28 Oct
2016
28 Oct
'16
8:07 a.m.
I am attempting to use a RTL2832U based DVB-T dongle as a "fast" ADC
for recording baseband signals. gr-osmosdr under GNURadio 3.7 (as provided
by Debian GNU/Linux) provides the expected samples when using an E4000 (zero
IF) dongle. Being obsolete, such a dongle is no longer relevant, and I want
to do the same with the (non-zero IF) R820T(2) dongles. From
http://sdr.osmocom.org/trac/wiki/GrOsmoSDR I should be able to use the
direct_samp=1|2 option, but that does not work. I kept pins 1 and 2 connected
to the R820T output and connected a wire to pin 5 (Q-) while Q+ (pin 4) is
short circuited to pin 3 (gnd). A signal generator outputs a periodic signal
(150 mV amplitude, 100 kHz) but still no baseband signal, and on the FFT
of the osmosdr output I still see the spectrum of the FM band when tuning
to 100 MHz rather than the samples from the (initially unconnected) Q input.
Any idea if the "Device Arguments" of osmosdr-source is actually parsed
and interpreted ? or is there a command line way of acquiring the raw baseband
I/Q data ?
Thanks, JM
--
JM Friedt, FEMTO-ST Time & Frequency/SENSeOR, 26 rue de l'Epitaphe,
25000 Besancon, France
----------------------------------------------------------------
This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program.
28 Oct
28 Oct
11:15 p.m.
The Q pins are unused, the r820t(2) is a low IF tuner. Try connecting
your antenna to I (Pin 1&2) instead.
-H
11:45 p.m.
Hi Jean-Michel,
On 28.10.2016 08:07, Jean-Michel FRIEDT wrote:
(150 mV amplitude, 100 kHz) but still no baseband
signal, and on the FFT
of the osmosdr output I still see the spectrum of the FM band when tuning
to 100 MHz rather than the samples from the (initially unconnected) Q
input.
The problem is that by enabling the direct sampling mode, the RTL2832
is forced to low-IF mode and only one ADC is enabled.
For your purpose, the device needs to be in zero-IF mode, which
normally wouldn't be used if a low-IF tuner like the R820T is attached.
Please see the attached patch, if you call rtlsdr_set_direct_sampling
with 1 after applying it should work.
Regards,
Steve
12 Nov
12 Nov
1:33 p.m.
New subject: E4000 based receiver raw samples => broken direct sampling support ?
Quick update thanks to the long week end in France which left enough time to test all
combinations of hardware and software:
1/ I tried applying the patch provided by Steve on this list on librtlsdr and compiling
gr-osmosdr for running in gnuradio-companion. I know I am running the right source block
linked with the right library (added debug messages) => no signal on a R820T2 dongle
connected
to a signal generator (I+), the other pin (I-) either grounded or decoupled with a 100 nF
cap.
2/ doing the same on a E4k based dongle also provided only noise and no signal, a strange
result
since in the very beginning of my experiments (2012) I had used this same dongle for
direct
sampling. Being a zero-IF, I could just bypass the E4k mixer and record the raw samples
fed to
I+ and Q+ (I- and Q- being grounded). Surprisingly, running the same gnuradio-companion
flowgraph (osmosdr source -> Qt time sink) with NO direct sampling option does yield
correct
samples, so the hardware is sound and functional.
3/ E4k no longer being available, I have to find a way to compensate for the R820T IF: I
checked
using no option in osmosdr source that I could get some relevant signal when tuning the
signal
generator around the IF frequencies (4.8 MHz ? 5 MHz ? difficult to say with all the
aliases), while
the option "rtl=0, direct_samp=1" always returns noise.
I am not familiar enough with the RTL2832U configuration registers to mess with them
myself, but
I believe direct sampling in not functional at the moment in librtlsdr. I might be wrong
of course.
Thanks, JM
--
JM Friedt, FEMTO-ST Time & Frequency/SENSeOR, 26 rue de l'Epitaphe, 25000
Besancon, France
2747
days inactive
2762
days old
3 comments
4 participants
participants (4)
-
ew -
Jean-Michel FRIEDT -
jmfriedt -
Steve Markgraf