Ideas for an enhanced MiniTioune.

[G4EWJ]

There are 20 channels in the recommended list for Es'hail-2. There will probably be other combinations as time goes on. To save having to remember them and to reduce QSY time, perhaps there could be a list of channels held in a separate control program that could communicate with MiniTioune. MiniTioune could listen on an IP port and change parameters as commanded.

On the chat system where people announce that they are transmitting and give their parameters, if they also list their parameters in a standard form such as <2408.250,DVB-S,333> this could be cut and pasted into the control program for a quick QSY.

You probably wouldn't need to send all the parameters from the table below, but there may be advantages in limiting the FECs and modulations that MiniTioune looks for.

It may be possible to have some sort of limited scanning facility, so that you don't miss anything.

When MiniTioune locks onto a signal, it could pass the parameters back to the control program, so that the table can be updated.
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If MiniTioune could accept IP commands, it could be controlled from a remote location and the UDP output of MiniTioune could be sent to the remote location. You could leave MiniTioune running while you were at work and let someone in Australia experience Es'Hail-2. Obviously there are lots of considerations, not least security, but it should be technically possible.

Perhaps when you make your MiniTioune externally available, it could log into a BATC server which could allocate your MiniTioune to a remote user on request, via a BATC login.

Brian

[YL3AKC]

Even more!

For one person it is big work.
I would like to see Minitioune source code. This could help to decrease development time for new features and my personal dream "port minitioune to linux" can become reality.

Maybe we need to talk about this on vivadatv forum?

YL3AKC
73!

[G4EWJ]

As I understand it, parts of the MiniTioune system are covered by None Disclosure Agreements, so that is unlikely to happen.

Another way of doing it would be for the BATC to have 10 of the French double MiniTiouners, tied in to the transmission parameters listed on the chat system and then have 20 streams outputting the 20 possible channels.

Brian

[YL3AKC]

Well. Some reverse engineering will be performed soon... Get into air thru Es`Hail-2 is my primary mission. Then improve ground station software and hardware, including MiniTiouner software for linux (maybe RPI). I will definitely sniff I2C traffic and do some other things. What is essential for Linux version? Read from serial port (VCP or D2X) and feed to VLC or omxplayer for picture and write control scripts for tuner.

[G4GUO]

The NDA is primarily there to prevent people making clones of the chips used.
There is Linux Kernel driver source code available for the chips used in the
Minitiouner. The 'magic' is the special parameters used to make the chips
operate outside their design parameters.

- Charles

[F6DZP]

Hello,

Maybe we need to talk about this on vivadatv forum?

yes you can, but before Brian began this post we have discussed about that. He wished to be able to talk to Minitioune using DDE or someting like that and I have proposed to use IP:

Brian asked:
>>>The simplest solution would be for MiniTioune to listen for a command, maybe using DDE, which says 'read from minitiouneXXX.ini and restart'.

my answer was:
OK for the possibility of parameters transfer, but I think that the best way is using IP. That would allow to use external PC or Rpi to send the parameters and can be done also on the same PC. And we will not be obliged to restart Minitioune.

Brian asked:
>>>but it might be useful for MiniTioune to send back to the controlling program, the FEC, modulation and other parameters that it had detected.


my answer was:
Minitioune already send all information to the Tiounemonitor. I have just to add a local IP/port to send also the information to another software.

and he proposed to create a post on this Forum.
So I follow it and will try to answer to your wishes.

Jean-Pierre F6DZP

[G4EWJ]

Remote control and access has also been discussed in brief by ON4BHM and M0DNY here. viewtopic.php?f=101&t=5377

Brian