[Skimmertalk] A solution for a Red Pitaya-based FT8 skimmer for RBN

[dd5xx at web.de]

Hello Björn,
 
thanks for contributing your modified FT-8 application. Although I am not interested in the FT-8 part I downloaded and tested it because I was interested in the "radioday" app which I find useful. Thank you.
 
I want to suggest two things in your installation.sh script:
 
- you are copying and overwriting "start.sh" to "/media/mmcblk0p1" which in result will put your FT8 application to autostart whenever the system boots. I was puzzled when I rebooted my system because my favorite application "sdr_receiver_hpsdr" did not run. In process list I saw then your application running and it was clear what happened. I find it's better to let the user decide what kind of application to autostart on system boot.
 
- you are copying the temperature script "temp.sh" into the root folder and keep it there. Again, I find it more convenient and user-friendly to let the user decide if and what files an application puts into the home/root folder.
 
Just my 2 cents. However, thanks again. Wish you a nice day
 
73
Saki, DD5XX
 

Gesendet: Donnerstag, 14. März 2019 um 11:58 Uhr
Von: "Björn Ekelund" <bjorn at ekelund.nu>
An: Skimmertalk <skimmertalk at contesting.com>, rbn-ops at groups.io
Betreff: [Skimmertalk] A solution for a Red Pitaya-based FT8 skimmer for RBN
Many are today running Red Pitaya-based CW and RTTY skimmers using Pavel
Demin's
excellent radio software suite. (
http://pavel-demin.github.io/red-pitaya-notes)

Demin's suite also contains a high performance, eight-band FT8
receiver/decoder but
it lacks some key features to make a good FT8 skimmer for RBN.

To address this I have developed a solution. It is based on two small apps
written in C; radioday and upload-to-rbn.
The radioday app calculates the day/night/twilight status for an arbitrary
location, to mimic RBN Aggregator's ini-file cycling for CW skimmer Server.
The upload-to-rbn app transfers decoded call signs, SNR, and grid (when
available) to RBN Aggregator using the WSJT-X protocol over UDP broadcast.

To make installation easy I have developed a kit with the necessary files
and
scripts for configuring and installing them. It has been successfully
tested
on both Red Pitaya 125-14 and 122-16.

Step-by-step installation instructions can be found at
https://sm7iun.ekelund.nu/red-pitaya/ft8-skimmer[https://sm7iun.ekelund.nu/red-pitaya/ft8-skimmer]

Any feedback on performance or functionality is welcome.

73,

Björn SM7IUN
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