I've got this very board as well. Have you had any luck? Thanks!
Yes sir
Plenty actually. Mine is a bit flaky, I have to power cycle it to get the Ethernet ports working sometimes. Other than, it works fantastic. Here’s what you need to do to get it to work and talk to your computer:
- get a 6V power supply. I found one in my junk box, it is rated for 3A.
- get at least one, if not two, SFP-to-RJ45 adapters. I got this one from the jungle supply store (
Amazon.com)
- If you are handy with Linux, download Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and install it on a spare computer or as a virtual machine. Do not go a version higher or lower. That is because the version of USRP and GNURadio that shipped with this version have the necessary code to talk to the board's FPGA. After "UHD_3.15.0.0-2build5", the powers that be, removed support for this board. I diff-ed the code from the latest release and tried to back port it but at some point, I gave up. As I recall, it was far easier to just run a dedicated computer/VM for this board. The board doesn't need a very powerful computer, I ended up getting an old/used/mini HP workstation the size of a medium sized book - HP Elitedesk 800 G2. Cost me $50.
Once you have your Linux box setup, connect the board and your computer on the same switch. On the Linux box, you will want to install uhd-host and gnu radio - "
sudo apt-get install uhd-host gnuradio"
For setting up IP addressing, there are lots of useful notes here:
Set your computer's network interface to 192.168.10.1 and then ping 192.168.10.2. If the stars align, you should get ping responses back. One way to tell if the board is cooperating is that there is a green LED next to the SFP connector that will light up if the interface comes up successfully.
If ping responses are good, then run:
$ uhd_usrp_probe
You should see output like so:
[INFO] [UHD] linux; GNU C++ version 9.2.1 20200304; Boost_107100; UHD_3.15.0.0-2build5
[INFO] [N230] N230 initialization sequence...
[INFO] [N230] Setup basic communication...
[INFO] [N230] Version signatures... Firmware:c959dfa FPGA:fde2a94...
[INFO] [N230] Initializing CODEC...
[INFO] [N230] Detecting GPSDO....
[INFO] [GPS] No GPSDO found
[INFO] [N230] Configuring a tick rate of 46.08 MHz...
[INFO] [N230] got 46.08 MHz
_____________________________________________________
/
| Device: N230 Device
| _____________________________________________________
| /
| | Mboard: N230
| | product: 1
| | revision: 1
| | revision_compat: 1
| | serial: 30714FB
| | gateway: 192.168.1.1
| | ip-addr0: 192.168.1.24
| | subnet0: 255.255.255.0
| | mac-addr0: 00:80:2f:19:53:48
| | ip-addr1: 192.168.20.2
| | subnet1: 255.255.255.0
| | mac-addr1: 00:80:2f:19:53:49
| | FW Version: 32.0
| | FPGA Version: 33.0
| | FPGA git hash: fde2a94
| |
| | Time sources: none, external, gpsdo
| | Clock sources: internal, external, gpsdo
| | Sensors: ref_locked
| | _____________________________________________________
| | /
| | | RX DSP: 0
| | |
| | | Freq range: -23.040 to 23.040 MHz
| | _____________________________________________________
| | /
| | | RX DSP: 1
| | |
| | | Freq range: -23.040 to 23.040 MHz
| | _____________________________________________________
| | /
| | | RX Dboard: A
| | | _____________________________________________________
| | | /
| | | | RX Frontend: A
| | | | Name: FE-RX1
| | | | Antennas: TX/RX, RX2
| | | | Sensors: temp, rssi
| | | | Freq range: 50.000 to 6000.000 MHz
| | | | Gain range PGA: 0.0 to 76.0 step 1.0 dB
| | | | Bandwidth range: 200000.0 to 56000000.0 step 0.0 Hz
| | | | Connection Type: IQ
| | | | Uses LO offset: No
| | | _____________________________________________________
| | | /
| | | | RX Frontend: B
| | | | Name: FE-RX2
| | | | Antennas: TX/RX, RX2
| | | | Sensors: temp, rssi
| | | | Freq range: 50.000 to 6000.000 MHz
| | | | Gain range PGA: 0.0 to 76.0 step 1.0 dB
| | | | Bandwidth range: 200000.0 to 56000000.0 step 0.0 Hz
| | | | Connection Type: IQ
| | | | Uses LO offset: No
| | | _____________________________________________________
| | | /
| | | | RX Codec: A
| | | | Name: N230 RX dual ADC
| | | | Gain Elements: None
| | _____________________________________________________
| | /
| | | TX DSP: 0
| | |
| | | Freq range: -23.040 to 23.040 MHz
| | _____________________________________________________
| | /
| | | TX DSP: 1
| | |
| | | Freq range: -23.040 to 23.040 MHz
| | _____________________________________________________
| | /
| | | TX Dboard: A
| | | _____________________________________________________
| | | /
| | | | TX Frontend: A
| | | | Name: FE-TX1
| | | | Antennas: TX/RX
| | | | Sensors: temp
| | | | Freq range: 50.000 to 6000.000 MHz
| | | | Gain range PGA: 0.0 to 89.8 step 0.2 dB
| | | | Bandwidth range: 200000.0 to 56000000.0 step 0.0 Hz
| | | | Connection Type: IQ
| | | | Uses LO offset: No
| | | _____________________________________________________
| | | /
| | | | TX Frontend: B
| | | | Name: FE-TX2
| | | | Antennas: TX/RX
| | | | Sensors: temp
| | | | Freq range: 50.000 to 6000.000 MHz
| | | | Gain range PGA: 0.0 to 89.8 step 0.2 dB
| | | | Bandwidth range: 200000.0 to 56000000.0 step 0.0 Hz
| | | | Connection Type: IQ
| | | | Uses LO offset: No
| | | _____________________________________________________
| | | /
| | | | TX Codec: A
| | | | Name: N230 TX dual DAC
| | | | Gain Elements: None
From this point on, GNU Radio is your friend. Connect a whip antenna to one of the ports, fire up GNU radio and I built a simple FM receiver. Never was so happy to listen to my local station KQED
When I was deep into it (unfortunately, after I set it up, I didn't get much time to play with it), I had a lot more notes somewhere. I had gotten a FPGA programming software tool plugged into it and Ettus documentation also tells you how to update the firmware.
I briefly corresponded with the Ettus founders about it on their mailing list I gathered they weren't very interested in supporting it. From what I understand, the board was a custom product for a specific customer so it isn't a retail or mass produced boards.
If you do get it to run, please do come back and share what have you been able to do with it. I was planning to use it for monitoring the hydrogen line but plans are on hold, haha! Hope this helps and please feel free to ask if you need any further help.
Edit: At the bottom of the Ettus documentation page:
USRP Hardware Driver and USRP Manual: USRP2 and N2x0 Series
They have instructions on how to update the firmware. The latest is "n230_n230_fpga_default-gfde2a94e.zip" bearing md5 hash "5dfb30056b10b9d1f477cd3356ccbdac". For any reason, if you cannot download the firmware using the "uhd_images_downloader" tool, let me know and I can share a copy.
It is not clear to me what you are trying to do with the B230, but SDR Console should work with that hardware. It works great with my B210, the documentation indicates that it should support the B230.
Good luck!
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As you see above, it isn't the "B230" but a custom "N230". If you are curious about the differences, the UHD and Gnu radio code bases have references. Honestly, a lot of it goes way above my head, lol.
.