sdrplay support - beginner edition

[Mark Schroeder]

Looking for a hand holding set of basic steps / instructions to go from the downloaded SDRTrunk Windows 10 app from GitHub, to being able to use my RSP1A (or Duo) as a tuner. 

Have been successfully using a generic RTL-SDR without issues (other than the anemic bandwidth, which does not allow for full site monitoring when systems are built out past the 2.4M bandwidth limitation of the receiver). The RSP tuners will fix that issue for me.

I have read multiple posts that go through a variety of different steps and checks leading toward success in usig these devices. I have to believe that someone knows how to go from A to B so that SDRTrunk will see the RSP and use it as the tuner and can share how "easily" it can be done.

Thanks!

[Phil Pang]

Yeah it's not very clear and instructions are all over the place, for an old version, or expect you're an expert already. But what expert runs Windows!? lol.

So to compile and run sdrtrunk v0.5.0 alpha 6 with SDRPlay RSP1a support in Windows 10 from the very beginning:

1. Download OpenJDK 15.0.2 here: https://jdk.java.net/archive/ and install. (v16 doesn't work with SDR-Trunk for me.)
   1. Unzip openjdk-15.0.2_windows-x64_bin and copy the jdk-15.0.2 folder to somewhere, say, C:\Program Files\Java.
      
   2. Modify the system PATH by clicking Start, type enviro and select Edit the system environment variables. OR right click on This PC > Properties > Advanced System Settings.
   3. Click Environment Variables on the lower right corner of the System Properties window.
   4. Under System variables on the lower half of the window, if there's no JAVA_HOME under the Variable column, click New... underneath it. Otherwise click Edit... 
   5. Variable name: JAVA_HOME
      Variable value: C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-15.0.2 (or whatever path you put your openjdk folder in.)
   6. Click OK. Click OK to exit out of the Environment Variables window, OK again to exit System Properties.
   7. In a command prompt window, if you type java -version, it should return with the current version. If not, your PATH is not set correctly.
      C:\>java -version
      openjdk version "15.0.2" 2021-01-19
      OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 15.0.2+7-27)
      OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 15.0.2+7-27, mixed mode, sharing)
2. Download Git for Windows: https://git-scm.com/download/win and install. (I'm using v2.32.0.windows.2)
3. Download Gradle for Windows 6.8.3 from https://gradle.org/releases/ (7.1.1 doesn't work for me.)
   
4. Follow the Manual Install instructions for Windows here: https://gradle.org/install/#manually
5. Open up an elevated command window (click start, type cmd, right click Command Prompt, select Run as Administrator)
6. Go to the directory you want to install SDRTrunk in. For simplicity's sake, I'm going to assume the root of C drive. So the resulting will be C:\sdrtrunk.
7. Type (or copy paste) git clone https://github.com/DSheirer/sdrtrunk.git. It should make a new directory in your root, thus C:\sdrtrunk.
8. Go into the sdrtrunk directory and type git fetch origin pull/1040/head:sdrplay-support
9. type git checkout sdrplay-support
10. type gradlew build 
11. The result will be a .zip file in ./build/distributions. Unzip and double-click drtrunk.bat in the ./bin folder, or move the folder elsewhere if you desire.
12. You should see the RSP1a show up as a tuner in SDR-Trunk.

Below is the output from the command prompt window that yours should be similar to.

C:\>git clone https://github.com/DSheirer/sdrtrunk.git

Cloning into 'sdrtrunk'...

remote: Enumerating objects: 26261, done.

remote: Counting objects: 100% (259/259), done.

remote: Compressing objects: 100% (170/170), done.

remote: Total 26261 (delta 87), reused 139 (delta 45), pack-reused 26002

Receiving objects: 100% (26261/26261), 26.90 MiB | 3.12 MiB/s, done.

Resolving deltas: 100% (19144/19144), done.

Updating files: 100% (1887/1887), done.

C:\>cd sdrtrunk

C:\sdrtrunk>git fetch origin pull/1040/head:sdrplay-support

remote: Enumerating objects: 199, done.

remote: Counting objects: 100% (161/161), done.

remote: Compressing objects: 100% (40/40), done.

remote: Total 199 (delta 105), reused 159 (delta 103), pack-reused 38

Receiving objects: 100% (199/199), 43.49 KiB | 1.98 MiB/s, done.

Resolving deltas: 100% (109/109), completed with 19 local objects.

From https://github.com/DSheirer/sdrtrunk

 * [new ref]           refs/pull/1040/head -> sdrplay-support

C:\sdrtrunk>git checkout sdrplay-support

Switched to branch 'sdrplay-support'

C:\sdrtrunk>gradlew build

> Configure project :

Skipping OS Image - Linux ARM 64-bit JDK was not found at /media/denny/WD250GB/java/bellsoft/linux-arm64/jdk-15

Skipping OS Image - Linux x86 64-bit JDK was not found at /media/denny/WD250GB/java/bellsoft/linux-x64/jdk-15

Skipping OS Image - OSX x86 64-bit JDK was not found at /media/denny/WD250GB/java/bellsoft/osx-x64/jdk-15.jdk

Skipping OS Image - Windows x86 64-bit JDK was not found at /media/denny/WD250GB/java/bellsoft/windows-x64/jdk-15

> Task :compileJava

Note: Some input files use or override a deprecated API.

Note: Recompile with -Xlint:deprecation for details.

Note: Some input files use unchecked or unsafe operations.

Note: Recompile with -Xlint:unchecked for details.

Deprecated Gradle features were used in this build, making it incompatible with Gradle 7.0.

Use '--warning-mode all' to show the individual deprecation warnings.

See https://docs.gradle.org/6.3/userguide/command_line_interface.html#sec:command_line_warnings

BUILD SUCCESSFUL in 58s

8 actionable tasks: 8 executed

C:\sdrtrunk>dir .\build\distributions

 Volume in drive C has no label.

 Volume Serial Number is 80F1-6FC1

 Directory of C:\sdrtrunk\build\distributions

2021-07-11  12:53 AM    <DIR>          .

2021-07-11  12:53 AM    <DIR>          ..

2021-07-11  12:53 AM        53,800,960 sdr-trunk-0.5.0-alpha6.tar

2021-07-11  12:53 AM        48,860,497 sdr-trunk-0.5.0-alpha6.zip

               2 File(s)    102,661,457 bytes

               2 Dir(s)  194,508,345,344 bytes free

C:\sdrtrunk>

[Phil Pang]

I should add the git fetch origin pull/1040/head:sdrplay-support command is in reference to https://github.com/DSheirer/sdrtrunk/pull/1040

[rlm...@gmail.com]

Just asking.....but wouldn't it be MUCH easier to just add another RTL-SDR dongle ?

[Mark Schroeder]

RLM, I appreciate the suggestion, but even two RTL-SDR's with 2.4M bandwidth will not cover the bandspread of the 700 MHz systems being monitored in my area. I need a receiver that can handle 10M to cover all the channels in use, and I already own a few RSP devices.  

[MICHAEL CADIERE]

great info, got it all installed and running with an RSP1a, running  alongside another pc running 2 nooelec smart-v4's on the same system. the two dongles catch & play far more calls

[408Radio]

Great info about the dual SDR’s and performance. I will try the head to head comparison and also look at the freq calibration of each one against a service monitor to verify that are centered properly. I have found that the WWV calibration doesnt always work out with the RSP when it is much further up in frequency. 

-Mark-

On Jul 11, 2021, at 12:56 PM, MICHAEL CADIERE <cfk4...@gmail.com> wrote:

great info, got it all installed and running with an RSP1a, running  alongside another pc running 2 nooelec smart-v4's on the same system. the two dongles catch & play far more calls

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[Phil Pang]

I'm also curious about performance comparison of multiple SDR sticks vs one RSP1a/Airspy. I don't seem to be missing any transmissions with the RSP1a.

In theory, the RSP1a and Airspys have better RF front ends and resolution so they should be better at receiving signals. BUT, with large systems, you'll need multiple SDR sticks meaning added cost of powered USB hubs, antennas or multicouplers so while saving money initially on the SDRs themselves, the peripheral costs add up quite a bit. 

And from running multiple SDR sticks with DSDPlus, I've learnt you'll want brand-name hubs and cables that are reliable and remain so over time. The cheap USB junk I tried either never worked (well) from the get go, or failed within a year or two. Which, if you want an unattended remote setup that just works, it's gonna cost. Intermittent failures are the worst to diagnose.

-Phil

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sdrtrunk/01D0393B-DC3F-4316-A705-2F070F28B971%40gmail.com.

[Bote Man]

I’m not sure what constitutes “brand name” in consumer-grade technology these days. It’s all Chinese junk from what I can tell. Belkin just charges the most for their junk.

 

Bote

 

 

From: Phil Pang
Sent: Sunday, 11 July, 2021 17:19
Cc: sdrtrunk <sdrt...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: sdrplay support - beginner edition

 

…

 

-Phil

 

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sdrtrunk/CAK_ooWuwdNUpthRn-smMex1VP99ef-A%2BdSUTDe5aC-D9rUSrkQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[Phil Pang]

I mean like AliExpress/eBay/DealExtreme stuff for $5 or even $15 with a fire hazard power supply.

I've used Orico USB 3.0 hubs with good results like this one. https://www.newegg.ca/orico-a3h10-bk-usb/p/0J2-001S-000B1 or at least a USB hub that comes with a real UL-listed power supply. But you're looking at $30-50 just for a hub, then add multiple antennas or multicoupler... far exceeds the cost of a RSP1a or Airspy for the same old 8-bit resolution. It makes a difference in RF-dense areas like major cities or if you're near a cell tower.

[charley....@gmail.com]

What is your goal?  Two RTLSDRs can cover the entire frequency spread of the system: one is locked to the cch, and the other is dynamically assigned to any system frequency to follow a tg.  You can add a 3rd or 4th if you are trying record or stream additional tgs simultaneously, but at some point you will be running out of intellectual resources to floow all the conversations...

[charley....@gmail.com]

The limitation is the throughput of the usb controllers on the system board / chipset.

[Phil Pang]

That's where additional software like rdio-scanner comes in, or feeding Broadcastify Calls. Rdio-Scanner will queue up calls in a playlist, play only talkgroups or systems you choose to listen to, and is customizable per-session so someone else who doesn't want to listen to EMS chatter doesn't have to.

[Mark Schroeder]

Phil,

As I increment through this installation, as someone that does not do this with enough regularity, there is one step that needs to be added, or at least it was holding me up until I could resolve it. In order to get the "java -version" cmd to resolve, I also needed to modify the PATH System Variable to include "  %JAVA_HOME%\bin ". 

I was able to find this information that helped me over this hump at:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/15796855/java-is-not-recognized-as-an-internal-or-external-command

I will keep going through the steps and post further results.

[Mark Schroeder]

Charley,

with the trunking systems that I monitor, 2.4 MHz is not enough bandwidth to monitor all the assigned frequencies/channels that the system has available. Without having all of the bandwidth, I am not able to follow a talkgroup that is switched to frequencies that are outside the RTL-SDR bandwidth window. The SDRPlay receiver has enough bandwidth that should allow me to follow talkgroups across all of the system site channels being used. That is really the only goal right now.

[Mark Schroeder]

So, had some time and have had success on two different Windows systems. Both of them had a couple common issues to work out for me:

1. When extracting the ZIP for " sdr-trunk-0.5.0-alpha6 ", the tool I use created an extra folder. I wound up having to back the files up and eliminate the duplicate folder, so the BATCH file would execute correctly in " c:\sdrtrunk\build\distributions\sdr-trunk-0.5.0-alpha6\bin\ "

2. I had to add into the System Variables PATH an environment variable for the SDRPlay API, " C:\Program Files\SDRplay\API\x64 "

The next issue came up when installing the JAVA JDK on one computer. This one was already set up with a Java JRE, so a "java -version" test would show the JRE. I was able to fix this by taking out the System Variable PATH that pointed to it. The JDK path then started to pop up as identified. I'm sure there is a much more elegant solution, but I will live with this one for now...........because its working for this app.

Thanks again for getting this started and doing all the work to document the process. I am looking forward to the additional things being worked on that will give access to a few of the RSP1A controls.

[Phil Pang]

Thanks Mark for noting down what I missed! So to update the Windows installation instructions, does this make sense to you as to what you did too?

1. Download the SDRPlay API, or install SDRuno: https://www.sdrplay.com/sdruno/ (FWIW, I installed the entire SDRuno program to verify that RSP1a works with the OEM's software first.)

1. Download OpenJDK 15.0.2 here: https://jdk.java.net/archive/ and install. (v16 doesn't work with SDR-Trunk for me.)

1. 1. Unzip openjdk-15.0.2_windows-x64_bin and copy the jdk-15.0.2 folder to somewhere, say, C:\Program Files\Java.
      
   2. Modify the system PATH by clicking Start, type enviro and select Edit the system environment variables. OR right click on This PC > Properties > Advanced System Settings.
   3. Click Environment Variables on the lower right corner of the System Properties window.
   4. Under System variables on the lower half of the window, if there's no JAVA_HOME under the Variable column, click New... underneath it. Otherwise click Edit... 
   5. Variable name: JAVA_HOME
      Variable value: C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-15.0.2 (or whatever path you put your openjdk folder in.)
      

1. 1. Edit the System Variable PATH and make sure there's an SDRPlay API pointed to it
      Variable name: PATH
      Variable value: C:\Program Files\SDRplay\API\x64 (among other existing entries)
      

1. 1. Click OK. Click OK to exit out of the Environment Variables window, OK again to exit System Properties.
   2. In a command prompt window, if you type java -version, it should return with the current version. If not, your PATH is not set correctly.
      C:\>java -version
      openjdk version "15.0.2" 2021-01-19
      OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 15.0.2+7-27)
      OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 15.0.2+7-27, mixed mode, sharing)

1. Download Git for Windows: https://git-scm.com/download/win and install. (I'm using v2.32.0.windows.2)
2. Download Gradle for Windows 6.8.3 from https://gradle.org/releases/ (7.1.1 doesn't work for me.)
   
3. Follow the Manual Install instructions for Windows here: https://gradle.org/install/#manually
4. Open up an elevated command window (click start, type cmd, right click Command Prompt, select Run as Administrator)

1. Go to the directory you want to install SDRTrunk in. The install will create an sdrtrunk directory so don't create it yourself. For simplicity's sake, I'm going to assume the root of C drive. So the resulting will be C:\sdrtrunk.

-Phil

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[Dave Brubeck]

Thanks for detailed instructions! I've checked on windows 11 It's working fine for me.

How about macOS Monterey? I've installed OpenJDK 17, Gradle 7.3, Git 2.33. Unfortunately it doesn't work. Should I need to modify the system PATH for SDRPlay API after installing it? If yes what is variable value?

Dave

неділя, 18 липня 2021 р. о 00:45:49 UTC+3 Phil Pang пише:

[Alan Stankevitz]

Thank you Phil and others for working out the instructions for this.

I have the RSPdx and after following the detailed instructions from Phil I was able to get it working on a Windows 10 laptop. I would prefer all of this to work on my Mac however. I have tried sdrtrunk on my Mac using an RTL-SDR dongle and that works but only 2MHz spread and I only have one of those.

I also tried modifying sdrtrunk per above instructions in a Windows 10 environment on my Mac using Parallels. It loaded fine but slowed to a crawl and froze when attempting to use it. (In case anyone is interested SDRuno does work on a Mac using Parallels.)

Anyhow, thanks again for the instructions.

[charley....@gmail.com]

I can see scenarios where 2 dongles might not be enough *if*: one rtl is locked on the cch and would only hear voice channels roughly +/- 1 MHz or so of the cch.  The second rtl is free to be assigned to any traffic channel in the system, except when it is actively tuned to a voice channel, then another channel grant come up out of the range of the first two rtl that are still busy with traffic.  In this situation, you could add more rtls.  I've found that multiple rtls use less system resources than one AirSpy - I have no experience with sdrplay mainly because of lack of support by the software packages I use.

[Phil Pang]

Updating the instructions to include what I've done in Windows 11. Note I'm running this in a Proxmox virtual machine passing through a USB controller. So to compile and run sdrtrunk v0.5.0 alpha 6 with SDRPlay RSP1a support in Windows 11 from the very beginning:

1. Download https://www.sdrplay.com/downloads/ and install SDRuno (I used v1.41.1), or just the API (I used v3.90). Installing the full SDRuno suite allows you to test the RSP1a on its own software but is not required.
   
   
2. Download OpenJDK 15.0.2 https://jdk.java.net/archive/ and install. (more recent versions compiles with errors and doesn't run.)
   
   

1. 1. Unzip openjdk-15.0.2_windows-x64_bin and copy the jdk-15.0.2 folder to somewhere, say, C:\Program Files\Java.
      
      

1. 1. Modify the system PATH by clicking Start, type env and select Edit the system environment variables OR right click on This PC > Properties > Advanced System Settings.
      
      
   2. Under System variables on the lower half of the window, click Path then Edit. Add C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-15.0.2\bin (or whatever path you put your openjdk folder in.
      
      
   3. While you're in Path, add the SDRPlay API C:\Program Files\SDRplay\API\x64 as well. SDRTrunk later compiles but spat out an API path error and did not see the RSP1a on launch. 
      
      
   4. Exit out of the Environment Variables window, OK again to exit System Properties.
      
      
   5. In a command prompt window, if you type java -version, it should return with the current version. If not, your PATH is not set correctly. (Need a new CLI window to reload the new Path variables.)

1. 1. 
      C:\>java -version
      openjdk version "15.0.2" 2021-01-19
      OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 15.0.2+7-27)
      OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 15.0.2+7-27, mixed mode, sharing)
      
      

2. Download Git for Windows: https://git-scm.com/download/win and install. (I'm using v2.34.1-64bit). Install and check the box at the end of the install process to open the git bash terminal.
1. You are put into your ~ home folder. 
   
   
2. Type git clone https://github.com/DSheirer/sdrtrunk.git (This will make a sdrtrunk folder in your home directory (eg. c:\users\username))
   
   

1. Go into the sdrtrunk directory and type git fetch origin pull/1040/head:sdrplay-support
   
   

1. Type git checkout sdrplay-support
   
   

2. Your git bash terminal output result should look something like this:
   

   user@computername MINGW64 ~

   $ git clone https://github.com/DSheirer/sdrtrunk.git

   Cloning into 'sdrtrunk'...

   remote: Enumerating objects: 26734, done.

   remote: Counting objects: 100% (732/732), done.

   remote: Compressing objects: 100% (456/456), done.

   remote: Total 26734 (delta 298), reused 450 (delta 182), pack-reused 26002

   Receiving objects: 100% (26734/26734), 27.13 MiB | 10.68 MiB/s, done.

   Resolving deltas: 100% (19355/19355), done.

   Updating files: 100% (1944/1944), done.

   
   

   user@computername MINGW64 ~

   $ cd sdrtrunk

   
   

   user@computername MINGW64 ~/sdrtrunk (master)

   $ git fetch origin pull/1040/head:sdrplay-support

1. remote: Enumerating objects: 199, done.

   remote: Counting objects: 100% (161/161), done.

   remote: Compressing objects: 100% (40/40), done.

   remote: Total 199 (delta 105), reused 159 (delta 103), pack-reused 38

1. Receiving objects: 100% (199/199), 43.49 KiB | 840.00 KiB/s, done.

1. Resolving deltas: 100% (109/109), completed with 19 local objects.

   From https://github.com/DSheirer/sdrtrunk

    * [new ref]           refs/pull/1040/head -> sdrplay-support

   
   

1. user@computername MINGW64 ~/sdrtrunk (master)

   $ git checkout sdrplay-support

   Switched to branch 'sdrplay-support'

   
   

   user@computername MINGW64 ~/sdrtrunk (sdrplay-support)

   $
   
   

1. Download Gradle for Windows 7.3.3 from https://gradle.org/releases/ and follow the Manual Install instructions for Windows here: https://gradle.org/install/#manually
   
   
2. Open up an elevated command window (click start, type cmd, right click Command Prompt, select Run as Administrator) and go to ~/sdrtrunk. 
   
   
3. Type gradlew build 
   
   C:\Users\user\sdrtrunk>gradlew build

1. 
   
   > Configure project :
   Skipping OS Image - Linux ARM 64-bit JDK was not found at /media/denny/WD250GB/java/bellsoft/linux-arm64/jdk-15
   Skipping OS Image - Linux x86 64-bit JDK was not found at /media/denny/WD250GB/java/bellsoft/linux-x64/jdk-15
   Skipping OS Image - OSX x86 64-bit JDK was not found at /media/denny/WD250GB/java/bellsoft/osx-x64/jdk-15.jdk
   Skipping OS Image - Windows x86 64-bit JDK was not found at /media/denny/WD250GB/java/bellsoft/windows-x64/jdk-15
   
   
   > Task :compileJava
   Note: Some input files use or override a deprecated API.
   Note: Recompile with -Xlint:deprecation for details.
   Note: Some input files use unchecked or unsafe operations.
   Note: Recompile with -Xlint:unchecked for details.
   
   
   Deprecated Gradle features were used in this build, making it incompatible with Gradle 7.0.
   Use '--warning-mode all' to show the individual deprecation warnings.
   See https://docs.gradle.org/6.3/userguide/command_line_interface.html#sec:command_line_warnings
   
   
   BUILD SUCCESSFUL in 58s
   8 actionable tasks: 8 executed
   
   

2. The result will be a .zip file in ~/sdrtrunk/build/distributions. Unzip and move the bin and lib folders to ~/sdrtrunk. If you attempt to launch the .bat file as-is with a ridiculously long path, it will fail.  
   C:\Users\user\sdrtrunk\build\distributions\sdr-trunk-0.5.0-alpha6\sdr-trunk-0.5.0-alpha6\bin>sdr-trunk
   The input line is too long.
   The syntax of the command is incorrect.
   
   
3. You may also opt to delete everything else except the bin and lib folders. Those are used in the compile process only. SDRtrunk initialization will create the rest of the folder structure.)
   C:\Users\user\sdrtrunk\build\distributions>dir

1. 
    Volume in drive C has no label.
   

1.  Volume Serial Number is CC0F-B52E
   
    Directory of C:\Users\user\sdrtrunk\build\distributions
   
   2022-01-06  12:32 AM    <DIR>          .
   2022-01-06  12:31 AM    <DIR>          ..
   2022-01-06  12:32 AM    <DIR>          sdr-trunk-0.5.0-alpha6
   2022-01-06  12:31 AM        53,800,960 sdr-trunk-0.5.0-alpha6.tar
   2022-01-06  12:31 AM        48,860,490 sdr-trunk-0.5.0-alpha6.zip
                  2 File(s)    102,661,450 bytes
                  3 Dir(s)  71,770,955,776 bytes free
   
   

[David Alden]

First, I would like to thank you for taking the time to post these instructions. I have been using SDRTrunk for about a year now with 2 rtl-sdr V3’s with pretty good results. However, I have a sdrplay rsp2 that I would like to use instead. Unfortunately, I don’t have the compiling/programming experience to understand the procedures that you posted and at my age (70’s) I’m probably not going to take the time to learn all this stuff. 

My question is: Why doesn’t the original programmer simply incorporate RSP support into a pre-compiled Win10 version that can simply be downloaded and installed? Don’t get me wrong, I really appreciate all the effort that goes into creating and maintaining a really great program like this but it just seems that it would be easier to include RSP support and be done with it. 

Thanks for reading this — Dave

[goofy...@gmail.com]

Any reason ya'll can think of, as to why an MSI clone would display waterfall, but refuse to start when frequencies are added and start button is pushed?