ADALM-PLUTO (new DATV SDR)

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G4GUO
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Re: ADALM-PLUTO (new DATV SDR)

Post by G4GUO » Sat Sep 22, 2018 3:44 pm

In theory the Pluto should be capable of a lot more. DATV-Express which is USB2
maxes out at 10 MS/S. I did ask the support team at Analog Devices but they had
no explanation.

To get it to operate even faster would require moving the DVB-S/S2 encoder onto the
Pluto's own CPU and then only sending a Transport Stream between the PC and the
Pluto. Possible but a lot of work.

- Charles

g7jfi
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Re: ADALM-PLUTO (new DATV SDR)

Post by g7jfi » Tue Sep 25, 2018 8:56 am

Hi Charles,

The release notes for the latest DATVExpress software say that DVB-S is encoded in the FPGA - is that the case for the Pluto, or is that only applicable to the DATV-Express hardware board?

Also, just to be clear on my experiment at 4MS/s - the receiver was NOT the Pluto, it was my Comag SL65/12 receiver, the Pluto was only being used for TX. My PC, which has a PCIe USB3.0 board added is an AMD FX4130 @4.0GHz with 8GB of RAM.

Best regards
Terry G7JFI

G4GUO
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Re: ADALM-PLUTO (new DATV SDR)

Post by G4GUO » Tue Sep 25, 2018 9:19 am

Yes it refers only to DATV-Express I believe Ken is updating the manual to reflect that.

- Charles

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M5TXJ
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Re: ADALM-PLUTO (new DATV SDR)

Post by M5TXJ » Wed Oct 03, 2018 6:55 am

Hi Charles, being a bit cheeky here with a feature request/suggestion but I'll put it here so others can say what they think, or shoot me down in flames.
Would it be possible to have the PTT "button" in DATV Express also activate one of the 4 channel USB relay boards that use an FT245RL as seen on Ebay? This would give sequencing and aerial changeover capabilities which at present have to be manually operated with the Pluto (unless I'm missing something).

73 Dave.
...are you sure I can't use a pair of 813's?... :shock:

G4GUO
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Re: ADALM-PLUTO (new DATV SDR)

Post by G4GUO » Wed Oct 03, 2018 8:52 am

Hi Dave,
No you are not missing anything and you are not the first person to ask for that feature.
I have just not got around to adding it yet mainly because in the case of the Pluto the interface
is rather obscure and I would need to ask on the Analog Devices forum how to access the
GPIO ports first.

- Charles

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M5TXJ
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Re: ADALM-PLUTO (new DATV SDR)

Post by M5TXJ » Wed Oct 03, 2018 9:42 am

Thanks for the speedy reply Charles. I'm the first to admit I'm clueless when it comes to computer hardware and software but is access to the Pluto gpio needed? Would it be possible for the Express software to access 2 USB ports and therefore trigger the relays on the second port as some kind of subroutine? Perhaps a tick box in one of the Express menus to say relay board present Don't be afraid to tell me it's a stupid idea I tend to look for simple ideas and quite often they're not...

73 Dave
...are you sure I can't use a pair of 813's?... :shock:

G4GUO
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Re: ADALM-PLUTO (new DATV SDR)

Post by G4GUO » Wed Oct 03, 2018 9:52 am

That is a possibility if someone comes up with a standard device to use I could do that I don't want to have to write code
for everyone :lol: .

On my system I have an Arduino that is controlled over Ethernet and that switches both the PTT and
does the band switching. However that requires firmware for the Arduino.

- Charles

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M5TXJ
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Re: ADALM-PLUTO (new DATV SDR)

Post by M5TXJ » Wed Oct 03, 2018 12:29 pm

Charles,

This is the sort of thing I was thinking about, perhaps someone would have some code that could be adapted to drive the relays in sequence via the onboard FT245RL?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Blesiya-12V- ... 3564698453

73 Dave
...are you sure I can't use a pair of 813's?... :shock:

g8gtz
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Re: ADALM-PLUTO (new DATV SDR)

Post by g8gtz » Wed Oct 03, 2018 4:45 pm

Could we not use the Portsdown 4 or 8 way band decoders and RF switches?

They just need 2 I/O lines and PTT to give 4 or 8 relay outputs and RF steering.
73
Noel

g0mjw
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Re: ADALM-PLUTO (new DATV SDR)

Post by g0mjw » Wed Oct 03, 2018 5:08 pm

It would be a very simple thing to do with an Arduino pretending to be a serial port driving these. There is even software already available. RemoteHams is a good place to look.

Mike

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