getting started with your sdr - bay-net · getting started with your sdr beric dunn k6bez. about me...
TRANSCRIPT
About Me
• Beric Dunn• G7JUO in late 80s• K6BEZ since 2011• Interests are QRP & Building Stuff• RF Design Engineer for 18 years
Scope
• Introduction to SDRs• Quick tour of What you can do• Demonstrations• For How follow the links• Put your pens away
What is SDR?
• Wikipedia
– “Software-defined radio (SDR) is a radio communication system where components that have been typically implemented in hardware (e.g. mixers, filters, amplifiers, modulators/demodulators, detectors, etc.) are instead implemented by means of software on a personal computer or embedded system”
Various Types
Frequency Range Bandwidth ADC Bits Price
RTL-SDR 24 M - 1.8 GHz 3.2 MHz 8 $20
FunCube Dongle 64 M - 1.7 GHz 96 kHz 8 $150
SDR-Play 0.1 M - 2 GHz 8 MHz 12 $150
Hack RF 10 M - 6 GHz 20 MHz 8 $300
Ettus B200 50 M - 6 GHz 56 MHz 12 $700
“$20 SDR Dongle”
• Designed for Digital TV (DVB-T)
• 24 MHz – 1.8 GHz
• Based on RTL2832U chipset– Hence “RTL-SDR”
• 3.2 MHz bandwidth on USB 2.0
• Between $8 - 20
• Receive only
• http://www.rtl-sdr.com/about-rtl-sdr/
Basic Receiving
• View up to 3.2 MHz of Spectrum
• Click to decode
• Windows
– SDR# http://airspy.com/download/
– SDR Console http://sdr-radio.com/Software
– HDSDR http://www.hdsdr.de/
• Mac/Linux
– GQRX http://gqrx.dk/
How do I get started?
Http://www.rtl-sdr.com/rtl-sdr-quick-start-guide/
• Buyers guide• Software setup guide
Pipe Audio to other program
• Virtual Audio Cable–http://software.muzychenko.net/eng/vac.htm
• Loop-Back Cable
APRS Decoding
• SDR# or GQRX
• (Virtual) Audio Cable
• QTMM AFSK Decoder
• http://www.rtl-sdr.com/monitoring-aprs-rtl-sdr/
NOAA Satellites
• SDR# or GQRX
• (Virtual) Audio Cable
• WXtoIMG Decoder
• http://www.rtl-sdr.com/rtl-sdr-tutorial-receiving-noaa-weather-satellite-images/
Receive HF
• RTL-SDR works down to 25 MHz
• Up-convert HF spectrum to usable range
– Ham It Up http://www.nooelec.com/store/ham-it-up.html
– http://www.hamradioscience.com/ham-it-up-hf-converter/
Want some Pi?
• Add a $35 Raspberry Pi to your $20 SDR• Underpowered for graphical work• Great for low power unattended
APRS Igate
• Raspberry Pi + RTL-SDR
• Receive Only
• http://aprs.fi/info/a/K6BEZ-1
• http://www.algissalys.com/amateur-radio/raspberry-pi-sdr-dongle-aprs-igate
Plane Tracking
• ADS-B, 1090 MHz
• R-Pi + RTL + Dump1090
• http://www.satsignal.eu/raspberry-pi/dump1090.html
• http://www.rtl-sdr.com/adsb-aircraft-radar-with-rtl-sdr/
ADS-B on Android
• Avare ADS-B
• https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=bs.Avare.ADSB
More Bandwidth?
• 3.2 MHz is kind of narrow–Want to see 70 cm band on screen?
•Don’t want to spend more money?•Stitch chunks together
RTL Power
• Performs wider sweeps by stepping RTL Dongle– Command line tool
rtl_power -f 118M:137M:8k -g 50 -i 10 -e 1h airband.csv
– http://kmkeen.com/rtl-power/
– Does not allow demodulation
• Graphical Interface
– http://sourceforge.net/projects/guiforrtlpower/
Add some noise...
• Wide band signal generator
• Not tuneable :-(
–But SDR receiver is :-)
•$10 optional upgrade for Ham-it-Up
Filter Measurement
• http://www.rtl-sdr.com/rtl-sdr-tutorial-measuring-filter-characteristics-and-antenna-vswr-with-an-rtl-sdr-and-noise-source/
“$60 Antenna Analyser”
• http://www.rtl-sdr.com/rtl-sdr-tutorial-measuring-filter-characteristics-and-antenna-vswr-with-an-rtl-sdr-and-noise-source/
• RTL-SDR Stick ($20)
• Noise Source ($20)
• Directional Coupler ($20)
Panadapter
• Add Waterfall to your HF rig– Rig needs IF out
– Some rigs have included
– Add your own!– http://g4hup.com/PAT.htm
•http://www.rtl-sdr.com/tag/panadapter/
K6BEZ Recommendations
• Getting Started:– RTL Dongle ($20)
– SDR# or GQRX (FREE)– http://www.rtl-sdr.com/rtl-sdr-quick-start-guide/
K6BEZ Recommendations
•Higher Performance?– SDR Play ($150) http://sdrplay.com/
– Band pass filters included
– Extended frequency range
– More resolution (12 bit ADC)
K6BEZ Recommendations
•Getting Serious?– Ettus B200 ($700) http://www.ettus.com/product/details/UB200-KIT
– GNU Radio (FREE) http://gnuradio.org/