On Mac Os, latest version

[Francesco L.]

I just purchased a brand new Macbook Air with M1 processor. I don't understand if Gqrx will work with my laptop or if is able to run on the former mac os version only. Could you help?

Thanks

[Andrea Lawendel]

Hi Francesco,

It's an interesting question, I'd also like do get deeper into the M1 topic. Looking at discussions within the Macports community - assuming you have installed a Macports version of GQRX, as I did - it would seem that when Macports doesn't find an ARM compatible binary the port's x86 version will be used with Rosetta2. But since we're talking about some kind of emulation here, I don't know how it performs in the case of GQRX.

Cheers,

Andy

On Fri, Apr 2, 2021 at 8:56 AM Francesco L. <flance...@gmail.com> wrote:

I just purchased a brand new Macbook Air with M1 processor. I don't understand if Gqrx will work with my laptop or if is able to run on the former mac os version only. Could you help?

Thanks

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[Francesco L.]

Hi, thanks for your kind reply. I am a new Mac user and I don't really know what macports is neither I want to go deep into hacking software in order to make it work. As far as I understand, this program is not able to run on M1 arm processors, so I have to look elsewhere or wait. 

Thanks again for your reply

[Andrea Lawendel]

Hi, 

please don't take my answer as final, others can surely be more precise. Matter is, GQRX is not easily available in binary, pre-compiled form. The latest available ready-to-use binary goes back by several releases and lacks several new features (it is still usable, however). One of the easiest way, other than a full compilation (which includes compiling GnuRadio dependencies), is having Macports to install it. You might want to do some testing with GQRX 2.11.5 available at https://gqrx.dk/download

Andy 

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gqrx/938fe031-43ac-4c1f-8ab3-b4924202d38fn%40googlegroups.com.

[righthal...@gmail.com]

If you want to run a SDR on the Apple M1 devices, you can try SdrGlut. SdrGlut V1.23 can now run the Apple M1 devices in native mode. SdrGlut in native mode runs at near double the speed of the intel version running under Rosetta 2. It really improves performance while running several devices simultaneously. To set it up - grap SdrGlut-825-M1-Install.dmg from the website, mount the dmg and drag it to Applications folder .

https://github.com/righthalfplane/SdrGlut/releases/tag/v1.23

[Francesco Lancellotta]

Thanks, I will give it a try

[Andrea Lawendel]

Thanks, months ago I have installed SdrGlut 721 but the program window under Quartz doesn't open unless a Soapy device is connected. I'll give another try... I assume it's still limited compared to GQRX, let alone SDRsharp or Console. Is there a specific discussion group?

Andy

[righthal...@gmail.com]

I am not sure what you would want to do if a Soapy device is not connected, but If you down load the filtering files 
from the website you can design digital filters by selecting "Files"  with option "FileType Filter" or by selecting  "Files"

with the option "FileType SDR File" you can play back recorded I/Q files.

SdrGlut can open several SDR devices at one time and SdrGlut can transmit with SDR devices like HackRF one - GQRX cannot.

SdrGlut has builtin scanning and scanning by external programs  - GQRX has to be controlled externally.

SdrGlut can synchronize the I/Q recordings from several SDRs for testing purposes - GQRX cannot even open more than one SDR

What the limitations are of SdrGlut are compared to GQRX that bother you ? - Please give me a List.

[Andrea Lawendel]

Thank you very much for this description! Nothing in particular, I just wanted to give a look at SdrGlut interface, it's look and feel. Frankly, I think running an SDR front end in Quartz is a bit cumbersome, I'd rather go directly through MacOS GUI since that's what I have at hand. But maybe that's a limit of mine, not SdrGLut's! 

Aside from that, while I highly appreciate what you're saying about Glut's I/Q files recording/opening capabilities, I'm not much interested in scanning functions or in transmitting since I'm mainly into NDB, MW  and FM broadcast DX. Does SdrGlut provide for synchronous AM demodulation, as GQRX was recently enabled to? What other modulations are supported? Do I have to design each filter or preset filters are available and one can still drag on the IF window to increase/decrease the selectivity? Does it provide for automatic notch filters, or noise suppression? What's the resolution of a carrier displayed into its waterfall windows, can I measure single Hertz or sub-Hertz carrier frequencies for RF fingerprinting purposes? Does the program integrate an RDS demodulator for FM listening?

Thanks for your patience (and I apologize with GQRX group admin for delving into other front ends' details)

Andy

[righthal...@gmail.com]

Yes, SdrGlut only does synchronous AM demodulation. Modulations - AM, FM, NBFM, NBAM, USB, LSB, CW. The selectivity filters are set automatically for each of the demodulation types. Some of the SDRs have notch filters that can be turned on or off to help, but the anti-aliasing filters applied by SdrGlut during the decimation creates a deep notch filler around the receiving frequency and removes most of the noise. The resolution in the waterfall window is one hertz, but that is a lie told all SDR programs. Most devices are at best 1 ppm at 1GHz that is +- 1000 hz and to resolve 1 hz requires capturing and processing at least 1 second of data - not many people want to wait for one second updates. SdrGlut is good to 10 hz resolution if the device is up to it. I looked at RDS demodulator and it is ridiculously complex - like most standards today - someone wants to make money off of it - so they make it so complex that it takes a huge investment in time to understand and use - not me.

[Francesco Lancellotta]

I don't know if I understood well because the description is really confusing but it seems that now (since yesterday) sdrglut supports macbooks with M1 BUT in order to use it I need another software installed too, called Xquartz? Am I right? That's really confusing....

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[Francesco Lancellotta]

Jesus, I installed sdrglut on my brand new macbook air M1 and I have never seen such an awful software. It is impossible to select a frequency, no interface, simply  total crap. If this is the sdr world for mac, I believe we have to wait for at least a couple of decades.

On Sat, Apr 3, 2021 at 5:15 PM righthal...@gmail.com <righthal...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[righthal...@gmail.com]

It is using the GLUT interface - HINT HINT SdrGlut - Right click to get the menus. Change frequency by using the menus or by right click in a window or clicking on the upper or lower half the the number in the frequency  display or by rolling the scroll or by reading them from a frequency list.

[Andrea Lawendel]

Hi Francesco,

Go for GQRX, it's maybe not so sleek in terms of software architecture or performance, but while it needs QT there's no need to launch a separate windowing sytem like xQuartz, or having OpenGL literacy. 

GQRX has a neat and intuitive interface which makes it more suited to the DXer/SWL needs, in my opinion. Some features righthalfplane441 mentions, like programmable filters, are more in line with DSP/signal analysis work. One thing GQRX is still lacking - but it's true for many SDR front ends - is as far as I can tell SDRglut flexibility with I/Q raw files generated from/for other SDrs.

A couple of other questions righthalfplane: I saw one of your YT videos describing SDRglut install with Brew. Does the program also support Mac Ports? Was I wrong installing the software by downloading its .dmg image and normally dragging the icon into the Applications folder? Could I be missing some dependencies (like RTaudio)?

Thanks and kudos for a very sophisticated SDR crossplatform work.

Andy

[Shirley Márquez Dúlcey]

I don't currently have a Mac to try it out. But it sounds like SdrGlut is a completely un-Mac design of user interface, which is why Francesco felt lost. A UI where the primary method of interaction is right clicks just isn't how Macs do things; remember that they originally had only one mouse button.

On Sat, Apr 3, 2021 at 3:14 PM righthal...@gmail.com <righthal...@gmail.com> wrote:

There are only seven ways to select a frequency - sorry you could not find one of them.

On Saturday, April 3, 2021 at 10:01:09 AM UTC-7 Francesco L. wrote:

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[righthal...@gmail.com]

Hi Andy,

You can do the install with the Macport or directly, but the only reason to not use the .dmg is if you want to use one of the soapy devices that I did not build into the .dmg image.

SdrGlut runs on all recent versions of MacOS, Windows 7, Windows 10, Ubuntu 18.04, the Raspberry Pi 4 and most versions of Linux and Unix.

One nice thing is that the Glut interface is the same on all of the different systems.

The Glut interface uses the right mouse button to pull up the main menus, where many interfaces use the right button for optional pop up menus.

The Glut interface is actually quick and easy to use - once you get used to it. The glui widget set is just not as pretty as the native widgets on the MacOS or Windows.

Dale.

[Francesco Lancellotta]

Two windows opened, they were so essential I couldn't believe it. Then I looked very hard at a way to input a frequency. No way. Totally useless.
It is of the utmost importance when designing a software, to think about the users. If a software is a treasure hunt or impossible to use due to very poor inteeface, then it SHOULD NOT be posted on the internet. I will wait another decade for a software able to run on my MacBook air M1 without other softwares and a PROPER DECENT interface.

On April 3, 2021 9:14:05 PM GMT+02:00, "righthal...@gmail.com" <righthal...@gmail.com> wrote:

There are only seven ways to select a frequency - sorry you could not find one of them.

On Saturday, April 3, 2021 at 10:01:09 AM UTC-7 Francesco L. wrote:

[Francesco Lancellotta]

Thanks for your reply but I don't understand what "QT" is. More, I checked the Gqrx page and it specified it is not working or tested on latest mac os.
No technician here, so I would appreciate less jargon and solutions that really work on a brand new macbook air M1 16gb ram 512 ssd.
Thanks

[Francesco Lancellotta]

You are right on the spot! How was I supposed to know that I have to right click? I just saw in front of me two widows devoid of any further indications. No reactions to clicks, nothing. I understand everyone can put everything on the internet but here we are way off. As far as I understand there are at this stage no sdr softwares able to work on the M1 chip without several other complicate patches or apps launched.

[Francesco Lancellotta]

No that's untrue. There was no indication of using the right click. I just regret having installed this two piece of software. When designing a software, think about the final user. No indication of modes, no indication of VFO, nothing. Glad you are able to understand how this two windows work.

On April 4, 2021 6:48:33 AM GMT+02:00, "righthal...@gmail.com" <righthal...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Andy,

You can do the install with the Macport or directly, but the only reason to not use the .dmg is if you want to use one of the soapy devices that I did not build into the .dmg image.

SdrGlut runs on all recent versions of MacOS, Windows 7, Windows 10, Ubuntu 18.04, the Raspberry Pi 4 and most versions of Linux and Unix.

One nice thing is that the Glut interface is the same on all of the different systems.

The Glut interface uses the right mouse button to pull up the main menus, where many interfaces use the right button for optional pop up menus.

The Glut interface is actually quick and easy to use - once you get used to it. The glui widget set is just not as pretty native widgets on the MacOS or Windows.

Dale.

On Saturday, April 3, 2021 at 2:53:18 PM UTC-7 shirley...@gmail.com wrote:

[Shirley Márquez Dúlcey]

Qt is a cross-platform graphics platform. It lets you develop applications that have windows, widgets, and all that stuff that can be built for Mac, Windows, and Linux. 

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[Francesco Lancellotta]

Thanks, so it means that even the gqrx is out of bound. I am wondering why there's  no easy app available for mac like sdrsharp.

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[Andrea Lawendel]

Hi,

GQRX is not completely out of band. It’s just that latest installable available on the developer site is not very up to date and accessible on M1 only via Rosetta2 (but that would be true for many other Intel binaries). It works very well however, in perfect MacOS look and feel, with many SDR devices. Until someone build for the latest version of GQRX a .dmg image working exactly like every Mac OS binaries, you either have to build your own binary (very “technical”), or you can rely on MacPorts or Brew, which are a sort of pre-compiled “recipes” for installing on Mac cross-platform programs (slightly less “technical” but not for general users either). 

True, you won’t find on MacOS the equivalent of extended SDR platforms such as Sharp or Console or Uno (but please consider they are not easy to go and intuitive at all). Besides GQRX and now SDRglut, there’s SDRDx  https://fyngyrz.com/?p=915 (quite complex) and CubicSDR, an essential no frills front end still in an early stage. Not very much compared to Windows... Unless, again, one doesn’t embark in the path of hard-side technical use of MacOS and cross-platform and emulation tools.

 It’s a long tradition in the ham radio and self development environment, Windows makes the 95% of it, there’s not much we can do other than learn how to change the reality. And I am afraid at least initially the gap will deepen with M1

Andy

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[Francesco Lancellotta]

Thanks Andy, I wish you a happy Easter

[righthal...@gmail.com]

An Introduction to SdrGlut (A software defined radio) -

https://youtu.be/JEXK-r6PvmA

[Andrea Lawendel]

Thank you Francesco, best wishes to you as well. There’s a thread on the Airspy/SDR# discussion group re SDR# executed on Windows ARM via emulation in Parallels on M1: 

https://groups.io/g/airspy/message/39910

Basically, SDR# author Youssef alias “Prog” writes that once the .Net framework for ARM is ready, the new .Net implementation of SDR# will be running natively in ARM

Andy

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[Francesco Lancellotta]

Thanks, I don't understand the tech jargon but I picked up that I can run sdr sharp in the near future because they are going to introduce a mac specific version. Did I understand that correctly? I am not prone to use emulators or other software, they just add complication and stress and I prefer a simpler approach.

Thanks for all the information you provided

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