Dongle(s) keep disconnecting than reconnect

[bravo14]

I bought some new SDR Dongles a few months back Amazon.com: 0.1MHz-1.7GHz TCXO RTL SDR Receiver R820t2 USB RTL-SDR Dongle with 0.5ppm TCXO SMA MJZSEE A300U Tester - Silver: Electronics the past few days one will disconnect than reconnect than disconnect and windows don't see it. I moved the dongles to another port like 15-30 mints later it does it again. I plugged the old dongles back in see what happens. Has anyone having any issues?
I'm using the following
Win 10 Pro x64bit
2 dongles link above
Using a USB 4 port hub both dongles are connect to it. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FEYTEDG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[u2brent]

This is usually caused by a loose USB Port to SDR connection..
I put heavy duty rubber bands around the Dongle and the USB Port (it's an external hub) to keep them secure and prevent them from getting the jiggles. I've occasionally had to reboot the PC so the second SDR is recognized again.

 

[bravo14]

@u2brent I have them flat and nothing is near by to move them I'll try rubber bands see what happens.

 

[u2brent]

I can't explain it, I just know that's what worked for me.

 

[bravo14]

I think the new ones don't have support underneath like the old ones do. I haven't had no issues yet with the old ones since it has they L shape connector holding it up.

 

[chrismol1]

I know for sure I broke a usb port on my pc from an sdr and removing it over and over as well as stress from not supporting the antenna cable. It doesnt work as well as the port next to it. Good thing theres 4 ports. I'm planning on getting an external adapter so I can keep replacing that instead. I think I've wore down the dongle as well. Slight movement will cause it to lose and regain a control channel as I'm watching the TSBKs go back and forth to no sync as the dongle is slightly moved but it doesnt lose connection to the port. Change the port and its fine

 

[IAmSixNine]

FYI, these take up a lot more power than average USB devices.
The usb hub you are using is not externally powered so your trying to power several high power usb devices from a single power source, the computers USB port.
I would suggest NOT using any dongles on a usb hub with out external power. Plug in keyboard and mice and other stuff like that to the hub but plug the dongles direct into a computer USB port.
OR better yet get a powered USB HUB.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DQFGJR4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
this one works. I sent this to a co worker with 3 RTL SDR dongles and in a week of usage he has had no disconnects.

 

[bravo14]

FYI, these take up a lot more power than average USB devices.
The usb hub you are using is not externally powered so your trying to power several high power usb devices from a single power source, the computers USB port.
I would suggest NOT using any dongles on a usb hub with out external power. Plug in keyboard and mice and other stuff like that to the hub but plug the dongles direct into a computer USB port.
OR better yet get a powered USB HUB.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DQFGJR4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
this one works. I sent this to a co worker with 3 RTL SDR dongles and in a week of usage he has had no disconnects.

I used the 4 port with no issues til yesterday & today. So far I got it to stay with rubber bands to hold in place no movement or sliding off.

 

[mwjones]

I've been using a 4 port bus powered hub for 6 months, with 4 radios on it. No issues so far.

Each SDR Radio is rated to draw 500ma of power (the max allowed for a single device on the USB 2 spec), the bus powered hub should be capable of that. The problem is the computer that powers the hub. A modern USB 3 port and hub should be able to handle that easily without external power, although older USB 2 ports may struggle with more than 2 SDR Radios.

My 7 year old laptop with USB 3 ports handles 4 radios on a single hub just fine when mobile.

 

[polkaroo]

I reported similar problem earlier in another forum (DSDPlus - FMP24: reduce swath of monitored spectrum?), and after generously applying contact cleaner and reinserting the dongles a few times to scrape off any remaining oxidization, reliability has been very good... touching the cables sometimes still disconnects the dongles but no longer randomly disconnects.

Measuring with an eBay USB power monitoring passthrough dongle, the FlightAware Orange dongles use 110mA idle, and 300mA while active. Most computers will handle up to 1A per port.

The size and weight of the dongles does pose a problem. You can use a short USB extension to take the weight and pressure off the USB ports, but the catch-22 is then you create another point of failure especially with cheap cables.

 

[kruser]

Most computers will handle up to 1A per port.

Be careful with that. The USB 1 and 2 spec called for 500mA max per port. USB 3 increased that to 0.900mA max per port.
Unless a port is designed for higher current which should be listed in the computer or motherboards manual, always assume the lower USB specs rating.

I've seen the voltage from all kinds of USB ports start falling flat on their face when the current consumption starts getting anywhere even close to the spec. An HP business class desktop dropped to under 4 VDC with a load of just 200mA. A higher load shut the port down. That one was useless for running a flightaware orange dongle or any other higher current device.
So beware about assuming specs. They are not created equal.

 

[TheButcher]

I have had problems with broken traces on the dongle itself. Tripping over cords was the culprit!

 

[lwvmobile]

I couldn't even begin to tell you the number of broken USB ports I've seen in my life fixing computers. There are some that are just loose and connectors slip out easily, and then there are the ones where there are just the metal leads left, where something was in there, it got ripped out sideways, took the plastic inside the USB port with it, and the metal casing inside is bent or warped. Also, same for the power jacks on laptops. I have one customer who I've replaced the DC jack on his laptop three different times because he keeps tripping over the wire and snagging it. The last time he did it, I had to replace the hard drive too because the laptop took a nose dive while the drive was spinning.