SoapySDR drivers for a noob.

[Wells Everett]

Will try to keep this brief. I am trying the different SDR programs for decoding satellites and with integral digital data decoder. The RTL, SDRPlay, and other radios are usually supported.

Programs like Satdump, SDR++ & SDR++ Brown and others use SoapySDR as the "backbone??". I have asked if support for my radio could be added.
With the exception on the Satdump developer who provided a modified from other version 0.8 driver. Which was very buggy (the effort was greatly appreciated).
Most if not all of the SDR program developers have not responded or are very negative.
Leaning toward the radios usually supported by Airspy SDR#.
SDR# did support my radio many versions back. Then no more.

I have found through deep searches different module compiled drivers and included source code for my radio. And most simply do not work. Or are very buggy.
The Skyroof developer simply refused trying to write a driver unless he had the radio in his posession. The radio in question is an Icom IC-R8600.

I was trying to keep this brief to get help in learning how to, from the ground up,  create my own set of drivers, debug them as I go. Test.
I have decompiled a few RTL based drivers and put them along-side the decompiled EXTIO.dll driver for the R8600. I see many similarities.

I do not know if every program using Soapy components runs radios the same way.
Satdump will not operate my radio as an SDR. Although CAT control is working.

I just wish to learn. But so far all of the documentation is way above my skill level.
I do have some experience with Arduino source where flipping switches and adding lines in the makefile before compiling makes fr different behaviour.

The Soapy online forum seems to have been engulfed with spam. 
I don't know where to go. Confusion and frustration is mounting  only because I do not have the means to install many different antennas for different SDR radios.
But the R8600 works fine with HDSDR, SDR Console, Older versions of SDR#.
Please. Could somebody help steer me in the right direction to learn from the very bottom in easy to understand terms?
And Thanks!

[Wells Everett]

Wow. Very hard to believe there is nobody willing to help. Or just give a few hints on where to start understanding what other program developers are reluctant to assist.
Anybody? 

[righthal...@gmail.com]

I wrote the SoapySDR support routines for the NetSDR. Writing the Soapy routines takes a lot of time, but is not that difficult. Grab an a set of support routines for a device that is

similar (TCP/IP or USB) to yours. Then it is just matching the native routines to the soapy routines.

[Wells Everett]

I almost lost hope for a good response. Thank you for the reply.
Is there a tutorial or easy to understand documentation ou there that will assist?
Support Routines? Native Routines? What you describe makes sense. I have compared decompiled RTL-type drivers over the Icom EXTIO.dll and see similarities.
Above and beyond that. I have absolutely no idea of where to start.

Also what makes a "module version" specific? A module of what? The way the source was compiled and what makes them different and incompatible?
Bear with me please. Developers are very reluctant or simple refuse to even give me the information to do what they are unwilling to do.
One dev. modified a module into 0.8 but it was full of glitches and some features simply did not work, caused the program to freeze or crash.
So it seems as if a step-by-step debugging and testing process needs to be done to target and correct the glitches.
I'm positive once I had the "Seed" to learn. I could. Info that I have found appears for ones familiar in the first place. Not from the ground-up "for dummies".