Using BB Black wireless or BB Green wireless board

ajwhallajwhall
in KiwiSDR Discussion
Hi to the Forum,

I am currently looking at purchasing a KiwiSDR.
I have had a look on the Forum for "Wi-Fi" and "wireless" but can only find a couple of posts which kind of don't answer my question!

What I would like to know is has anyone been using a BB Black wireless or BB Green wireless board successfully with the KiwiSDR instead of the usual supplied BB Green board?

What are the pit falls with using one of the wireless boards, if any. Plus how straight forward would be the set up for wireless in the software?
Also I have noticed that the BB board layouts are a bit different to the usual supplied BB Green board, does this cause any issues with the supplied case etc.

I have a basc understanding of Linux but where pin sockets etc are concerned I don't sadly!

Would be most grateful for any help/advice!

Most Kindest Regards,

Andrew.

Comments

  • jksjks
    edited April 2017
    Hi Andrew,

    I need to add a FAQ about Kiwi WiFi connections. Let me tell you what I know.

    It has been successfully done with a USB dongle by Yuri at http://msk.swl.su:8073 (see his top bar photo). He runs a loop and the noise floor is clean. So there is no problem with HF interference from the dongle. There are software issues though. The Kiwi works, but doesn't display the local ip address properly, etc. I need to fix this.

    The BBG wireless (BBGW) is not physically compatible with Beagle capes due to how Seeed placed the USB-A connectors, i.e. you can't plug in a Kiwi board without it hitting the USB connectors. Now you could use some Beagle header extenders to build-up the header stack to get clearance. But I have not tried this yet. The electrical implications are unknown. And such a stack would obviously not fit in the plastic case. To see this problem look at an end-on photo of the BBGW at the Seeed site: https://www.seeedstudio.com/SeeedStudio-BeagleBone-Green-Wireless-p-2650.html

    The BeagleBone Black wireless (BBBW), which was recently introduced, is cape physically compatible. But I have not tried this one either.

    A while ago I ran an experiment where I brought a running BBGW close to a running Kiwi and noticed the HF noise floor rise. So that worried me. Note that the WiFI chip and output coaxes and antennas of the BBGW is at the end of the Beagle PCB nearest the Kiwi HF/GPS front-ends. Whereas the BBBW and use of a WiFi dongle on a BBB are at the other (safer) end where the power connection is.

    ajwhall
  • ajwhallajwhall
    Many thanks jks for your reply! I will research the info you have provided further to make sure I have understood everything correctly!

    What about the wireless dongle on the end of a usb extension cable with ferrite rings fitted?

    Just as a side question, if using Ethernet cable what would be the maximum length of cable you would suggest between the reciever and my router? I know shorter the better to keep the noise level down but sadly this would be difficult for me!

    Regards
    Andrew.
  • jksjks
    Yes, a WiFi dongle on the end of a USB cable with some type 77 and/or 43 toroid cores as a common mode choke is a great idea. Be sure to use a 5V power supply of at least 2A. The Beagle manual warns about the increased current requirements when using WiFi dongles.

    A long Ethernet cable shouldn't be a problem (the spec is 100m max). Just use toroids as above at the Beagle end. Because Ethernet uses differential signaling it isn't much of a problem except for the EMI from elsewhere that rides down the cable common mode. Be sure not to use shielded Ethernet cable as this may cause a big ground loop depending on your equipment grounding.

    ajwhall
  • ajwhallajwhall
    Thank you!
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