Change serial number using SDR Console

Discussion of the RTL-SDR type of radios suct as Noo-Elec etc.
MiamiC70
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Jun 21, 2024 7:44 pm

Change serial number using SDR Console

#1

Unread post by MiamiC70 »

I have two SDR-RTL v4 USB sticks and using SDR Console I see they are both same serial numbers "RTLSDRBlog::Blog V4::00000001-1" I want to run both at same time so would I change that last number on one. To change serial number do I change last number in the first string or the last number after the hyphen?

jdow
Posts: 856
Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2020 8:17 pm

Re: Change serial number using SDR Console

#2

Unread post by jdow »

With only one dongle plugged in change it's serial number to any short string you want, "2 meter antenna", "12345", "But my doggie's name is Sam", and so on will all work. Inside the dongle's EEPROM the data is stored as a string. (Actually a two byte Unicode string but the software in the rtlsdr.dll file uses straight 7 bit ASCII.)

{^_^}

MiamiC70
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Jun 21, 2024 7:44 pm

Re: Change serial number using SDR Console

#3

Unread post by MiamiC70 »

Thanks

So, something like this would work;
SDR-RTL #1 sn 000000001-1
SDR-RTL #2 sn 000000002-1

jdow
Posts: 856
Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2020 8:17 pm

Re: Change serial number using SDR Console

#4

Unread post by jdow »

Of course. So would "*&h5$FffE#-123" quotes included in the string. Literally, it is a string of ASCII characters. I'd limit it to about 30 characters on general principles. More space exists; but, why challenge fate?

BTW - some SDRs that specially cater to the rtl dongles store the correction PPM value as the serial number.

{^_^}

MiamiC70
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Jun 21, 2024 7:44 pm

Re: Change serial number using SDR Console

#5

Unread post by MiamiC70 »

Appreciate the help.

Last issue is that while the “address:” field is able to be edited the “serial:” field is greyed out. Also, any changes made to the address field do not update the serial field. :|

Any ideas how to actually have SDRConsole v3.3 ungrey that serial box so I can actually modify the serial number?

Thanks in advance.

MiamiC70
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Jun 21, 2024 7:44 pm

Re: Change serial number using SDR Console

#6

Unread post by MiamiC70 »

Disregard last message. Got it done.

Thanks for all your help.

jdow
Posts: 856
Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2020 8:17 pm

Re: Change serial number using SDR Console

#7

Unread post by jdow »

What did you do to fix it? I'd have suggested unplug dongle. Plug in dongle. See what changed. Anyway, deep in the inside of the dongle's EEPROM is a 256 byte user editable page. This contains three strings plus some meta-data. All three can be "anything", although a string of 0x00 bytes won't work right in most programs. I believe address would be what Simon named the serial number. So I wonder what got fooed up here. I haven't played with rtlsdr in quite awhile now. It's too flaky for my tastes.

{^_^}

MiamiC70
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Jun 21, 2024 7:44 pm

Re: Change serial number using SDR Console

#8

Unread post by MiamiC70 »

You have to do it by “adding” the radio for it to actually save.
So, fix was easy. I deleted one RTL-SDR, modified the serial number and then re-added it. Presto :D

I kept it simple and just changed last “0” before the hyphen to a 2 and saved it.

I have an SDRPlay RSPDX-R2 I just picked up as well. The USB ones are because I want to try trucked systems scanning.

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