maemo.org - Talk - SDR gnuradio RTL-SDR x N900

Hello there!

Who said SDR? :D

--------------------------- WARNING ----------------------------
Warning! Anything here could burn your phone or keep you awake for one week while playing with your phone. Do not complain.
This is NOT a "DOWNLOAD this - it works perfectly" thread
This a thread like "TRY IF YOU ARE BRAVE - MAYBE IT WORKS" ...

After this, using an sdr to receive some kind of transmission is subject to different laws in every country. Please check if you are authorized to do that.
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Here attached you can find a set of binaries to use the rtl-sdr DVB-T usb sticks based on the RTL2832 chip.
Attached you can find the rtl-sdr updated driver, gnuradio and gqrx 2.1 (+some dependecies).

Update: now rtl-sdr updated package are also available in extras-testing repo.
Gnuradio and gqrx not yet packaged due a lot of time needed to fix and package them.

All tar packages should be unpacked in /opt and, if required, linked in the standard paths.

PLEASE, don't ask about missing libs, files not found or similar problems.
First of all TRY, check if you have all the repos enabled and search for what is missing.
Check python scripts, it could be that somewhere there is still some reference to scratchbox targets..

A few packages that you could need:

apt-get install libfftw3-3 xml-core python-lxml liborc-0.4-0 python-numpy libportaudio2 libjack0 libsdl1.2 python2.5-qt4 libqt4-core libqt4-gui libqt4-svg libqt4-xml libboost-thread1.42.0 libboost-filesystem1.42.0 libboost-date-time1.42.0 libboost-program-options1.42.0 libboost-system1.42.0 libice6 libasound2 libexpat1 libwxbase2.8-0 libwxgtk2.8-0 python-wxgtk2.8 python-wxtools python-wxversion

Pay attention to the battery because this kind of devices draw away a lot of mA....and you could see your phone shutting down in a bad way because battery has reached the 0%.

Speed? Yes, it's a problem... But, let'see...

Ready to start?
- battery charged
- usb host mode with h-e-n (FULL/HIGH SPEED HOSTMODE - VBOOST ON)
- host mode adapter cable
- rtl-sdr usb dvb key
- check the key with lsusb (if not present switch off/on hostmode and retry)

Bonus:
MultimonNG a fork of multimon. It decodes the following digital transmission modes:

POCSAG512 POCSAG1200 POCSAG2400
EAS
UFSK1200 CLIPFSK AFSK1200 AFSK2400 AFSK2400_2 AFSK2400_3
HAPN4800
FSK9600
DTMF
ZVEI1 ZVEI2 ZVEI3 DZVEI PZVEI
EEA EIA CCIR
MORSE CW

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Examples:

To receive an UHF ham radio frequency(430.175 MHZ):
/opt/rtl-sdr/bin/rtl_fm -f 430175000 -N -r 11000 - | aplay -r 11k -f S16_LE -t raw -c 1

To receive an FM Radio(96.6 MHZ):
/opt/rtl-sdr/bin/rtl_fm -f 96600000 -W -s 200000 -r 48000 - | aplay -r 48k -f S16_LE -t raw -c 1

Update: using the rtl-sdr available in extras-testing repo, syntax has changed to:
rtl_fm -f 430175000 -M fm -r 11000 - | aplay -r 11k -f S16_LE -t raw -c 1
and
rtl_fm -f 96600000 -M wfm -s 200000 -r 48000 - | aplay -r 48k -f S16_LE -t raw -c 1

Please check rtl_fm --help:
rtl_fm, a simple narrow band FM demodulator for RTL2832 based DVB-T receivers

Use: rtl_fm -f freq [-options] [filename]
-f frequency_to_tune_to [Hz]
use multiple -f for scanning (requires squelch)
ranges supported, -f 118M:137M:25k
[-M modulation (default: fm)]
fm, wbfm, raw, am, usb, lsb
wbfm == -M fm -s 170k -o 4 -A fast -r 32k -l 0 -E deemp
raw mode outputs 2x16 bit IQ pairs
[-s sample_rate (default: 24k)]
[-d device_index (default: 0)]
[-g tuner_gain (default: automatic)]
[-l squelch_level (default: 0/off)]
[-p ppm_error (default: 0)]
[-E enable_option (default: none)]
use multiple -E to enable multiple options
edge: enable lower edge tuning
dc: enable dc blocking filter
deemp: enable de-emphasis filter
direct: enable direct sampling
offset: enable offset tuning
filename ('-' means stdout)
omitting the filename also uses stdout

Experimental options:
[-r resample_rate (default: none / same as -s)]
[-t squelch_delay (default: 10)]
+values will mute/scan, -values will exit
[-F fir_size (default: off)]
enables low-leakage downsample filter
size can be 0 or 9. 0 has bad roll off
[-A std/fast/lut choose atan math (default: std)]

Produces signed 16 bit ints, use Sox or aplay to hear them.
rtl_fm ... | play -t raw -r 24k -es -b 16 -c 1 -V1 -
| aplay -r 24k -f S16_LE -t raw -c 1
-M wbfm | play -r 32k ...
-s 22050 | multimon -t raw /dev/stdin

To record a stream:
/opt/rtl-sdr/bin/rtl_fm -f 90700000 -W -r 11000 - | lame -r -s 11000 -m m -b 64 - a.mp3

rtl_fm and multimon-ng examples:
http://kmkeen.com/rtl-demod-guide/index.html
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DOWNLOAD:

Packages based on gnuradio 3.6.5.1 with gqrx 2.1.251:
http://ge.tt/4mHP5Tr

MULTIMON-NG decoder:
http://ge.tt/6GXzeqr/v/0

Packages based on gnuradio 3.6.2:
http://ge.tt/9x1WsXq

Mirror: (thanks to Joerg_rw!)
http://maemo.cloud-7.de/maemo5/opt/rtlsdr/

Attached you can find the "rtl-sdr.rules" udev file. (thanks to szopin)
This is needed to avoid fixing the /dev/xxx permissions to allow "user" to access the device.

PS.
If you want download from shell, attached you can find the "dirty" gett_downloader.sh
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References:
Driver:
http://cgit.osmocom.org/rtl-sdr/log/

Gnuradio:
http://gnuradio.org/redmine/projects/gnuradio/wiki

Gqrx:
http://gnuradio.org/redmine/projects/gnuradio/wiki

Multimon-ng:
https://github.com/EliasOenal/multimon-ng