from tomorrow, and operating my “suff” by remote control, so I may not be able to do it for a while . (I have to get back to packing LOL!)

I see the SNR change significantly throughout the day even though the signal strength is relatively steady.

After sunrise, it will generally be around 5-6, peaking at 7 or so around noon, then drop through the afternoon, and bottom out at about 3-4 in the early evening to around 10pm when it jumps back to 5-7.

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agree fully. im not so much concerned of the center frequency or the harmonics of the smart meters (or whatever other source it may be). In my experience, when dealing with cheaper un-shielded electronics just having an emitter in close proximity is enough to setup oscillations
in the circuits as well as cause front end (receiver) overload. ie: receive degradation. Same concept that jammers (of certain types) induce.

If you are python inclined…

Here is a quick solution to your logging using the values from the OUTERNET API without using the User Interface.

import requests
ts = requests.get(‘http://10.0.0.1/DIRECT/getTunerStatus’).json()
print ts['result][‘rssi’]
print ts [‘result’][‘snr’]

save this as a .py file.
if using linux you can run this every N seconds in a terminal with the following. Assuming you named your file TunerStatus.py

in terminal type:
watch -n 1 python TunerStatus.py
and hit enter. This will allow viewing the values in real time. If you want to log the values to a text file then you would type:

watch -n 1 python TunerStatus.py > logfilename.txt
which will save a text file in the directory in which you are running this command.

This will display the values every second