Sep 27 10:47:35 odroid dump1090-fa[2564]: adaptive: changing gain from 8.7dB (step 6) to 7.7dB (step 5) because: high rate of loud undecoded messages
Sep 27 10:47:35 odroid dump1090-fa[2564]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to 7.7 dB (gain step 5)
Sep 27 10:47:52 odroid dump1090-fa[2564]: adaptive: changing gain from 7.7dB (step 5) to 8.7dB (step 6) because: low loud message rate and gain below dynamic range limit
Apart from dynamic range on yes and also burst on yes, the rest of the settings on default. What needs tunning?? The FA pro is running off an Uptronics LNA and cavity filter, up the mast.
Some relevant graphs. The above messages were 8 hours ago, still the same now. Just thinking, I don’t believe there should be that many tracks with a single message, likely trouble area???
Hmm this morning, I think the gain got so low over night with no traffic, that when we started to get some flights, it may of not been able to set higher. I have got no data thought to check that theory but, the airspy unit was merrily showing planes (lol not many, some of you trackers would give the game away if you had the AC traffic operating out of Sydney during Covid) but the FA pro stick was blank. I had to sudo re boot to get it going and then it was recording as per the airspy unit. Not showing that high rate of loud uudecoded message or low message rate and gain dynamic range limit yet. and gain has settled at 30.0 db so far.
Still probably way too many single message detections I would think, not sure how to fix that.
So I need to perhaps to set a not lower than ** gain level . What minimum gain level for such a setting do we suggest, to stop it getting so low. What is this dynamic range limit figures ???
EDIT as not allowed to add any more replys…grrr
Hmm that didn’t take too long to get back to what it has been doing:
08:12:46 odroid dump1090-fa[2566]: adaptive: changing gain from 15.7dB (step 9) to 16.6dB (step 10) because: low loud message rate and gain below dynamic range limit Sep 28 08:12:46 odroid dump1090-fa[2566]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to 16.6 dB (gain step 10) lines 1-20/20 (END)
Seems to be a bit of a lonely thread, not much interest including from Flightaware in their adaptive gain function
This thread is about installing PiAware onto operating systems and architectures that FA doesn’t support. Not sure why you would expect them to have much interest in it.
I’m not really monitoring this thread (it’s abcd’s thing) and can’t keep track of any individual underlying problems amongst all the other stuff. If you’re running into problems please create an issue with details at Issues · flightaware/dump1090 · GitHub (preferred), or post a new thread specifically for your problem.
Adaptive users, has anyone else seen this error line in their status report. I am just wondering if I need to re install or whether it is a system error across the board?? ::
Detected Kernel usbfs mmap() bug, falling back to buffers in userspace
It’s got nothing to do with adaptive gain …
If you would just see if it’s there at fixed gain as well, the logical way to confirm any suspicions you might have.
Anyhow it’s pretty clear English, it’s falling back to buffers in userspace because of the kernel you’re using.
Yes which is why after changing OS again back to Armbian Bullseye on suggestion from obj that it could by a system problem with that specific error, that error message has now gone.
dietpi@DietPi:~$ sudo journalctl -u dump1090-fa | grep gain
Sep 29 17:39:24 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to about 58.6 dB (gain step 29) (tuner AGC enabled)
Sep 29 17:39:24 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: enabled adaptive gain control with gain limits 0.0dB (step 0) .. 58.6dB (step 29)
Sep 29 17:39:45 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 58.6dB (step 29) to 49.6dB (step 28) because: probing dynamic range gain lower bound
Sep 29 17:39:45 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to 49.6 dB (gain step 28)
Sep 29 18:39:55 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: start periodic scan for acceptable dynamic range at increased gain
Sep 29 18:39:55 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 49.6dB (step 28) to 58.6dB (step 29) because: periodic re-probing of dynamic range gain upper bound
Sep 29 18:39:55 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to about 58.6 dB (gain step 29) (tuner AGC enabled)
Sep 29 18:40:05 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 58.6dB (step 29) to 49.6dB (step 28) because: probing dynamic range gain lower bound
Sep 29 18:40:05 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to 49.6 dB (gain step 28)
Sep 29 19:40:15 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: start periodic scan for acceptable dynamic range at increased gain
Sep 29 19:40:15 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 49.6dB (step 28) to 58.6dB (step 29) because: periodic re-probing of dynamic range gain upper bound
Sep 29 19:40:15 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to about 58.6 dB (gain step 29) (tuner AGC enabled)
Sep 29 19:40:25 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 58.6dB (step 29) to 49.6dB (step 28) because: probing dynamic range gain lower bound
Sep 29 19:40:25 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to 49.6 dB (gain step 28)
Sep 29 20:40:35 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: start periodic scan for acceptable dynamic range at increased gain
Sep 29 20:40:35 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 49.6dB (step 28) to 58.6dB (step 29) because: periodic re-probing of dynamic range gain upper bound
Sep 29 20:40:35 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to about 58.6 dB (gain step 29) (tuner AGC enabled)
Sep 29 20:40:45 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 58.6dB (step 29) to 49.6dB (step 28) because: probing dynamic range gain lower bound
Sep 29 20:40:45 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to 49.6 dB (gain step 28)
Sep 29 21:40:54 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: start periodic scan for acceptable dynamic range at increased gain
Sep 29 21:40:54 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 49.6dB (step 28) to 58.6dB (step 29) because: periodic re-probing of dynamic range gain upper bound
Sep 29 21:40:54 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to about 58.6 dB (gain step 29) (tuner AGC enabled)
Sep 29 21:41:04 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 58.6dB (step 29) to 49.6dB (step 28) because: probing dynamic range gain lower bound
Sep 29 21:41:04 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to 49.6 dB (gain step 28)
Sep 29 22:41:14 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: start periodic scan for acceptable dynamic range at increased gain
Sep 29 22:41:14 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 49.6dB (step 28) to 58.6dB (step 29) because: periodic re-probing of dynamic range gain upper bound
Sep 29 22:41:14 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to about 58.6 dB (gain step 29) (tuner AGC enabled)
Sep 29 22:41:24 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 58.6dB (step 29) to 49.6dB (step 28) because: probing dynamic range gain lower bound
Sep 29 22:41:24 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to 49.6 dB (gain step 28)
Sep 29 23:41:34 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: start periodic scan for acceptable dynamic range at increased gain
Sep 29 23:41:34 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 49.6dB (step 28) to 58.6dB (step 29) because: periodic re-probing of dynamic range gain upper bound
Sep 29 23:41:34 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to about 58.6 dB (gain step 29) (tuner AGC enabled)
Sep 29 23:41:44 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 58.6dB (step 29) to 49.6dB (step 28) because: probing dynamic range gain lower bound
Sep 29 23:41:44 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to 49.6 dB (gain step 28)
Sep 30 00:41:54 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: start periodic scan for acceptable dynamic range at increased gain
Sep 30 00:41:54 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 49.6dB (step 28) to 58.6dB (step 29) because: periodic re-probing of dynamic range gain upper bound
Sep 30 00:41:54 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to about 58.6 dB (gain step 29) (tuner AGC enabled)
Sep 30 00:42:04 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 58.6dB (step 29) to 49.6dB (step 28) because: probing dynamic range gain lower bound
Sep 30 00:42:04 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to 49.6 dB (gain step 28)
Sep 30 01:42:14 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: start periodic scan for acceptable dynamic range at increased gain
Sep 30 01:42:14 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 49.6dB (step 28) to 58.6dB (step 29) because: periodic re-probing of dynamic range gain upper bound
Sep 30 01:42:14 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to about 58.6 dB (gain step 29) (tuner AGC enabled)
Sep 30 01:42:24 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 58.6dB (step 29) to 49.6dB (step 28) because: probing dynamic range gain lower bound
Sep 30 01:42:24 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to 49.6 dB (gain step 28)
Sep 30 02:42:34 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: start periodic scan for acceptable dynamic range at increased gain
Sep 30 02:42:34 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 49.6dB (step 28) to 58.6dB (step 29) because: periodic re-probing of dynamic range gain upper bound
Sep 30 02:42:34 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to about 58.6 dB (gain step 29) (tuner AGC enabled)
Sep 30 02:42:44 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 58.6dB (step 29) to 49.6dB (step 28) because: probing dynamic range gain lower bound
Sep 30 02:42:44 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to 49.6 dB (gain step 28)
Sep 30 03:42:54 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: start periodic scan for acceptable dynamic range at increased gain
Sep 30 03:42:54 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 49.6dB (step 28) to 58.6dB (step 29) because: periodic re-probing of dynamic range gain upper bound
Sep 30 03:42:54 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to about 58.6 dB (gain step 29) (tuner AGC enabled)
Sep 30 03:43:04 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 58.6dB (step 29) to 49.6dB (step 28) because: probing dynamic range gain lower bound
Sep 30 03:43:04 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to 49.6 dB (gain step 28)
Sep 30 04:43:13 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: start periodic scan for acceptable dynamic range at increased gain
Sep 30 04:43:13 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 49.6dB (step 28) to 58.6dB (step 29) because: periodic re-probing of dynamic range gain upper bound
Sep 30 04:43:13 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to about 58.6 dB (gain step 29) (tuner AGC enabled)
Sep 30 04:43:23 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 58.6dB (step 29) to 49.6dB (step 28) because: probing dynamic range gain lower bound
Sep 30 04:43:23 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to 49.6 dB (gain step 28)
Sep 30 05:43:33 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: start periodic scan for acceptable dynamic range at increased gain
Sep 30 05:43:33 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 49.6dB (step 28) to 58.6dB (step 29) because: periodic re-probing of dynamic range gain upper bound
Sep 30 05:43:33 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to about 58.6 dB (gain step 29) (tuner AGC enabled)
Sep 30 05:43:43 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 58.6dB (step 29) to 49.6dB (step 28) because: probing dynamic range gain lower bound
Sep 30 05:43:43 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to 49.6 dB (gain step 28)
Sep 30 06:43:53 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: start periodic scan for acceptable dynamic range at increased gain
Sep 30 06:43:53 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 49.6dB (step 28) to 58.6dB (step 29) because: periodic re-probing of dynamic range gain upper bound
Sep 30 06:43:53 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to about 58.6 dB (gain step 29) (tuner AGC enabled)
Sep 30 06:44:03 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 58.6dB (step 29) to 49.6dB (step 28) because: probing dynamic range gain lower bound
Sep 30 06:44:03 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to 49.6 dB (gain step 28)
Sep 30 07:44:13 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: start periodic scan for acceptable dynamic range at increased gain
Sep 30 07:44:13 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 49.6dB (step 28) to 58.6dB (step 29) because: periodic re-probing of dynamic range gain upper bound
Sep 30 07:44:13 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to about 58.6 dB (gain step 29) (tuner AGC enabled)
Sep 30 07:44:23 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 58.6dB (step 29) to 49.6dB (step 28) because: probing dynamic range gain lower bound
Sep 30 07:44:23 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to 49.6 dB (gain step 28)
Sep 30 08:44:33 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: start periodic scan for acceptable dynamic range at increased gain
Sep 30 08:44:33 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 49.6dB (step 28) to 58.6dB (step 29) because: periodic re-probing of dynamic range gain upper bound
Sep 30 08:44:33 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to about 58.6 dB (gain step 29) (tuner AGC enabled)
Sep 30 08:44:43 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 58.6dB (step 29) to 49.6dB (step 28) because: probing dynamic range gain lower bound
Sep 30 08:44:43 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to 49.6 dB (gain step 28)
Sep 30 09:44:53 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: start periodic scan for acceptable dynamic range at increased gain
Sep 30 09:44:53 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 49.6dB (step 28) to 58.6dB (step 29) because: periodic re-probing of dynamic range gain upper bound
Sep 30 09:44:53 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to about 58.6 dB (gain step 29) (tuner AGC enabled)
Sep 30 09:45:03 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 58.6dB (step 29) to 49.6dB (step 28) because: probing dynamic range gain lower bound
Sep 30 09:45:03 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to 49.6 dB (gain step 28)
Sep 30 10:45:13 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: start periodic scan for acceptable dynamic range at increased gain
Sep 30 10:45:13 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 49.6dB (step 28) to 58.6dB (step 29) because: periodic re-probing of dynamic range gain upper bound
Sep 30 10:45:13 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to about 58.6 dB (gain step 29) (tuner AGC enabled)
Sep 30 10:45:23 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 58.6dB (step 29) to 49.6dB (step 28) because: probing dynamic range gain lower bound
Sep 30 10:45:23 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to 49.6 dB (gain step 28)
Sep 30 11:45:33 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: start periodic scan for acceptable dynamic range at increased gain
Sep 30 11:45:33 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 49.6dB (step 28) to 58.6dB (step 29) because: periodic re-probing of dynamic range gain upper bound
Sep 30 11:45:33 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to about 58.6 dB (gain step 29) (tuner AGC enabled)
Sep 30 11:45:43 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 58.6dB (step 29) to 49.6dB (step 28) because: probing dynamic range gain lower bound
Sep 30 11:45:43 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to 49.6 dB (gain step 28)
Sep 30 12:45:52 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: start periodic scan for acceptable dynamic range at increased gain
Sep 30 12:45:52 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 49.6dB (step 28) to 58.6dB (step 29) because: periodic re-probing of dynamic range gain upper bound
Sep 30 12:45:52 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to about 58.6 dB (gain step 29) (tuner AGC enabled)
Sep 30 12:46:02 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: adaptive: changing gain from 58.6dB (step 29) to 49.6dB (step 28) because: probing dynamic range gain lower bound
Sep 30 12:46:02 DietPi dump1090-fa[475]: rtlsdr: tuner gain set to 49.6 dB (gain step 28)
dietpi@DietPi:~$
I was running the latest Piaware 6.1 on my Ubuntu x86_64. Checking for updates I get offered one and I did accept it:
The following packages will be upgraded:
tcl-tls
1 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 64.7 kB of archives.
After this operation, 3,072 B of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] Y
Get:1 Index of /ubuntu focal/universe amd64 tcl-tls amd64 1.7.20-1 [64.7 kB]
Fetched 64.7 kB in 0s (661 kB/s)
(Reading database … 222739 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack …/tcl-tls_1.7.20-1_amd64.deb …
Unpacking tcl-tls:amd64 (1.7.20-1) over (1.7.16-1+fa1) …
Setting up tcl-tls:amd64 (1.7.20-1) …
OK, nothing seems out of ordinary… except when I check the FA stats page. Big banner:
PiAware Update 6.1 Available
The following sites do not have the latest PiAware Software:
So I have re-installed piaware and I see that all is good:
PiAware (Debian Package Add-on) 6.1
Except that tcl-tls it reverted to earlier version:
~$ sudo apt list --upgradable
Listing… Done
tcl-tls/focal 1.7.20-1 amd64 [upgradable from: 1.7.16-1+fa1]
N: There is 1 additional version. Please use the ‘-a’ switch to see it
Should I hold it back? Well… I did. sudo apt-mark hold tcl-tls
As you can see, the script does not install tcl-tls from Ubuntu or Debian repository. It builds a special version tcl-tls-rebuilt from Flightaware provided source code. Replacing this special version of tcl-tls from Debian / Ubuntu repository during upgrade caused the mess you experienced.
You did the right thing to run bash-script to re-install piaware, which also reinstalled tcl-tls-rebuild version.
You also did a right thing to put tcl-tls special version on hold by command sudo apt-mark hold tcl-tls, so that it will be protected from getting upgraded during future auto or manual upgrades.
I think the upgrade to 1.7.20 should be mostly harmless. I haven’t looked at if upstream have fixed the build or not. If they haven’t you may experience piaware sometimes hard-hanging if there are network problems (this is what the rebuild fixes) but it should otherwise generally work ok.
I think the “3.7.2” problem is something different.
I have been reading up on the advantages/disadvantages of using Adaptive Dynamic Range over a series of threads but as is usual for me these days the more I read the more confused I get!
The first step seems to be issuing sudo systemctl status dump1090-fa but when I do this I get;
sudo systemctl status dump1090-fa
● dump1090-fa.service - dump1090 ADS-B receiver (FlightAware customization)
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/dump1090-fa.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Sat 2022-01-29 08:17:07 GMT; 1 weeks 5 days ago
Docs: https://flightaware.com/adsb/piaware/
Main PID: 570 (dump1090-fa)
Tasks: 3 (limit: 4915)
CGroup: /system.slice/dump1090-fa.service
└─570 /usr/bin/dump1090-fa --quiet --device-type rtlsdr --gain 60 --fix --lat xx.xxxxx --lon x.xxxxx --max-range 360 --net-ro-port 30002 --net-sbs-port 30003 --net-bi-port 30004,30104 --net-bo-port 30005 --json-location-accuracy 1 --lat xx.xxxxxx --lon xx.xxxxxx --write-json /run/dump1090-fa
Warning: Journal has been rotated since unit was started. Log output is incomplete or unavailable.
Not sure why the Journal should have been rotated and the Log incomplete or unavailable nor if it is normal for my coordinates to appear twice - first to 5 decimal places and secondly to 6 decimal places?
I can see from both the output above and in /etc/default/dump1090-fa that RECEIVER_GAIN=60 which seems high to me but having said that I have no issues with coverage seeing out to 250 miles and I also see aircraft directly above me.
I notice from Graphs that my percentage of messages >-3dBFS is usually around 13-16% which seems higher than the ideal 5% from what I have read and look like this if it helps?
Just looking for some advice whether I would be better off setting Adaptive Dynamic Range from no to yes and whether I should play around with any other settings to optimise further?
I realise I should at least make some changes and then monitor the results which I intend to do but before I alter anything it would be good to have a clue of where to start and what I am doing!
Powered via PoE the Pi4/8GB dedicated to ADS-B is in the loft hanging on 8m Westflex 103 connected to a Watson Radar Extender mounted on a 5m pole on the gable end of the house 100m ASL. I am currently using a RadarBox FlightStick (although I do have the FA Pro Stick plus which I always intended to test against the Flightstick but never got around to it and an AirSpy Mini but have been too frightened to alter my configs to get that to work ), with no external LNA/Filter of any sort (although I do have a Kuhne 1090 kicking around somewhere) and am thinking of buying the dark blue narrow band FA 1090 to try here in the UK as I can imagine a lot of RFI flying around the vicinity but before I do I will need to get a handle on that lovely yellow/black waterfall graph showing if/where/how much interference I might be receiving.
I’m just looking to optimize my system but don’t want to impact anything as it has been working seamlessly sending data to RadarBox, FR24, FA and ADS-B Exchange for over a year now but you know what it’s like…I’m a bloke so always looking to make things bigger/better/faster!
), with no external LNA/Filter of any sort (although I do have a Kuhne 1090 kicking around somewhere) and am thinking of buying the dark blue narrow band FA 1090 to try here in the UK as I can imagine a lot of RFI flying around the vicinity but before I do I will need to get a handle on that lovely yellow/black waterfall graph showing if/where/how much interference I might be receiving.