RTL-SDR Dongle/HackRF SDR-Console + DSD+, doesn't seem to work

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merger

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I'm probably missing something. It seems like there is an awful lot of noise on the signal when I listen through the speaker, but all the tutorials just say to pipe it into the virtual audio jack and magic happens. No magic is happening for me.

I can hear a bit of the signal under the noise, but I'm not really sure how to get a cleaner signal, test signal to help with tuning.

I'm using SDR Console v3, I'm getting signals, I can tune to FM and get audio through there, although I still hear a bit of noise on the signal.

I tune to a local repeater, or at least what I think is a repeater in the Atlanta area. Nothing seems to work.

The DSDPlus settings I'm using are just for the virtual line input -i2 on my setup.

Any advice or what I might be doing wrong, or something to try would be helpful. The tutorials and videos were not helpful since they are assuming assuming something that I appear to be missing.
 

slicerwizard

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It's hard to know what you're missing. Public safety systems usually have fairly strong signals - try them and get back to us with more details.
 

Ubbe

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Try to set the gain so that the noise floor is at -60 to -50dBm and use NFM to see if that makes the signal any better.

/Ubbe
 

merger

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Thank you, I'll give that a shot tonight when I get back to my setup. I also read that there might be some latency in the SDR-Console setup, sometimes the audio has a little stutter. I'll try a few things tonight and update on what I try and if i get anywhere. Thanks for the help.
 

merger

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I set the LNA to 40dB and VGA to 20db. That seems to be a stronger signal. It's right around -60dBm.
Are there any particular settings I should try on DSDPlus?

Right now I'm just giving it the audio port for input and speaker for output. The waveform seems to be coming in.

If I try the -fr options I get this:
Sync:+DMR
+DMR CACH ERR slot1 BS DATA ERR3 DCC=1 Data Header
Sync: no sync
Sync:+DMR
+DMR CACH ERR slot1 BS DATA ERR3 DCC=1 Data Header
Sync:+DMR
+DMR CACH ERR slot1 BS DATA ERR3 DCC=5 Unknown TypeE
Sync: no sync
Sync:+DMR
+DMR CACH ERR slot1 BS DATA ERR3 DCC=4 MBC Header
Sync: no sync
Sync:+DMR
+DMR CACH ERR slot1 BS DATA ERR3 DCC=1 Data Header
Sync: no sync
Sync:+DMR
+DMR slot1 BS DATA ERR3 DCC=5 Unknown TypeF
Sync:+DMR
+DMR CACH ERR slot1 BS DATA ERR3 DCC=1 Data Header
Sync: no sync
Sync:+DMR
+DMR CACH ERR slot1 BS DATA ERR3 DCC=1 Data Header
Sync:+DMR
+DMR CACH ERR slot1 BS DATA ERR3 DCC=1 Data Header

Sort of lost.
 

Ubbe

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Audio stutter is often a sign of not enough CPU power.
You can see the spike of the carrier on the spectrum display or is the signal too weak?
Run the dsdtune program to get the correct parameters for your setup.

/Ubbe
 

merger

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May 6, 2017
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If I was to build/setup a rig. What should I get? I have the HackRF, I have a decent laptop. I prefer linux, but seems like most tools use Windows.

I can't seem to get my current rid up and running effectively. I like the HackRF because it can support frequencies up to 6GHz out of the box, but I think it might need some pre-filtering/tuning to get clean signals.

I'm open to getting more gear if it helps. I'm interested in digging into digital voice, air traffic control data, other interesting signals. Maybe even satellite signal decoding, like NASA imagery.
 
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