Specifically assigning SDR (not just by device #)

FlightAware ADS-B Flight Tracking
1

I have reason to put 2 SDR dongles on the same rPi, but I need to absolutely guarantee which dongle is which (2 different antennas, 2 different uses). I’ve read that you can write to the NVRAM of the dongles, but haven’t been able to figure it out.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

2

You can use rtl_eeprom to write a serial number. see “man rtl_eeprom” or e.g. manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/tru … rom.1.html
dump1090 will accept a serial number as the device index

3

Have you done this? and will it work on the Orange FA dongle?

4

Sure, I’ve used rtl_eeprom in the past. Not recently. Should work on a prostick, it’s the same chipset.

5

“Use at your own risk, especially -w!”

6

PRO STICK (Orange)

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ sudo systemctl stop dump1090-mutability

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ rtl_eeprom -s 00001001

Found 1 device(s):
0: Generic RTL2832U

Using device 0: Generic RTL2832U
Found Rafael Micro R820T tuner

Current configuration:

Vendor ID: 0x0bda
Product ID: 0x2832
Manufacturer: Realtek
Product: RTL2832UFA
Serial number: 00001000
Serial number enabled: yes
IR endpoint enabled: no
Remote wakeup enabled: no

New configuration:

Vendor ID: 0x0bda
Product ID: 0x2832
Manufacturer: Realtek
Product: RTL2832UFA
Serial number: 00001001
Serial number enabled: yes
IR endpoint enabled: no
Remote wakeup enabled: no

Write new configuration to device [y/n]? y

Configuration successfully written.
Please replug the device for changes to take effect.

7

Got it. Where in dump1090-fa do you set the ID up (I see nothing in the help file other than device #)? Or is there a way to tell the Pi that x serial number is always device 0/1/2/x?

8

The dump1090 “device index” will try to match on serial numbers too so you can just configure it there.
(“piaware-config rtlsdr-device-index” if you’re using a piaware sdcard image)

9

Thanks. Last question, is there a log/debug that shows the actual negotiation using the serial number? I know Murphy (from the famous Murphy’s Law) and his cousins will show up when I am out of town and mess things up if I don’t confirm this.