RSP1A, SoapySdrServer and Gqrx

[Squirrax]

Hello,

I'm currently trying to connect to a rsp1a plugged into a raspberry pi 3B+ ( with raspbian ), running SoapySdrServer (0.8.0).

My client runs on a linux mint 19 box ( Tara, 64 bits ). It works ok with CubicSDR ( 0.2.5 AppImage ) but i don't like the software... i'd prefer gqrx.

Sadly i can't manage to make it work. I tried the AppImage and the ppa version ( both 2.11.5 ). I used as parameters string :

soapy=1,driver=remote,remote_address=xx.xx.xx.xx

Any idea ? Does anybody had success with this ?

P.S. : I also tried with rsp_tcp, although it's a less satisfactory solution, but i have audio problems in gqrx. The sound is intermittent and i can't get it right, even with smaller bandwidth etc...

Thanks !

[Richard Bown]

Did you look on the RSP forum for the bit I wrote on getting a RSP1 working with gqrx on linux ??

Its also pointed to on this list, do a quick search on the list past postings.

I use a RSP1 on both linux machine running LM19.1, , I'm not very impressed with it as I take a tap from the IF of both transceivers, and I can still detect by ear a signal before

its shown on the waterfall display. For my use I reckon I need a 20dB preamp in front of the RSP1a.

If you have soapy running, did you install gnuradio ????

you may need to build it , check the lib versions on you repo

HTH

Richard

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[Squirrax]

Hi Richard, and thanks for your answer.

     i read your post carrefully ( very interesting indeed ). Your advice is to rebuild gqrx from sources ?

     i tried :   SoapySDRUtil --find="driver=remote,address=xx.xx.xx.xx" on the client side and it found the SoapySDRServer running on the raspberry ( and the rsp1a connected to it as well ). So everything ok about SoapySDR on both sides.

     So i guess the problem comes from gqrx or gr-osmosdr ? 

Thanks.

[Richard Bown]

Have you got gnu radio installed ??

You shouldn't need to build gqrx , but one of the probs with raspian is the its based on debian and the

packages can be a bit old, so you can end up with earlier version of libs than are required.

Thats when building can help as it will use the lib versions you have.

The RSP1A is a PITA, a big one as it uses a proprietary driver then needs soapy then gr 0smo the gnu radio then gqrx.

then you get problems as the libs get loaded in 32bit locations and not 64 , so often need sym links, or copy the libs to where they should be.

these problems dont arise when responsible manufacturers allow the drivers to be open source, the RSP1A does not come from one of those sources.

Richard

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[Squirrax]

Things get a little better...

i didn't change anything on the server because it seems to work ok.

On the client side :

  I rebuilt SoapySDR from sources to have the same version as the raspberry ( 0.8, was 0.7 before ) : that doesn't change anything...

  I rebuilt gr-osmosdr from sources : big improvement ! now gqrx connects to the server. I can't choose SDRPlay as the device in the GUI. But... there is no spectrum, only a straight line at 0dB. And the waterfall seems weird too : clearly not working correctly. I tried to change a fex settings in gqrx with no result.

Any idea ?

[Squirrax]

I forgot to mention that i also rebuild gqrx from sources : it doesn't make any difference.

[Squirrax]

Ok, i got the spectrum now but i doesn't look quite right... any idea ?

[Richard Bown]

That's what mine looks like BEFORE playing with the controls like gain , bandwidth etc.

I'd be interested if you find the RSP1A DEAF, for my use I reckon I need another 20dB of gain.

I've connected mine into the IF of my transceiver and I can hear a signal well before any trace of it shows on the waterfall.

I dont use HF, All my interests are above 50MHz and the SDR is used on the bands above 1 GHz

HTH

73 Richard

On Thu, 2019-08-01 at 00:37 -0700, Squirrax wrote:

Ok, i got the spectrum now but i doesn't look quite right... any idea ?

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[Squirrax]

Hi,

   Can i ask you what your settings are ? I played with gain and bandwidth with no result... i'm a bit confused...

    I used the rsp1a with cubic so far, and i have better results than with my old sdr dongle. But the gain settings are a bit tricky. As i live in a quitte noisy environment i have to lower the pre-amp gain a lot to be able to hear weak signals. The rsp1A sounds to have a good sensitivity ( i think, i can't measure it ) but for my use the pre-amp auto settings are not really a good help. But this is only the opinion of a semi-newbie  :)

Thanks.

[Richard Bown]

That could take a while.

My shack is in a mess at the moment where I've been sorting out the coax runs that go thru the wall to the tower, and I've

been working on the microwave stuff.

just have a play , you cant break anything, reducing the gain will get rid of the hump and solid section of the waterfall..

73 Richard

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[Squirrax]

Saddly the screenshot was took with both gains set to zero...

I have no IF Mode setting in gqrx. Could it be set to something else than Zero-IF by default ?

Thanks.

[Richard Bown]

On the side panel you have 3 selectable windows with more settings

I dont have a running version of gqrx at hand to tell you which to adjust

Richard

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[Squirrax]

I think that's what i did in fact. In the input controls tab

   _ i deselect 'Hardware AGC'

   _ i set IFGR to minimum ( 20 dB ) and RFGR to mini as well ( 0 dB )

   _ i left LNB LO to 0 MHz

   _ selected 'DC Remove'

i played with settings on the other two tabs as well with no luck.

[Richard Bown]

I quickly installed gqrx-sdr on this lap top

doesn't do much as no physical sdr attached.

go in to FFT setting and play with the waterfall and freq zoom settings

HTH Richard

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[Squirrax]

Thanks a lot for your help. I tried. No change.

Just noticed i have a warning in the console :

[Warning] StreamEndPoint resize socket buffer: set 43008 KiB, got 1024 KiB

i tried to add remote:window=1024 to device string... still not good

strange...

[Richard Bown]

Good luck with it,

I compiled all the libs used with gqrx , as the version on the LM repo uses an old version of soapysdr.

Its not difficult to do , you have to watch were the libs are loaded, as the guys who wrote the RSP1A driver still live in a world

where they haven't realised the difference between 32 bit and 64 bit computers.

If you decide to build everything find the stuff I wrote on the RSP forum it will help. plus a few beers , 

You may have to find imported European beer as the last time I tried anything on the west coast , they were all playing with micro breweries producing some horrible tasting red stuff.

maybe Spook would have said " its beer Jim, but not as we know it"

GL

Richard

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[Richard Bown]

Also look here

https://www.sdrplay.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3862

On Thu, 2019-08-01 at 22:19 +0100, Richard Bown wrote:

Good luck with it,

I compiled all the libs used with gqrx , as the version on the LM repo uses an old version of soapysdr.

Its not difficult to do , you have to watch were the libs are loaded, as the guys who wrote the RSP1A driver still live in a world

where they haven't realised the difference between 32 bit and 64 bit computers.

If you decide to build everything find the stuff I wrote on the RSP forum it will help. plus a few beers , 

You may have to find imported European beer as the last time I tried anything on the west coast , they were all playing with micro breweries producing some horrible tasting red stuff.

maybe Spook would have said " its beer Jim, but not as we know it"

GL

Richard

On Thu, 2019-08-01 at 13:42 -0700, Squirrax wrote:

Thanks a lot for your help. I tried. No change.

Just noticed i have a warning in the console :

[Warning] StreamEndPoint resize socket buffer: set 43008 KiB, got 1024 KiB

i tried to add remote:window=1024 to device string... still not good

strange...

-- 

[Richard Bown]

Sorry wrong link, thats me getting very hacked off with sdrplay

try this

https://www.sdrplay.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3894

read the second part first

HTH Richard

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[Squirrax]

Hello,

    i already build everything from sources ( following your advices ).>That's how i got gqrx to display something. But i think the problem comes from the way gqrx handle the stream from SoapySdrServer. I may have to wait for an update to be able to use it again.

    I wouldn't recommend sdrplay for linux users for sure... i should have done more research before buying.

[Richard Bown]

OK

I wouldn't recommend either , its a PITA to get running and the users group is full of windows users.

All they have to do is release the source code so it can be built for linux use, then someone can use it to build for gqrx.

have a play with the controls and I think you will get a useful waterfall display .

Also make sure if you are using the latest version of gqrx you purge the soapy libs that you pulled from the LM repo as they are the earlier version.

If you built from source you should be using the binary that sits in /usr/local/bin., unless when you ran make install you told it to install in /usr/bin/

Beer really does help :)

73 Richard

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