Hi All,

It isn't working for me...

73

Robert GI3VAF

Is it not sending at all? The TX-Window has to be included into the main window to activate the TX button.
Power level is very low on 2,4 GHz, so you maybe need an amplifier to get more than 0 dBm out.
regards
Gerhard OE3GBB

Hi Gerhard,

I am very pleased to hear from someone who has got this to work. I'll add some screen shots in my next post which has to be by email. (With email replies one can paste images into the message) 

73

Robert

Hello Robert,
Well, I think I cannot helf further as you ran into the same problem I had. On one PC the TX software for the Lime SDR Mini is very choppy, on an other PC not. Both are i7 Intel and Win7. This LimeSDR mini works well with SDR-Angel and also with RPi and Portsdown DATV-Software. On the same PC my LimeSDR USB is working well in TX.
Sorry, maybe someone else can help.
73's
Gerhard OE3GBB

Hi,

I thought I should try it with a more powerful PC which just happens to run Windows 10.
This is worse because none of the functions in the TX window work or they are greyed out.
Presumably the program is incompatible with Windows 10?

73

Robert GI3VAF

I had the same problem with win7. Try to include the TX window into the main window. Than the TX button was not greyed out any more.
73's
Gerhard

Hi Gerhard,

I use the Lime Mini with the Portsdown too and it works very well. It works also with DATV Express although the SR minimum is 175 K.
If SDR-Angel is an alternative for NB I would try it. I know that SDR-Angel is difficult to set up. Have you any information that would help?

Best

Robert

Gerhard,

I'm not sure what you mean by 'include the TX window into the main window'. It can either be allowed to float but if I apply 'docking' it is part of the main window.
Am I missing something?

73

Robert

Hi Gerhard,

Not sure what I did, maybe restarting after docking the TX window, but it is working now on the Win 10 machine!

73

Robert

hmm i already told simon that the rx mute does not work when you add the tx offset (enable it)

so ... if using the tx offset ... then the tx is switched to fullduplex even if you select half duplex in radio tab

so there is still a bug to be solved from him

....

that is reported from me to him in the test team group ... and i am sure he will work on this

that fault was on my pluto ... i do not have a lime mini but i am guessing there it is similar

greets sigi dg9bfc

Hi Siegfried,

I also got it to work on the Win 7 PC but there appears to be a lot of latency that is perhaps due to it being slower. At 'run' it is producing +3dBm of something which may be related to the duplex issue but toggling the TX button removes this problem. Anyway, before I spend more money we should know what the minimum specification is for a suitable PC.

Best Regards

Robert

hmm ... i can send with the pluto in 550kc bw used in duplex ... on an old core 2 duo laptop with 4gb ram and only 1.8ghz clock

receiving only works with 2.1 megs bw

the problem here seems to be the usb speed in that slowish machine ... cause cpu load is not that high ...

i am guessing any not tooo old pc should be fast enough

i also have high latency ... but it works

so ... play a bit with the buffer settings and even a slow machine does work

(wink wink simon ... my old and rubbish pc works with your software .... grin ... good job overall)

i think any modern pc should be ok for sdr rc v3 ... if it works on this old thingy here :-)

dg9bfc sigi

yepp ... use sdrangel for receiving datv ... but for nb ... i would say sdr rc v3 is much easier in use for rx and tx

greetz sigi dg9bfc

Firstly my thanks to Simon for the ongoing work and also to add to Roberts comment.  Whilst having no problem getting the Lime mini to transmit I do agree with the observation regarding its initialisation routine leaving it in transmit.  Once the PTT button is operated it works normally so it would appear that something in the start-up routine is responsible. I don't think it's really safe to put it onto a 'live' system whilst this occurs.

As a matter of interest I have over the last few days done some tests on the Lime mini involving injecting an external clock.  I think the support for this in SDR console's settings are a left over from the Lime USB.  The external clock in the mini is actually applied by physically switching R59/62 an  i.e. a hardware modification has to be applied and the switch from internal clock to external cannot be made by software alone.

Doing some tests with Lime Suite the mini seems a bit 'picky' regarding the external clock values it runs with and I ended up using 40MHZ which is the same as the internal VCTCXO,  having done that another problem manifest itself as the mini then fails the stock quick tests and calibrations (I noticed also that the SDR console log threw errors as well).  The errors relate to the fact that the mini's VCTCXO is, it would seem, 'exercised' by the DAC providing it's control voltage and expects to see a corresponding change in the VCTCXO's output frequency a reasonable test to be applied to ensure overall functionality but clearly with the internal oscillator disconnected cannot take place.

I ended up restoring the original hardware link to the internal VCTCXO and trimmed its 40MHZ output by means of a loosely coupled and GPS locked service monitor whilst adjusting the DAC via Lime Suite. The final value is then written to the mini and persists.  I would though say that a degree of luck is needed to hit the right frequency as the DAC resolution is quite coarse. This I see is already documented in the Myriad Discourse forum where a possible substitution of the DAC is suggested it would though require also that the software is rehashed accordingly.

I'm a newcomer to the Lime mini and find it a great little device to play with and it works well as a receiver with SDR Console.  My initial tests on transmit have on occasion caused SDR Console to crash but when it works it is good.  I have just made up a small amplifier with 2.4 GHz SAW filtering and Gali-84+ to move towards a rx/tx solution to use with my existing 2.4GHz PA once the initialisation issues are resolved.

Regards

Clive, G4KCM

I would thank Simon for Ver 3.06 because I can now get 'on air', and feel confident that any remaining issues will be resolved.
It works very smoothly with Win 10 on a PC with an Intel Core i5-8250U Processor and hopefully also soon with a slightly older PC.

try with low bandwidth ... and try different buffer settings

i can tx in fullduplex on a "crappy old slow core2duo laptop" (over 10 years old!)

so if that works here ... any newer pc should work fine

dg9bfc sigi