A few days ago we posted a review on the Outernet LNA which can can be used to help receive their new L-band service signal. Their LNA uses a filter which restricts the frequency range from 1525 – 1559 MHz as this is the range in which the Outernet signals are located.
Additional Note Regarding the Downconverter: Also, it appears that the Outernet downconverter prototype that we posted about back in May has unfortunately been discontinued indefinitely and will not enter mass production. For now the LNA is the best option for receiving their signal.
The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) is a weather satellite placed in geosynchronous orbit (same position in the sky all the time) which is used for weather forecasting, severe storm tracking and meteorology research. It transmits full disk images of the earth on its Low Rate Information Transmission (LRIT) signal, and weather data images and text on its Emergency Managers Weather Information Network (EMWIN) signal. EMWIN is a service for emergency managers that provides weather forecasts, warnings, graphics and other information in real time.
In his post devnulling writes about receiving GOES:
GOES LRIT runs at 1691.0 MHz , EMWIN is at 1692.7 MHz and is broadcasted from GOES-13 and GOES-15. GOES-14 is currently in a backup position to take over in either fails.
For the hardware side, it is recommended to use roughly a 1.2m or larger dish, depending upon how far north you are, you may need a 1.8m dish (larger the better). Repurposed FTA or C-band dishes are easy to come by and work well.
I made a 5 turn helical feed with some 12ga copper wire and a piece of copper plate, and used this calculator to design it – https://jcoppens.com/ant/helix/calc.en.php
I have a short run of coax into the LNA/Filter box. The first LNA is a TriQuint TQP3M9037 which has a very low noise figure (0.3 dB NF and 22 dB gain at 1.7 GHz).
That is ran into a Lorch 1675 MHz filter (150 MHz pass band), then a LNA4ALL and another Lorch before going over a 30ft run of RG-6 to the SDR.
I am using @usa_satcom (twitter.com/usa_satcom, usa-satcom.com)’s LRIT Decoder and that feeds into XRIT2PIC to produce the images and other data streams. By default the decoder only works with the Airspy, but with a custom GNU Radio UDP block, it can be fed with other SDRs like the BladeRF/USRP/SDR Play. A regular R820T(2) RTL probably won’t work because of the higher frequency (rtls tend to not work above 1.5 GHz) and 8 bit ADC. I’m going to try and use the Outernet e4k to see if I can pickup the EMWIN signal in the near future.
EMWIN is broadcasted on 1692.7 MHz, along with being encoded in the LRIT stream at 1691 MHz. The 1692.7 MHz signal is stronger and narrower, so it is easier to pickup. For decoding EMWIN I used @usa_satcom’s EMWIN decoder that piped data into WxEmwin/MessageClient/Weather Message Server from http://weathermessage.com.
LRIT will contain the full disk images from GOES-15, and relayed images from GOES-13 and Himawari-8. It will also included zoomed in pictures of the USA, and northern/southern hemispheres. The images will be visible light, water vapor and infrared. The full disk images are transmitted every 3 hours, with the other images more often. EMWIN will contain other weather data, text, charts, and reports.
It seems as though it may be possible to receive LRIT and EMWIN signals with an RTL-SDR since the signals are at 1690 MHz, which should be covered by cooled R820T2 and E4000 dongles. The only hardware requirements would be a 1m+ dish, 1690 MHz L-band feed, and an LNA + filter.
In 2017 these satellites are due to be replaced by new ones that will use a HRIT signal, which will be about 1 MHz. New software to decode this signal will be required then, but we assume the same hardware could still be used as the frequency is not due to change significantly.
Please note that the decoding software is only available by directly contacting usa-satcom, and devnulling writes that you must have the proper equipment and be able to show that you can receive the signal first before attempting to contact him.
GOES Full Disk ImageOne of several received EMWIN images
Over on YouTube user icholakov shows a video where he compares our new RTL-SDR V3 dongles with direct sampling against an SDRplay and Icom 7100. The video shows reception at various HF frequencies on AM shortwave, time signals and SSB signals during day time reception. The performance seems to be fairly decent, but of course not as good as the more expensive SDRplay or Icom receivers.
Today LabVIEW and RTL-SDR user Albert Lederer wrote in to let us know that he’s created a new LabVIEW interface for the RTL-SDR. LabVIEW is a visual programming language which is used commonly by engineers and scientists to quickly build applications for things like product testing, system monitoring, instrument control etc.
Currently there is already a LabVIEW interface for the RTL-SDR available called sdrLab. However sdrLab uses rtl_tcp for communication which can cause poor responsiveness and issues with corporate firewalls. Albert’s solution is instead a wrapper for rtlsdr.dll which allows LabVIEW to gain direct access to the RTL-SDR.
On his post Albert has created a write up that explains how his driver works, and how it can be used with LabVIEW. Keep an eye on Alberts future posts, as he writes that he intends to post a part two, where he will show how to attach an RTL-SDR to an NI myRIO.
Recently we posted news that Outernet had released their 1.5 GHz LNA, Patch Antenna and E4000 Elonics RTL-SDR + E4000/LNA Bundle. When used together, the products can be used to receive the Outernet L-band satellite signal, as well as other decodable L-band satellite signals like AERO and Inmarsat STD-C EGC. Outernet is a new satellite service that aims to be a free “library in the sky”. They continuously broadcast services such as news, weather, videos and other files from satellites.
EDIT: For international buyers the Outernet store has now started selling these products at http://store.outernet.is.
A few days ago we received the LNA and patch antenna for review. The patch antenna is similar to the one we received a while ago when writing our STD-C EGC tutorial, although this one is now slightly larger. It is roughly 12 x 12 cm in size, 100g heavy and comes with about 13 cm of high quality RG316 coax cable with a right angled SMA male connector on the end. The coax cable is clamped on the back for effective strain relief.
The Outernet patch antenna and LNA
The LNA is manufactured by NooElec for Outernet. It amplifies with 34 dB gain from 1525 – 1559 MHz, with its center frequency at 1542 MHz. It must be powered via a 3 – 5.5V bias tee and draws 25 mA. The package consists of a 5 x 2.5 cm PCB board with one female and one male SMA connector. The components are protected by a shielding can. Inside the shielding can we see a MAX12000 LNA chip along with a TA1405A SAW filter. The MAX12000 (datasheet here) is an LNA designed for GPS applications and has a NF of 1 dB. It has a design where there are two amplifiers embedded within the chip, and it allows you to connect a SAW filter in between them. The TA1405A SAW filter appears to be produced by Golledge (datasheet here), and it has about a 3 dB insertion loss.
The Outernet L-Band LNAInside the Outernet LNA
We tested the patch and LNA together with one of our V3 RTL-SDR Blog dongles, with the bias tee turned on. The LNA was connected directly to the dongle, with no coax in between. The patch antenna was angled to point towards the Inmarsat satellite. A 5 meter USB extension cord was then used to interface with a PC. The images below demonstrate the performance we were able to get.
The Outernet team writes that a SNR level of only 2 dB is needed for decoding to work on their signal. With the patch and LNA we were able to get at least 12 dB so this is more than good enough. Other signals such as AERO and STD-C EGC also came in very strongly. Even when not angled at the satellite and placed flat on a table it was able to receive the signal with about 5 dB’s of SNR.
In conclusion the patch and LNA worked very well at receiving the Outernet signal as well as AERO and STD-C EGC. We think these products are great value for money if you are interested in these L-Band signals, and they make it very easy to receive. The only minor problem with the patch antenna is that there is no stand for it, which makes it difficult to mount in a way that faces the satellite. However this issue can easily be fixed with some sellotape and your own mount.
In the future once the Outernet Rpi3 OS and decoder image is released we hope to show a demonstration and tutorial on receiving Outernet data.
Over on YouTube user Full spectrum technician has uploaded an interested video where he shows how he used a beam deflection tube to create an upconverter for his RTL-SDR. A beam deflection tube is a type of vacuum tube that can be used as a mixer. If you aren’t aware, a vacuum tube (a.k.a tube or valve) is an electrical component that was used in electrical equipment heavily back in the first half of the 1900’s. They could be used to implement circuits like amplifiers, mixers, switches, oscillators and more. Even today they are still used in some high end audio equipment because many people believe they produce superior audio quality. Full spectrum technician writes on his video:
A simple test using a 6ME8 beam deflection tube as a balanced mixer up converter for an RTL-SDR to enable HF reception.
The only problem I had was too much conversion gain. Even with a relatively short antenna, and literally starving the tube for voltage, the signal output levels were high enough that I had to crank back the gain of the RTL SDR and/or use padding on the input of the RTL-SDR.
The LO was feed to grid 1 for common mode input. The antenna was feed to the two deflection plates via a transformer as a differential input. The output was taken from the two anode plates via a transformer as a differential output.
That resulted in the LO balancing it’s self out on the output so that the LO would not overload the front end of the receiver.
Operating voltages at the time were.. 20V anode. 5V deflection plates. 20V accelerator grid. Cathode tied to ground.
Using a beam deflection vacuum tube as a mixer for an RTL-SDR up converter.
Over on his blog Akos has posted a review of the Soft66RTL3. The Soft66RTL3 is an RTL-SDR which is retrofitted with an upconverter, filters and HF RF amp. It is produced by Kazunori Miura (JA7TDO) who is based in Japan and it sells for $40 USD shipped, or $46 USD shipped with registered air mail. Previously we posted Mike Ladds review of the Soft66RTL3 here.
In his review Akos shows us the features of the Soft66RTL3 which include the switch for selecting between several HF filters, as well as a trimmer pot for adjusting the amount of gain on the HF RF filter. He shows that inside is a nano sized RTL-SDR dongle soldered on to an upconverter board.
Unfortunately it seems Akos discovered some flaws with the unit. He discovered odd frequency drift behavior and poor performance on VHF and UHF. HF performance on the other hand was decent, but still not as good as with an upconverter.
