Saturday, July 24, 2021

DIY Build your own folded dipole antenna for FM broadcast & HD Radio


A pretty simple yet effective design. Measurements are not too critical, if you're +/- an inch or two it will still be well within the 88-108 MHz FM band. 


It;s not necessary to build a radome if it's to be used indoors or in the attic, but it does make it easy to install with simple plastic pipe clips. Those can be found in the hardware store with patio misting system supplies. 


The peskiest part can be securing the matching transformer through the end cap. It works best to locate one with a longer thread on the type-F jack so there's enough thread to pass through the end cap, accommodate a skinny nut and still have enough to connect the coax. 


In the drawing I spec'd a short stub of pipe coming off the T to give a little extra space to fit the transformer (or to wind your own, for the more adventurous type). Otherwise it's a tight fit squeezing it all into the T (although it looks clean). You can also use nylon hole plugs instead of end caps for a cleaner look. 



The folded dipole design is somewhat directional perpendicular to it's length. Best results usually come from mounting it on a wall facing the transmitter. 



Some time ago I was assembling these units for sale and got a lot of positive feedback. Given the time & costs involved it's honestly best to build your own at home. Let me know how yours works out. 


-Ken


Wednesday, June 9, 2021

RTL-SDR for Linux Quick Start Guide

A guide to simplify the installation of drivers and software for an RTL-SDR in Linux.


https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zvpg5ay11emkd9-_jLtZOkHlLUrDHfUn/view?usp=sharing

RTL_433 for Linux Mint Quick Start Guide

RTL_433 is a command line Linux tool to decode ISM band gizmos like remote temperature and humidity sensors with an SDR. These signals are transmitted around 433 MHz and are not encrypted but they are digital. RTL_433 handles both the reception and decoding of these signals. No other apps are required for use other than a web browser for a GUI display. RTL_433 was developed by Benjamin Larsson and the source code is available at https://github.com/merbanan/rtl_433



The focus of this guide is establishing basic functionality under Linux Mint 19.3 with an RTL-SDR Version 3 dongle. Operation under other distributions and SDR's will be similar yet beyond the scope of this guide to cover them all. I'll assume you've already installed the drivers and have a working SDR dongle. If not, see my guide RTL-SDR Quick Start Guide for Linux.

Install needed libraries. The system will indicate if they're already installed and nothing will be over-written.

sudo apt-get install libtool libusb-1.0-0-dev librtlsdr-dev rtl-sdr build-essential  cmake pkg-config


Get the source code.

git clone https://github.com/merbanan/rtl_433.git


Build & install rtl_433.

cd rtl_433/

mkdir build

cd build

cmake ..

make

make install


Open a terminal and do one of the following:

rtl_433   (default mode with auto gain)


rtl_433 -C customary   (displays temp in F)




rtl_433 -C customary -F http   (as above plus enables web server)

Open a browser and enter localhost:8433 It will take you to the developers website https://triq.org/rxui/#localhost:8433 to format and display the data. Yes, they're legit. :)  




I did some experimenting with gain and bandwidth settings and found the defaults to be just as good. Results will vary based on how many sensors are in your neighborhood, interference, etc. The output power is pretty low on these devices so range is maybe 100' at best. A 1/4 wave ground-plane or telescoping antenna about 6.5" long works well. I created a bash script to quickly start the app without needing to remember switches.

For more documentation and related projects see the https://triq.org/ site.

-Ken



Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Rainbow Lake Pinetop-Lakeside Arizona

A view from the East shore of Rainbow Lake in Pinetop-Lakeside Arizona.






Photographer: Ken Ranous

Date: July 29th 2013

Camera: Olympus e-volt e500 Zuiko 14-45 lense

Post Processing: Darktable in Linux Mint  All Open Source Workflow.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Radio Propagation

HF Propagation Forecast. Find out what bands and frequencies are traveling the farthest today.