Last updated: Feb, 2015
Software defined radio (SDR) is really something fun play with. The SDR equipment used to be expensive, but the hardware got cheaper as time went by. SDR became even more accessible when someone discovered a ~$20 TV tuner using Realtek chip has a very wide tuning range. After that, enthusiastic people quickly flow in and developed software (e.g., rtl-sdr), which opens the door for various applications and fun, which worth way more than $20. The “About RTL-SDR” page on rtl-sdr.com make a pretty clear explanation.
This tutorial documents how I set up my Rafael Micro R820T USB dongle with RTL2832U chip inside, which works between 24~1766 MHz. In the end, it should be able to pick up radio signals in your local area.
Hardware needed:
The Osmocom people have a very nice page here on using RTL-SDR software. The information below works for me.
First install dependencies:
sudo apt-get install libusb-1.0-0-dev git cmakeHere I use cmake to compile binaries. After that, grab rtl-sdr source:
git clone git://git.osmocom.org/rtl-sdr.gitand compile
cd rtl-sdr/
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ../ -DINSTALL_UDEV_RULES=ON -DDETACH_KERNEL_DRIVER=ON # this enables non-root use
make
sudo make install
sudo ldconfigNote that I have cmake two flags to enable the non-root use (by adding udev rules) and resolve kernel conflicts.
It is time to test whether this R820T USB dongle works. Run:
rtl_test -t # Note that you don't need to be root to run this commandand I get the output
Found 1 device(s):
0: Realtek, RTL2838UHIDIR, SN: 00000001
Using device 0: Generic RTL2832U OEM
Detached kernel driver
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
Sampling at 2048000 S/s.
No E4000 tuner found, aborting.
Reattached kernel driverE4000 is another RTL2823U dongle (Elonics E4000) which has wider band, but is not what we have. The output indicates the software recognizes our device.
A really quick demo can be done with “rtl_fm” command line, which can be used to listen to a local FM radio station:
rtl_fm -f 89.3e6 -M wbfm -s 200000 -r 48000 - | aplay -r 48k -f S16_LEIt listens to a FM radio at 89.3MHz. You can search for your local FM radio channel list here
The good thing is GNU Radio packages are already in Ubuntu 14.04’s repositories.
sudo apt-get install gnuradio gr-osmosdrHere gr-osmosdr is an Osmocom plugin for GNU Radio. At the time of writing, the version of the stable GNU Radio binary in Ubuntu 14.04 is 3.7.2, while the latest version is 3.7.6.
Open GNU Radio Companion (named “GRC” in the start menu), and construct a signal flow chart by adding (dragging) a few blocks from the component panel on the right to the work space:
This signal flow chart will do a FFT analysis on the receiving channel. Note that GNU Radio is a fast-evolving software. The GUI interface may change in the future. But the general idea of signal flow chart remains the same.
Double click on the source and sink to configure their parameters. In the end, click “Build” –> “Generate” (or simply press “F5”), and then click “Build” –> “Execute” (or press “F6”). A real-time FFT plot will come up.
There are lots other (meaningful) things that can done with GNU Radio. Check out the GNU Radio tutorial page here.