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Author Topic: New cross platform SDR Software SDR++, running on M1 Mac mini with SDRPlay  (Read 300 times)

N2IW

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It took me a week or so to make it work, it's easier to run it on Intel Mac. But have to build from source for M1 Macs. You'll need MacPorts to install dependencies, HomeBrew doesn't support M1 as well as MacPorts as of now. The last piece was SDRplay API/driver, I created a ticket a few days ago on SDRplay's website. I got an email from SDRplay today saying they just released a beta version of the API to support M1 Macs. And it worked perfectly!

It works pretty well, and looks much better than gqrx and CubicSDR! Hopefully Tom, DL2RUM will update RUMlogNG to support controlling SDR via Hamlib, so I can have a working panadapter on Mac finally!
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K7LZR

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Very good and looks like a nice program. Quite similar to SDRSharp. But I don't think that the current Mac & Linux SDR offerings are as polished as their Windows counterparts, and are definitely not as easy to install & configure. I use an RSPdx with various Windows programs - Mostly HDSDR & SDRUno. Until a few days ago, I didn't think that there was any difference between the two programs in terms of ability to receive signals i.e sensitivity etc. with similar gain & filter settings. The SDRPlay folks say that in order to realize maximum performance from their products, SDRUno is the program to use. I didn't really believe it until I came across signals in the SW (49m band) & MW signals which were clearly audible with SDRUno but not so much so with HDSDR while comparing the two. Same antenna, and as said same or vary similar gain & filter settings.

So now I do believe that the SDRplay products really do need their in house software in order to achieve maximum performance. Especially since there is no financial incentive for them to promote SDRUno because it is free for all to download & use.

But I'm glad to see that Mac & Linux offerings are getting more plentiful :).
« Last Edit: September 29, 2021, 09:15:01 PM by K7LZR »
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N2IW

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SDRUno 2.0 will be cross platform, hopefully they will support M1 Macs out of the box, can't wait!
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N2DTS

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My M1 has just sat, waiting for an SDR program to run on it.
I have the airspy hf+discovery now that works fantastic on the airspy sdr sharp program on windowz....
My REA mod monitor runs on windowz only as far as I know...
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N2IW

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Have you tried running Airspy SDR sharp in Windows VM run in Parallels Desktop? You'll have to join Windows Insider program (free) then download a Windows 10 or 11 on ARM, then install it in Parallels Desktop. I have Windows 10 and 11 running this way. However, SDRplay's driver is not compatible with Windows on ARM. Hope they will support that in the future, but I suspect they'll  support Mac on M1(ARM)  sooner than Windows on ARM.

If Airspy runs in Windows VM in Parallels Desktop on M1, I'll switch to Airspy!
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N6YWU

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My M1 has just sat, waiting for an SDR program to run on it.
I have the airspy hf+discovery now that works fantastic on the airspy sdr sharp program on windowz....

If you can compile source code, there's an hfp_tcp network server project on GitHub for the Airspy HF+ and HF+ Discovery.  hfp_tcp compiles on an M1 Mac, and allows using an Airspy HF+ Discovery from any rtl_tcp compatible SDR app.  Gqrx is one rtl_tcp SDR client available for the Mac, and it's free.  But (shameless plug) I wrote my own SDR app (it's in both the Mac App and iOS App store) to connect to rtl_tcp servers.   It's an rtl_tcp SDR app that will connect to rtl_tcp for RTL-SDR devices, hfp_tcp for the HF+ and Discovery, rsp_tcp for SDRPlay devices, and hl2_tcp for Hermes Lite 2 and Radioberry SDRs.  So I can use all of those devices directly plugged into my M1 Mac, or remotely from my iPhone by using a Raspberry Pi 4 as my SDR server.
« Last Edit: October 06, 2021, 10:12:25 PM by N6YWU »
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