XTension beta 9.4.40b1 with first pass at SDR radio support for 433mhz devices

Tue Apr 27 06:52:26 EDT 2021

How funny. Tax time and it is build 1040!

Best,
Charlie-
On Apr 26, 2021, 10:40 PM -0400, Dave Fleck <dfleck at pacifier.com>, wrote:
> Same as James, I’ve been using both
> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011HVUEME/
> and
> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01B4L48QU/
> and they seem to work well.
> I also bought one of these:
> https://www.ebay.com/itm/174172329313
> and it works fine also (I was looking for an Al case because these things do get warm).
>
> I haven’t tried this yet, but the first one also has a built-in bias T for power, which can provide power to a preamp. That could be good for a preamp in the attic (I like to keep the amp as close to the antenna as possible to overcome loss in the coax). You can force the bias T to always be on with a eeprom setting:
> https://www.rtl-sdr.com/rtl-sdr-blog-v-3-dongles-user-guide/
> Or you can add your own bias T:
> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07R5JYJG8
>
> Dave
>
>
>
> > On Apr 26, 2021, at 7:59 AM, James Sentman <james at sentman.com> wrote:
> >
> > I believe that it will work with any radio you can find listed as supported on the rtl_sdr wiki site.
> >
> > The radios that I’ve specifically tested with are these three:
> >
> > https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014OH57S4/
> > https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01B4L48QU/
> > and
> > https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011HVUEME/
> >
> > The one I have that does not work well is one like this:
> > https://www.amazon.com/NooElec-NESDR-SMArTee-XTR-SDR/dp/B06Y1D7P48/
> >
> > I’m sure I just got a defective one and the brand itself is actually OK. I ordered it so long ago that I can’t return it now that I know it doesn’t work very well. I’ve taken it apart but don’t see anything obvious like a bridged ground to the antenna or something like that.
> >
> > The antennas they come with aren’t really very good so just like with the W800’s or earlier RFX’s you’ll want to experiment with such things. I’ve also experimented with a couple of large bandwidth amplifiers that really do make a significant difference in the range of what you can pick up. I have worked with this one:
> >
> > https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KKKQM9B/
> > and this one that comes without a case so probably picks up more interference. They both would require some minor soldering to put a power cord onto and run at 5v.
> > https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FYV19FK/
> >
> > Unless you can get by with just connecting up the antenna the thing comes with it’s going to be a bit of a pain working with the SMA and MCX (? I think…) connectors on these things. Make sure to get the right adaptors so that you can connect them all together. It’s like plumbing, it always takes me at least 2 trips to the store to get the right things. Amazon has all the adaptors but you’ll have to figure out what you need first. Watch those SMA connections, they also have reverse SMA which are more commonly used in wifi antennas but they won’t go into the regular SMA or MCX that these radios use. You’ll want a good 433mhz antenna and very likely one of those amps to really make this a usable thing. If you want to do smart meter reading an amp really is necessary. Turning the rtl_433 up to 912.600MHz does let it receive some of the ERT-SCM messages. But it doesn’t seem to receive them as well as the rtlamr software that I’ll also wrap into a plugin for the release. Im having trouble with that as all I can pick up are gas meters. I have gotten a few messages from an electric meter and nothing from my water meter at all. I think it’s hilarious that there is so much pressure against the smart meters ;) So my poor electric meter broadcasts MAYBE once an hour which is OK but hardly enough granularity to know much useful. But my gas meter which is very cleverly camouflaged so that it doesn’t look like a smart meter at all broadcasts every 10 seconds whether you’re using any gas or not :) trl_433 picks up one of those messages at that frequency every couple of hours, but with the signal amplifier I can pick them up reliably with it. The rtlamr software seems to be much better at picking them out of the air even without the amp. Still experimenting with that.
> >
> >
> > > On Apr 25, 2021, at 4:12 PM, Chuck <xtension4osx at mac.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > So, are you going to recommend any specific products. I want to get one ASAP.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > James
> >
> >
> > James Sentman                       http://www.PlanetaryGear.org		http://MacHomeAutomation.com
> >
> >
> >
> >
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>
> ----------
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