Portsdown 4 1st time running

Discussion about this major DATV Project. See https://wiki.batc.org.uk/The_Portsdown_Transmitter
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M0NDE
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Mar 27, 2023 12:55 pm

Portsdown 4 1st time running

Post by M0NDE » Tue Aug 08, 2023 4:39 pm

Hi

I finally managed to get a Pi touch screen and a Pluto so I am starting to set up my Portsdown 4 on the table. Last night I got the touch screen running, and today in my camper I hooked up my Mini Tiouner to the Pi4. I remembered someone at CAT23 saying to use the MER screen to find the signa, I found this option in the menu and used this to align my dish and tweak the lnb angle. My van dish is an oval dish maximum size across is probably 80cm but it is probably 55 to 60cm high. I managed a maximum MER just peaking to 7. Anyway I can receive the beacon video without audio and I am waiting for some transmissions from amateurs tonight.

When I use the Mini Tiouner with my laptop and Open Tuner I can click on the screen to select other signals that are seen on the bandscope.

How do I find others transmitting using the Portsdown 4 instead of the laptop please?
Is there a manual for Portsdown 4?

Thank you

Nigel M0NDE

G8GKQ
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Posts: 2875
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Re: Portsdown 4 1st time running

Post by G8GKQ » Tue Aug 08, 2023 7:11 pm

Hi Nigel

Good to meet you at CAT 23. An MER of 7dB is good for that size of dish. Well done!

You have to manually select frequencies and symbol rates on the Portsdown 4; this is because the Portsdown 4 was primarily designed for terrestrial operation, not QO-100.

For a click to tune interface, the BATC solution is to use a Ryde receiver with M0DTS's QuickTune on a PC to control it.

Each feature of the Portsdown 4 is described on the BATC Wiki or in a CQ-TV article. There is no consolidated manual until we get a volunteer to write one.

Dave, G8GKQ

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