Software Defined Radios SDR-RTL

What works, and doesn't, for you. Be specific, and please include Puppy version.
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edoc
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Software Defined Radios SDR-RTL

#1 Post by edoc »

Since this thread http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 058#711058 has been marked (Abandoned) I am starting a new one.

Here are a couple links to SDR=RTL on Linux which may be helpful:

http://napan.ca/ghpsdr3/index.php/Main_Page

http://sdr.osmocom.org/trac/wiki/rtl-sdr

NOTE: There is a upup Raring 3.9.9.1 specific discussion of these devices here:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 449#717449
Last edited by edoc on Tue 06 Aug 2013, 19:52, edited 3 times in total.
[b]Thanks! David[/b]
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Mercedes350se
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#2 Post by Mercedes350se »

edoc, Great to see you are still interested in SDR-RTL

Did you ever get it working? If yes what are you using - hardware and software?

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#3 Post by edoc »

I'm wrestling with UEFI on a HP Pavilion g7 at the moment.

I have a combo RTL-SDR & HF converter all packed into the original RTL-SDR shell on the way.

Once that arrives I will begin testing.

I need to sell my separate RTL-SDR stick and Ham-it-Up HF converter if you know anyone who is looking.
[b]Thanks! David[/b]
[i]Home page: [/i][url]http://nevils-station.com[/url]
[i]Don't google[/i] [b]Search![/b] [url]http://duckduckgo.com[/url]
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#4 Post by edoc »

My tri-band device arrived ... now to sort out how to get it to play nicely with Linux ...

BTW:

gnuRadio 3.7 just released:
http://gnuradio.org/redmine/projects/gnuradio/news

I'm trying to determine if this might work:
http://gnuradio.org/redmine/projects/gn ... i/Hardware

Would an app designed for the FuncubeDongle be likely to work?:
https://www.cgran.org/wiki/FuncubeDongle

Osmo?
http://sdr.osmocom.org/trac/wiki/rtl-sdr
https://sites.google.com/site/embrtlsdr/
[b]Thanks! David[/b]
[i]Home page: [/i][url]http://nevils-station.com[/url]
[i]Don't google[/i] [b]Search![/b] [url]http://duckduckgo.com[/url]
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#5 Post by edoc »

Last edited by edoc on Sat 03 Aug 2013, 02:01, edited 1 time in total.
[b]Thanks! David[/b]
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#6 Post by Mercedes350se »

Well, I am back to where I was Jan. 2012. There was a save file issue, machine froze and everything gone!

Moral: Make sure I have an up to date save file safely stored somewhere.

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#7 Post by edoc »

I'm so sorry to hear that!

I don't have a good back-up discipline either but it's more like a few weeks vs several months.

Hopefully the links I just posted will help us all together to get these devices working in Puppy.

73, David KD4E
[b]Thanks! David[/b]
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#8 Post by edoc »

One more helpful site for ideas: http://www.hamradioscience.com/
[b]Thanks! David[/b]
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[i]Don't google[/i] [b]Search![/b] [url]http://duckduckgo.com[/url]
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#9 Post by edoc »

This site:

http://jeffskinnerbox.wordpress.com/201 ... -receiver/

... prompted me to look for gnuRadio in my updated Puppy Package Manager in upup raring 3.9.9.1 on my Panasonic Toughbook CF-29 (32-bit)

I allowed it to download the bazillion dependencies ...

It, of course, was missing some (only two at this step):
libboost_program-options1.49.0
libboost-thread1.49.0
... so I downloaded those ...

PPM said it was updating the Menu but even after a reboot gnuradio didn't show up in the menu.

Bulldog File Finder located in home:
/initrd/mnt/dev_save/gnuradio/build-gnuradio1
/initrd/mnt/dev_save/gnuradio/build-gnuradio
pfile finder found tons of files ... so I copied gnuradio-grc.desktop to the desktop and clicked and ... nothing happened.

So, anyone else want to try this and explain to me what I am missing, please?

Thanks!

Oh, I also spotted this Ubuntu gqrx SDR install page:

https://www.saturnwiki.com/wiki/index.p ... u_12.04LTS
[b]Thanks! David[/b]
[i]Home page: [/i][url]http://nevils-station.com[/url]
[i]Don't google[/i] [b]Search![/b] [url]http://duckduckgo.com[/url]
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#10 Post by edoc »

Continuing at this site ...

http://jeffskinnerbox.wordpress.com/201 ... -receiver/
(executable located at /usr/local/bin/gnuradio-companion). GNU Radio Companion (GRC) is a graphical tool for creating signal flow graphical models and generating Python source code for the model created.
In Puppy it is located at /usr/bin rather than /usr/local/bin

It did not respond ... then I remembered that I had not set the devx SFS to load at boot ... so I did so and rebooted.

Still no response ...

I tried a symlink in /usr/local/bin ... no joy.

What might I be missing, please?
[b]Thanks! David[/b]
[i]Home page: [/i][url]http://nevils-station.com[/url]
[i]Don't google[/i] [b]Search![/b] [url]http://duckduckgo.com[/url]
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#11 Post by splot »

We seem to be travelling at the same speed with this, but stumbling into different potholes.

My issue with GnuRadio is that I don't know how to add Python to the PATH.
Cannot import gnuradio.

Is the python path environment variable set correctly?
All OS: PYTHONPATH

Is the library path environment variable set correctly?
Linux: LD_LIBRARY_PATH
Windows: PATH
MacOSX: DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH
Also dmesg says that there is a driver or something missing, altho I can't find anything online about a driver for this.
[ 43.821286] usb 2-2: new high-speed USB device number 3 using ehci-pci
[ 43.957274] usb 2-2: New USB device found, idVendor=0bda, idProduct=2838
[ 43.957287] usb 2-2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[ 43.957295] usb 2-2: Product: RTL2838UHIDIR
[ 43.957302] usb 2-2: Manufacturer: Realtek
[ 43.957308] usb 2-2: SerialNumber: 00000001
[ 44.139263] usb 2-2: dvb_usb_v2: found a 'Realtek RTL2832U reference design' in warm state
[ 44.139342] usbcore: registered new interface driver dvb_usb_rtl28xxu
[ 44.204232] usb 2-2: dvb_usb_v2: will pass the complete MPEG2 transport stream to the software demuxer
[ 44.204262] DVB: registering new adapter (Realtek RTL2832U reference design)
[ 44.208794] usb 2-2: dvb_usb_rtl28xxu: unknown tuner=NONE
[ 44.220947] usb 2-2: dvb_usb_v2: 'Realtek RTL2832U reference design' error while loading driver (-19)
[ 44.221968] usb 2-2: dvb_usb_v2: 'Realtek RTL2832U reference design' successfully deinitialized and disconnected
I have installed SDRadio, Quisk, and Me-TV.
SDRadio and Quisk work ok, but can't connect to the RTL.
Me-TV works great with another tuner stick that I normally use with VLC, but not with this one.

This device has an Elonix E4000 tuner, and I have loaded the e4000 module, but no go.

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#12 Post by Mercedes350se »

splot wrote: ..This device has an Elonix E4000 tuner, and I have loaded the e4000 module, but no go.
Note the module is kernel specific ...

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#13 Post by nooby »

I love that you guys care about such stuff. I am too noob
to get how to get things going and we are not allowed
outdoor antenna on the house.

Sad to read what did happen to you there Mercedes. Yes
I would need a better back up of savefile habit too.
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

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#14 Post by tlchost »

nooby wrote:I love that you guys care about such stuff. I am too noob
to get how to get things going and we are not allowed
outdoor antenna on the house.
There are lots of way you can use/have an indoor antenna...some folks have even loaded up bed springs. I used to have en end fed wire in the second floor of the house....it worked well for what it was.

Google stealth antenna for more ideas you may also find some stuff at
my site, http://www.zerobeat.net

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#15 Post by edoc »

Depending on the frequency - wire taped to the edges of the glass in a window may work - if the window frame is non-metallic & no metal in the screen.
[b]Thanks! David[/b]
[i]Home page: [/i][url]http://nevils-station.com[/url]
[i]Don't google[/i] [b]Search![/b] [url]http://duckduckgo.com[/url]
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#16 Post by nooby »

Thanks I used to collect every text that I could find on antennas
and antenna tuners but I am even worse on such than on software.
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

Mercedes350se
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#17 Post by Mercedes350se »

I would still like to get my dongle working as a SDR so:

1. Decided to follow the method outlined here by superkuh.

2. Downloaded and made a LiveCd of Ubuntu 12.04.2 LTS.

3. Everything went well until

Code: Select all

cmake ../
4. Complained about missing libUSB 1 0 Don't you just love Linux!

I am giving it a rest for a while - I am still finding my way around the OS. Will keep posting progress or lack of as the case may be.

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#18 Post by edoc »

Mercedes350se wrote: 3. Everything went well until

Code: Select all

cmake ../
4. Complained about missing libUSB 1 0 Don't you just love Linux!
It's usually not Linux that is the problem - it is manufacturers who refuse to write Linux drivers & who refuse to cooperate so that volunteers may write them - some due to unholy alliances with proprietary commercial OS's (Apple & MS), some due to paranoia about corporate espionage, some are simply dolts.

Now that the game behemoth STEAM has ported to Linux they'll have to be more cooperative or risk the loss of a huge number of high-end customers who are quick to dump hardware that doesn't meet their needs (including missing Linux drivers).

Things are changing ...
[b]Thanks! David[/b]
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[i]Don't google[/i] [b]Search![/b] [url]http://duckduckgo.com[/url]
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Mercedes350se
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#19 Post by Mercedes350se »

From my reading it appears to be something to do with the version of Ubuntu ...

I am in the process of building another machine and will do a full Ubuntu install on it.

In the meantime I have found this. Only 34 steps!

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#20 Post by Mercedes350se »

The new machine is up and running with dual boot - puppy 4.1.2 and Ubuntu 12.04 LTS.

I can finally report some progress. After downloading literally Gigabytes of stuff trying to get gqrx working without success or SDRSharp, also without success I decided, in the short term, to take the easy option and use rtl_fm on the command line and

I am listening to the local FM station as I type this

using about 30cm of wire, dangling out of the dongle, as the antenna.

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