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Difference between revisions of "Software-defined radio"

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=== Funcube Dongle ===
 
=== Funcube Dongle ===
As part of AMSAT-UK’s FUNcube satellite project, the FUNcube Dongle is the “ground segment”, or a radio receiver designed to allow anyone to try their hand at reception of satellites like FUNcube anywhere on Earth as part of a global educational collaboration project collecting information from space. It has a frequency range of 64MHz to 1.7GHz. The Pro + has a frequency range of 150kHz to 240 MHz and 420MHz to 1.9GHz.
+
As part of AMSAT-UK’s FUNcube satellite project, the FUNcube Dongle is the “ground segment”, or a radio receiver designed to allow anyone to try their hand at reception of satellites like FUNcube anywhere on Earth as part of a global educational collaboration project collecting information from space. The original has a frequency range of 64MHz to 1.7GHz. The Pro + has a frequency range of 150kHz to 240 MHz and 420MHz to 1.9GHz.
  
 
=== HackRF ===
 
=== HackRF ===

Revision as of 14:21, 28 January 2014

This article is written for beginners, higher level material can be found on using the links below

SDR# running in Windows 8

Software defined radio is the means of listening to radio waves using the combination of low level hardware, and software processing. While non-SDR techniques use physical hardware to demodulate FM and AM, In SDR raw data from the receiver gets sent into the USB port, and software is used to control the modulation. The only drawbacks of SDR are bandwidth constraints and processing. Since uncompressed unmodulated data is coming through a PC interface (USB mostly), a high speed connection and a computer with decent specs is required. A Single RTL-SDR May use up to 3.4MB, CPU usage varies on the tuner software you use. Using software defined radio opposed to regular radio gives you the ability to see signals you would normally only hear. Your eyes can cover a very wide bandwidth of signals on a computer screen, while your ears can only comprehend a single spoken conversation at a time.

SDR models

SDRs come in many shapes in sizes, from the $8 RTL-SDR to $2000 USRP(with daughterboards) There are also many SDR's such as the HackRF, USRP, FunCube, etc.List of SDRs When you buy an SDR, you get what you pay for. More expensive SDR's are purpose built for receiving, and can handle things such as GSM spoofing, where an unencrypted GSM tower can be simulated to capture SMS in a cleartext fashion.

RTLSDR

Two common types of RTLSDRs

A great beginner SDR is the RTL-SDR It features a receive frequency range of 25-1700MHz, 2.048MHz bandwidth and is priced low enough that beginners can see whether radio is a hobby they want to get into(R820T model).

RTL-SDRs come with various tuner chips, the most widely used tuner is the R820T, with the E4000 coming in a close second. The E4000 is a discontinued model and is usually priced higher than R820T models. R820T tuners are generally better for reception of trunked radio systems (digital police radio).

The RTLSDR began its life as a DVB-T OTA TV tuner (a tv tuner for europe). China began bulk manufacturing these TV tuners for the european market. It was later found that a hacked driver could be installed that let the user use the dongle as an SDR.

Currently R820T RTLSDRs can be bought for as low as $8 on eBay with free shipping R820Ts on eBay

Funcube Dongle

As part of AMSAT-UK’s FUNcube satellite project, the FUNcube Dongle is the “ground segment”, or a radio receiver designed to allow anyone to try their hand at reception of satellites like FUNcube anywhere on Earth as part of a global educational collaboration project collecting information from space. The original has a frequency range of 64MHz to 1.7GHz. The Pro + has a frequency range of 150kHz to 240 MHz and 420MHz to 1.9GHz.

HackRF

The HackRF is a DARPA funded project, it aims to provide innovation and research in the SDR field. It's much more powerful than the RTL-SDR, much more sensitive, covers a greater frequency range. The HackRF starts at $300, has both RX and TX functionality from 30 MHz to 6 GHz, bandwidth of 20MHz. During DARPA funding, beta units, the HackRF Jawbreaker were given to hundreds of testers for free. The production version was funded through KickStarter. The campaign was successfully funded on September 4th 2013 and will be available to the public after donators get their HackRF's. KickStarter Page

Transmitting
TX functionality on the HackRF is limited in power because RF theory says you must have an antenna length that corresponds to the wavelength you are sending. For example sending 5Watts over the wrong size antenna will cause a buildup of standing waves, and may fry the transmitter. To prevent this, the antenna build into the breadboard of the HackRF is only designed for ultra low power, good enough for experimentation, but not for serious broadcasting.

Possibilities

SDR's have endless possibilities. Because all demodulation is done in software, no new hardware is needed to decode, for example, a new digital voice mode. All the programmer has to do is write code to convert the raw samples from USB to the correct format data.

Software

Software is available for Windows GNU/Linux and OSX.

SDR Software (The stuff you listen with)

Software Supported Modes OS Cost/License Features/Limitations
SDR Touch AM, WFM, NFM, SSB, DSB, CW Android Freemium, Closed (full version 1.7) supports RTL_TCP and USB OTG, FFT times out after 30 seconds on free version
glSDR AM, WFM, NFM, SSB, DSB, CW, DIG(?), SPEC(?), SAM(?), DRM Android Free, GNU/GPL UI for ghpsdr servers
SDR-Radio Windows Free, Closed Feature packed, harder to get set up
SDR-Radio v2 Windows Free possibly paid out of beta, Closed Beta, Feature packed, supports RTL_TCP
SDR# Windows Free, MS-RSL/MIT Most popular and easiest to use
HD-SDR Windows Free, Closed
PowerSDR Windows Free, GNU/GPL Does not support RTL-SDR
GQRX AM, WFM, NFM, SSB, CW, AFSK1200 Win,Lin,Mac Free, GNU/GPL Runs on GNU Radio
GNU Radio Win,Lin,Mac Free, GNU/GPL Tools to build your own receiver. Versatile, larger learning curve.
Linrad Win,Lin,Mac Free, OSS
Studio1 Paid,Closed Source Formerly WRPLUS

Plugins for SDR#

Purpose Software Cost/License
Scan and log various frequencies Frequency Manager + Scanner plugin Free, OSS
Tune SDR# to the approprate voice channel Trunking plugin for SDR# Free, OSS

HF decoders (shortwave 0-30MHz)

Purpose Mode Software OS Cost/License Common Frequency
Digital decoding on HF CW, Domino, Hell, MFSK, PSK, OLIVIA, RTTY, Throb, Thor, WWV Fldigi Win,Lin,Mac Free, GNU/GPL 0-30MHz AM
HF amateur radio codec FreeDV, Codec2 FreeDV Win,Lin,Mac Free, GNU/GPL 0-30MHz AM
Digital broadcast shortwave DRM Dream Win,Lin,Mac Free, GNU/GPL 0-30MHz AM
Sending images over HF, commonly QSLs Robot, AVT, Scottie, Martin MMSSTV Windows Free, OSS 0-30MHz AM

ADS-B Airplane tracking software

Purpose Mode Software OS Cost/License Frequency
Plane-spotting, decoding ADS-B ADS-B ADSB# Windows Free, MIT 1090MHz AM
Decodes ADSB# data + Plot planes on a map AVR-BEAST VirtualRadar Server Windows Free, OSS 1090MHz AM
Alternative to ADS-B# ADS-B RTL1090 Windows Free, Closed 1090MHz AM
Decodes ADSB (S Mode) ADS-B Dump1090 Linux Free, BSD 1090MHz AM

APRS (like GPS, hams use it)

Purpose Mode Software OS Cost/License Frequency
Amateur packet radio incl. GPS location AX.25, AFSK, APRS AFSK1200 Win,Lin,Mac Free, GNU/GPL 144-145MHz FM, Varies

Trunked Radio (police fire and EMS in urban areas)

Purpose Mode Software OS Cost/License Frequency
Decode control channel data P25, EDACS48, EDACS96, Motorola, MPT1327 Unitrunker Windows Free, Closed Usually 400MHz, 760,860,933MHz FM
Decode digital voice P25p1, ProVoice, X2-TDMA, DMR/MOTOTRBO, NXDN DSD Win,Lin,Mac Free, BSD Usually 400MHz, 760,860,933MHz FM
Decode LTR data LTR LTR Analyzer Windows Free, Unknown ~400-500MHz

NOAA weather satellite

Purpose Mode Software OS Cost/License Frequency Other
Decode NOAA WX images APT, WEFAX WxtoIMG Win,Lin,Mac Freemium, Closed ~137MHz FM Track Live
Decode NOAA Satellite APT Atpdec Linux Free, GPL ~137MHz FM

Television (non digital kind)

Purpose Mode Software OS Cost/License Frequency
Analog television decoder, no sound NTSC, PAL TVSharp Windows Free, OSS Any AM (including ISM security cameras)

Pagers

Purpose Mode Software OS Cost/License Frequency
Decode various pager formats POCSAG, FLEX PDW Windows Free, GNU/GPL 35-45MHz, 152-160MHz, 455-463MHz, 928-932MHz FM
Decode various including pager POCSAG multimon-ng Linux Free, GPL various

Audio routing software

Purpose Software Cost/License
Routes audio from the receiver to a decoder software above Virtual Audio Cable Shareware, Closed $35
Routes audio from the receiver to a decoder software above VB Audio Cable Donationware, Closed ($5 donation gets you more cables)

Video Tutorials

SDRSharp (Windows)

GnuRadio (Linux)

Other SDR resources

/r/RTLSDR on Reddit

Scanner centric SDR discussion forums on RadioReference

FCC website, every RF transmitter registered registered with the FCC resides in this database

An online SDR receiver that covers the HF band (shortwave, worldwide transmissions)

2011 US frequency allocation chart PDF