Re: Views of the Solar "Storm" from the Dark Sky Observatory May 13, 2025
Hi Huub,
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Thanks for doing that.? I agree that the calibration curve is not very pretty; it should be more linear than that, I think.? I don't understand why you are introducing an attenuation of 20dB.? That is going to greatly reduce the sensitivity of your setup.? Another thing that I do not understand is what the "dB threshold" does on SDRc2RSS.?? Maybe someone in the group can explain what that does.
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Best wishes,? Richard
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Re: Solar and RF fadeout North Tasmania, Australia
Luke,
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a quick side note: Your spectrogram looks like the FFT is working without windowing. If this is SDRPlay2RSS generating the spectra, please enable "Windowing" in the "Integrate" menu. You'll get a much clearer spectrogram then.
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Sabine
--
Germany
Standard time: UTC +1 hour
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Re: Views of the Solar "Storm" from the Dark Sky Observatory May 13, 2025
Hi Richard,
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So I did a calibration today with the following results. (see images)
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For RSS: (forgot to take a screenshot)
color offset: 0
gain: about 1.2
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Not the most pretty curve I have to admit but I guess that's how the RX888 MKII behaves.
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It's a start and maybe by tweaking the values you can get a better result.
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Huub
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Re: Views of the Solar "Storm" from the Dark Sky Observatory May 13, 2025
Hi Richard,
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From what I remember some values from SDRC.
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Visual gain: 0
ATTN : -20 dB?
HF-Gain: about half way 55?
Bandspan: 16 MHz
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Can't remember the SDRC2RSS values but the those mentioned in the latest manual from Larry seem to fit
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Got my setup ready, hope to run a calibration today.
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Huub
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?
?
?
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Update to "RX888 On SDR Console, SDRc2RSS", and RSS Documentation
FYI The 1/29/2025 pdf document "RX888 On SDR Console, SDRc2RSS and RSS" was updated 5/17/2025 and is attached below. The Chinese RX888/RX888 MKII is fabricated by several different manufacturers in China. Some are just clones or redesigned SDRs. A totally new design is in progress to correct known issues such as overheating, PCB runs too close together, and other design issues, etc. As with some eBay items, you never know what your going to get. The RX888/RX888 MKII as well as other SDRs may be used with SDR Console and SDRc2RSS and RSS on an experimental basis. The RSP1B calibration process can only be used as a guide. Calibration accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
?For an accurately calibrated spectrograph the Radio JOVE supported SDRplay RSP1 or RSP1B are suggested. Thank you. Larry K4LED
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Re: Views of the Solar "Storm" from the Dark Sky Observatory May 13, 2025
Hi Huub,
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Do you remember what you adjusted on SDRconsole to do the calibration?
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Richard
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Re: Solar and RF fadeout North Tasmania, Australia
Luke, Yes that's a good practice. Good that you have that resource close by. Stations farther away may have a different view. I run a Live 24/7/365 youtube feed from an RSP1B on a four section TFD array by Dave Typinski. Its at: Its located about 40 miles north of Atlanta Georgia USA. I have a YouTube channel that may be of interest also. youtube K4LED: Thanks Luke?for?sharing your observations on Radio JOVE.?
Larry K4LED
On Fri, May 16, 2025 at 6:33?PM Luke Murphy via <lukepmurphy= [email protected]> wrote: Thank you, Larry ? I will often compare my observations with data from Learmonth (relatively nearby) to at least corroborate them. In this case the comparison is quite interesting. I was hoping to compare to 18GHz range from Owens Valley as well, unfortunately no data is available for that period. ? Kind Regards, ? Luke. ? ? ? ? Very interesting observation Luke. Your microscopic 8 Mhz spectrograph shows a lot of detail missing in the extremely wide bandwidth Learmouth spectrograph. The solar event at a very high frequency (-100Mhz) is centered on the HF fade out shown in your spectrgtoph and at the bottom of the Learmouth spectrograph. Your observation is an excellent example of comparing a narrowbandwidth to an extremely wide bandwidth.? Thank you for your observation. ? On Wed, May 14, 2025 at 8:30?AM Luke Murphy via <lukepmurphy=[email protected]> wrote: Hi, ?????? Some weak solar and RF fade out. Also see comparison from Learmonth observatory around the same timeframe. ? ? ?  ?? 
? ? Regards, ? ??????????????????Luke.
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Re: Views of the Solar "Storm" from the Dark Sky Observatory May 13, 2025
Hi Richard,
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I deleted the windows/sdrc machine to install Debian/rx2fits on it so I do not have the data anymore. But I have a spare computer and will do a calibration on that one in the next couple of days.?
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I'll come back to you when I have the results.
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Huub
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Good Day All!
Just a few solars from Wasilla....
Carl Wasilla, AK USA
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Re: Views of the Solar "Storm" from the Dark Sky Observatory May 13, 2025
Will do. Thanks again.
Tyson
Tyson? Be sure your using the fastest direct USB port on your computer. Avoid using a USB hub.? Close any programs that may be running.? Use the shortest and best USB cable you have. .
This video may help.
Larry K4LED V
On 5/16/2025 20:47:19, Tyson Sapre via <tyson.sapre=[email protected]> wrote: Thanks Larry.? I was able to perform the RX-888 to RSS via SDR console and so far it has worked quite well but I've just been testing at home so far and haven't tried it on our setup in Finksburg, MD yet.? Only issue is crashing if I push the bandwidth over a range of 16 Mhz, actually even then it's not ideal but it seems to work.? 8 Mhz seems to be the most stable range.??
Tyson On Thu, May 15, 2025 at 10:55?PM Larry Dodd via <101science= [email protected]> wrote: Tyson The instructions for using the RX888 with SDR Condole and SDRc2RSS can be found on the Radio JOVE WIKI page. We support that method.? Larry K4LED On Thu, May 15, 2025 at 9:01?PM Tyson Sapre via <tyson.sapre= [email protected]> wrote: Hi everyone,
I recently purchased an RX-888 and was wondering if there are instructions on how to run rx2fits code within Linux.? I know how to install Linux but maybe there is a distro that is best.? Open to any tips/suggestions.? Thanks!
Tyson
Hi Sabine,
?
We are working on that.? We have located a Linux computer and have installed rx2fits.? Next step is to figure out how to run the calibrator at the same time as rx2fits.? Have you done that?? I imagine one just needs to write a python program on linux to communicate with the calibrator, but we haven't done that yet.? Now that exams are finished, we will have more time.
?
Best wishes,? Richard
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Thanks Duane. An efficient way to present your data.
On Friday, May 16, 2025, 8:27 PM, Duane via groups.io <duane919@...> wrote: Observations from Grafton, WV.
Doing something different tonight (EDT). Some of the files are obvious
Solar and some I have no idea what they are. To see them go to
~Duane
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Re: Solar 05/16/2025 Easley, South Carolina
Bill: ? ? ? Thanks for the great?research. Until told otherwise, we can call it a SID. Have a restful evening.
On Friday, May 16, 2025, 8:05 PM, bsneed1 via groups.io <bsneed1@...> wrote: Thanks John, I caught all of yours and a few more besides...
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Regarding 15May SIDs.....I spent an hour or two searching various SID databases. A number of monitors reported sharp spike in the reception of a number of the VLF stations between about 1717 and 1730 UTC....IF (BIG IF) I understand correctly these spike often indicate a SID. So your guess for that one is probably correct.....
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.....bill.....
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Observations from Grafton, WV.
Doing something different tonight (EDT). Some of the files are obvious Solar and some I have no idea what they are. To see them go to
~Duane
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Re: Solar 05/16/2025 Easley, South Carolina
Thanks John, I caught all of yours and a few more besides...
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Regarding 15May SIDs.....I spent an hour or two searching various SID databases. A number of monitors reported sharp spike in the reception of a number of the VLF stations between about 1717 and 1730 UTC....IF (BIG IF) I understand correctly these spike often indicate a SID. So your guess for that one is probably correct.....
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.....bill.....
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Solar Events 16May 2025, Prospect, ME
Good evening. Another busy day here with 11 events recorded...attached are the first, one about 1358 and the last, a weak one about 2242...bill.....
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Solar 05/16/2025 Easley, South Carolina
Good evening: ? ? ?Solar from today.
John
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Re: Solar and RF fadeout North Tasmania, Australia
Thank you, Larry ? I will often compare my observations with data from Learmonth (relatively nearby) to at least corroborate them. In this case the comparison is quite interesting. I was hoping to compare to 18GHz range from Owens Valley as well, unfortunately no data is available for that period. ? Kind Regards, ? Luke. ? ? ?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Larry Dodd via groups.io
Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2025 1:26 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Radio JOVE] Solar and RF fadeout North Tasmania, Australia? Very interesting observation Luke. Your microscopic 8 Mhz spectrograph shows a lot of detail missing in the extremely wide bandwidth Learmouth spectrograph. The solar event at a very high frequency (-100Mhz) is centered on the HF fade out shown in your spectrgtoph and at the bottom of the Learmouth spectrograph. Your observation is an excellent example of comparing a narrowbandwidth to an extremely wide bandwidth.? Thank you for your observation. ? On Wed, May 14, 2025 at 8:30?AM Luke Murphy via <lukepmurphy=[email protected]> wrote: Hi, ?????? Some weak solar and RF fade out. Also see comparison from Learmonth observatory around the same timeframe. ? ? ?  ?? 
? ? Regards, ? ??????????????????Luke.
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Re: Views of the Solar "Storm" from the Dark Sky Observatory May 13, 2025
Tyson? Be sure your using the fastest direct USB port on your computer. Avoid using a USB hub.? Close any programs that may be running.? Use the shortest and best USB cable you have. .
This video may help.
Larry K4LED V
On 5/16/2025 20:47:19, Tyson Sapre via groups.io <tyson.sapre@...> wrote: Thanks Larry.? I was able to perform the RX-888 to RSS via SDR console and so far it has worked quite well but I've just been testing at home so far and haven't tried it on our setup in Finksburg, MD yet.? Only issue is crashing if I push the bandwidth over a range of 16 Mhz, actually even then it's not ideal but it seems to work.? 8 Mhz seems to be the most stable range.??
Tyson On Thu, May 15, 2025 at 10:55?PM Larry Dodd via <101science= [email protected]> wrote: Tyson The instructions for using the RX888 with SDR Condole and SDRc2RSS can be found on the Radio JOVE WIKI page. We support that method.? Larry K4LED On Thu, May 15, 2025 at 9:01?PM Tyson Sapre via <tyson.sapre= [email protected]> wrote: Hi everyone,
I recently purchased an RX-888 and was wondering if there are instructions on how to run rx2fits code within Linux.? I know how to install Linux but maybe there is a distro that is best.? Open to any tips/suggestions.? Thanks!
Tyson
Hi Sabine,
?
We are working on that.? We have located a Linux computer and have installed rx2fits.? Next step is to figure out how to run the calibrator at the same time as rx2fits.? Have you done that?? I imagine one just needs to write a python program on linux to communicate with the calibrator, but we haven't done that yet.? Now that exams are finished, we will have more time.
?
Best wishes,? Richard
|
Re: Views of the Solar "Storm" from the Dark Sky Observatory May 13, 2025
Thanks Larry.? I was able to perform the RX-888 to RSS via SDR console and so far it has worked quite well but I've just been testing at home so far and haven't tried it on our setup in Finksburg, MD yet.? Only issue is crashing if I push the bandwidth over a range of 16 Mhz, actually even then it's not ideal but it seems to work.? 8 Mhz seems to be the most stable range.??
Tyson
On Thu, May 15, 2025 at 10:55?PM Larry Dodd via <101science= [email protected]> wrote: Tyson The instructions for using the RX888 with SDR Condole and SDRc2RSS can be found on the Radio JOVE WIKI page. We support that method.? Larry K4LED On Thu, May 15, 2025 at 9:01?PM Tyson Sapre via <tyson.sapre= [email protected]> wrote: Hi everyone,
I recently purchased an RX-888 and was wondering if there are instructions on how to run rx2fits code within Linux.? I know how to install Linux but maybe there is a distro that is best.? Open to any tips/suggestions.? Thanks!
Tyson
Hi Sabine,
?
We are working on that.? We have located a Linux computer and have installed rx2fits.? Next step is to figure out how to run the calibrator at the same time as rx2fits.? Have you done that?? I imagine one just needs to write a python program on linux to communicate with the calibrator, but we haven't done that yet.? Now that exams are finished, we will have more time.
?
Best wishes,? Richard
|
Re: Views of the Solar "Storm" from the Dark Sky Observatory May 13, 2025
Hi Huub,
?
I would be interested in how you did the calibration with SDRconsole on the RX-888.? My student and I (we have both built a calibrator) went out to the antenna site yesterday and attempted a calibration.? By adjusting the gain on the SDRc2RSS program we were able to get the top of the curve at the upper right hand part of the graph, but we did not succeed in getting the beginning of the curve at the bottom lefthand corner (see attached).?? We had to adjust the "visual gain" all the way down to -30dB and then we also lowered the HF gain (both on SDRconsole), but that did not succeed in getting a full calibration.? What adjustments did you use on SDRc2RSS and SDRconsole to get a calibration?
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Having said that, the present calibration is much better than we started with.? When we ran the calibrator with the "default" settings for SDRconsole and SDRc2RSS we were using only about 1000 ADU.? Now we are using about 3000.? But we would like to use the full 4096!
And then we want to make some progress on rx2fits to see if we can utilize the full 16-bits the RX-888 is capable of!
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Richard
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Sabine Cremer
Larry Dodd
Carl Pajak Phone
