Perseus Non-operative (Unit has power)

[vhavrilko]

ALCON,

Not sure if it is a software or hardware issue...most likely a hardware issue.

I am getting an error with my Perseus.  I do not use it much relying on my Winradio Excalibur but I like to use it as a backup.  The screen comes up but no signal is heard or no waterfall is seen.
I have attached the screen shots of the driver error and receiver.  I always keep it plugged in but rarely turn it on.  It was working last week.  I also keep the power supply plugged into a battery backup and surge protector.  The LED lights are on showing power so maybe the USB portion of this receiver is damaged.  We do get some power interruptions from time to time but all of my sensitive equipment is protected.  There have been no electrical storms (we rarely get them in the high desert area).

If this is damaged, I probably will not by another one again.  I have seen a post where one guy replaced two already!  I never had a problem with my Excalibur.  Thinking about purchasing a Bonito RadioJet as a backup receiver.

I will probably send it back to Universal (if they'll accept it back) to see if it can be repaired.

I appreciated any help you could give me.

V/r
Vince

[Kilokat7]

I don't see any attachments, but do you disconnect your antenna(s) from your receivers when they aren't in use?

[vhavrilko]

The attachment is right below my signature block.  No, but I will from now on.  We do not get many electrical storms or rain. My antennas are grounded with inline protection. Thanks for the reply.
Sorry for short responses...texting on my phone.

Vince

[vhavrilko]

I contacted Universal Radio (an authorized dealer) and they told me they do not do repairs on the Perseus and told me to contact Microtelecom but they only have a sales contact e-mail address. I tried it anyway.  I told them (Universal) I was not happy with their terse response.  I purchased a lot of equipment from them over the years and will probably look elsewhere for my radio equipment. I doubt they care and neither do I.  There are other choices for radio equipment. I just purchased a RadioJet 1305 plus the decoder from Bonito, NOT Universal.  I liked the Perseus and hope it can be fixed even though I like the Excalibur better.  Does anyone in this forum own a Perseus and ever had to have it repaired? I saw a blog during a Google search and SSB Electronics was mentioned.  I will give them a call and see if they can facilitate repairs.

[ve6jy]

Check the power supply voltage (under the load of the Perseus). It needs to be pretty close to 5.0 volts.  Just because the LED's are lit, doesn't mean it's getting the right voltage.

gl,
Don
VE6JY

[vhavrilko]

Thanks. Much appreciated... maybe the power supply has gone Tango Uniform.

[BDM]

Vince join the Perseus Group in the link. They will assist further and also get you in the right direction for repair if needed.

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/perseus_SDR/info

[BDM]

Oooops, never mind. I see you posted to that group already

[vhavrilko]

No problem at all.  I will check that voltage over the weekend.  What, if any SDR do you use?

[blw]

Vince,

I don't know about the Radiojet. Plus, every video I've listened to had stutters or pops. I still like my Perseus way better than the new Elad S2.

[Token]

My Perseus is also down.  Looks like a communications issue with mine, like the USB port is dead.  To be honest I have not tried to have it fixed yet, I keep meaning to, but not yet.  I guess the biggest reason is that I just do not miss it.

The Perseus is a very good receiver, and until I got my WinRadios it was my primary SDR, with my SDR-IQs and -14 as secondary’s.  But after I got the G31, and later the G33, the Perseus only got used as a remote node.  I left it online 24 hours a day for others to use, and seldom actually used it myself.  Now I split my use pretty evenly between the RFSpace NetSDR and both Excaliburs.  The SDR-IQs and -14 really only get used for scheduled recordings or to watch specific things for extended periods of time.  The Elad FDM-S2 almost never gets turned on.

As for the RadioJet, I did not like the original 1102 because of its narrow 24 kHz spectrum display.  It may have been a very good receiver but in several of the areas where SDR can stand out it was limited.  The 1305 + does look interesting, since it looks like they took the original 1102 and added built in RTL Dongles to the mix, this gave them the excellent performance of the 1102 plus the width of the RTLs.  They mention being able to use other SDRs in their software, to stitch them together, WinRadio, Perseus, etc, and that could be very interesting.  SDR receive capability from 20 kHz to over 1700 MHz is pretty intriguing.  The upcoming RFSpace CloudSDR will have that kind of coverage also, but possibly using better hardware.  I suspect, from the RadioJet description that the radio is 8 bit above 32 MHz, but there is no detailed technical description to go to.

T!

[vhavrilko]

ALCON,

It was the power supply.  It has been replaced and the unit is up and running.  A special thanks to Cesare Buzzi for all his help.

[vhavrilko]

Token,

I also like the Perseus but I use my Excalibur as the main receiver, too.  I did purchase a RadioJet 1305 Plus and installed it on my laptop with Windows 7.  I could not install it on my desktop with Windows 8.1.  Dennis Walter from Bonito has been very helpful and was able to install this radio on Windows 8 in other computers.  Not sure short of accomplishing an image copy and complete reinstall to try it again.  Too busy to do it now but I will try it later.  Works find on the laptop, though.