DENKOQuick start
From a powered board to a working station on your network in about fifteen minutes. Each step links to the full explanation in the chapters.
You need: a Blitzortung System Blue controller running the DENKO Blue firmware, its amplifier/antenna head, the GPS antenna, a wired Ethernet network with DHCP and internet access, and the power supply. The board has no Wi-Fi.
1. Place it
- Keep the antennas as far as practical from electrical equipment: power supplies, chargers, computers, routers, LED lighting. Distance helps a lot, because this kind of interference weakens quickly as you move away from it.
- The GPS antenna needs a view of the sky. Near a window usually works; outdoors is better. Without a satellite fix the station still measures, but it cannot complete its Blitzortung registration (see step 6).
- The controller itself must be within cable reach of your network and power.
2. Connect it
- Connect the amplifier head to the controller. Inputs 1–3 are the RJ45 (H-field) channels; input 4 is the coax (E-field) channel.
- Connect the GPS antenna.
- Connect the Ethernet cable.
- Connect the power last. The mode LED starts blinking — that heartbeat says the firmware is running.
3. Find its address
The board asks your router for an address by DHCP and takes one within seconds. Its MAC address begins 70:B1 and is derived from the processor ID, so it is the same after every restart. Find the board in your router's client list, or in a network scan, and note the IP address.
No DHCP? After about 15 seconds without an answer the board falls back to an address derived from its processor ID in the compiled-in 192.168.6.x subnet. Unless your network uses that subnet you will not reach it there. Give the board a network with DHCP — it is the normal way to run it.
4. Open the web interface
On a phone or computer connected to the same network, open http://<IP address>/. The Live page loads: traces from the inputs, refreshing by itself. No app and no login — and that also means anyone on the network can reach it, so keep the station on a trusted network. The six pages are described in chapters 1–8; the language selector at the top right of every page offers twelve languages (chapter 1).
5. Survey the inputs and check the health
- On the Live page, press Survey inputs. The station listens to all four inputs in turn and measures each one's offset and noise. Detection pauses while the survey runs.
- Open the Diagnostics page. The Verdict line should read
OK(every code it can show is in chapter 7), and Amplifier inputs should show a small offset and a plausible noise figure for each connected input. - If an input you use shows , enable it on the Signal chain page.
6. Understand the station number
Until the station registers with Blitzortung it reports with a local number in the 8xxx range (8000 unless configured otherwise) — the Diagnostics page shows it as Station, marked or remote. Registration happens by itself once three things are all true: registration is enabled (register, on in the compiled defaults), the GPS receiver has a 3D fix, and the board's processor ID is linked to a Blitzortung account. The server then assigns the station's public Blitzortung number, shown on the Diagnostics page. A board without a satellite fix keeps its local number, because the firmware refuses to declare a position it does not have. The whole story: chapter 6.
7. Check that it is working
| Look for | If not |
|---|---|
| Mode LED blinking | Either no power, or the board is in its recovery image (network still answers, plain-text page, all LEDs dark — it is re-checking the update manifest by itself; leave it), or nothing starts at all. Only the last case needs the USB recovery in the firmware chapter, section 3. |
| Network LED on | No Ethernet link. Check the cable and the switch port. |
Verdict OK on Diagnostics | Look up the code shown after BAD: or OK? in chapter 7. |
GPS LED on, 1PPS locked | Normal for the first minutes. If it never locks, give the GPS antenna more sky and watch the GPS page. |
| Traces moving on the Live page | Run Survey inputs, check the input is enabled on the Signal chain page, and check the amplifier cable. |
8. Leave it running
- The station fetches its remote configuration every few minutes (default: every 5 minutes) and applies what it finds. Most changes you make in the web interface are temporary and the next fetch wins — see chapter 6 for what lasts and what does not.
- Self-updating firmware is off unless the remote configuration enables it. When an update does run, keep the power on; a failed update rolls back by itself (chapter 5).
- The Signal LED flashes once per captured signal. Dark is normal between events.
- Curious what the station is doing? The Diagnostics page refreshes itself every two seconds and shows everything.