How do I get a remote Support for ADSBx - Deluxe Receiver Kit

Technical Support
1

Not receiving any 978 signals on ADSBx - Deluxe Receiver Kit
please refer to my post on =Not receiving any 978 signals on ADSBExchange Orange dongle

Bought the Deluxe Receiver Kit in hopes of alleviating this 978 problem.
Out of the box and setup, We are still not receiving ANY 978 signals. the only thing I changed was the IP address for the device to work on our network.
One would think this should work right out of the box.

https://globe.adsbexchange.com/ map shows at least 2 targets in our area when filtered for UAT.

Messages since boot:

1090mhz: 318,310
978mhz: 0
Tracks: 239

/boot/adsbx-978env


RECEIVER_978_OPTIONS="--net-only"
DECODER_978_OPTIONS="--max-range 460"
NET_978_OPTIONS="--net --net-heartbeat 60 --net-ro-interval 0.5 --net-ro-port 0 --net-sbs-port 0 --net-bi-port 0 --net-bo-port 0 --net-connector localhost,30004,beast_out"
JSON_978_OPTIONS="--json-location-accuracy 2"

ENABLED=yes
RECEIVER_OPTIONS="--sdr-gain 42.1 --sdr driver=rtlsdr,serial=978 --format CS8"
#RECEIVER_OPTIONS="--sdr-gain 42.1 --sdr driver=rtlsdr --format CS8"
DECODER_OPTIONS=""
NET_OPTIONS="--raw-port 30978 --json-port 30979"

dump978-fa.service logs:

-- Journal begins at Fri 2024-04-05 15:22:29 UTC, ends at Mon 2024-07-22 21:45:36 UTC. --
Apr 05 15:22:33 adsbexchange systemd[1]: Started dump978 ADS-B UAT receiver.
Apr 05 15:22:33 adsbexchange dump978-fa[503]: raw-port: listening for connections on 0.0.0.0:30978
Apr 05 15:22:33 adsbexchange dump978-fa[503]: raw-port: listening for connections on [::]:30978
Apr 05 15:22:33 adsbexchange dump978-fa[503]: json-port: listening for connections on 0.0.0.0:30979
Apr 05 15:22:33 adsbexchange dump978-fa[503]: json-port: listening for connections on [::]:30979
Apr 05 15:22:34 adsbexchange dump978-fa[503]: Found Rafael Micro R820T tuner
Apr 05 15:22:34 adsbexchange dump978-fa[503]: usb_claim_interface error -6
Apr 05 15:22:34 adsbexchange dump978-fa[503]: Found Rafael Micro R820T tuner
Apr 05 15:22:34 adsbexchange dump978-fa[503]: Exact sample rate is: 2083333.135571 Hz
Apr 05 15:22:35 adsbexchange dump978-fa[503]: [R82XX] PLL not locked!
Apr 05 15:22:35 adsbexchange dump978-fa[503]: SoapySDR: using manual gain 42.1 dB
Apr 05 15:22:35 adsbexchange dump978-fa[503]: SoapySDR: using stream setting buffsize=262144
Apr 05 15:22:35 adsbexchange dump978-fa[503]: 0.0.0.0:30978: accepted a connection from 127.0.0.1:54552
Apr 05 15:22:35 adsbexchange dump978-fa[503]: Allocating 15 zero-copy buffers
Jul 22 20:11:38 adsbexchange dump978-fa[503]: Caught signal 15, exiting
Jul 22 20:11:38 adsbexchange systemd[1]: Stopping dump978 ADS-B UAT receiver...
Jul 22 20:11:43 adsbexchange dump978-fa[503]: Abnormal exit
Jul 22 20:11:43 adsbexchange systemd[1]: dump978-fa.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Jul 22 20:11:43 adsbexchange systemd[1]: dump978-fa.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Jul 22 20:11:43 adsbexchange systemd[1]: Stopped dump978 ADS-B UAT receiver.
Jul 22 20:11:43 adsbexchange systemd[1]: dump978-fa.service: Consumed 2min 46.703s CPU time.
Jul 22 20:11:43 adsbexchange systemd[1]: Started dump978 ADS-B UAT receiver.
Jul 22 20:11:43 adsbexchange dump978-fa[21819]: raw-port: listening for connections on 0.0.0.0:30978
Jul 22 20:11:43 adsbexchange dump978-fa[21819]: raw-port: listening for connections on [::]:30978
Jul 22 20:11:43 adsbexchange dump978-fa[21819]: json-port: listening for connections on 0.0.0.0:30979
Jul 22 20:11:43 adsbexchange dump978-fa[21819]: json-port: listening for connections on [::]:30979
Jul 22 20:11:43 adsbexchange dump978-fa[21819]: Found Rafael Micro R820T tuner
Jul 22 20:11:44 adsbexchange dump978-fa[21819]: usb_claim_interface error -6
Jul 22 20:11:44 adsbexchange dump978-fa[21819]: Found Rafael Micro R820T tuner
Jul 22 20:11:44 adsbexchange dump978-fa[21819]: Exact sample rate is: 2083333.135571 Hz
Jul 22 20:11:44 adsbexchange dump978-fa[21819]: [R82XX] PLL not locked!
Jul 22 20:11:44 adsbexchange dump978-fa[21819]: SoapySDR: using manual gain 42.1 dB
Jul 22 20:11:44 adsbexchange dump978-fa[21819]: SoapySDR: using stream setting buffsize=262144
Jul 22 20:11:44 adsbexchange dump978-fa[21819]: Allocating 15 zero-copy buffers
Jul 22 20:11:44 adsbexchange dump978-fa[21819]: 0.0.0.0:30978: accepted a connection from 127.0.0.1:50248
Jul 22 20:12:08 adsbexchange dump978-fa[21819]: 0.0.0.0:30978: accepted a connection from 192.168.0.127:37719
Jul 22 20:12:08 adsbexchange dump978-fa[21819]: 192.168.0.127:37719: connection closed
Jul 22 20:12:08 adsbexchange dump978-fa[21819]: 0.0.0.0:30978: accepted a connection from 192.168.0.127:37720
Jul 22 20:12:08 adsbexchange dump978-fa[21819]: 0.0.0.0:30978: accepted a connection from 192.168.0.127:37721
Jul 22 20:12:09 adsbexchange dump978-fa[21819]: 192.168.0.127:37720: connection closed
Jul 22 20:12:09 adsbexchange dump978-fa[21819]: 0.0.0.0:30978: accepted a connection from 192.168.0.127:37723
Jul 22 20:13:21 adsbexchange dump978-fa[21819]: 192.168.0.127:37721: connection closed
Jul 22 20:13:21 adsbexchange dump978-fa[21819]: 192.168.0.127:37723: connection closed
Jul 22 21:24:39 adsbexchange dump978-fa[21819]: 0.0.0.0:30979: accepted a connection from 192.168.0.127:26049
Jul 22 21:24:39 adsbexchange dump978-fa[21819]: 0.0.0.0:30979: accepted a connection from 192.168.0.127:26050
Jul 22 21:26:18 adsbexchange dump978-fa[21819]: 192.168.0.127:26050: connection closed
Jul 22 21:30:43 adsbexchange dump978-fa[21819]: 192.168.0.127:26049: connection closed
2

Have you assigned your SDRs at http://adsbexchange.local/sdr-assign/ ? It looks like dump978-fa is trying to open both, which suggests that you haven’t done the assignment, so they may be backwards. Edit: I just noticed that your /boot/adsbx-978env does have the serial setting, so it seems odd that you’re getting a claim error before a device (can’t tell which one) is opened. I’d still check the assignment and make sure that readsb is using the 1090 one.

What’s your antenna setup?

3

This device came directly from adsbexchange.com. I shouldn’t have to configure anything other than the network. The SDRs are setup as shipped. my guess is that there is something wrong with the software that is flashed to the SD card.

How do I get somebody to remote support a product I bought from adsbexchange.com?

Software was supposedly “pre-configured” before shipment.

Screenshot 2024-07-23 092355
Screenshot 2024-07-23 092355918×1131 71.3 KB

Anntenas are the ones that shipped with the unit.

4

The unit as shipped.

20240723_090237
20240723_0902373000×4000 450 KB

5

ADSBX GLOBE
ADSBX GLOBE1920×650 86.4 KB

6

local 978
local 9781920×616 87.7 KB

1st screencap is of the ADSBx Globe site for my area showing traffic on UAT.
2nd screencap is of the local ADBSx showing no traffic for the same area. both screencaps were within 2 minutes of each other.
sorry for the multiple posts. only allowed to upload 1 photo at a time.

7

Looks like the assignment is OK from your screenshot. Maybe it’s normal for dump978-fa to produce that error. I don’t run it, because I’m outside the US. 978 is only used in the US, and that’s why some configuration may be required to enable it even for the packaged solutions.

If you’re using those rubber-duckie antennas, it’s likely that you’re just not able to “hear” the 978 signals. Indoor antennas are always a big compromise - RF doesn’t like to travel through building materials, and there’s also going to be noise from electrical devices inside the building. GA aircraft running 978 are usually at low altitude, so terrain is more of a factor than 1090 stuff. For a serious setup, you really need outdoor antennas…

8

I get 1090 signals en masse in that physical position, so I don’t think that is the problem. I’m doing a field test near a muni airport tomorrow. We’ll see how it does.

9

@dseven makes some good points. Looking for UAT signals even near a few local general aviation focused airports I rarely receive UAT signals. On top of that the “rubber-duckie antennas” are defiantly not optimal.

It is my understanding the “[R82XX] PLL not locked!” is a driver issue which can be ignored. The “usb_claim_interface error -6” still throws me for a loop but messages after that lead me to believe this might be a non-issue?

I would be interested in seeing your results once moving the receiver closer to a municiple airport, just be sure to leave it there for a bit. It seems general aviation is making the move away from UAT to ADS-B more and more making UAT signals even less likely.

10

Yeah, it’s a bit strange looking, but I think it is OK. I reproduced it here. It looks like it (dump978-fa, or maybe SoapySDR) iterates over all devices and attempts to attach to each one to find out if it’s the intended target, where other software would usually just get the list of devices and only attempt to attach to the one with the matching serial.

So I still think this is just a case of an indoor rubber-duckie not hearing the 978 signals…

11

978 mhz signals are broadcast at a lower power, and there are many fewer planes using 978 (maybe < 5% of aircraft). Also, given the mission of these aircraft, 978 signals are extremely sparse after dark and in bad weather.

Where are you located?