[Skimmertalk] [RBN-OPS] Red Pitaya Hears but Skimserv doesn't spot

Thu Jun 13 17:23:45 EDT 2019

There's an old liberal arts saying - "when doing an experiment, always 
change multiple variables at once."

That's what I did today.  First, I was suspicious of some software I 
installed about the time my Skimsrv problem started.  It is a fairly 
sophisticated system that manages your computer's contribution to the 
Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), by starting multiple 
compute-intensive tasks (FFTs etc.) whenever you have not used your 
computer for a while ("used" meaning entering keystrokes or 
mouse-clicks).  It also relies heavily on the computer's GPU for 
processing power.

I couldn't see any indication of negative interaction - my memory, CPU, 
GPU and Ethernet numbers all seemed minimal (under 10 percent) - but I 
decided to take the SETI software off my machine anyway.

About the same time I received an e-mail from Brad, W1BCC, suggesting 
that there might be hidden issues with running 7 or 8 bands at 192 KHz, 
so I cut back to 6 bands at 96 KHz (no change in CW segments).

With both these changes made, things immediately got better - in fact my 
Red Pitaya is now running neck and neck with my QS1R again, as far as 
decoders and number of spots.

So now it's time to try putting back bands and bandwidth, to see which 
of my changes gets the credit.  Thanks to everyone who repled to my SOS.

73, Pete N4ZR
Check out the Reverse Beacon Network
at <http://reversebeacon.net>, now
spotting RTTY activity worldwide.
For spots, please use your favorite
"retail" DX cluster.

On 6/12/2019 5:46 PM, Bob Wilson, N6TV wrote:
> Pete,
>
> If you can make no progress, I'm going to have to dial into the system 
> via Team Viewer to see what's going on.  Just give me a phone number 
> and a good time to call you.
>
> 73,
> Bob, N6TV
>
>
> On Wed, Jun 12, 2019 at 2:27 PM Bob Wilson, N6TV <n6tv at arrl.net 
> <mailto:n6tv at arrl.net>> wrote:
>
>     Perhaps the CWSegments line in the .INI file is all messed up via
>     bad (recent?) cut/paste/edit?
>
>     I didn't know PowerSDR was compatible with the SDR-Recever-HPSDR
>     app. that the skimmer uses.  Maybe it starts different SDR
>     software?  I would expect errors from SkimSrv though.
>
>     But that's why I encouraged you to try CWSL_Tee with HDSDR instead
>     of power SDR, as that shows you /exactly/ what the Skimmer is
>     hearing, whereas PowerSDR does not.
>
>     I assume you already tried rebooting the Red Pitaya and it is set
>     to auto-start the SDR-Receiver-HPSDR, not one of the other apps.
>     like the transceiver app that doesn't work with Skimmer.
>
>     73,
>     Bob, N6TV
>
>
>     On Wed, Jun 12, 2019 at 11:30 AM N4ZR <n4zr at comcast.net
>     <mailto:n4zr at comcast.net>> wrote:
>
>         Hi Bob. I wish. No, I see no spots on the summary tab of
>         Skimserv, and also not on the Status page or the Skimmer
>         Traffic page of the Aggregator.  I know that it is hearing
>         things because it spawns decoders. Just no spots.  Also, when
>         I stop Skimserv and run PowerSDR on the RP, I see normal
>         activity.  This morning, during CWT, there were numerous 599+
>         signals seen.
>
>         73, Pete N4ZR
>         Check out the Reverse Beacon Network
>         at<http://reversebeacon.net>  <http://reversebeacon.net>, now
>         spotting RTTY activity worldwide.
>         For spots, please use your favorite
>         "retail" DX cluster.
>
>         On 6/12/2019 1:03 PM, Bob Wilson, N6TV wrote:
>>         So the Aggregator sees no spots from the Red Pitaya, or you see no spots on
>>         the RBN?  It's very easy to accidentally check the box "Do not sends spots
>>         to RBN".  Worth checking all settings in Aggregator and sharing screen shot
>>         of "Skimmer traffic" tab, which tells much about what is going on.
>>
>>         Also, using CWSL_Tee and HDSDR makes it much easier to see if the receiver
>>         is hearing anything at all.
>>
>>         73,
>>         Bob, N6TV
>>
>>
>>         On Wed, Jun 12, 2019 at 7:13 AM Pete Smith<n4zr at comcast.net>  <mailto:n4zr at comcast.net>  wrote:
>>
>>>         OK, here's a mystery - I have a 14-bit Red Pitaya and a QS1R.  I normally
>>>         feed them both off a Clifton Labs Norton preamp through a Mini-Circuits
>>>         splitter (about 3.5 dB insertion loss).  In tests way back when, using
>>>         number of spots as the metric, I had found the Red Pitaya to be
>>>         substantially equal to the QS1R in performance.
>>>
>>>         A month or so ago, I noticed that the RP seemed not to be spotting, but I
>>>         was preoccupied with other things. Today I decided to get serious about
>>>         diagnosing the problem.  First, I verified all of the interconnecting
>>>         cables.  Then I tested the QS1R and the Red Pitaya with their respective
>>>         SDR software, SDRMAX V and PowerSDR.  I used an Elecraft XG-3 to verify the
>>>         sensitivity of both SDRs, which did not reveal any obvious problems.
>>>
>>>         Then I started Skimserv and Aggregator on both PCs.  It's CWT Wednesday,
>>>         so I immediately noticed a lot of activity, as measured by the number of
>>>         decoders that Skimserv spawned.  I did notice that the number on the Red
>>>         Pitaya lagged substantially behind that on the QS1R.  The real shocker,
>>>         though - in that hour, the QS1R system spotted over 200 stations (many
>>>         re-spots, of course) while the Red Pitaya system logged *none.*
>>>
>>>         I'm baffled - clearly something is wrong with the Red Pitaya system, but
>>>         what?  Any suggestions welcome!
>>>
>>>         --
>>>
>>>         73, Pete N4ZR
>>>         Check out the Reverse Beacon Network
>>>         at<http://reversebeacon.net>  <http://reversebeacon.net>  <http://reversebeacon.net>  <http://reversebeacon.net>, now
>>>         spotting RTTY activity worldwide.
>>>         For spots, please use your favorite
>>>         "retail" DX cluster.
>>>
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