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eHam Forums => Software Defined Radio => Topic started by: N3KXZ on October 28, 2022, 08:09:49 AM

Title: SDR with Linux/Debian? anyone familiar with current offerings?
Post by: N3KXZ on October 28, 2022, 08:09:49 AM
Never tried SDR, looking around. I only use Debian Linux at home, so much of the comments I see online is irrelevant since it is based on Windows experience. Can someone with Linux experience with SDR please comment?

I'd like to budget for around $100 so I have been looking at SDRPlay offerings, though the price keeps going up. Evidently the only software available for Linux is CubicSDR, is that true? I see online there have been questions about continued support for CubicSDR. I _might_ consider the RSPDx model which is currently selling for about $220, but that is stretching a bit.

I suppose I have decided that to go lower (RTL-SDR dongles) would not be worth fooling with, but you may disagree?

I haven't yet investigated the Airspy offerings yet, thinking they are too much over my budget.

I'm mostly interested in the ham bands, and it looks like the lower priced SDR boards require additional filtering for things like the AM band, etc?

Many of the reviews and comments I have seen online for SDR hardware are two to four years old!

What I want to accomplish: just playing around mostly, but want a tool to visually look at spectrum with my old Kenwood TS520, or any other older rig without a built in display or dedicated hardware panadapter.

Thanks,
Keith
Title: Re: SDR with Linux/Debian? anyone familiar with current offerings?
Post by: AK4YA on October 28, 2022, 08:46:21 AM
I have a QS1R (not made anymore) and the difference is night and day between that an RTL-SDRv3 dongle I just recently got directly from RTL-SDR.  Fortunately I dont need AM band filtering.  You may/not being the same situation just depends on your QTH.
Title: Re: SDR with Linux/Debian? anyone familiar with current offerings?
Post by: W4NBO on October 28, 2022, 08:49:23 AM
For years, I have had a RTL-SDR with gqrx software on Ubuntu. Small little box plugged into USB. I think I paid around $25 for it. I see the big auction site they are now around $40 and the dongles less. Quirky to get gqrx running but with some notes I can do it most every time through the terminal. Sensitivity and stability (drift) is surprisingly really good IMO. Selectivity is good also. Easy to separate AM broadcast stations for instance and even cw is easily monitored. Images are where the unit is flawed. For instance I can pick up my local AM radio station at multiple places in the shortwave bands. Then strong shortwave/ham bands at other places. Have often wondered if a preselector would help this significantly but a project I have not gotten too yet. You will need to adapt the SMA antenna connectors to what you have. For the money it will probably surprise you. Have not played with it much on V/U.
73
Chuck
W4NBO
Title: Re: SDR with Linux/Debian? anyone familiar with current offerings?
Post by: W4NBO on October 28, 2022, 09:01:55 AM
More thoughts as memory comes back. The first RTL-SDR I got was defective. The 2nd one, the one I have now, has worked for years. FM broadcast and NOAA weather (162mhz) works fine with good antenna. Search gqrx on youtube for some videos i see are there. I was tempted a few months ago to get an Airspy to see if they were better with the image issue but other projects got in the way :-).

Chuck
Title: Re: SDR with Linux/Debian? anyone familiar with current offerings?
Post by: G8FXC on October 28, 2022, 09:09:59 AM
The SDRPlay radios are probably the best value for money in terms of price/performance. At the moment, the only Linux option is probably Cubic, but SDRPlay are rewriting their own in-house application - which is very good - for multiple platforms including most Linux. It should be launched early next year.

Martin G8FXC
Title: Re: SDR with Linux/Debian? anyone familiar with current offerings?
Post by: WD4SIX on October 28, 2022, 11:50:27 AM
I have a SDRPlay RSP2Pro that I got from a ham friend of mine that recently passed away.  I have used it with Linux Mint 20.3 and Zorin 15 and 16 and it has always worked well.  It seems to tune in any band I have tried it on with no problems.   If you are familiar with installing scripts in Debian then you should have no problem installing the CubicSDR software.  The only problem I have ever had is that sometimes I have to unplug and replug my USB cable going to the SDRPlay before Cubic sees it.  That may be more of a problem with my PC and not Cubic or the SDR.  It is really pretty cool to be able to see the waterfall display of the band you are interested in.  It certainly helps you find any activity on that band.
Title: Re: SDR with Linux/Debian? anyone familiar with current offerings?
Post by: K7LZR on October 28, 2022, 12:54:27 PM
There are offerings for Linux but they are often behind their Windows counterparts in terms of features, compatibility, and fit & finish because Windows is still where the masses are. Many are also difficult to install & configure on Linux.

Go with Windows for this if you really want the good stuff. In many cases, a stripped-down version of Win 7 will work just fine with no internet connection needed. I recommend such a machine which is dedicated to SDR etc. in your shack. For hardware, the SDRPlay products are very FB.
Title: Re: SDR with Linux/Debian? anyone familiar with current offerings?
Post by: KF4VAR on October 29, 2022, 03:08:36 PM
Lets see......on Manjaro, an Arch derivative there is
gnuradio, limesuite, multimon, Qspectrum analyzer, Sdr Sharp. grid tracker, js8call jtdx, wsjtz, which  are a few of the programs available. Skywave linux is a fork of Ubuntu specifically put together for SDR.

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=linux+sdr+packages&ia=web

From my understanding, the Perseus, Apache, Anglia and Hermes series have pretty much the majority of their software suites  created in gnuradio.

If the op wants FT8+ there is this page

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=ft8+linux+programs&ia=web

There are a lot of offerings in Linux. More than Windoze? Good question. I have to agree with K7LZR's statement about there being more around for Windoze if one wants a primarily plug and pray experience. I see a lot of what appear to be inscrutable radio  and audio driver problems every time Windoze does an update.  A lot of the major brands transceivers are  walled garden as far as software and firmware goes.... with Linux, the gnu radio package  and radios that are somewhat open source you can actually mess with the code to change radio functionality  from what I am told. I am busy trying to understand and study FPGA code  to know more about SDR..... lots of stuff out there. Hope this helps.
73
Title: Re: SDR with Linux/Debian? anyone familiar with current offerings?
Post by: N6YWU on November 03, 2022, 10:51:38 AM
I run rtl_tcp on my Raspbian Linux Raspberry Pi to connect my RTL-SDR to a variety of desktop and remote SDR apps.  I also run hfp_tcp to connect my Airspy HF+ Discovery the same way.  Buildable source code for both these radio tcp servers are available on GitHub. 

If you get an RTL-SDR dongle, make sure to get one capable of direct sampling on HF.
Title: Re: SDR with Linux/Debian? anyone familiar with current offerings?
Post by: KF4VAR on November 03, 2022, 04:24:26 PM
"Buildable source code for both these radio tcp servers are available on GitHub. "
Gotta love some open source yes??  Linux is great!
Title: Re: SDR with Linux/Debian? anyone familiar with current offerings?
Post by: N3KXZ on November 03, 2022, 05:18:18 PM
Hey, thanks to all of you gentlemen! I have ordered a dongle and will use some of your comments to guide me on this new journey. It seems like it will be a steep learning curve for me since I have never even really seen this stuff in action- just read about it.
Title: Re: SDR with Linux/Debian? anyone familiar with current offerings?
Post by: KC8HXO on November 11, 2022, 03:42:52 PM
Try DragonOS Focal. It is loaded with SDR software. Frequent updates and additions. Truly outstanding.
Greg, KC8HXO
Title: Re: SDR with Linux/Debian? anyone familiar with current offerings?
Post by: KF4VAR on November 22, 2022, 01:47:36 AM
Hi Greg
Many thanks for the DragonOS recommend. Impressive!
73
Carr KF4VAR