Raspberry Pi type B + DVB-T Dongle to feed FR24

[Jayant]

Hi Guys,

i have recently seen problems with dump1090 running on my Pi. The dump1090 process hangs after some time, usually many hours after a fresh boot of the Pi. Restarting the fr24 script (which will stop and restart dump1090 and the fr24 feeder program) will start the decoder but it usually hangs again in a few minutes. Even rebooting the Pi doesn't seem to help much. What does help is sutting down everything for some time (15 minutes to an hour maybe) after which is works for a longer time (cooling issue??).

In some cases, dump1090 refuses to start up after a few reboots/restarts, and dumps a huge error list (read/write errors) as shown below:

Now starting dump1090
done
Now starting FR24 Feed
done
pi@raspberrypi ~ $ Found 1 device(s):
0: Realtek, RTL2838UHIDIR, SN: 00000001 (currently selected) - // this is normal output from dump1090
rtlsdr_demod_read_reg failed with -1
rtlsdr_demod_write_reg failed with -1

## these errors occur multiple times, followed by...

rtlsdr_read_reg failed with -1
rtlsdr_write_reg failed with -1

## again, many times, followed by...

No supported tuner found
rtlsdr_demod_write_reg failed with -1
rtlsdr_demod_read_reg failed with -1

Enabled direct sampling mode, input 1

rtlsdr_demod_write_reg failed with -1
rtlsdr_demod_read_reg failed with -1

Max available gain is: 0.00 - // this is normal output from dump1090, but gain is showing as 0
Setting gain to: 0.00 - // this is normal output from dump1090, same as above - normally this is not zero but the max gain of 49.9 dB (I think).

rtlsdr_demod_write_reg failed with -1
rtlsdr_demod_read_reg failed with -1

Exact sample rate is: 2000000.052982 Hz - // this is normal output from dump1090

rtlsdr_demod_write_reg failed with -1
rtlsdr_demod_read_reg failed with -1

rtlsdr_write_reg failed with -1
rtlsdr_write_reg failed with -1

Gain reported by device: 0.00 - // this is normal output from dump1090, but gain is 0 again

cb transfer status: 5, canceling...
cb transfer status: 5, canceling...

The blank lines have been added by me and multiple repetitions of the same errors removed to reduce the text here. After this, there is no output from dump1090 until i shutdown / restart the Pi.

Some recearch into the read/write errors seems to indicate that this is a power problem, which happens only if the DVB-T USB stick is directly powered from the Pi port and goes away if powered via an external USB hub. I'm only using the tuner and a wifi adapter from Edimax with the Pi right now, so I'm not sure if this is the problem, but I'm going to try with the external hub again (which I had removed a few days ago) to see if this is indeed a power problem. I have a verion B Pi board, so I don;t think this is a currnt limitng fuse probem, but just trying to make sure.

Anyone else ever seen this type of behaviour before? Any inputs will be useful.

Thanks
Jayant

[andyk1]

Hi Guys,

i have recently seen problems with dump1090 running on my Pi. The dump1090 process hangs after some time, usually many hours after a fresh boot of the Pi. Restarting the fr24 script (which will stop and restart dump1090 and the fr24 feeder program) will start the decoder but it usually hangs again in a few minutes. Even rebooting the Pi doesn't seem to help much. What does help is sutting down everything for some time (15 minutes to an hour maybe) after which is works for a longer time (cooling issue??).


Anyone else ever seen this type of behaviour before? Any inputs will be useful.

Thanks
Jayant

Jayant!!!

I'm going to take a stab at this and guess your DVB-T or whichever Dongle you have is going bad. I have had 2 out of 4 go bad during thunder storms. By the error list it looks like the dongle is not seen as an installed USB device and therefore dump1090 doesn't see it. The thing that confuses me it reports gain:0.00? Not sure if this is after multi reboots. Sort of makes sense after a short cool down period. Did you open the case on the Dongle? (Mine comes apart every easy) and let it run that way? Mine does get fairly warm with a lot of air craft overhead.

My Rpi or newest dongle lately has been hanging also but not for about 12 hours after re-boot. It also gets warm when busy with 127 aircraft seen. I installed the 3 heatsinks sold for the Pi from amazon.com that help it stay cooler (The RPi).

Take the plastic case off to test (Dongle). Doesn't effect anything signal wise.

Anyone feel free to correct me if I'm way off please.

Re-read your Post. I also have mine installed the same way. Wi-Fi Dongle and DVT-T Dongle in the Rpi's USB ports. I am using a 1amp cell phone charger as a power supply right now. Check Your Power supply and any heat sources close by causing overheating maybe.

[peterhr]

Just looking at it I'd guess power too.

I did give up on running the Pi on WiFi and went back to wired using homeplugs to provide the network connection ... I could understand it if the power requirements of dongle + wifi were too much for the PI.

If you look here http://www.megaleecher.net/Raspberry..._Pinout_Helper - you can see the Pi pinout ... maybe you can check the voltage between pins 2 & 6 with everything connected to see if you do have 5v (careful not to not to short anything out ... with the probes or use a plug to connect up).

Perhaps there's merit in having spare dongles.....

[Jayant]

Thanks for all the responses, guys!

Strange thing I've found, if I simply reverse the WiFi dongle and the tuner dongle USB ports, the Pi seems to run stable. I haven't run it long enough to be sure yet, but it's working a lot longer without any hanging or crashes. If it still causes dump1090 to crash, I'm going to go back to powering through an external USB hub to make sure it's not just a power problem. The CPU does run pretty warm, though, with dump1090 using about 30-33% CPU.

As for the dongle going bad... I ran it for almost 24 hours on a Windows machine running rtl1090 and there was absolutely no problem, so it looks like the dongle itself is fine. In any case, a spare dongle is definitely something to invest in, considering there are guys in China shipping it for under 9 USD. I have two more in the mail, so hopefully I can play around more once I get the spares.

More research required I guess!

[peterhr]

Hi, Is anyone using the button style DVB-T & RTL-SDR Realtek RTL2832U & R820T DVB-T Tuner?

Any issues?

[andyk1]

Thanks for all the responses, guys!

Strange thing I've found, if I simply reverse the WiFi dongle and the tuner dongle USB ports, the Pi seems to run stable. I haven't run it long enough to be sure yet, but it's working a lot longer without any hanging or crashes. If it still causes dump1090 to crash, I'm going to go back to powering through an external USB hub to make sure it's not just a power problem. The CPU does run pretty warm, though, with dump1090 using about 30-33% CPU.

As for the dongle going bad... I ran it for almost 24 hours on a Windows machine running rtl1090 and there was absolutely no problem, so it looks like the dongle itself is fine. In any case, a spare dongle is definitely something to invest in, considering there are guys in China shipping it for under 9 USD. I have two more in the mail, so hopefully I can play around more once I get the spares.

More research required I guess!

How big is the PSU your using with just the RPI with no USB Hub? Dongle and Wi-Fi plugged in only? Am guessing at least 1 amp right? My tests showed Rpi with both USB ports used headless consume between .6 and .8 jumping back and forth between the two. Mine runs smoother on a 2 amp PSU for some reason. From what I have been reading Your PSU should be rated 5.2V @ 1.5 amp for trouble free operation on other forums. The reason for 5.2 volts is the voltage drop in the line to the RPi depending how long and what gauge it is. DC current normally drops by nature in long runs. Why they use A/C current in longer runs. I don't see it being a problem in our situation as the feed line is only a meter or a little longer. Cheap PSU are another issue.

[andyk1]

Hi, Is anyone using the button style DVB-T & RTL-SDR Realtek RTL2832U & R820T DVB-T Tuner?

Any issues?

I was thinking about trying one myself but haven't ordered one yet. Am curious myself how they perform. Price is certainly right.

My Rpi feeder is down for a few days while I clean up my work area around my computer and set up a new work station next to my exiting Horse Shoe desk to make room for a few more gadges to play with. Getting to be where I can barely move around with wires and cables and whatnot everywhere.

[speedbird1960]

Hi, Is anyone using the button style DVB-T & RTL-SDR Realtek RTL2832U & R820T DVB-T Tuner?

Any issues?

Have a read of this: http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/10958

[Jayant]

How big is the PSU your using with just the RPI with no USB Hub? Dongle and Wi-Fi plugged in only? Am guessing at least 1 amp right? My tests showed Rpi with both USB ports used headless consume between .6 and .8 jumping back and forth between the two. Mine runs smoother on a 2 amp PSU for some reason. From what I have been reading Your PSU should be rated 5.2V @ 1.5 amp for trouble free operation on other forums. The reason for 5.2 volts is the voltage drop in the line to the RPi depending how long and what gauge it is. DC current normally drops by nature in long runs. Why they use A/C current in longer runs. I don't see it being a problem in our situation as the feed line is only a meter or a little longer. Cheap PSU are another issue.

Hi Andy,

I started out using a Samsung Travel charger, the one they supply with a Note2, rated at 5.0V/2.0A. Did the setup and config of the Pi with that. Once the setup was done and things were running (on a wired ethernet connection), I added a wifi dongle (Edimax). I had a lot of problems getting the Edimax to work, so I switched to powering everything through a 4-port Belkin USB hub (the Belkin power supply is rated 5.0V/2.5A), thinking it was a power problem. In any case, the wifi still didn't work until I figured out a fix for it, so it wasn't power related problem.

Once the Wifi was up, I kept running it off the hub. The Hub was powering the Pi and had the wifi dongle and the DVB-T stick on it. Everything ran fine. I then moved the wifi to the Pi's second port. Still worked fine, though I was fiddling around quite a bit and can't be absolutely sure that I let it run uninterrupted for really long. I then decided to pull the hub out of the equation and stuck everything back on the Pi and powered up through the Samsung charger again. All worked fine, so I let it run. The dump1090 hanging started a few days ago, so it has to be a power issue. I have checked the dongle on my windows box for over 24 hours, no problem at all.

Measuring voltages on the GPIO pins: The only way I can get 5V off pin 1 & 3 is when the Pi is powered but shutdown. In all other cases, the best voltage I can get on the power pins is 4.86 volts, even powering it from the USB hub and moving all the load to the hub. I was getting 4.6V initially, but that went to 4.8 when I changed the USB cable powering the Pi. Switching power supplies makes barely .02 to .04 V difference in the voltages, so I'm not too sure where to look next. Now I'm testing it off the hub again, which was the really stable config I've used.

The fun will really start when I try to power it over Ethernet! :-)

[peterhr]

The fun will really start when I try to power it over Ethernet! :-)

I had absolutely no problems with that - got a 8-22v in to 5v out regulator off ebay (Chinese seller, sold as 12v in) - this is installed at the Pi end

adaptors to put some volts down the spare pairs on the ethernet cable - then pushed 12v down the cable (but was aware I could go to - say - 18v if I had two much volt drop down the wire).

My final setup still uses the 12v (netgear adsl router) supply and the regulator, no POE ... but the 12v is also powering an in-line antenna amplifier (want to change that to 15v)

Trying to put 5v down the cat5 was a no-no ... to much volt drop to run the Pi on a 10m cable.

[EDLV7]

Hey folks,

don't throw stones @me. I've not read all the 26 pages here

I just use a Pi with dump1090. I feed adsbScope via WiFi Port 30001 on my PC. adsbscope feeds the FR24 Windows Software and thats loads up the data to FR24. Where can I download the script to feed FR24 directly from the Pi.
I don't want to setup the Pi with a new image becuase it runs and runs and runs ... like a Volkswagen.

[Jayant]

I just use a Pi with dump1090. I feed adsbScope via WiFi Port 30001 on my PC. adsbscope feeds the FR24 Windows Software and thats loads up the data to FR24. Where can I download the script to feed FR24 directly from the Pi.
I don't want to setup the Pi with a new image becuase it runs and runs and runs ... like a Volkswagen.

You need to read back through the forum a bit! There's no need to do anything on a Windows machine. There is a linux FR24 feeder software available here: http://forum.flightradar24.com/threa...-Flightradar24

You need to get the statically linked version for the Pi I think. With this version you need to export the ip address of the FR server each tome you run it, so Peter's fr24.sh script is a good way to do this via crontab. Peter's resources are posted earlier in this thread. You should probably go through the lot, but his docs are available here: https://drive.google.com/folderview?...UE&usp=sharing

[peterhr]

Agreed, you probably need to to look at mainly the first 10 posts initially.
Get the doc that describes setting up the Pi not using the image from my google drive, the scripts are there as separate files too.
The only issue you may have is if you are running dump1090 as a service started from files in /etc/initd.d (or somewhere like that) - the scripts use a much simpler more basic approach.

By the way ... on the Pi a new image is easy ... it just needs another SD card - in fact that is probably the best way to do it, because what was there before isn't touched ... so very different from the approach on a windows PC where the same approach means buying a new hard disk and possibly needing to get windows installation media (if you don't have it already)

Setting up a Pi following the instructions [not using the image] takes maybe 90 minutes - where people have problems it's usually power supply or antenna issues - neither will apply to you.

[andyk1]

Hey folks,

don't throw stones @me. I've not read all the 26 pages here

I just use a Pi with dump1090. I feed adsbScope via WiFi Port 30001 on my PC. adsbscope feeds the FR24 Windows Software and thats loads up the data to FR24. Where can I download the script to feed FR24 directly from the Pi.
I don't want to setup the Pi with a new image becuase it runs and runs and runs ... like a Volkswagen.

Everything you need is on the first page of this tread. Then read through and see what others have done. The problems and the fixes to get it working stand alone without Windows getting in the middle. Also you should consider feeding on port 30003 for your SDR dongle to feed directly to FR24

[andyk1]

Well I guess I should have read through the other posts to see it's already been answered...