GQRX 2.7 with ADALM-Pluto - no extended coverage

[Rash]

Hello,

I have compiled GQRX 2.7 from source and I am delighted that it works with the Pluto. There is a but....

These SDR units use an AD9363 which are specified as a 325 MHz - 3.8 GHz part, but by connecting to the Pluto one can make it think it contains an AD9394 to increase the tuning range. I have done this, but GQRX refuses to tune below 324.999 MHz. Similarly, GNURadio sinks refuse to tune as well.

Does anyone know where I have gone wrong? The 'hack' on this SDR might sound hard to believe but it has been confirmed by people who know what they are doing!

I am using Ubuntu 16.04 xfce x64

Thanks in advance!

R.

[Alexandru Csete]

Hi Rash,

The initial driver I had in gr-.osmosdr had the official limits, so
update your gr-osmosdr-gqrx package to the latest plutosdr branch or
tick the "No limits" checkbox under Input controls in gqrx.

Alex

> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "Gqrx SDR" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
> email to gqrx+uns...@googlegroups.com.
> To post to this group, send email to gq...@googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion on the web visit
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gqrx/edae4f58-9a02-47e6-8ddd-7590aa8c2d6a%40googlegroups.com.
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Rashid Mustapha]

Hi Alexandru,

It did blow up on compilation:

gr-osmosdr-gqrx/lib/rtl/rtl_source_c.cc:224:43: error: ‘rtlsdr_set_bias_tee’ was not declared in this scope
   ret = rtlsdr_set_bias_tee(_dev, bias_tee);

So I patched that out and it built and gqrx now accepts lower frequencies. It still isn't tuning the SDR below 325 MHz though. I built everything from source, so it is probably too late for me to add the PPAs and install packages as I expect that would make a mess! I am unsure exactly where everything is hiding.

I feel I am closer to winning this one thanks to you! I guess I need to try to figure out what else needs sorting. Maybe libiio is somehow getting in the way...

Best regards,

Rash.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "Gqrx SDR" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/gqrx/6hTiGcnhBtY/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to gqrx+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

[Rashid Mustapha]

Charles, G4GUO made a few suggestions so I checked a few things. First was to make sure the settings had taken on the Pluto:

v0.21

# fw_printenv attr_name
attr_name=compatible
# fw_printenv attr_val
attr_val=“ad9364”
#

Then I tried to write a valid frequency, then an invalid one:
 

iio_attr -u ip:192.168.2.1 -c ad9361-phy altvoltage1 frequency 3400000000
dev 'ad9361-phy', channel 'altvoltage1' (output), id 'TX_LO', attr 'frequency', value '2450000000'
wrote 11 bytes to frequency
dev 'ad9361-phy', channel 'altvoltage1' (output), id 'TX_LO', attr 'frequency', value '3399999998'

This should result in the radio tuning to a local FM station, but it doesn't like it:

iio_attr -u ip:192.168.2.1 -c ad9361-phy altvoltage1 frequency 103500000
dev 'ad9361-phy', channel 'altvoltage1' (output), id 'TX_LO', attr 'frequency', value '3399999998'
error Invalid argument (-22) while writing 'frequency' with '103500000'
dev 'ad9361-phy', channel 'altvoltage1' (output), id 'TX_LO', attr 'frequency', value '3399999998'

Really scratching my head now, so any ideas will be much appreciated!

73

[Alexandru Csete]

Well, the latest firmware is 0.22 and that's what I have been running.

Alex

>>> gqrx+uns...@googlegroups.com.

>>> To post to this group, send email to gq...@googlegroups.com.
>>> To view this discussion on the web visit
>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gqrx/edae4f58-9a02-47e6-8ddd-7590aa8c2d6a%40googlegroups.com.
>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
>>
>>
>

> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "Gqrx SDR" group.

> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
> email to gqrx+uns...@googlegroups.com.

> To post to this group, send email to gq...@googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion on the web visit

> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gqrx/CADt-HQqeozKO2fdjU31TtQNMWyQQC0bO-aUPi5jqqvNf-OcTPQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[Rashid Mustapha]

Charles figured it out.

I followed the instructions from here:

https://wiki.analog.com/university/tools/pluto/users/customizing

Mine returned:

attr_val=“ad9364”

His returned:
attr_val=ad9364

So I (after updating the firmware) did:

fw_setenv attr_val ad9364

Which worked. What confuses me is if everyone followed those instructions, how it even worked! Anyway, I'll not worry too much about that.

Thank you for all your help!

>>> gqrx+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

>>> To post to this group, send email to gq...@googlegroups.com.
>>> To view this discussion on the web visit
>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gqrx/edae4f58-9a02-47e6-8ddd-7590aa8c2d6a%40googlegroups.com.
>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
>>
>>
>
> --

> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "Gqrx SDR" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an

> email to gqrx+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

> To post to this group, send email to gq...@googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion on the web visit

> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gqrx/CADt-HQqeozKO2fdjU31TtQNMWyQQC0bO-aUPi5jqqvNf-OcTPQ%40mail.gmail.com.
>
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "Gqrx SDR" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/gqrx/6hTiGcnhBtY/unsubscribe.

To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to gqrx+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.

To post to this group, send email to gq...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gqrx/CAHG%3DS_cj4TPhdK7W%3D6sStra3g9cs4_d%2Bjqth0U0bE2-xsJYTxw%40mail.gmail.com.

[Alexandru Csete]

On Sun, Aug 20, 2017 at 12:50 AM, Rashid Mustapha
<rashid....@gmail.com> wrote:
> Charles figured it out.
>
> I followed the instructions from here:
>
> https://wiki.analog.com/university/tools/pluto/users/customizing
>
> Mine returned:
> attr_val=“ad9364”
>
> His returned:
> attr_val=ad9364
>
> So I (after updating the firmware) did:
>
> fw_setenv attr_val ad9364
>
> Which worked. What confuses me is if everyone followed those instructions,
> how it even worked! Anyway, I'll not worry too much about that.

Ah, so you initially copy & pasted the text from the wiki and got
“ad9364” instead of "ad9364"

Never copy and paste when messing around with a bootloader ;-)

Alex

[Rash]

Agreed - it was a bit reckless.

I was a bit over-excited about the idea of having a cheap, pocket-sized SDR with the frequency range of my B200s!

R.

[Tom Campbell]

=========================

surely ad9364 rather than “ad9364” ?

cheers

[Alexandru Csete]

On Sun, Aug 20, 2017 at 4:10 PM, Tom Campbell <them...@btinternet.com> wrote:
>
> surely ad9364 rather than “ad9364” ?

Both should work fine when using the correct quote character.

Alex