Langstone Update

[g4eml]

I am running mine from a 5A dc-dc converter from 12V. Just powering the Pi and then powering everything else from that.

I bought the converter from eBay. It is the type with a wound toroid inductor. I have found previously that the type with smaller surface mount inductors tend to run very hot.

[g8gtz]

I did have problems to start with but now power mine from a ebay regulator directly on to the GPIO pins (this is recommended on the Pi4 but not Pi3 ). Similarly I power the pluto seperately by an ebay regulator from the shack PSU and have had no problems since I did that.

Noel

[radiogareth]

With all the bits plugged together I hoped this would go as well as my earlier today Buster Porstdown upgrades - flawless.

I've got as far as getting the Langstone spalsh screen when I re-boot the RPi but then it fails as follows (using the github debug guide).
Checking to see what's going on I get this:

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ ps -ax
PID TTY STAT TIME COMMAND
1 ? Ss 0:02 /sbin/init
2 ? S 0:00 [kthreadd]
3 ? I< 0:00 [rcu_gp]
4 ? I< 0:00 [rcu_par_gp]
5 ? I 0:00 [kworker/0:0-mm_percpu_wq]
6 ? I< 0:00 [kworker/0:0H-kblockd]
7 ? I 0:00 [kworker/u8:0-events_unbound]
8 ? I< 0:00 [mm_percpu_wq]
9 ? S 0:00 [ksoftirqd/0]
10 ? I 0:00 [rcu_sched]
11 ? I 0:00 [rcu_bh]
12 ? S 0:00 [migration/0]
13 ? S 0:00 [cpuhp/0]
14 ? S 0:00 [cpuhp/1]
15 ? S 0:00 [migration/1]
16 ? S 0:00 [ksoftirqd/1]
17 ? I 0:00 [kworker/1:0-rcu_gp]
18 ? I< 0:00 [kworker/1:0H-kblockd]
19 ? S 0:00 [cpuhp/2]
20 ? S 0:00 [migration/2]
21 ? S 0:00 [ksoftirqd/2]
22 ? I 0:00 [kworker/2:0-events]
23 ? I< 0:00 [kworker/2:0H-kblockd]
24 ? S 0:00 [cpuhp/3]
25 ? S 0:00 [migration/3]
26 ? S 0:00 [ksoftirqd/3]
27 ? I 0:00 [kworker/3:0-cgroup_destroy]
28 ? I< 0:00 [kworker/3:0H-kblockd]
29 ? S 0:00 [kdevtmpfs]
30 ? I< 0:00 [netns]
31 ? I 0:00 [kworker/0:1-events_power_efficient]
32 ? I 0:00 [kworker/1:1-cgroup_destroy]
33 ? I 0:00 [kworker/2:1-events]
34 ? S 0:00 [khungtaskd]
35 ? S 0:00 [oom_reaper]
36 ? I< 0:00 [writeback]
37 ? S 0:00 [kcompactd0]
38 ? I< 0:00 [crypto]
39 ? I< 0:00 [kblockd]
40 ? I 0:00 [kworker/3:1-events]
41 ? S 0:00 [watchdogd]
42 ? I< 0:00 [rpciod]
43 ? I< 0:00 [kworker/u9:0-hci0]
44 ? I< 0:00 [xprtiod]
45 ? I 0:00 [kworker/u8:1-events_unbound]
47 ? S 0:00 [kswapd0]
48 ? I< 0:00 [nfsiod]
59 ? I< 0:00 [kthrotld]
60 ? I< 0:00 [iscsi_eh]
62 ? I< 0:00 [DWC Notificatio]
63 ? S< 0:00 [vchiq-slot/0]
64 ? S< 0:00 [vchiq-recy/0]
65 ? S< 0:00 [vchiq-sync/0]
66 ? S 0:00 [vchiq-keep/0]
67 ? S< 0:00 [SMIO]
68 ? I 0:00 [kworker/0:2-events_freezable]
69 ? S 0:00 [irq/36-brcmstb_]
70 ? S 0:00 [irq/37-mmc1]
71 ? I 0:00 [kworker/0:3-mm_percpu_wq]
72 ? S 0:00 [irq/37-mmc0]
73 ? I< 0:00 [mmc_complete]
74 ? I< 0:00 [kworker/0:1H-mmc_complete]
75 ? S 0:00 [jbd2/mmcblk0p2-]
76 ? I< 0:00 [ext4-rsv-conver]
77 ? I< 0:00 [kworker/0:2H-kblockd]
78 ? I< 0:00 [kworker/1:1H-events_highpri]
79 ? I< 0:00 [kworker/1:2H]
80 ? I< 0:00 [ipv6_addrconf]
81 ? I 0:00 [kworker/1:2-events_power_efficient]
83 ? I< 0:00 [kworker/3:1H-kblockd]
87 ? I< 0:00 [kworker/2:1H-kblockd]
97 ? I< 0:00 [kworker/2:2H]
98 ? I< 0:00 [kworker/3:2H]
101 ? Ss 0:00 /lib/systemd/systemd-journald
140 ? Ss 0:00 /lib/systemd/systemd-udevd
173 ? D 0:00 [ft5406]
174 ? S< 0:00 [SMIO]
184 ? I< 0:00 [mmal-vchiq]
185 ? I< 0:00 [mmal-vchiq]
190 ? I< 0:00 [mmal-vchiq]
201 ? S 0:00 [v3d_bin]
203 ? S 0:00 [v3d_render]
204 ? S 0:00 [v3d_tfu]
205 ? S 0:00 [v3d_csd]
207 ? S 0:00 [v3d_cache_clean]
243 ? I< 0:00 [cfg80211]
249 ? I 0:00 [kworker/2:2-cgroup_destroy]
250 ? I< 0:00 [brcmf_wq/mmc1:0]
253 ? S 0:00 [brcmf_wdog/mmc1]
289 ? I 0:00 [kworker/u8:2-events_unbound]
298 ? Ssl 0:00 /lib/systemd/systemd-timesyncd
336 ? Ss 0:00 /lib/systemd/systemd-logind
337 ? Ssl 0:00 /usr/sbin/rsyslogd -n -iNONE
339 ? Ss 0:00 /usr/sbin/thd --triggers /etc/triggerhappy/triggers.d
342 ? Ss 0:00 /usr/sbin/cron -f
344 ? SNs 0:00 /usr/sbin/alsactl -E HOME=/run/alsa -s -n 19 -c rdaem
347 ? SLsl 0:00 /usr/sbin/rngd -r /dev/hwrng
364 ? Ss 0:00 /usr/bin/dbus-daemon --system --address=systemd: --no
372 ? Ss 0:00 /sbin/wpa_supplicant -u -s -O /run/wpa_supplicant
373 ? Ss 0:00 avahi-daemon: running [raspberrypi.local]
389 ? S 0:00 avahi-daemon: chroot helper
448 ? I 0:00 [kworker/3:2-mm_percpu_wq]
450 ? I 0:00 [kworker/3:3]
465 ? Ss 0:00 wpa_supplicant -B -c/etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplican
479 ? I 0:00 [kworker/2:3-cgroup_destroy]
486 ? S 0:00 /usr/bin/hciattach /dev/serial1 bcm43xx 3000000 flow
487 ? I< 0:00 [kworker/u9:1-hci0]
489 ? I< 0:00 [kworker/u9:2-hci0]
491 ? Ss 0:00 /usr/lib/bluetooth/bluetoothd
544 ? Ss 0:00 /sbin/dhcpcd -q -w
549 tty1 Ss 0:00 /bin/login -f
550 ? Ss 0:00 /usr/sbin/sshd -D
559 ? Ss 0:00 /lib/systemd/systemd --user
562 ? S 0:00 (sd-pam)
575 tty1 S+ 0:00 -bash
642 ? Ss 0:00 sshd: pi [priv]
652 ? S 0:00 sshd: pi@pts/0
655 pts/0 Ss 0:00 -bash
668 pts/0 R+ 0:00 ps -ax
pi@raspberrypi:~ $

I can't see the expected tasks mentioned in the debug guide: home/pi/Langstone/SSB-TRX.py and home/pi/Langstone/GUI

So not surprisingly when I then try :

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ cd ~/Langstone
pi@raspberrypi:~/Langstone $ python SSB_TRX.py &

I get this.

[1] 669
pi@raspberrypi:~/Langstone $ ERROR: Unable to find host: Name or service not known
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "SSB_TRX.py", line 338, in <module>
main()
File "SSB_TRX.py", line 331, in main
tb = top_block_cls()
File "SSB_TRX.py", line 55, in __init__
self.pluto_source_0 = iio.pluto_source('ip:192.168.2.1', 1000000000, 529200, 2000000, 0x800, True, True, True, "slow_attack", 64.0, '', True)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/gnuradio/iio/iio_pluto_source_swig.py", line 126, in make
return _iio_pluto_source_swig.pluto_source_make(*args, **kwargs)
RuntimeError: Unable to create context

I've formatted and rebuilt the card several times and so am 99.9% sure I'm not doing anything wrong. I've a beefy 5 amp PSU running it all (no low power warning) with everything plugged in. I'm wondering if a flaky network (putty seems to have occasional trouble staying connected) might be causing the issue as I suspect something important is not being downloaded.

I'd be very grateful for guidance on this, I'm wanting to become a blue-box NB operator too

Thanks

Gareth

[G1LPS Terry]

Hi Gareth
Try the Pluto on usb to the Pi and it should work.
If your connecting on network. theres two IP to set in SSB_TRX.py to your plutos IP
And 4 x IP to set in LangstoneGUI.c

hope that helps

[g4eml]

That error message just means that the Pluto is not being seen by the Raspberry Pi.
Currently the IP address of the Pluto is hard coded as 192.168.2.1 which is the default USB network address.

If you have previously changed the Pluto’s IP address or you are trying to use the Pluto over a network then you will need to edit the IP address in SSB_TRX.py and also in LangstoneGUI.c to suit.

Colin.

[g0mjw]

I was going to ask how to change that. I have put my PI and screen into a case now, but not progressed on the hardware side. It was working well yesterday receiving QO100. One work out how to set the power output I will try it on TX.

Mike

[g4eml]

Hi Mike,

At the moment there is no power output adjustment. For now you would have to manually edit one of the parameters of the Pluto Sink module in SSB_TRX.py.

I will add it to the list of things to include in the future.

Colin.

[g8gtz]

I was going to ask how to change that.

https://wiki.microwavers.org.uk/Langsto ... IP_address

Noel

[radiogareth]

Thanks for the various pointers....I've never changed the Pluto default IP (but just checked it and it IS the default). So I tried a different USB lead, even though the nasty cheap little thin on it was working well with the Pluto running SATSAGEN on my PC....anyway, something with some copper in it helped and the splash screen stays up for a while, then "pi@raspberrypi:~ $" appears bottom left of the screen.....and that's as far as it progresses.

Tried a different Pluto (same)
Tried a different PSU (same)
Looked at various things via the debugging guidance, putty frequently locking out.
Turned PSU up to 5.4 volts, started again with a fresh image, seemed to build OK (putty stayed connected) and BINGO!! It works

Had cross-shack QSOs with self on 145MHz and 70MHz Pluto connection seems a bit erratic (I have had them a while and think they would benefit from hardwiring to a decent short USB cable, bypassing the microUSB all together.

Colin, What a great project, a perfect way to get on VHF+ (one of my Plutos has already had its TXCO changed). Whilst I can't contribute code-wise, I will be designing a 3-D printed case as soon as I determine what's going in it....

Thanks again for all the work that's already gone into this.

*** EDIT** Now that its up and running, I tried booting on 5.05 volts and its all fine, including on the original PSU??....

Gareth G4XAT

[g4eml]

Hi Gareth,

Glad you got it working. Yes, the Pluto does seem to be excessively sensitive to power supply issues. It does draw quite a high current so that may be something to do with it. There is also a problem with the ground connection which benefits from being modified. If you have not already done that I suggest you search for ‘Pluto Ground mod’

My system is normally very stable but I run the power supply at 5.2V. It only takes a wiggle of any of the plugs and the Pluto occasionally fails.

As it is permanently fitted into my Langstone I am considering feeding 5V directly onto the board to see if that improves the reliability.

73
Colin.