0 Packets on Goesrecv

[RHOD57]

Hi Jamie. Thanks for replying to me on YTube. Just tried 105 after doing a repair on C++. I'm using Win10. i5 laptop, Nooelec dish and Sawbird, and an newer RTL-SDR v3. SatDump works, but I'd really like to use GoesTools and Sanchez, but am trying to hold off on getting a Raspberry Pi. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks again.

[JVital2013]

Looks like the SDR is getting no signal.

How are you powering the SawBird? If you're using Bias-T power from the RTL-SDR, you need to activate the Bias-T in goesrecv. Open the config\goesrecv-rtlsdr.conf file and edit the [rtlsdr] section so it looks like this:

[rtlsdr]
frequency = 1694100000
sample_rate = 2400000
gain = 5
bias_tee = true

Then try again

[JVital2013]

Looks right to me (I edited your post to fix the formatting). Do you have a second RTL-SDR connected by chance it might be activating by accident?

[RHOD57]

Nope. The one dongle is the only thing attached to the laptop. I am stumped.

[JVital2013]

Yeah, I'm a bit stumped too. Does the light turn on on the SAWBird when using satdump? Does it also turn on when using goesrecv? If it turns on for both (which it should) it will say for sure if the Bias-T is activating for both.

I don't actually have an SDR with a switchable Bias-T to test - that's why I'm suspicious of it. Mine are all either always-on, or no Bias-T at all.

I do have confirmation from some other individuals that their Bias-T setting does work with Goestools for Window, so maybe we're barking up the wrong tree, but it's the obvious first thing to hammer away at.

You're absolutely not a PITA - we're all learning together (as long as you're willing 😀)

[RHOD57]

The Sawbird led does react accordingly to the switching in SatDump, and with GOESTools. I also tried powering the Sawbird via USB using a 5v battery power supply. Unfortunately makes no difference.

[JVital2013]

If the LED turns on with goestools, then I know that's working, which is good (I think).

Some thoughts:

• Did you try the 32 bit version? Or the 64-bit version, if you've been trying 32-bit all along. Not that it should make a difference.

• You mentioned it's an i5 laptop - do you have the exact CPU model? It says if you right-click on your start button and click System. I'd like to run some tests on a similar model. Here's mine (you do not need a CPU anywhere near this new):

  

• Also, can you send me the exact Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime version you're running? I'd like to test it - I'm guessing you already have the newest though. It should say in add/remove programs. If the 32-bit and 64-bit versions are different, that is of interest.

  

[RHOD57]

I have both 32 and 64 bit C++ and goestools installed. Tried running both versions. No difference.
Here's the C++

And the CPU

At the risk of being repetitious, Thank You!

[RHOD57]

Just because I can, I strung a long cable and connected my desktop to the dish. Tried two different RTL-SDR v3s. One silver, one black.
Still no packets from either 32 or 64 bit versions, but was getting 3 dB SNR from SatDump.

[JVital2013]

Your PC specs look fine - more than enough, really. I think we need to be able to see what goesrecv is seeing. That's one nice thing about SatDump - it gives you a nice FFT/Waterfall.

Goestools can't give us that natively, but we can make it work with another utility I wrote called goesbetween, coupled with another SDR program like SDR#, SDR++, or even SatDump. This would let us see the spectrum goesrecv is working with, and try to work out why it's not locking onto the signal.

The full documentation is over on the repo, but a lot of it can be skipped because the default goestools-win config has support for goesbetween turned on, and everything is running on the same machine.

In this situation, here's what to do:

1. Download the latest goesbetween build at https://github.com/JVital2013/goesbetween/releases. Extract the zip

2. Connect your dish/sdr to your laptop and start goesrecv. If prompted, make sure you allow it to access your network

3. Start goesbetween. If prompted, make sure you allow it to access your network. This program will "bridge" SDR samples from goesrecv to an SDR program.

4. Start the SDR program of your choice. Use "RTL-TCP" as the source, and set the IP to 127.0.0.1. It runs on the default RTL-TCP port of 1234, and the sample rate should match the sample rate set in goesrecv-rtlsdr.conf (usually 2.4MHz). Here it is running on my machine:

   

It's important to note that you can't actually use this to change the frequency of goesrecv - the number "tuned" in your SDR program is ignored by goesbetween, and the frequency in your goesrecv config is used.

From here, it's easier to chase down the problem. Does your signal look like mine? Is it completely missing? If you connect SatDump to goesbetween like you see in the main goesbetween readme, can it decode the signal fine?

I hope this makes sense - let me know if you have any questions!

[RHOD57]

SUCCESS!!
After I followed your instructions, I could hear RF received by goestools, but there was no modulation. I cranked the gain up to 50 in the config file and voila! 0 dropped packets!! I'm now tweaking to see what gain # will work best for the least amount of errors. Vits are in the 350-400 range and the dish is sitting in my livingroom. Goesproc is happily writing files as I type this. For some reason I didn't think to crank the gain past 10 in my earlier efforts. Duh....
Thanks so much for all your efforts. Very much appreciated.

[JVital2013]

Glad to hear it was that easy! It's amazing how seeing the spectrum can help :). I'll mark this as solved, so others on the same journey can see a solution.