OKJohnny Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 I have a NooElec SDR & ADS-B USB Set w/ R820T Tuner USA; 1090MHz 1090 MHz RTL2832U RTLSDRNooElec SDR & ADS-B USB Set w/ R820T Tuner USA; 1090MHz 1090 MHz RTL2832U RTLSDR. OS = Windows 7 64bit.... I have the dongle plugged into the back of the computer and the antenna that came with it mounted outside my house. I can pick up air traffic using ADSB# and ADSB Scope. I cannot get any other thing - FM, AM, PS .. anything.. using SDR# ... it sees the dongle, the driver has been updated using zadig. When I start the program, I get a constant signal in the middle of the display and it doesn't move if I change frequency .. it stays centered. There's nothing but static around it and a steady signal when I'm on it. Help! If that's possible. I'm out of options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN.Frank Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 Try to install Kali again. It has Gqrx which is really simple to use and works very well. OR you could try to install Gqrx under Win7 to see if that'll work Hopefully someone will chime in with some ideas. Could be the filter you have set or other settings that's blocking FM radio from coming in. Of course you'll not get AM radio since it's a lower bandwidth then the dongle can decode without an extra card but you should get from 24MHz up to 1700MH or more with that dongle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemachine Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 What is your gain setting under configure? Do you get anything under narrow band? I to get the constant signal in the center when using sdr# but everything else works fine.. also is the blue light on; on the dongle not sure if the NooElec has that. Has it ever worked? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN.Frank Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 (edited) The blue light needs to be on to show that the dongle is getting power. In Gqrx under Audio I set my gain to 20db, squlech is -30db, AGC is fast, Gain is set to auto, FFT settings is 30fps and 4096, DC Cancel is checked as is IQ balance. I also close my FFT and Input Controls since once they're set I don't touch them again. I tune to a wide fm station that I know is a strong station in my area and have my bandwidth set to wide. On narrow FM I get NOAA Weather at 162.393.000MHz, AM is aircraft chatter at around 122-125MHz and CB's.are in the 27MHz range. I did try to install Quisk on a Zorin install that I was playing with and didn't get squat with my dongle so I just went back to Kali since Gqrx is already set up and works great. I'll try to post some pics of my set up so you can see my settings. Edited March 3, 2014 by TN.Frank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemachine Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 This is what mine looks like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OKJohnny Posted March 3, 2014 Author Share Posted March 3, 2014 What is your gain setting under configure? Do you get anything under narrow band? I to get the constant signal in the center when using sdr# but everything else works fine.. also is the blue light on; on the dongle not sure if the NooElec has that. Has it ever worked? Blue light is lit... I've never received FM (or any other audio) ... I can pick up the airplane transponder info using Scope... I've adjusted the gain..etc.. and nothing... I find it strange that I get the signal bump center screen - no matter what frequency I'm tuned to... (see my picture) ... could it be the dongle is malfunctioned? I'd think if it picks up plane info.. it should pick up FM or anything else for that matter... could it be the little antenna that came with the device - that's all they're using at Hak5.... so that wouldn't seem the reason for a total failure. I do appreciate any thoughts .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN.Frank Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 t I get the signal bump center screen - no matter what frequency I'm tuned to... That was the same thing I got with Quisk under Zorin when I installed it. The dongle was working but it was like it wasn't being translated to the decryption program to turn into audio. Not had the least little bit of trouble with Gqrx under Kali. It's about as "plug n play" as I've seen. Might be worth a shot to try and installing Kali again even as a dual boot so you'd get some audio SDR stuff going on. Really though, as long as I have a wifi connection and have Flightradar24 I'm not going to sweat it over not being able to get my ADS-B working since I get that from the Interweb and I can get it from way more places and a much larger area then I ever could with my dongle. Gqrx under Kali gets me 24MHz to 1766MHz of RF that I can play with and that's really the main reason I bought the dongle in the first place. The ADS-B was just going to be a bonus to RF Audio stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemachine Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 I would say you might want to try one of the live Linux distros to rule out you windows configuration. Then you can run the rtl_test to make sure your not getting any loss and you can try the gqrx which is basically the same as sdr# but its based on gnuradio. I'm running the dongle from the hak shop though based on the same hardware I dont know if it comes with the same antenna so it could be something with the antenna or bad hardware if it has never worked. but I would try a live distro first to rule that all out before buying new hardware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OKJohnny Posted March 4, 2014 Author Share Posted March 4, 2014 OK... installed Kali... Followed along Hak5 video on grc... Here's the result - short answer - nothing: <<< Welcome to GNU Radio Companion 3.6.5.1 >>>Loading: "/root/test.grc">>> DoneShowing: "/root/test.grc"Generating: "/root/top_block.py"Executing: "/root/top_block.py"linux; GNU C++ version 4.7.2; Boost_104900; UHD_003.005.003-0-unknownUsing Volk machine: sse3_32_orcgr-osmosdr v0.0.x-xxx-xunknown (0.0.3git) gnuradio 3.6.5.1built-in source types: file fcd rtl rtl_tcp uhd hackrfUsing device #0 Realtek RTL2838UHIDIR SN: 00000001Found Rafael Micro R820T tunerExact sample rate is: 2000000.052982 Hz>>> gr_fir_ccf: using 3DNow!>>> gr_fir_fff: using 3DNow!>>> gr_fir_ccc: using 3DNow!Ext My waterfall is a flat blue... nothing .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemachine Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 (edited) what does rtl_test show, and you can try tuning with the rtl_fm software. rtl_fm -f 96.3e6 -W -s 200000 -r 48000 - | aplay -r 48k -f S16_LE also i would run the adsb rtl command as well and see if your truly getting adsb signels from your dongle. rtl_adsb Edited March 4, 2014 by bluemachine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN.Frank Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Did you try the Gqrx program in Kali? Applications/Kali Linux/Wireless Attacks/Software Defined Radio/gqrx. Open it with the dongle in place and it should auto detect then hit "ok" and it'll open the program. Set it up like I have in my pics above and dial it into a known strong local station to test it out. If you can get it on your radio you should be able to get it on your SDR dongle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OKJohnny Posted March 5, 2014 Author Share Posted March 5, 2014 Well, playing with the gain I did finally get something coming in (FM). Thanks bluemachine and TN.Frank for the guidance. I have an adapter coming to hopefully will help me go up to a better antenna .... Some of the problem may be that - I live in a very rural section of Oklahoma.... I'd like to find how to pick up the local NOAA weather and my local volunteer fire department - any ideas on that? Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN.Frank Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 NOAA Weather Radio is Narrow FM and for me it's 162.393.000MHz for a clear signal. They SAY that they broadcast at 162.400.000MHz but for some reason they're off just a touch. You'd have to look up or call your local volunteer FD to see what Freq. they're using then turn to it. You can crank the gain all the way up to 50 IIRC and adjust the SQL until you pick stuff up. Antennas are everything. The power antenna that I can now use because of the F to Coax converter cable gives me an extra 3db of gain for Wide FM although it's not as good as the stock antenna with the rigged speaker wire antenna for AM 27MHz CB stuff. If you have an antenna on your house for TV you could try hooking the dongle to it with the F to Coax adapter and I'd bet you'd bring in a pretty good signal. Again, check out my pics and see how I have things set up then tweak stuff from there. Talk to ya' later Brother. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etherxrally Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 If you are looking for frequencies in your area check out radioreference.com. Dont be alarmed if the frequencies are off a bit like TN.Frank said. If fact the frequencies are more than likely right on but the sdr isn't. It should be close enough to find the signal anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN.Frank Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Funny thing is that WOW Country, 102.5 FM is spot on the money but NOAA Weather, which is suppose to be 162.400.000MHz narrow FM is off a bit. Still, with the Waterfall and wave form you can tweak in the signal until you get a clean, clear audio broadcast. I find that Gqrx is one of the easiest programs to set up and use. I looked at Quisk and not only didn't it work but I really couldn't understand how to set it up to get it to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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