Hello all,
There is a major, repeat, MAJOR firmware update for the Novra
S75+ that was released 11 days ago. This firmware fix solves two serious
problems that rejects many packets unnecessarily, AND reduces reception
quality significantly, despite what is being shown. I reported the
reception problem to Novra after the following incident occurred.
I have a 3.7 meter dish 60 miles west of Chicago, using a Norsat 3120 LNB
(reference/broadcast quality). I was losing anywhere from 50 to 400
packets per day. VBER was zero; signal strength, a solid 79; clock
offset, 28-ish. I'm happy.
Then I put on a snow cover on the dish this past fall. Right away, there
was a reception issue. I was losing thousands, up to 10,000 packets per
day, with reception of packets somewhere between 97% and 99%. I really wanted
99.99999% reception like I pretty much had before. I was disappointed, to
say the least, even though the snow cover did the job.
I have been pondering what to do about it over the last month. Repointing
the dish at least 4 times did nothing; got strong signal, but was still
losing 20 packets or more every 30 seconds. Engineers told me dish covers
typically cause .5 dB or less signal loss, so I was perplexed, especially
since the signal strength was still saying I was good, but I now noticed
during heavy transmission periods, the VBER would drop down to
1 x 10 ^ -6, or even less. I reported this to Novra; they said they would
look into it, but hadn't heard of any issues.
Then Jose Nieves on the Yahoo! NOAAport User Group last week wrote that
Novra put out a new firmware version for the Novra S75+. He stated that
this included major fixes for reception and packet decoding issues. He put
out, with Novra's permission, the firmware update on his site at
http://www.noaaport.net (look under "software"), and I grabbed it. Then,
still having the FTP password to Novra's site, I grabbed the latest GUI
from them...and this morning, headed to my satellite dish and receiver.
I had flashed the firmware from version 4, revision 6 to version 4,
revision 10 this fall, with no help in signal or reduction in packet
loss noted. Today, I flashed it to version 4, revision 13, dated January
8, 2010 at 16:30Z, or 10:30 AM Central U.S. time.
Over the last 9.5 hours since I flashed the firmware, I have lost a grand
total of *four* packets. I don't think I have ever lost that few in a
near 10 hour period. Signal strength is still 79; VBER is still zero;
clock offset, 30 as I type this. We have 30 MPH west winds and horizontal
snow right now, and yet everything is coming in fine. Comparing my
reception to UNIDATA's older S75 receiver, I am now right in line with
them, and maybe a hair ahead with their 3.8 meter dish:
http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/cgi-bin/rtstats/iddstats_vol_nc?NEXRAD3+burns.unidata.ucar.edu
http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/cgi-bin/rtstats/iddstats_vol_nc?NEXRAD3+noaaport.admin.niu.edu
If you hit the site quick enough, you'll see where I flashed the
firmware by the product number received bump around 17Z.
So, if you own a Novra S75+ receiver, I *very strongly* recommend you get
this update from support@xxxxxxxxx, or download the tool to do this,
available at Jose's website, at:
http://www.noaaport.net/software/novra-s75plus-firmware/
I used the GUI instead of the simple tool included in that zip file; Jose
used the provided tool in the zip file with no trouble. Either way, this
will ensure you have the best possible reception from your Novra S75+.
As for the Novra S75...I do not know if a firmware update was issued for
that device; you may want to check with Novra support.
*******************************************************************************
Gilbert Sebenste ********
(My opinions only!) ******
Staff Meteorologist, Northern Illinois University ****
E-mail: sebenste@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ***
web: http://weather.admin.niu.edu **
*******************************************************************************
