Skip to main content

Mageia 9 and Software Defined Radio (SRD) using Gqrx Software

 Software Defined Radio (SRD) is a radio receiver where minimal hardware is used and most of the signal processing is done by a computer. The benefits are extremely wide frequency coverage with multiple modes of communication at very low cost.



I purchased the NESDR SMArt RTL-SDR v5 from Amazon for US$44. It's a USB dongle that ships with a USB extension cable and three small antennas. 

No software is provided but the application Gqrx is provided with Mageia 9. It does require some manual configuration for use with Mageia.  Although UBUNTU-focused, the Gqrx HOWTO is a useful starting point.

To install on Mageia 9:

1. Install gqrx and gnuradio:
$ sudo urpmi gqrx gnuradio

2. Create the group plugdev
$ sudo groupadd  plugdev

3. Add your user to the group plugdev.

4. Blacklist the default drivers  by creating the  file /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-dvb.conf and edit it to include the following: blacklist dvb_usb_rtl28xxu

5. Install the driver we want:
$ sudo urpmi rtl-sdr (It may already be installed.)

6. Create a udev rule for the device:

Create /etc/udev/rules.d/rtl-sdr.rules and edit it to include the following:
# RTL2832U OEM vid/pid, e.g. ezcap EzTV668 (E4000), Newsky TV28T (E4000/R820T) etc.

SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0bda", ATTRS{idProduct}=="2838", ENV{ID_SOFTWARE_RADIO}="1", MODE="0660", GROUP="plugdev"

This is the rule for the purchased device described above. A full set of rules can be found at the Gqrx Github website. You would select the rula that matches your devices product and Vendor ID.

7. Connect the dongle (avoid USB3 ports) and reboot the computer.

8. Test to see if the dingle is detected and working.
$ rtl_test
Found 1 device(s):
  0:  Nooelec, NESDR SMArt v5, SN: 00000001

Using device 0: Generic RTL2832U OEM
Found Rafael Micro R820T tuner
Supported gain values (29): 0.0 0.9 1.4 2.7 3.7 7.7 8.7 12.5 14.4 15.7 16.6 19.7 20.7 22.9 25.4 28.0 29.7 32.8 33.8 36.4 37.2 38.6 40.2 42.1 43.4 43.9 44.5 48.0 49.6 
[R82XX] PLL not locked!
Sampling at 2048000 S/s.

Info: This tool will continuously read from the device, and report if
samples get lost. If you observe no further output, everything is fine.

Reading samples in async mode...
Allocating 15 zero-copy buffers

Looks good, so . . .

9. Launch the application:
$ gqrx

Refer to Practical Tricks and Tips for getting started  using the application.

RESOURCES




rtl-sdr - Specs and Supported Hardware











Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DOS4GW.EXE Version 2.01a and Alternative DOS Extenders

DOS4GW.EXE The Tenberry DOS extender DOS4GW.EXE was used by many early DOS games. I still enjoy playing many of these games and DOS4GW.EXE is usable with DOSBox , so they can be played on Linux. However, the version of DOS4GW.EXE that was included with the game was whatever was current at the time. The most recent version that includes many bugfixes that possibly affected the games when used with DOSBox have been fixed in the latest version, 2.01a. It's not free at US$49, but you can downloaded it here . Simply substitute it for whatever version of DOS4GW.EXE your game provided and enjoy the bug-fixed goodness. Tenberry also makes a "high-performance" "pro" version of DOS4GW.EXE, but it costs $300. I think that they could sell quite a few of these to hobby users (since, you know, DOS is dead) for US$5. Open Souce to the Rescue There are better performing, free and Open Source alternatives available and worth a look. DPMI Explained Let's unders...
1 comment
Read more

Unpack those .EXE game files from GOG.com (Plus other un-packers)

I just came upon innoextract today. I have many of the wonderful games from GOG.com, some of which have native Linux Clients. Before now, I've had to use PlayOnLinux or Crossover to install these for use with WINE, then add the Linux client. InnoSetup as a way to create an installer to install the games on Windows.  Daniel Scharrer has created innoextract to allow the unpacking of those archives on a non-Windows platform. The website provides information on using innoextract , but this information from the page is very useful: GOG.com Installers GOG.com installers with a 2.x.x version number on the download page or in the filename use InnoSetup 5.5.0 and cannot be extracted by innoextract 1.2 and older. Older installers use InnoSetup 5.2.3 and usually have no version in the filename. Some GOG.com multi-part installers with version 2.1.x or higher use RAR archives (renamed to .bin) to store the game data. These files are not part of the InnoSetup installer and require...
1 comment
Read more

Medal of Honor: Allied Assault on Modern Linux

Medal of Honor: Allied Assault contains the original MOH and the two expansion packs, Spearhead and Breakthrough. MOH was first released in 2002. There is a Linux installer , released by Iculus, for the game, but it is for the original version and is a beta release. The libraries it needs are not available in a modern Linux. There is a standalone Linux binary available here . To use it, install the game on a Windows computer, patch it up to the latest level and then copy the installed game to a Linux computer. Place this downloaded archive in the root of the MOH directory and launch the game with ./mohaa_lnx . An attempt to use Crossover 16 to install the game failed as it was not possible to switch to the second DVD disc. There is a possible solution to this by creating a single DVD installation disk for MOH:AA. This process is described here . Reminder:   DVD5 = 4.70 GB DVD9 = 7.95 GB Better yet would be to create a single DVD that would encompass the original MOH...
Post a Comment
Read more