Re: Views of the Solar "Storm" from the Dark Sky Observatory May 13, 2025
Hi Richard,?
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This morning I realised I should have given you the full picture about the full bandwidth image I send you. So I zoomed in to the Jove band on my RX888 (RX2FITS) recording (the darker part) as well as on my RSPDUO recording. Both use the same antenna. As you can see the signals are there. Compared to my RSPDUO setup the RX888, in my opinion, performs very good. The dynamic range of the RX888 is bigger due to the 16 bits ADC which explains the huge differences in the full bandwidth image.
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Attached 5 images. first two from the RX888 (RX2FITS). Image 3 and 4 from RSPDUO calibrated setup. Lastly a spectrum plot of the full bandwidth recording.
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Today I will return to the sdrc setup to do another calibration run on a different band span.
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Huub
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Re: Views of the Solar "Storm" from the Dark Sky Observatory May 13, 2025
That is wonderful, Huub. I am so glad to see this kind of innovation?in Jove.? We need people like you and Sabine!
Aloha, Jim
On Fri, May 16, 2025 at 4:35?AM Huub Hameleers SWL/JO21JN via <huub= [email protected]> wrote:
Hi Jim,
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rx2fits2rss is a program developed by Sabine (and me as the sidekick) It is able to convert the fits files created by rx2fits (from Nathan) to Radio sky Spectrograph compattible format. It also can convert fits files to rss which are readable with Autoplot.?
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This way you can use the rx888 MKII and analyse the recordings with RSS or autoplot.
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Huub
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Re: Views of the Solar "Storm" from the Dark Sky Observatory May 13, 2025
Richard, Your calibration spectrum as-is isn¡¯t terrible. It¡¯s just not seeing the very weakest signals. Actually for weak Jupiter signals using an RSP1B is a better choice with more gain and less bandwidth. The RX888 MKII is nicer for solar because of its wider bandwidth. The fan is to help with life span - mean time between failure. I evaluated over a dozen different SDRs and there aren¡¯t any designed specifically for amateur radio astronomy. They are designed for radio experimenters and hams that aren't terribly interested in wide bandwidth.?That¡¯s the main sales market for inexpensive SDRs. I have an expensive wideband SDR designed for covert surveillance but its totally impractical $$$$ for Radio JOVE. The RJ original?objective was to interest young people in electronics and astronomy at a reasonably low cost. I'm always searching for the perfect SDR for us. There are a couple promising ones I¡¯m watching but its hard to know if they will ever reach the public market. We were hoping HamSci would finish their Tangerine SDR they worked on for years but it was finally dropped as uneconomical. I won't going the real ?reason. Ha! ? Larry
Hi Larry,
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Our RX-888s run a bit warm to the touch, but not hot.?? We could certainly get some small fans that run from a USB port.?? Are you thinking that if we cooled the RX-888s that that would bring the bottom of the curve down to the bottom of the graph?? That seems a rather large effect.? We got our RX-888 MK IIs from the source you recommended, not off of eBay or Amazon.? They appear to be the real thing and operate almost identically.? Unfortunately, that source is no longer selling RX-888s into the US market because of the tariffs on Chinese goods.
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We managed to push the curve down by lowering the "visual gain" to -30dB.? That was surprising to me because from what I have read, the visual gain should only affect the display on SDRconsole and not the output from the SDR, but it had a very clear effect on the RSS spectrogram and the calibration curve as well.? It is not possible in SDRconsole to lower the visual gain below -30dB.?? One can get the curve lower by lowering the "HF gain" in SDRconsole.? In both cases it is then necessary to raise the gain in SDRc2RSS to get the top of the curve back up to the top of the graph.?? However, I feel that I am twiddling knobs without fully understanding their function.
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Richard
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Re: Views of the Solar "Storm" from the Dark Sky Observatory May 13, 2025
Hi Larry,
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Our RX-888s run a bit warm to the touch, but not hot.?? We could certainly get some small fans that run from a USB port.?? Are you thinking that if we cooled the RX-888s that that would bring the bottom of the curve down to the bottom of the graph?? That seems a rather large effect.? We got our RX-888 MK IIs from the source you recommended, not off of eBay or Amazon.? They appear to be the real thing and operate almost identically.? Unfortunately, that source is no longer selling RX-888s into the US market because of the tariffs on Chinese goods.
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We managed to push the curve down by lowering the "visual gain" to -30dB.? That was surprising to me because from what I have read, the visual gain should only affect the display on SDRconsole and not the output from the SDR, but it had a very clear effect on the RSS spectrogram and the calibration curve as well.? It is not possible in SDRconsole to lower the visual gain below -30dB.?? One can get the curve lower by lowering the "HF gain" in SDRconsole.? In both cases it is then necessary to raise the gain in SDRc2RSS to get the top of the curve back up to the top of the graph.?? However, I feel that I am twiddling knobs without fully understanding their function.
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Richard
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Re: Views of the Solar "Storm" from the Dark Sky Observatory May 13, 2025
Richard, You could try adding a small amount of RF antenna gain ahead of the RS888 MKII.? You can find low noise RF preamp on Amazon fairly inexpensive. Keeping the RX888 cool is a good idea. They make small fans that you could mount on top.Worse comes to worse and you still want to use the RX888 you could get a backup one that might have a little more gain. Larry
On 5/18/2025 19:39:14, Richard Gray via groups.io <grayro@...> wrote: Hi Larry,
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Thanks for that explanation.? Do you have any guidance about how to get the beginning of the calibration curve down to the lower left hand corner of the graph??
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Richard
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Re: Views of the Solar "Storm" from the Dark Sky Observatory May 13, 2025
Hi Larry,
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Thanks for that explanation.? Do you have any guidance about how to get the beginning of the calibration curve down to the lower left hand corner of the graph??
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Richard
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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 agree, bringer the attenuation to 20 dB will reduce sensitivity. But in this case I was trying to reach the full dynamic range. I'm sure there is a way to find the sweet spot between sensitivity and dynamic range through tinkering with the settings. As I said, it's a start.
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Attached you'll find an image of the full spectrum of the rx888 (3 to 60 MHz). As you can see, the part ~18 - 30 MHz shows very little signal. I'm not sure yet if this is due to my antenna or the rx888. Tomorrow I'll do a calibration on the lower part of the band span and see if this changes things.
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Huub
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Re: Views of the Solar "Storm" from the Dark Sky Observatory May 13, 2025
Richard, The dB threshold in SDRc2RSS setting controls the?noise floor. For most Radio JOVE purposes keep it as low as possible (-150 dB).
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
Sabine, Luke is using SDRc2RSS. It has a pull down list of ¡°Windowing¡± like filters. While using these filters can remove certain artifacts in a spectrograph they do so based on the fixed filter parameters. There is no operator control over what artifacts are removed other than knowing what the selected fixed filter filters. This is why I recommend turning Windowing or Filtering off especially when calibrating the system because they slightly alter the spectrograph signal. Perhaps eventually a smart AI filter could be more intelligently effective than current fixed filters. In the meantime finding and avoiding RFI, while unfortunate and difficult, is the best solution.?
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 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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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,
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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.
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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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Larry Dodd
Sabine Cremer
Carl Pajak Phone
