What to do with unused channels of receiver in PocketSDR 8Ch

[ashrafjk73]

We have PocketSDR 8Ch with 8 SMA connectors. we are using 5 channels of PocketSDR for various frequency points. What should we do with the remaining 3 unused ports? Should the config file have some configurations for 3 unused channels or should it remain blank? in few cases, when we did not configure these unused channels, it disturbed L1C/A reception, then we forcefully tuned it to Glonass and the problem was solved. Why did this happen and what is the right way of handling these unused channels so that it does not affect reception of required frequencies in the remaining channels? is there a way to disable the unused channels?

[tomojitakasu]

Leaving a channel section blank does not disable it. You can disable unused MAX2771 channels by adding CHIPEN = 0 to their sections, for example:

[CH6]
CHIPEN = 0
[CH7]
CHIPEN = 0

This has been verified on hardware; no code changes or rebuilding are required.

However, disabled channels are not currently excluded from automatic RF-channel assignment. Therefore, disabling them alone may not resolve the problem. Explicitly select the intended input with -rfch, for example, -sig L1CA -prn 1-32 -rfch 1 for L1 C/A on CH1.

In the Tkinter UI (pocket_sdr.py), stop the receiver, click Signal ..., and enter L1CA:1 in RF CH Assignments to assign L1 C/A to CH1, then click OK. For multiple signals, separate assignments with spaces, e.g. L1CA:1 L2CM:2 L5I:3 L5Q:3.

Explicitly assign all signals you use, as signals not listed will still use automatic RF-channel assignment and may select a disabled channel.

Retuning unused channels to GLONASS may have helped by changing the automatic channel assignment, rather than eliminating RF interference.

Keep these entries in subsequently applied configuration files; otherwise, the channels will be re-enabled. Also, do not disable a channel supplying the shared sampling clock.