ZR6TG
Amateur Radio adventures with Satellites
ZR6TG

Longmynd Client

This is a windows client for Longmynd, an opensource ATV client. I wanted to keep my minitiouner in the shack, but use the client elsewhere. This connects to a modified version of longmynd and it allows you to control and show the stream if its locked onto a transmission.

Features

  • Connect to longmynd from multiple clients across your network.
  • If running in multicast mode then all clients can show the stream, in unicast mode longmynd will send the TS stream to the client it last received a frequency command from
  • Live Oscar 100 spectrum (from here), can be disabled if using for terrestrial or when offline
  • Control Tuner port selection and voltage
  • Callsigns visible on spectrum as it locks to a signal
  • Auto or manual snapshots
  • BATC Wideband Chat Integration with Signal Reports

Raspberry PI Setup

Note: This requires a modified version of Longmynd done by Phil Crump (M0DNY)

  1. Flash your raspberry pi sd card with the Raspberry PI OS (Legacy) – Buster – released 2022-04-04
  2. Boot raspberry pi, connect to network and enable ssh using raspi-config
    sudo raspi-config
  3. Install dependencies
    sudo apt-get install cmake git make gcc libusb-1.0-0-dev libasound2-dev
  4. Clone repository
    git clone https://github.com/philcrump/longmynd.git
  5. Compile modified longmynd
    cd longmynd && make
  6. Install udev rules
    sudo cp minitiouner.rules /etc/udev/rules.d/
  7. Optional, but if you want Longmynd to autostart on boot on the pi, then look here

Upgrade

If you have been using a previous version of longmynd + client then you might need to update your longmynd on the raspberry pi:

  1. Stop longmynd
  2. cd /home/pi/longmynd
  3. git pull
  4. make
  5. Start longmynd

Usage

Run longmynd specifying the following parameters (adapt to your network)

./longmynd -W 8080 -i 192.168.0.105 4003 -I 192.168.0.105 4002 741538 1500

Where:

8080 is the configured web/websocket port.
192.168.0.105 is my windows pc running the client
4003 is the UDP TS Port
4002 is the UDP Status Port
714538 is the initial frequency
1500 is the initial symbol rate

Launch the client on your windows pc and configure the following settings:

Longmynd Settings

Host: IP of the machine where longmynd is running
TS UDP Port: The UDP port specified to longmynd for the TS
WS Port: The Websocket port specified to longmynd
Freq Offset Port 0: Frequency offset for Port 0
Freq Offset Port 1: Frequency offset for Port 1
Default Tuner Port: Which port should be selected by default
Enable LNB Power: Enables power output when application is started
Enable Horiz Pol: Enable horizontal polarization (higher voltage for LNB, normally around 18v)
Modes: The modes define how the client will control the output TS stream from longmynd. Either stick to longmynd parameters, or automatically update the TS stream ip on client settings. (Usefull for running the client on multiple pc’s and have the TS stream go to a specific ip depending on which client sent a frequency change command.

Snapshot Settings

Snapshot Folder: Where the snapshot files will be saved
Snapshot Time: When using auto snapshot, this determines the time the client will wait before doing a snapshot once it has locked on to a signal.

Autotune Settings

Wait Time: If you run autotune (timed) then this specifies how long it will stay on a transmission before it selects the next transmission.
Avoid Beacon: Don’t switch to the beacon when auto tuning.

VLC Settings

VLC Hardware Decoding: Whether VLC library should use hardware decoding or not. I have had some freezing issue on the video of some transmissions. Disabling the hardware decoding fixed this. Your mileage may vary.

Oscar 100 Spectrum

Enable: If using the client for other than Oscar 100 DATV then you can disable the spectrum (it won’t connect to the internet then to get spectrum data)

Usage

The client needs a restart after saving your settings. You can select the signal on the spectrum below or specify a frequency and symbol rate manually.

BATC QO-100 Wideband Chat

Normally when you are transmitting on the QO-100 Wideband Transponder then you are required to keep an eye on the chat that has been setup by the BATC. This allows you to see if there are any special transmissions, or to get feedback on your own transmissions. The wideband chat has been integrated into the longmynd client and can be accessed with the BATC Wideband Chat button.

On the new window simply set your nick (usually your callsign) and then you can start chatting.

You can select one or more lines in the chat and use the shortcut ctrl-v to copy it, or alternatively right click on the chat to copy your selected chat to the clipboard.

You can also provide signal reports when you are locked onto a signal. Select the Signal Report link on the main screen and it will copy a signal report into the chat box ready to be sent, as well as put it in your clipboard for you to paste where you need to.

Download

If you use and enjoy my software and would like to support future projects, then you can buy me a beer or if you prefer donate via Paypal.

Download – 2022/11/26

Changelog

2022/11/26 – Fixes stability issue on audio, adds wideband chat with copy/paste and signal reports

2022/06/21 – Fixes audio bugs, misc smaller fixes, window position saving

2022/06/04 – Better network handling, Simple dish calibration, Scalable spectrum

2022/05/27 – Websocket Reconnect when longmynd gets restarted, Higher Resolution Display on MER value, dB Margin display,Decoded Status Output via Websocket

2022/05/18 – TS Control, Tuner Port Control, Improved spectrum including callsigns, LNB Power control, Fixed misc small bugs

2022/05/11 – Fixed snapshot png bug, added autotune, volume control, snapshot path setting

2022/05/08 – Fixed bug where the offset value wasn’t being saved properly

2022/05/07 – Initial Test Version

Troubleshooting

  1. If you are using the correct version of longmynd then you should be able to connect to the experimental web interface of longmynd (http://<your pi ip>:8080)
  2. If the client is communicating with longmynd, but there is no video. Use vlc on windows side to test that your longmynd and networksettings are setup correctly. You can connect to TS UDP stream using udp://@:4003 from vlc.

Credits & Thanks

Thanks to the following individuals who have spent a lot time to help test it:
Martin – G4FKK
Benno – PA3FBX
Henry – ZS6MC

Credit to Phil Crump (M0DNY) for his modified longmynd and to Rob Swinbank (M0DTS) for sharing his quicktune code for the wideband spectrum display.