USB extender.

Discussion about the MiniTiouner board and the MiniTiouner Digital ATV Receive Software. See also http://www.vivadatv.org/index.php
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i2NDT
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USB extender.

Post by i2NDT » Sat May 07, 2022 1:40 pm

hi!
has anyone ever tried to use a USB extender in between a Minitiouner and a PC?
I have some 20 meters cable between the antenna and the Minitiouner and I loose more than 1 dB which is a lot for me, considering I have a 75cm dish. so I was thinking of putting the Minitiouner close to the antenna and use the extender to reach the PC in the shack...

any comment?

best 73
de
i2NDT Claudio
i2NDT Claudio
Dalmine, Italia

g0mjw
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Re: USB extender.

Post by g0mjw » Sat May 07, 2022 3:31 pm

Surely the loss between the minitiouner and antenna is on the IF and almost entirely insignificant owning to the LNB gain?

g8gtz
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Re: USB extender.

Post by g8gtz » Sat May 07, 2022 4:07 pm

MiniTiouner is very fussy about USB cables and lengths.

So I'd put a satellite line amp between the LNB and MiniTiouner - there'll be no degradation and will easily overcome any cable loss.

Noel

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i2NDT
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Re: USB extender.

Post by i2NDT » Sun May 08, 2022 2:42 pm

yes Mike...but when you receive the beacon with an MER 6 (like me!) even a fraction of dB counts! :(

Noel, I know Minitioune is quite fussy about USB connections! and I have already a line amplifier I installed to compensate the losses of a splitter as I have 2 Minitiouners in parallel...but that increased also the noise!
I know...I know I am trying to draw blood from a stone! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Claudio
i2NDT Claudio
Dalmine, Italia

g0mjw
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Re: USB extender.

Post by g0mjw » Sun May 08, 2022 5:10 pm

It sounds like you may have an intermod problem. The very strong signals from adjacent satellites may be overwhelming the line amplifier. Try removing it. The LNB should have more than enough gain to support two receivers even after a 20m cable.

Mike

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Re: USB extender.

Post by G8GKQ » Sun May 08, 2022 7:44 pm

Claudio

What RF Power Level is being indicated by MiniTioune? That will tell you if you have a low signal problem. If it is higher than -70 dB (like -60), then you have enough signal for MiniTiouner.

This wiki page explains it: https://wiki.batc.org.uk/MiniTiouner_Po ... Indication

I use about 20m of cable here, and so does the WebSDR at Goonhilly.

Dave

g8gtz
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Re: USB extender.

Post by g8gtz » Mon May 09, 2022 8:19 am

Claudio

An alternative approach could be to try Tom ZR6TG's initiative development which runs Longmynd on a Pi which can be placed near your dish and accessed over the network by a Windows client!

https://www.zr6tg.co.za/longmynd-client/

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=7889

73

Noel

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i2NDT
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Re: USB extender.

Post by i2NDT » Wed May 18, 2022 7:02 pm

I ended up removing the splitter which was very lossy! so the line amplifier was no longer needed.
I left the LTE filter in place as I have a couple of BTS not far from my site.
the signal as measured by the Minitioune is around -45 dBm-

for the the Longmynd Client by ZR6TG I have to wait: no Raspi available in the shack.

i2NDT Claudio
i2NDT Claudio
Dalmine, Italia

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