osmocom-sdr March 2012

osmocom-sdr@lists.osmocom.org

17 participants
15 discussions

RTL-SDR: E4000 IF bandwidth
by Michał Rogala 01 Apr '12

01 Apr '12

Hi! I've just noticed one issue about E4000 driver that bothers me - IF bandwidth at the chip is set to 8 MHz, where maximum bandwidth of RTL2832U sampling is 3.2 MHz. Wouldn't reducing IF bandwidth at tuner chip improve overall sensitivity (and maybe noise level)? best regards Michal Rogala

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RTL2832 GNU Radio Source block now in gr-baz
by Balint Seeber 31 Mar '12

31 Mar '12

Hi folks, I've just added RTL2832 support to gr-baz <http://wiki.spench.net/wiki/Gr-baz> with support for both tuners (Elonics E4000 and Fitipower FC0013). I've taken rtl-sdr <http://sdr.osmocom.org/trac/wiki/rtl-sdr> and created a fully-featured GNU Radio Source block <http://wiki.spench.net/wiki/Gr-baz#rtl_source_c> 'baz.rtl_source_c' (with GRC block) that outputs complex values, and allows adjustment of frequency, sample rate and LNA gain. There is also an optional automatic tuner mode control for the E4000. The Source block performs internal multi-threaded buffering for smoother performance (this might be over-engineered, but it seemed to help with the ExtIO plugin <http://wiki.spench.net/wiki/USRP_Interfaces> I mentioned in my previous post here). You can get the source code from my SVN <http://svn.spench.net/main/gr-baz/> or github <https://github.com/balint256/gr-baz> (though please visit the info page <http://wiki.spench.net/wiki/Gr-baz#rtl_source_c> first for more info/pre-reqs - e.g. libusb-1.0, etc). It's experimental, and not the prettiest because I actually ported it back from the ExtIO plugin, but it works for me and if you want to help test/clean it up then that would be very much appreciated! To see it in action, have a peek here: http://youtu.be/FUQd9HOVTk8 Balint @spenchdotnet <http://twitter.com/spenchdotnet>

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RTL2832 SDR plugin for HDSDR/etc
by Balint Seeber 29 Mar '12

29 Mar '12

Hi folks, 'rtl-sdr' is a great development. Thank you to all involved! I'd like to throw in my bit: I've just released a beta version of my ExtIO plugin <http://wiki.spench.net/wiki/ExtIO_USRP> with support for RTL2832+E4000 (my one is called 'ezcap'). This means you can use the DVB-T USB stick with Winrad <http://www.winrad.org/> /HDSDR <http://www.hdsdr.de/> /WRplus, etc. http://spench.net/r/USRP_Interfaces I've done a fair bit of work <http://wiki.spench.net/wiki/RF> in GNU Radio, but I find having a simple/functional 'software specan' (i.e. those apps) is another great test tool. The ExtIO plugin also lets you stream the received baseband data from the app to GNU Radio over your LAN (just use the UDP Source block!). Apart from RTL2832, the plugin also supports all USRPs, the FUNcube Dongle, and functions as a network client if you choose to connect your SDR hardware to a separate computer and wish to stream the data & control the radio across your LAN (lossless, compared to having to use a long length of coax!). This protocol/implementation is called BorIP <http://wiki.spench.net/wiki/BorIP> , and is essentially a transparent network abstraction for the SDR receivers mentioned above (not really necessary if you have a LAN-enabled USRP, but great for USRP 1 & B100). The BorIP server is included with the plugin's installer. Additionally, I recently released many new blocks (in the gr-baz <http://wiki.spench.net/wiki/Gr-baz> module) and patches <http://wiki.spench.net/wiki/GNU_Radio_Patches> for GNU Radio too, part of which enables native BorIP reception support in GNU Radio (BorIP Source block, and BorIP protocol/packet support for UDP Source Block). The enhanced Source blocks are handy because they will notify you of hardware/buffer overruns at the server and network packet loss. Other new blocks help with automatic FEC decoding, and also include Variable Delay (great for blind signal analysis), a simple eye diagram sink (originally from OP25 <http://op25.osmocom.org/> ) and a Fast Auto-correlation Sink <http://wiki.spench.net/wiki/Fast_Auto-correlation> (originally from 'Frank'). I'm probably going to add my own implementation of a native RTL2832 Source block to gr-baz tonight, so I may post again soon. Hope this is useful! Kind regards, Balint @spenchdotnet <http://twitter.com/spenchdotnet>

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Call for participation LSM/RMLL
by Mathias Coinchon 29 Mar '12

29 Mar '12

Dear Osmocom-SDR community, This email to inform you that the call for participation for the next Libre Software Meeting (LSM or RMLL: Rencontres Mondiales du Logiciel Libre) ends on 31st March: http://2012.rmll.info/en/participate/call-for-papers This edition will take place in Geneva from 7th to 12th July 2012 (7-8 general public days, 9-12 theme focused, professional). Personally, I'm co-coordinator of the media/TV/Radio/Graphics theme where we will have different projects for media and broadcasters presenting cases. There will be for example a presentation and demonstration of a high power transmission digital radio transmission based on CRC tools, USRP on a power amplifier/mask filter. It would be of great interest for the communities to learn about the Osmocom SDR and RTL SDR (in a presentation) and possibly play with them (in a workshop). Applications would be interesting too. So please don't hesitate to directly submit. Don't hesitate also to contact me for more information. Mathias Coinchon

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Osmo SDR board - buy
by Alan Campbell 29 Mar '12

29 Mar '12

Any idea when the SDR boards will be available to buy? And the cost? I was planning an SDR myself when I first saw the Osmo design. There are enough similarities to make yours worth buying - namely, the same FPGA I was looking at. I'm debating whether to buy the Lattice XP Brevia FPGA development kit. All else being equal, I'd rather give YOU guys the money... Regards, -- Alan Campbell - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - My own design ? That uses a SINGLE 12-bit ADC, clocked at 48 MHz (same as USB clock, makes for simpler circuit). The "Zero IF Tuner" becomes a superhet design, with an IF output of 60 MHz. Undersampling & downsampling in the FPGA gives a 12MHz bandwidth (actually less, depends if IFstage bandwidth & degree of downsampling) 2-stage RF front end: 1-30MHz (si 570 is 61-90MHz) and VHF 140-150MHz (si 570 is 80-90MHz). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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Contributing to rtl-sdr (fc0012)
by David Basden 27 Mar '12

27 Mar '12

Hi! I'm just wondering what the best way to be able to contribute code into the rtl-sdr project is? I've added support for the FC0012 tuner (based on the dvb driver and cleaned up some), and would much rather contribute directly rather than fork it just for the sake of the stuff I write. There's a diff here: https://gist.github.com/2171926 against rtl-sdr a few days back. I've got a couple of fixes that aren't in that patch still to upload (like setting GPIO6 to flip the V/U band filter. Oops.) Cheers, David

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Rtl-Sdr
by Peter Hoffmann 26 Mar '12

26 Mar '12

Hy, I just stumbled over the rtl-sdr without any prior knowledge about srd or the osmocom-project. I'm sorry if this hole project is just not for newbies but I wanted to at least ask for help. I planing to use the Noxon DVB USB Stick as an sdr to listen to our baby monitor and extend it's radius this way. My first step is to listen to a fm radio station by collecting some I/Q on the stations frequency. But neither the I/Q nor the cfile I created using the gnu-radio companion results in data I can listen to sending it to /dev/audio. I assume, I'm making some major mistakes so I want to ask for some hints or reading advice (some M to RTFM ;-) Thank you, Hoffmann P

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RTL-SDR software
by Michał Rogala 23 Mar '12

23 Mar '12

Hi! A have a question regarding current development status of RTL-SDR project - does someone develop any additional tools than those available on osmocom git? Actually I'm developing ExtIO DLL library to connect various SDR software (ie. Winrad, HDSDR, etc) with RTL-SDR dongles. I'm asking because I don't want to duplicate someone's else work. best regards Michal Rogala

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Status Update
by Christian Daniel -- maintech GmbH 22 Mar '12

22 Mar '12

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Hi everybody, after a few weeks of apparent silence I'm here to report the current status of the OsmoSDR stick. I know that a bit more reporting and general traffic on the list would be good for the project, but please be patient with us since this project runs in all our spare time - and there is not much of that... I have to admit that the advent of the rtl-sdr is bit a kick into the stomach, but I fear that the problem lies with us and our slow progress. However I can only stress that the OsmoSDR will be more flexible, powerful, programmable (even stand-alone operation is possible!) and sensitive. Many of you don't care much about sensitivity, but you will notice the difference when you see it... But now to the facts: - - the OsmoSDR revision 2 review is completed and the PCBs are ordered - - depending on the workload of the PCB shop, we have to wait ten to 15 working days for the PCBs to ship to Stefan Reimann (DG8FAC) - - he will assemble 20 boards immediately (machine time is booked) - - after that we will tests and checks that no fatal bug remains - - after that the rest are assembled - - we will have about 100 boards then (most probably a few will need some rework as soldering is not a 100% process) For the revision 2 we changed the following things: - - clock output of the Si570 was reworked the mitigate voltage level problems on the E4000 input - - a lowpass in to E4000 input was added to kill harmonics from the Si570 (the Si570 produces a square wave signal) - - a ~20dB LNA was added to increase sensitivity to -125dB @ 450 MHz (at least we hope so :) - - a lowpass at the antenna input was added to avoid driving 100mW into the E4000 when a WLAN near to the stick goes on TX - - serial wire debugging for the SAM3U was added - - a few lines at the FPGA were rerouted - - LEDs moved to the border of the board - - the board was shrunk 1mm to fit into a casing - - the expansion pins were moved to fit into the 2.54mm grid (a breadboard should fit neatly on top) During the sensitivity tests I did two weeks ago I saw that the RX spectrum is pretty clean and the RX filters in the E4000 are really good. So - even with a few weeks delay - we can finally look forward to get our hands at the OsmoSDR and we will have a really good receiver at our hands! Cherio! Christian - -- - --------------------------------------------------- | maintech # Dipl. Inf (FH) Christian Daniel | | GmbH ### Otto-Hahn-Str. 15 · D-97204 Höchberg | - --------------------------------------------------- | AG Würzburg, HRB 8790 Tax-ID DE242279645 | - --------------------------------------------------- | http://www.maintech.de cd(a)maintech.de | - --------------------------------------------------- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.11 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org/ iQEcBAEBAgAGBQJPaLNtAAoJEHkgzUIsAWrihOMIAIunTXO47hk4fcUxLjaj/mB3 24vBjxqpbnHWGgG35bLAjTICkpg0sZEgxppl3w7nKR1vzyoCVl2qdXfuFhrml/WP mREjLTjtYZB2o1snDKmyoV7jnvHlXKql4AbMnNz2XAlQ0kgDw+BLJf1CNvHpTeNK 6c0WA7XzVEZVYHiCBI8hDWl1/WUK2JLRdmJ7sFrINO40kn5ka5trUDDfCaAr/fAR +0rD0Fhqm3R7tOHmC9e4PWwslY1pGYB2pbcCbICHgEWlQQRSGxdSCzkEL0/STcuI rHuLTpfSrHkbn/TtHaIuVvfraAq8fRARiVqoMooIK0+h8bxfFiHxbHznuh33moY= =zTDS -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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FC0012 tuner
by Mathias Coinchon 19 Mar '12

19 Mar '12

Hi, The rtl-sdr is really great ! Congratulation and thank you for your work ! This really democratises the SDR to anyone with so low prices. I have an ezcap ez646 USB stick, based on rtl2832u but this one has a FC0012 tuner chip. I wondered if some of you had information or clues about this tuner as you have developped the driver for the FC0013. Then I could attempt to adapt the code for this stick. Regards Mathias Coinchon opendigitalradio.org

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osmocom-sdr March 2012