Portsdown 4 - Revision history

G8GKQ: /* Portsdown 4 test and alignment aids */

2026-04-20T11:26:35Z

Portsdown 4 test and alignment aids

2025-04-29T19:24:58Z

FAQ

2022-10-12T13:35:20Z

Pluto power mod.

2022-09-24T16:01:23Z

Powering the Pluto

2022-03-18T16:11:03Z

Hardware

2021-12-03T13:04:16Z

Portsdown 4 transmit capabilities:

2021-10-20T09:17:07Z

Hardware

2021-10-19T14:24:46Z

Portsdown 4 receive capabilities:

2021-10-19T14:21:51Z

Langstone Narrow band transceiver

2021-10-19T14:19:17Z

Portsdown 4 receive capabilities:

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:26, 20 April 2026
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	* Basic spectrum display of band occupancy using the "[[Portsdown Band Viewer]]" - '''note this requires a LimeSDR Mini to be connected'''.		* Basic spectrum display of band occupancy using the "[[Portsdown Band Viewer]]" - '''note this requires a LimeSDR Mini to be connected'''.
		+
		+	===Portsdown 4 Utilities===
		+
		+	* The Portsdown 4 can control an az/el rotator to track the ISS, sun or the moon. Full details here: [[Portsdown 4 ISS Tracker]]

	==Hardware==		==Hardware==

@@ Line 99: / Line 99: @@
   No - you need to do the camera mounting modification which Colin G4KLB described in CQ-TV 267
-* Can I upgrade from Langstone or a previous version incluing Portsdown A27?
+* Can I upgrade from Langstone or a previous version including Portsdown A27?
   No - you must start with a clean image on your SD card

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:35, 12 October 2022
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	The Pluto is more reliable and less likely to drop out if fed with about 4.9v on USB. So, set the RPi input voltage to 5.0v, or use another power source to make sure that the Pluto is not fed with over 5.0v.		The Pluto is more reliable and less likely to drop out if fed with about 4.9v on USB. So, set the RPi input voltage to 5.0v, or use another power source to make sure that the Pluto is not fed with over 5.0v.
		+
		+	If powering the Pluto using the USB lead from the Pi you may have USB instability issues if the Pluto receives over 5V. As the Pi prefers voltages around 5.1-5.2V this can cause problems. One way around this is to carefully cut into the USB lead and add a Schottky diode (e.g. 1N5817) in series with the positive conductor. With a supply voltage of 5.15V to the Pi the Pluto receives 4.85V and both work correctly.

	===Portsdown hardware===		===Portsdown hardware===

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:01, 24 September 2022
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	The Raspberry Pi 4 has increased power capabilities on its USB ports, and the Pluto does not work well with USB Hubs, so it is recommended that you connect the Pluto directly to a USB3 port (the blue ones) on the Raspberry Pi 4. Do not use a USB hub or power the Pluto from its USB power port.		The Raspberry Pi 4 has increased power capabilities on its USB ports, and the Pluto does not work well with USB Hubs, so it is recommended that you connect the Pluto directly to a USB3 port (the blue ones) on the Raspberry Pi 4. Do not use a USB hub or power the Pluto from its USB power port.
		+
		+	The Pluto is more reliable and less likely to drop out if fed with about 4.9v on USB. So, set the RPi input voltage to 5.0v, or use another power source to make sure that the Pluto is not fed with over 5.0v.

	===Portsdown hardware===		===Portsdown hardware===

@@ Line 52: / Line 52: @@
 [[File:Portsdown 4 Block.PNG|600px]]
-No other models of Raspberry Pi or touchscreen are planned to be supported in the near future.
+Only the Raspberry Pi 4 and the Official 7 inch touchscreen (or the DFRobot DFR0550 5 inch touchscreen)  are planned to be supported in the near future.
 ===Portsdown 4 GPIO connections===

@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 ===Portsdown 4 transmit capabilities:===
-* DVB-S, DVB-S2 and DVB-T (H264 only) transmissions from a Pluto SDR connected by USB
+* DVB-S, DVB-S2 and DVB-T (H264 only) transmissions from a Pluto SDR connected by USB.  More details [[Portsdown_4_Pluto|here]].
 * DVB-S, DVB-S2 and DVB-T (MPEG-2 and H264) transmissions from a LimeSDR Mini or LimeSDR USB using stock LimeSDR firmware
 * DVB-S and DVB-S2 (MPEG-2 and H264) transmissions from a LimeSDR Mini using "LimeDVB" firmware

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:17, 20 October 2021
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	The Portsdown 4 GPIO Connections are defined here: [[Portsdown 4 GPIO Connections]].		The Portsdown 4 GPIO Connections are defined here: [[Portsdown 4 GPIO Connections]].
		+
		+	===Powering the LimeSDR===
		+
		+	The Raspberry Pi 4 has increased power capabilities on its USB ports, so it is recommended that you connect the LimeSDR directly to the Raspberry Pi. For some reason, the LimeSDR Mini sometimes works better when connected to the USB2 ports (the black ones, not the blue ones).

	===Powering the Pluto===		===Powering the Pluto===

@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 When the Portsdown 4 is connected to the internet:
 * Display of streams from the BATC Streamer
 ===Portsdown 4 test and alignment aids===

@@ Line 72: / Line 72: @@
 If you wish to build your own card the build is on GitHub at https://github.com/BritishAmateurTelevisionClub/portsdown4
-==Langstone Narrow band transceiver==
+==Langstone Narrow Band Transceiver==
 The Portsdown 4 software build is also compatible with the Langstone Microwave transceiver software, which can be loaded from touchscreen selections (menu 2) AFTER the Portsdown software has been installed.

@@ Line 31: / Line 31: @@
 ===Portsdown 4 receive capabilities:===
 When a [[MiniTioune|MiniTiouner USB receiver]] is connected via USB:
 * Reception and display of DVB-S and DVB-S2 (MPEG-2, H264 and H265) signals - see [[DVB-S/S2 Reception|https://wiki.batc.org.uk/DVB-S/S2_Reception]]
@@ Line 39: / Line 36: @@
 When a [[Knucker|BATC Knucker USB tuner]] is connected by USB:
 * Reception and display of DVB-T and DVB-T2 (MPEG-2, H264 and H265) signals
 ===Portsdown 4 test and alignment aids===