Portsdown MeteorView

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The Portsdown Meteor Viewer uses an SDRplay RSPdx and displays 10 kHz of spectrum in a waterfall. The RSPdx needs to be connected to the Portsdown 4 USB2 (black, not blue) socket. Other models of the SDRplay RSP family of SDRs may work.

Streaming Data to a Central Server

By default the Meteor Viewer displays the waterfall locally; however, it can also stream the IQ data to a central server for display with other streams as seen here: GB3MBA Server.

In this mode, MeteorView does not require a touchscreen display and can run totally headless.

Building an SD Card for Unattended MeteorView Streaming

Using a Raspberry Pi 4 with no screen connected, build a new Portsdown SD Card using the instructions here: Portsdown 4 Build Instructions

Once the build has finished and the Raspberry Pi has rebooted, connect the SDRPlay to the USB2 socket. Then:

  • Open a web browser and point it at the Raspberry Pi's IP address. The address line should look something like this: http://192.168.2.214. Alternatively, if there are no other Raspberry Pis on the network, you can simply enter http://raspberrypi .
  • You should see a webpage with 2 buttons. Click the "Touchscreen" button.
  • If a screen comes up asking about a LimeSDR, click anywhere to clear the message. Menu 1 should be displayed.
  • Click M3 to get to Menu 3.
  • Click on System Config to get to the System Configuration Menu.
  • Click on the "SD Button Disabled" button to change it to "SD Button Enabled".
  • Click on Start-up App. The Start-up Application Menu should be displayed.
  • Click on "Boot to MeteorViewer", which should turn green.
  • Click Exit to get to Menu 1.
  • Click M2 to get to Menu 2.
  • Click Reboot to check that system restarts in the correct mode.


  • On restart, the MeteorViewer display should show a waterfall in "local" mode.
  • Click "System" and then "Streaming Menu".
  • Clock "Set Client ID". A keyboard will appear.
  • Using the mouse and on-screen keyboard, delete the existing Client Number and enter the desired Client Number. Press enter.
  • Then click "Local Display". The application should restart in "remote display" mode and you should see the waterfall on the GB3MBA web Server Client page.
  • The gain can be adjusted using the "Remote RF Gain" and "Remote IF Gain" buttons on the "Settings", "Gain" menu.
  • The cntre frequency can be adjusted using the "Set Frequency" button on the "Settings" menu.