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--- 2m0iig-ads-b-journey [2022/11/05 20:06] – [21st October 2022] 2m0iig
+++ 2m0iig-ads-b-journey [2023/01/20 09:14] (current) – 2m0iig
@@ Line 172: / Line 172: @@
 ==== 31st October 2022 ====
-Oh god, oh god. The Pi has been misbehaving so much over the last few days. Given how much it survived ok before the last few days I think it's the SD Card rather than the Pi misbehaving due to overclocking. So, I'm going to get myself a brand new Class 10+ card, 16 GB or so, and then either clone the current one or set everything up from scratch again, making sure to use the same sharing codes/IDs for the feeders.
+Oh god, oh god. The Pi has been misbehaving so much over the last few days. Given how much it survived ok before the last few days with things underclocked I think it's the SD Card rather than the Pi misbehaving due to overclocking. So, I'm going to get myself a brand new Class 10+ card, 16 GB or so, and then either clone the current one or set everything up from scratch again, making sure to use the same sharing codes/IDs for the feeders.
 This is, it has to be said, a bit frustrating. Maybe it's worth using another drive like an SSD or USB stick, but I am totally out of ports on the Pi Zero, and because of the shortages at the moment Pis are as rare as rocking horse shit or cost an absolute bomb, so the idea of getting a Pi3 to replace this will have to wait a while.
-More to follow...
+==== 6th November 2022 ====
+Well then. It’s been a shitty week for the project. The crashes and corruption got to the stage where I genuinely couldn’t log in via SSH. Like, I’d connect and the window would immediately close after it processed my login. Something was toast. So I dug out a spare 8 gig card and set it all up from scratch.
+I haven’t overclocked it at all, because I’m terrified that’s what did it in before, but I can definitely tell that I haven’t done it. Grr. The CPU temp is lower though without the overclock. I’ve also taken the lid off the Zero’s case and the temp dropped a few C. Nice! I don’t think it needs to be covered in the position it is in, so I’m leaving it off for good. I’m honestly going to just skip the overclocking. It’s not worth the hassle.
+I am pretty sure we can leave this entry here, although I did just start working on an 8 segment antenna, because I am a glutton for punishment.
+==== 7th November 2022 ====
+Oh my, the 8 segment version is fantastic! I put it outside and set it up at a similar height, but with more open coverage to the north, previously blocked by my house. I gained two more planes that the 4 segment antenna didn't receive. Very encouraging. I need to get it in some conduit and maybe install it full-time, but it is a fairly long cable run so that has to be considered too. Maybe time to invest in a pre-amp and a bias-T board.
+We've also started overclocking again, because I am a glutton for punishment. Slight changes each time, without going overboard. Seems stable so far. I'm learning a lot about the voltages for the ARM/Broadcom chips, that's for sure. In preparation for doing this I also decided to stick a crappy 5V fan that I rescued from an old netbook to the top of the RTL-SDR stick, with the exhaust pointing right at the Pi Zero. The result was a ridiculous 10 degree Celsius drop. It's the most shonky setup ever, held on with Blu Tack (not sure if that is the best thermal transfer material...). It's plugged into the Pi's GPIO pins, 5V and GND, and I'm honestly over the moon with the result.
+Finally I adjusted the antenna outside to make it a bit more straighter and not slanting to one side a tiny bit. I don't know how much difference that will make, because signals from the planes are pretty strong anyway, but it can't hurt to make it perfectly vertical. The mount I'm using is already slightly bent so I'm having to accommodate for that.
+==== 20th January 2023 ====
+Well, where to start... Since the last update the Pi Zero has been replaced by a Pi 3B+, I have written some software to help with automatic installation of all of my custom setup, I have written some software to act as a web-based dashboard with full mobile compatibility, and I've also made a Python app that can keep an ear out for certain planes matching criteria that you specify, or if a plane is over a particular specified area. Basically I've been very busy.
+The 8 segment version is inside a conduit with feedline attached, but definitely isn't going to work on the current bracket, so I'll need to think about that a bit more. The wind does tend to blow the 4 segment around a bit and makes it shift or tilt a tad, and every few days I need to shimmy up a ladder and straighten things out, so the 8 segment would be even worse given the extra weight. Maybe a summer project, but I have to be careful to not block upstairs' view (to be a good neighbour and all that).
+Plane counts are very up and down, though - I think it is because it is winter and the traffic is much less anyway, but there are still occasions where I think I've broken something, or the antenna has bust somehow. This shouldn't be possible due to me replacing the ends of the antenna recently with proper end caps instead of lots of tape...
+I do think this blog is ending here, but it has been fun and I enjoy the fact that I have a somewhat mature system now that has been going for 3 months. I won't challenge any leaderboards, but I have a nice source of data that I can look at. I've picked up lots of military action, such as F15s and Eurofighters, and I've picked up lots of royal flights. I also picked up Elon Musk going to the World Cup. You can't hide outside of America, bucko...
+I hope this was helpful for folk, and do please get in touch if you got something from this or need any advice.