Is My DVB-T / Pro Stick / RTL SDR Dongle OK?

FlightAware ADS-B Flight Tracking
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How To Test If Your DVB-T / Pro Stick / RTL SDR Dongle Is OK

Following two options are described below:
OPTION-1: Dongle plugged into Raspberry Pi.
OPTION-2: Dongle plugged into Windows Computer.

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OPTION-1: Dongle plugged into Raspberry Pi.

STEP-1:
Install the test tools package rtl-sdr

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install rtl-sdr

STEP-2:
Stop dump1090 to free your Dongle for test

#choose one of the following commands,
#depending on which version of dump1090 you have installed.
#If you are not sure, issue all three one by one

sudo systemctl stop dump1090
sudo systemctl stop dump1090-fa
sudo systemctl stop dump1090-mutability

STEP-3:
Now run the test command

 rtl_test -t

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If (a) Your Dongle is OK. AND (b) Properly connected to Pi, you will see this output:
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Found 1 device(s):
  0:  Realtek, RTL2832UFA, SN: 00001001

Using device 0: Generic RTL2832U
Found Rafael Micro R820T tuner
Supported gain values (29): 0.0 0.9 1.4 2.7 3.7 7.7 8.7 12.5 14.4 15.7 16.6 19.7 20.7 22.9 25.4 28.0 29.7 32.8 33.8 36.4 37.2 38.6 40.2 42.1 43.4 43.9 44.5 48.0 49.6 
Sampling at 2048000 S/s.
No E4000 tuner found, aborting.

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STEP-4:
Reboot your Raspberry Pi to restart dump1090 and all data feeders, and restore to normal operation state.

 sudo reboot

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OPTION-2: Dongle plugged into Windows Computer.

STEP 1 of 3:
Install dvb-t rtl driver zadig if not yet done so, as detailed below.

(1) Download Zadig 2.3.exe from http://zadig.akeo.ie/

(2) Plug the DVB-T or ProStick in your Windows Computer.

(3) Follow the steps below:

  1. Double click Zadig 2.3.exe to run it.
    The window below will open.
    zadig-1
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  2. On main menu, click “Options”.
    On the drop-down, place a check mark beside “List All Devices”.
    zadig-2
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  3. From list of devices, select “RTL2838” which is actually DVB-T/ProStick.
    Now click button which will either say “Install Driver” or “Reinstall Driver”
    zadig-3
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STEP 2 of 3:
Download RelWithDebInfo.zip from here:
Download Link: http://osmocom.org/attachments/download/2242/RelWithDebInfo.zip

Web Page: https://osmocom.org/projects/sdr/wiki/rtl-sdr
(scroll down to bottom of page to find download link)

STEP 3 of 3:
(a) First EXIT your Flightradar24 feeder, or dump1090, or RTL1090 or ModeSdeco2 or any other software which is using DVB-T to make the Dongle free for test.
(b) Un-zip RelWithDebInfo.zip. It will create a folder RelWithDebInfo.
Inside this folder there is another folder rtl-sdr-release which contains several files and 2 folders named x32 and x64.
(c) Go to folder x32. You will find many rtl tools in it as shown in screenshot-1
(d) Double-click file rtl_test.exe to run it.
A command console will open and if (a) Your Dongle is OK. AND (b) Properly connected to Pi, it will give output as shown in screenshot -2.

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SCREENSHOT-1

RTL-_TOOLS_Step-1-_Easy
RTL-_TOOLS_Step-1-_Easy802Ă—582 59.5 KB

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SCREENSHOT-2
RTL-_TOOLS_Step-2-_Easy
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