BATC Forum

I have a completely dead Lime, I believe from a voltage spike. I’m now looking for a replacement, if anyone has a spare - for a fair price of course.

Buy a Pluto instead......some quirks but far more reliable IMHO.
Gareth

I'd go for a Pluto too.

it is cheaper, has a much lower noise floor on transmit and produces a cleaner output. The bandviewer has fewer sprogs too.

It is stable provided it is powered using the dedicated micro USB socket. Previous reports of instability occurred when the Pluto was powered from the Pi.

The other micro USB 'signal' socket can then be used in OTG mode with an Ethernet to USB adapter.

Clive

Hi Clive,

I have a Pluto and gong to set it up. I was going to follow the wiki that advises a Schottky diode in the +ve usb cable? However, your method sounds easier. I have a spare usb/ethernet adapter, so that’s fine. I assume then that the config is different in the Pi?

Graham

Graham

That diode mod might work for some but you are far better off powering it as Analog intended.

The USB - Ethernet adapter will not work unless it uses a Realtek chipset. I bought one that had a micro USB plug thinking it would make a neater connection to the Pluto instead of the OTG adapter I was using with the USB A connector adapter. No drivers in the Pluto firmware for odd chipset. The lead was robbed to fit in a Realtek USB A version for the EY repeater!

The Pi 4 will show the Pluto greyed out when used in Ethernet mode. That happened after Dave introduced hardware detection for the Pluto that only works on USB. Set the Pluto's IP address using the config file in the boot partition. Use a spare IP address on your network. Plug the USB adapter Ethernet connection into your network. Use the Pluto config menu on the Pi 4 (Menu 3, Pluto Config 15, Set Pluto IP for Portsdown) to the IP address assigned to the Pluto earlier.

Clive

And don't forget that this doesn't work with H265!

Clive

Still in the Pluto's favour is coverage of 6cms(including NB with the Langstone) and if you drive it with a PC and DATVeasy you can do H265 and H266 over the full range.
As an original Lime SDR owner (over £300, PSU fault, Lime Mini, 2, both with PSU different failures) I have very little faith in them.
And it will support Satsagen which is a wonderful tool for the experimenter.....
Gareth

Thank you for all the comments. I unboxed my Pluto (bought before I moved house in 2021) and re-configured etc and all good. Tested direct from rpi, will reconfigure when OTG bits arrive.

Graham M1ASR