Limesdr mini - is this normal?

Projects LimeSDR
1

hello.
i have had a limesdr mini for one year or more now.at the start i ran everything i wanted without problems.

but in the past few months im getting lots of mcu errors and bad results.

i have also noticed my lime is showing a creating allot of noise and signals all over the place even without me transmitting anything.
i have made some example video to show me connecting and disconnnecting it from a 5v usb power supply so you can see the effects.

here are the videos


does anybody else have this problem?
it was not like this before a few months ago and now progames like LimeSDR Mini limeSNA give me false findings.

im new to radio and have just started my ham license if someone could point me in the right direction it would be very nice.

to confirm the lime sdr is running the most recent firmware and passes all tests from without the lime suit.

thanks

2

Its possible that you have updated Linux and its caused problems. Its probably a software or driver problem.

3

the 5v is just the same as me pluggin it in and out of a computer to show the difference on the spectrum.
what you see is the spectrum from another rtlsdr on another computer.
im using a 5v usb power bank as an example, it transmits all the time even before running any gnuradio scripts.

what you see in the videos is me powering it on and off and it creating noise and spikes all around the place.

4

anybody any more ideas.its not a software driver problem at all.
tested on over 5 computers some runing win linux osx,
still looking for help

5

Hi @marke3,

Could you post LimeQuickTest log here, please.

6

yea no problem @Zack
here it is:
this has been run on a vm running ubuntu with 2.0

[ TESTING STARTED ]
->Start time: Tue Apr 28 20:59:42 2020

->Device: LimeSDR Mini, media=USB 2.0, module=FT601, addr=24607:1027, serial=1D40F73F725CFA
Warning: USB3 not available
  Serial Number: 1D40F73F725CFA

[ Clock Network Test ]
->REF clock test
  Test results: 18405; 31603; 44800 - PASSED
->VCTCXO test
  Results : 6710974 (min); 6711132 (max) - PASSED
->Clock Network Test PASSED

[ FPGA EEPROM Test ]
->Read EEPROM
->Read data: 12 06 1D 12 06 1D 02
->FPGA EEPROM Test PASSED

[ LMS7002M Test ]
->Perform Registers Test
->External Reset line test
  Reg 0x20: Write value 0xFFFD, Read value 0xFFFD
  Reg 0x20: value after reset 0x0FFFF
->LMS7002M Test PASSED

[ RF Loopback Test ]
->Configure LMS
->Run Tests (TX_2 -> LNA_W):
  CH0 (SXR=1000.0MHz, SXT=1005.0MHz): Result:(-13.5 dBFS, 5.00 MHz) - PASSED
->Run Tests (TX_1 -> LNA_H):
  CH0 (SXR=2100.0MHz, SXT=2105.0MHz): Result:(-13.3 dBFS, 5.00 MHz) - PASSED
->RF Loopback Test PASSED

=> Board tests PASSED <=

Elapsed time: 3.16 seconds

this is run on a pc with ubuntu installed using usb 3.0

->Device: LimeSDR Mini, media=USB 2.0, module=FT601, addr=24607:1027, serial=1D40F73F725CFA
  Serial Number: 1D40F73F725CFA

[ Clock Network Test ]
->REF clock test
  Test results: 2726; 15923; 29120 - PASSED
->VCTCXO test
  Results : 6710975 (min); 6711133 (max) - PASSED
->Clock Network Test PASSED

[ FPGA EEPROM Test ]
->Read EEPROM
->Read data: 12 06 1D 12 06 1D 02
->FPGA EEPROM Test PASSED

[ LMS7002M Test ]
->Perform Registers Test
->External Reset line test
  Reg 0x20: Write value 0xFFFD, Read value 0xFFFD
  Reg 0x20: value after reset 0x0FFFF
->LMS7002M Test PASSED

[ RF Loopback Test ]
->Configure LMS
->Run Tests (TX_2 -> LNA_W):
  CH0 (SXR=1000.0MHz, SXT=1005.0MHz): Result:(-12.4 dBFS, 5.00 MHz) - PASSED
->Run Tests (TX_1 -> LNA_H):
  CH0 (SXR=2100.0MHz, SXT=2105.0MHz): Result:(-12.4 dBFS, 5.00 MHz) - PASSED
->RF Loopback Test PASSED

=> Board tests PASSED <=

Elapsed time: 3.16 seconds

i hope it helps as im still lost as to whats wrong.
thanks

7

Hi @marke3,

I see nothing wrong with the board from logs you’ve sent. One note though. According to you the second test is when the board is connected to the USB3, but from the log file I see it is connected to USB2 port.
It is bad idea to use the board connected to the USB2 while the board may consume more power than USB2 is able to provide. Hence use USB3 instead. USB2 may be OK for some applications, but it is not I would encourage to use USB3.

8

thanks @ Zack
the second test was copy pasted and changed by typing i just missed the usb3 part normally it uses 3 yes,
either way it still isnt working how it should.
a year ago i was testing antennas with the lime vna and had great results now when i use the programme i get nothing always the same result no matter antenna coupler or computer.
i do understand that it passes all tests but even with that im not getting correct results as i was before.
gr-paint in gnuradio now sends really bad images whereas before out of box was good.