VHF setup for RX-888 MK2

[Emmanuel SV1BTL]

Can someone help me to setup a second RX-888 MK2 to vhf band? I think that the setup will include both .toml and .sh files.
 
After a successful setup, can we start both HF and VHF bands using only one .sh (start), using of course two ports (e.g. 9001 & 9002)?

[Bas ON5HB]

It's not that hard....I have done it before.

Make sure you have the LATEST RX888MK2 driver as it has an VHF-bug-fix!!!

Now type 'rx888_stream help vhf' and you see the VHF options.

To use them run: rx888_stream vhf -f '......and so on like you do on HF mode.

As for the TOML....you must give the starting-freq as it's not 0 MHz....so:

frequency=145000000 # Baseband frequency in Hz to start....in this case 145MHz.

I did test it on 2M band, it should do 70cm too....I think, not tested.

When using vhf as first option, then these are the commands:

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root@Websdr:/harddisk/backup/Phanton-3-mei-2025# rx888_stream help vhf
Accept from VHF input instead of HF input

Usage: rx888_stream vhf [OPTIONS]

Options:
  -f, --firmware <FIRMWARE>          Firmware file to load
  -d, --dither                       Enable dithering
  -r, --randomize                    Enable randomization
  -s, --sample-rate <SAMPLE_RATE>    ADC sample rate [default: 50000000]
  -g, --gain <GAIN>                  VGA gain setting 0-127 [default: 1]
  -m, --gain-mode <GAIN_MODE>        VGA gain mode high or low [default: high] [possible values: high, low]
      --bias-hf                      HF Bias-T
      --bias-vhf                     VHF Bias-T
      --pga                          PGA enable
  -o, --output <OUTPUT>              Output file, "-" is stdout
      --measure                      Measurement mode, measures the ADC sample rate
      --frequency <FREQUENCY>        Tuner Frequency [default: 145000000]
      --vhf-harmonic <VHF_HARMONIC>  Tuner harmonic [default: 0]
      --vhf-lna <VHF_LNA>            Tuner LNA gain 0-29 [default: 29]
      --vhf-sideband <VHF_SIDEBAND>  Tuner sideband [default: 0]
      --vhf-vga <VHF_VGA>            Tuner VGA gain 0-15 [default: 15]
  -h, --help                         Print help
  -V, --version                      Print version
That is the little secret to get it to switch high bands

[Emmanuel SV1BTL]

that is the little secret to get it to switch high bands

I'm afraid that I cannot make it to work on VHF and I wonder why?....

[Emmanuel SV1BTL]

My settings:

.sh

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~/PhantomSDR-Plus/rx888_stream/target/release/rx888_stream vhf -f ~/PhantomSDR-Plus/rx888_stream/SDDC_FX3.img -s 60000000 --frequency 118000000 --vhf-lna 1 --vhf-vga 1 -m low -r --pga -o - > ~/PhantomSDR-Plus/rx888b.fifo &

~/PhantomSDR-Plus/build/spectrumserver --config ~/PhantomSDR-Plus/config-rx888mk2_vhf.toml < ~/PhantomSDR-Plus/rx888b.fifo &
.toml

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[input]
sps=60000000 # Input Sample Rate
fft_size=8388608 # FFT bins alt. 4194304, 8388608, 16777216, look at https://www.mymathtables.com/numbers/power-exponentiation/power-of-2.html
fft_threads=4
brightness_offset=-7 # Waterfall brightness offset. Reduce to negative if you see black regions in the waterfall
frequency=118000000 # Baseband frequency
signal="real" # real or iq
accelerator="opencl" # Accelerator: none, cuda, opencl
audio_sps=12000 # Audio Sample Rate
audio_compression="flac" # flac or opus
waterfall_size=2048
waterfall_compression="zstd" # zstd or av1
smeter_offset=7

[input.driver]
name="stdin" # Driver name
format="s16" # Sample format: u8, s8, u16, s16, u32, s32, f32, f64

[input.defaults]
frequency=144100000 # Default frequency to show user 144100000
modulation="USB" # Default modulation
Any ideas??

[Bas ON5HB]

Works here:

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rx888_stream vhf -f ./rx888_stream/SDDC_FX3.img -s 60000000 --frequency 118000000 --vhf-lna 1 --vhf-vga 1 -m low -r --pga -o -
I think your firmware string isn't valid.
It kept complaining that it couldn't load the firmware. So I changed it and it started streaming.
Or your directory makes the inputline too long....I suggest you shorten it.

[Phil - NY4Q]

I don't know if you have checked the receiver on a different OS, but the RX888 I am using on the Lumpkin site does not work period on VHF. ha

I never planned to use it on VHF, so I did not return it.

[Gennadiy - RA9UIP]

No matter how much I tried to run it through FIFO, it didn't work.
It is also not built for the 2m range.
Need help setting up RX-888MK2 and server to receive 2m range
at best for receiving a satellite with an IF in the region of 970 MHz and higher.
The aviation range was received in the region of 125 MHz, but it doesn't want 145 MHz

[Emmanuel SV1BTL]

I don't know if you have checked the receiver on a different OS, but the RX888

RX888MK2 works absolutely fine on Windows, SDR Console. Not tested yet with SDR#

I think your firmware string isn't valid.

With these settings, server starts, webpage does show the correct frequencies, but not any receiving signal, nowhere!

[Gennadiy - RA9UIP]

I think your firmware string isn't valid.

With these settings, server starts, webpage does show the correct frequencies, but not any receiving signal, nowhere!



I think that everything is in SDDC_FX3.img and it is not correct

[Emmanuel SV1BTL]

I think that everything is in SDDC_FX3.img and it is not correct

What I can do about it so to find a correct SDDC_FX3.img?
Driver is updated with a newer one, modified by Bas.
https://github.com/rhgndf/rx888_stream

[Gennadiy - RA9UIP]

[core]
        repositoryformatversion = 0
        filemode = true
        bare = false
        logallrefupdates = true
[remote "origin"]
        url = https://github.com/rhgndf/rx888_stream
        fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
[branch "main"]
        remote = origin
        merge = refs/heads/main

he is the original
does not work

[Bas ON5HB]

I have it running....however....there are some things you need to know:

1: On VHF/UHF it only does 8-10MHz wide, so max 20MSPS

2: I run it with the below parameters...just testing but it receives.

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#!/bin/bash
cd /opt/PhantomSDR-Plus/

## Files to load
FIFO=rx888mk2.fifo
TOML=config-rx888mk2-vhf.toml

[ ! -e "$FIFO" ] && mkfifo $FIFO

#Without PGA
#rx888_stream/target/release/rx888_stream -f ./rx888_stream/SDDC_FX3.img -s 60000000 -a 0 -m low -g 40 -o - > $FIFO &
rx888_stream/target/release/rx888_stream vhf -f ./rx888_stream/SDDC_FX3.img -s 10000000 --frequency 1400000000 -g 24 --vhf-lna 19 --vhf-vga 5 -m low -r -d -o - > $FIFO &

sleep 2 &

build/spectrumserver --config $TOML < $FIFO &

exit

Code Select Expand

[server]
port=81 # Server port
html_root="frontend/dist/" # HTML files to be hosted
otherusers=1 # Send where other users are listening, 0 to disable
threads=2

[websdr]
register_online=true # If the SDR should be registered on https://sdr-list.xyz then put it to true
name="Heppen Test VHF" # Name that is shown on https://sdr-list.xyz
antenna="Diamon V2000" # Antenna that is shown on https://sdr-list.xyz
grid_locator="JO21oc" # 4 or 6 length Grid Locatlr shown on https://sdr-list.xyz and for the Distance of FT8 Signals
hostname="http://websdr.heppen.be" # If you use ddns or something to host with a domain enter it here for https://sdr-list.xyz

[limits]
audio=100
waterfall=100
events=100

[input]
sps=10000000 # Input Sample Rate
fft_size=8388608
#fft_size=16777216
fft_threads=2
brightness_offset=0 # Waterfall brightness offset. Reduce to negative if you see black regions in the waterfall
frequency=140000000 # Baseband frequency
signal="real" # real or iq
accelerator="opencl" # Accelerator: none, cuda, opencl, mkl
audio_sps=12000 # Audio Sample Rate
audio_compression="flac" # flac or opus
waterfall_size=2048
waterfall_compression="zstd" # zstd or av1
smeter_offset=0

[input.driver]
name="stdin" # Driver name
format="s16" # Sample format: u8, s8, u16, s16, u32, s32, f32, f64

[input.defaults]
frequency=145662500 # Default frequency to show user
modulation="FM" # Default modulation
My test server is running at the moment.

I will test UHF too, so the test-server can be offline.

[Bas ON5HB]

Sadly it doesn't receive anything so far....

The parameters work, but somehow it receives nothing

I tried several version of the firmware, could find 3 different versions but none works.

I opened a ticket, I think the frequency isn't passed to the tuner.

[Emmanuel SV1BTL]

Bad news, very bad news!...
TNX for the replies.

[Gennadiy - RA9UIP]

Sadly it doesn't receive anything so far....

The parameters work, but somehow it receives nothing

I tried several version of the firmware, could find 3 different versions but none works.

I opened a ticket, I think the frequency isn't passed to the tuner.

I also tried new firmware, but all to no avail. I saw that the reception bandwidth is much smaller. Somehow I sorted through the frequencies in the startup and received signals of the air band and the frequencies of the 70 cm range, but the values are far from the frequencies of what is needed