RadarBox24 Release their XRange RTL-SDR ADS-B Receiver

The team at radarbox24.com recently wrote in and wanted to share some new developments including news about their recently released RadarBox XRange receiver, which is an RTL-SDR based ADS-B receiver. Radarbox24 are an ADS-B aggregation flight tracking website, similar to sites like flightaware.com and flightradar24.com.

The RadarBox XRange receiver costs $649.95 USD and is available on their store. The box appears to include a full computing unit as well as a custom RTL-SDR receiver, and a built in filter and LNA as well. It is sold as a set that includes receiver, power supply, antenna and cabling. Compared to setting up an ADS-B receiver on your own by purchasing an RTL-SDR, ADS-B LNA/Filter, Antenna and Raspberry Pi separately, the XRange is well over three times more expensive. But it may have some value as an easy to set up and ready to go ADS-B receive system. They write:

1- We have release the brand new RadarBox app for iOS and Android where data sharers are able to see what what their own stations receive using the MyStation feature.

2- We've released the brand new RadarBox XRange receiver, RTL SDR based whcih is being sold and placed all over the world to increase network coverage.

3- Our RadarBox24.com flight tracking portal reached 3 millions viewers per month and, together with our apps, is growing really fast by providing an easy way for Raspberry Pi owners or users with our XRange and Micro RadarBox receivers to share flight data with us and benefit from a free Business account.

More information:
- Link to our Store where users can buy the XRange receiver and accessories below:
https://www.radarbox24.com/store

- Link to a real-time listing of newly added stations (Raspberry pi, XRange and all other supported receivers)
https://www.radarbox24.com/stations/new-units

- Link for users to install our software on their Raspberry Pi receivers and start sharing data with us (we get up to 5 new added units added to our network daily):
https://www.radarbox24.com/raspberry-pi

- Link to our worldwide station ranking:
https://www.radarbox24.com/stations

- Link to our MyStation, available to data sharers, where they can monitor their own station aircraft, stats and received aircraft listing:
Example for Texas, US: https://www.radarbox24.com/stations/EXTRPI009148
Example for Sweden: https://www.radarbox24.com/stations/EXTRPI006084
Example for Doha Qatar: https://www.radarbox24.com/stations/PGANRB300567

- The MyStation feature is also available on the Android and iOS apps so users can monitor their stations remotely.

XRange Receiver Set
XRange Receiver Set
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Reviews and Assembly Videos of our SDRplay RSP1A Metal Enclosure Upgrade Set

Over on YouTube we've seen several reviews and installation videos of our SDRplay RSP1A metal enclosure + portable antenna set that we released for sale back in July of this year. The set comes with a metal enclosure, carry case, and a bonus 7m portable wire antenna spool and telescopic antenna. It costs US$29.95 including shipping and is available on our store or via Amazon.

The first review is by Tysonpower. His review is in German, but English subtitles are available on YouTube. In the review he notes that interference appears to be reduced with the metal case, and notes that the SDR is better protected against bumps.

[EN subs] RSP1A Metallgehäuse - ShortReview

We've also seen a review by Danny Shortwave And Radio DX which also shows the assembly process and shows how easy it is to transfer the PCB from the plastic case to the metal case.

Metal Case Upgrade for SDRPlay RSP1 and RSP1A from Amazon

Finally the third video by Koptervision also shows an unboxing, review and assembly timelapse.

SDRPlay Metal Case Upgrade - Unboxing and Assembly

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Creating a Passive Traffic Radar with DVB-T Signals and KerberosSDR our 4-tuner Coherent RTL-SDR

KerberosSDR is our upcoming low cost 4-tuner coherent RTL-SDR. With four antenna inputs it can be used as a standard array of four individual RTL-SDRs, or in coherent applications such as direction finding, passive radar and beam forming. More information can be found on the KerberosSDR main post. Please remember to sign up to our KerberosSDR mailing list on the main post or at the end of this post, as subscribers will receive a discount coupon valid for the first 100 pre-order sales. The list also helps us determine interest levels and how many units to produce.

In this post we'll show KereberosSDR being used as a passive traffic radar. Passive radar works by using an already existing transmitter such as a FM, DAB, TV or GSM and listening to the reflections of those signals created by moving objects like aircraft, boats and cars. A simple passive radar consists of two directional antennas. One antenna points at the 'reference' transmitter (the transmitting tower), and the other towards the 'surveillance' area that you want to monitor. The result is a speed vs distance plot that shows all the moving objects.

For this test we parked our car to the side of a highway and pointed a cheap DVB-T Yagi antenna towards a DVB-T transmission tower, and another cheap Yagi down the road. The video shown below displays the results captured over a 5 minute period. The blips on the top half of the display indicate vehicles closing on our location (positive doppler shift), and the blips on the bottom half indicate objects moving away (negative doppler shift). 

DVB-T Antennas In Car
DVB-T Antennas In Car

The resolution of each individual vehicle is not great, but it is sufficient to see the overall speed of the highway and could be used to determine if a road is experiencing traffic slowdowns or not. When larger vehicles pass by it is also obvious on the display by the brighter blip that they show. The display also shows us that the highway direction coming towards us is much busier than the direction moving away.

In the future we'll be working on optimizing the code so that the display updates much faster and smoother. It may also be possible in the future to use the third and fourth tuners to obtain even greater object resolution.

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Othernet (formerly Outernet) Updates Lantern Backers

Othernet (formerly known as Outernet) are a providers of a free data service broadcast from satellites. They hope to build a system and low cost satellite receiver products where people can easily stream free daily data such as news, videos, books, and live audio down to a computer or phone from anywhere in the world via a device called a Lantern. It is a one way download only service, but may be useful for those in areas with limited internet, disaster preppers, or people in countries with internet censorship. The describe their mission as:

Othernet's mission is to build a universal information service; a truly pervasive multi-media service that operates in the most remote places and functions even when nothing else does.

In the past they ran a trial service on L-band satellite frequencies and used RTL-SDR dongles as the receiver. They have since discontinued that service in favor of a new Ku-band LoRa based service which can provide much more data - up to 200MB a day. The update released today was sent to Lantern backers, which was the receiver they crowdfunded for in their Kickstarter back in 2014. The update notes that the final iteration of the Lantern is close to being ready.

Broadcasting Khan Academy 24/7

Hello Backers,

Yes, we are still here. It’s been a long while since the last update, but that does not mean we have stopped–or even slowed–working on Lantern. We have been making progress, though it has been much, much slower than what everyone wants. Fortunately, we are in the final stage of development.

The last update described the new network technology we had developed. Our original goal was to broadcast 20 MB of content per day, which is what we were doing with our previous network. The new system is operating at 10-times that speed, which is a little over 20kbps and 200 MB of content per day. Some of the work we’ve been doing over the past few months is related to tripling our current download speeds. Our target is 60kbps, which results in over 600 MB per day. The size of the device will be similar to a standard flashlight.

At our current download speed of 20kbps, we are broadcasting both data and a 24/7 audio stream. I know many of you were interested in the educational applications that were highlighted during the campaign, which is why I’m very pleased to share that we are currently broadcasting the entirety of Khan Academy as a 24/7 audio stream. The Khan Academy library consists of over 900 separate lectures, which we’ve turned into a giant audio playlist. Now we just need to get Lanterns into everyone’s hands.

The next update will include a picture of our final antenna design. The antenna that is currently included in our DIY kit is 2-inches/5-cm across and the shape of a cone. We are trying to flatten the cone and also increase the size to about 4-inches/10-cm, which is what allows for greater download speeds. Since we are operating at microwave frequencies (12 GHz), both the design of the antenna and the parts to convert the high frequency to a lower one are pretty tricky. Microwave engineering is widely considered black magic, which is the main reason for the long break since the last update. We are close to turning the corner and are targeting the end of the year for our initial production run.

Unrelated to our technical work is our recent name change. We had been fighting a trademark issue for the past four years. We recently decided that it made more financial sense to change our name, rather than continue spending legal fees to defend our position. We are now Othernet (http://othernet.is). This name change does not mean we are going away, nor does it mean we are not delivering Lanterns. It’s just a legal hiccup.

Thanks for your patience and support while we get through the final stage of building what you all backed several years ago. I know it’s been a long time and we are making every possible effort to deliver something that exceeds everyone’s original expectations. Although it’s taking three times longer to develop and ship the product, what we now have will be ten-times more useful.

Outernet Dreamcatcher - Precursor to the Lantern
Outernet Dreamcatcher - Precursor to the Lantern
 
[As seen on the swling Post blog]
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YouTube Video Demonstrates GOES Weather Satellite Reception

On The Thought Emporium YouTube channel a new video has been uploaded showing the full disk images of the earth that they've been able to receive from GOES geosynchronous weather satellites. Over the past couple of years GOES satellite reception has become much easier for hobbyists to achieve with the release of the NooElec SAWbird LNA+Filter, information on how to use a cheap 2.4 GHz WiFi grid antenna for reception and the release of free open source decoder software. It was also shown that an RTL-SDR dongle is sufficient for receiving these images as well. With all these new developments it is now possible to build a GOES receiving station for under $100.

The Thought Emporium video blurb reads:

In the fall of 2016 I saw my first rocket launch and little did I know that the satellite on that rocket would come to shape and fill my thoughts for many years. We're no strangers to getting data out of space on this channel, but GOES-16 is special, and not just because I was there when it left earth. Unlike the satellites we looked at in the past, GOES is in geostationary orbit and has an amazing suite of cameras and sensors on board. While it's a bit harder to receive data from GOES the extra effort is absolutely worth it, especially because it can see then entire globe all at once and send out those images in stunning high resolution. And it even comes with the added bonus of rebroadcast data from other satellites giving us a view of the opposite side of the planet as well.

In this video we go through the hardware and software needed to receive these gorgeous images and what is contained in the signals we receive.

Pulling Clear Images Directly Off Satellites | GOES-15,16,17 and Himawari 8 HRIT

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Locating a Radio Transmitter with Direction Finding Techniques and KerberosSDR our 4-Tuner Coherent RTL-SDR

KerberosSDR is our upcoming low cost 4-tuner coherent RTL-SDR. With four antenna inputs it can be used as a standard array of four individual RTL-SDRs, or in coherent applications such as direction finding, passive radar and beam forming. More information can be found on the KerberosSDR main post. Please remember to sign up to our KerberosSDR mailing list on the main post or at the end of this post, as subscribers will receive a discount coupon valid for the first 100 pre-order sales. The list also helps us determine interest levels and how many units to produce.

In this post we'll show an experiment that we performed which was to pinpoint the location of a transmitter using KerberosSDR's coherent direction finding capabilities. RF direction finding is the art of using equipment to determine the location of a transmitting signal. The simplest way is by using a directional antenna like a Yagi to try and determine the bearing based on signal strength. Another method is using a pseudo-doppler or coherent array of antennas to determine a bearing based on phase information.

For the test we tuned the KerberosSDR RTL-SDRs to listen to a signal at 858 MHz and then drove to multiple locations to take direction readings. The antennas were set up as a linear array of four dipole antennas mounted on the windshield of a car. To save space, the dipoles were spaced at approximately a 1/3 the frequency wavelength, but we note that optimal spacing is at half a wavelength. The four dipole antennas were connected to KerberosSDR, with a laptop running the direction finding demo software. 

Low cost direction finding array mounted to vehicle windshield.
Low cost direction finding array mounted to vehicle windshield.

Our open source demo software (to be released later when KerberosSDR ships) developed by Tamás Peto gives us a graph and compass display that shows the measured bearing towards the transmitter location. The measured bearing is relative to the antenna array, so we simply convert it by taking the difference between the car's bearing (determined approximately via road direction and landmarks in Google Earth) and the measured bearing. This hopefully results in a line crossing near to the transmitter. Multiple readings taken at different locations will end up intersecting, and where the intersection occurs is near to where the transmitter should be. 

KerberoSDR SDR Directing Finding DOA Reading
KerberoSDR SDR Directing Finding DOA Reading

In the image below you can see the five bearing measurements that we made with KerberosSDR. Four lines converge to the vicinity of the transmitter, and one diverges. The divergent reading can be explained by multipath. In that location the direct path to the transmitter was blocked by a large house and trees, so it probably detected the signal as coming in from the direction of a reflection. But regardless with four good readings it was possible to pinpoint the transmitting tower to within 400 meters.

In the future we hope to be able to automate this process by using GPS and/or e-compass data to automatically draw bearings on a map as the car moves around. The readings could also be combined with signal strength heatmap data for improved accuracy.

This sort of capability could be useful for finding the transmit location of a mystery signal, locating a lost beacon, locating pirate or interfering transmitters, determining a source of noise, for use during fox hunts and more.

KerberosSDR pinpointing a transmitters location
KerberosSDR pinpointing a transmitters location
KerberosSDR Prototype
KerberosSDR Prototype

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Grid-2-Audio: Analyzing the Mains Electrical Grid Waveform with a PC Soundcard

Over on Hackaday and Hackaday.io we've seen an interesting project by David Scholten called "Grid-2-Audio". The project's goal is to build a safe device for monitoring the mains electrical grid waveform via a power jack and PC soundcard. This is essentially an SDR, with the soundcard acting as the ADC for the 50Hz grid signal, and Grid-2-Audio acting as a safety isolator and signal preconditioner. About why you might want to monitor the mains power signal, David writes:

There is a lot to be observed from the waveform of the electrical mains. Harmonics, transient changes, periodic fluctuations, frequency shifts, impedance, power line communications - These all give clues as to the state of the country's electrical transmission system (or what loads your neighbour has connected). Platforms like MATLAB allow for the easy analysis of waveforms through powerful software tools, but only once the signal has been acquired. 

The final product will be a black box with mains plug and a 3.5mm audio jack ready to plug into your soundcard. In order to make the device safe, mains isolation transformers are used as well as good PCB design practices that isolate live and safe areas on the PCB. In the design care is also taken to maintain signal integrity and to not introduce noise by ensuring that the power supply draws minimal sinusoidal current, and is in phase with the voltage.

Grid-2-Audio PCB Rendering
Grid-2-Audio PCB Rendering
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New Products in Our Store: Wideband LNA + Spare V3 Metal Enclosures

We've just released two new products in our store. The first is a low cost general purpose wideband LNA and the second is some spare RTL-SDR V3 aluminum enclosures. The wideband LNA is currently available for shipping from our Chinese warehouse and will be available on Amazon in a few days time. It costs US$17.95 including worldwide free shipping. The spare aluminum enclosure is only available from our Chinese warehouse and costs US$5.95.

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Wideband LNA

The Wideband LNA is based on the Qorvo SPF5189Z LNA chip (datasheet pdf) which has the following declared specs:

  • Frequency range of 50 MHz to 4000 MHz
  • Noise figure = 0.6dB @ 900 MHz
  • OIP3 = 39.5 dBm @ 900 MHz
  • P1 Saturation = 22.7 dBm @ 1960 MHz
  • Gain = 18.7 dB @ 900 MHz

Compared to most of the other SPF5189Z LNAs found on eBay, our wideband LNA comes standard with a full conductive metal case, includes ESD protection on the antenna input, and is by default powered via 3 - 5V bias tee power. Our RTL-SDR Blog V3 dongles have a 4.5V bias tee built in, so they can be used to power this LNA. Direct power can be enabled simply by changing a jumper position, and removing the metal case.

This is a general purpose wideband LNA. It is useful for reducing the noise figure and thus increasing SNR, and for overcoming coax loss on all supported frequencies between 50 - 4000 MHz. However, because it is wideband you may need additional filtering if you have strong overloading signals in your area. If you're mostly interested in improving ADS-B reception, then we instead recommend our Triple Filtered ADS-B LNA which is also available at our store. The specs of the SPF5189Z are similar to that of PGA-103+ or PSA4-5043+ based LNAs. In the image slider below we compare the gain with the LNA4ALL which is a PSA4-5043+ based LNA.

Spare Aluminum Enclosure

The second product is some spare RTL-SDR Blog V3 aluminum enclosure. A few readers of this blog contacted us as they found RTL-SDR V3 enclosures to be a good fit (after being cut down to size) for home made filters, other LNAs and for FlightAware dongles. Our spare enclosures come with two SMA side panels, and one USB side panel. There is only limited stock of this product at the moment. Note that we're not including a thermal pad, since FlightAware dongles do not require additional cooling since they operate at 1.09 GHz. Additional cooling via thermal pad is only needed for stable operation when using RTL-SDRs above ~1.5 GHz.

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