SDR Setup - Revision history

Parker.link1: /* Introduction */ Fix the danging sentence in the intro

2026-05-18T00:33:21Z

‎Introduction: Fix the danging sentence in the intro

Surligas: /* List SDR device capabilities */

2020-03-19T19:19:42Z

‎List SDR device capabilities

Surligas at 16:57, 19 March 2020

2020-03-19T16:57:58Z

Surligas: Continue with the Soapy workflow

2020-03-19T11:31:46Z

Continue with the Soapy workflow

Surligas: Add more stuff in gr-satnogs and satnogs-flowgraphs sections

2020-03-18T22:13:45Z

Add more stuff in gr-satnogs and satnogs-flowgraphs sections

Surligas at 21:52, 18 March 2020

2020-03-18T21:52:55Z

Surligas: Created page with "== Introduction == SatNOGS uses three different software packages for signal reception, demodulation and decoding. === gr-soapy === === gr-satnos === === satnogs-flowgraph..."

2020-03-18T19:20:12Z

Created page with "== Introduction == SatNOGS uses three different software packages for signal reception, demodulation and decoding. === gr-soapy === === gr-satnos === === satnogs-flowgraph..."

New page

== Introduction ==

SatNOGS uses three different software packages for signal reception, demodulation and decoding.

=== gr-soapy ===
=== gr-satnos ===
=== satnogs-flowgraphs ===

== Configure the SDR frontend ==
As mentioned in the previous sectios, SatNOGS uses the gr-soapy

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 ==Introduction==
-SatNOGS uses three different software packages for signal reception, demodulation and decoding of satellite transmissions.
+SatNOGS uses three different software packages for signal reception, demodulation and decoding of satellite transmissions. Each ground station is equipped with an SDR device. The [https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki SoapySDR] library provides a generic interface for the SatNOGS ground station client to connect to a wid range of SDR devices.
 Each ground station is equipped with an SDR device.
-Through the [https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki SoapySDR] library and the
+This page introduces debugging techniques and architectural information for using SDR devices with SatNOGS, but is not a mandatory step in the setup process.
 [[File:Sdr-arch.png|center|thumb|SatNOGS SDR frontend architecture]]
@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 ==Get information about your SDR Setup==
-=== SoapySDR workflow ===
+===SoapySDR workflow===
-==== Check SoapySDR installation ====
+====Check SoapySDR installation====
 As mentioned in the previous sections, SatNOGS uses the gr-soapy and the SoapySDR library to access the SDR device.
 SoapySDR uses a plug-in architecture.
@@ Line 89: / Line 89: @@
 {{Message|For all the available SoapySDR modules please visit https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki/DriverGuide#modules }}
-==== List available SDR devices ====
+====List available SDR devices====
 The next step is to identify if SoapySDR have access to the attached SDR devices.
 This can be perfomed using the <code>SoapySDRUtil --find</code> command.
@@ Line 121: / Line 121: @@
 From the output of <code>SoapySDRUtil --find</code> two entries are important for the setup of the station.
 * <code>driver</code>: Specifies the factory name that should be used to create a SoapySDR handle of this particular device
-* <code>driver</code>: Can be used to select a specific device in setups with multiple SDR devices of the same factory
+*<code>driver</code>: Specifies the factory name that should be used to create a SoapySDR handle of this particular device
 {{Warning|If the device cannot be found, the corresponding module is already installed and available factories list contains the device factory, consider the permissions of the user for the particular SDR device}}
-==== List SDR device capabilities ====
+====List SDR device capabilities====
 The next vital step is to get the capabilities of the SDR device.
 This can be done again with the <code>SoapySDRUtil</code> utility and the <code>--probe</code> option.
@@ Line 132: / Line 133: @@
 <code>SoapySDRUtil --probe="driver=factory-name[,serial=serial-no]"</code>
 where:
 * <code>driver=factory-name</code>: specifies the factory name of the device family. In most cases this is also the name of the module name corresponding to the device family
-* <code>driver=serial-no</code>: Optional. Can be used to select a specific device
+*<code>driver=factory-name</code>: specifies the factory name of the device family. In most cases this is also the name of the module name corresponding to the device family
 For example, for getting the device capabilities of the RTL-SDR listed previously with <code>SoapySDRUtil --find</code>, the command <code>SoapySDRUtil --probe="driver=rtlsdr,serial=00000001"</code> or just <code>SoapySDRUtil --probe="driver=rtlsdr"</code> because only a single device uses the <code>lime</code> factory.
@@ Line 190: / Line 192: @@
 </pre>
-* The section <code>Peripheral summary</code> provides general information about the device capabilities.
+*The <code>Peripheral summary</code> section provides general information about the device capabilities.
 Among others, this section contains the number of supported RX or TX streams (channels) and various devices specific settings.
 * Depending the number of available RX or TX streams,  <code>SoapySDRUtil --probe</code> provides a informative section for each one
-** <code>Supports AGC</code>: a boolean indicating if the device supports AGC
+*Depending the number of available RX or TX streams,  <code>SoapySDRUtil --probe</code> provides a informative section for each one
-** <code>Stream arguments</code>: Stream specific arguments. Unfortunately due to a limitation of the SoapySDR, this arguments apply on all the available streams of the same direction (RX or TX)
+**<code>Supports AGC</code>: a boolean indicating if the device supports AGC
-** <code>Antennas</code>: The available antennas of the device
+**<code>Stream arguments</code>: Stream specific arguments. Unfortunately due to a limitation of the SoapySDR, this arguments apply on all the available streams of the same direction (RX or TX)
-** <code>Full gain range</code>: The allowed gain range, of the abstracted gain provided by SoapySDR. This is an attempt to combine the different gain stages of each device and provide a single parameter with linear response. Most of the times this is not possible. Therefore, for devices with multiple gain stages this method should be avoided
+**<code>Antennas</code>: The available antennas of the device
-*** The sub-category under the <code>Full gain range</code> provides the specific gain stages of the device among with the allowed values range
+**<code>Full gain range</code>: The allowed gain range, of the abstracted gain provided by SoapySDR. This is an attempt to combine the different gain stages of each device and provide a single parameter with linear response. Most of the times this is not possible. Therefore, for devices with multiple gain stages this method should be avoided
-** <code>Full freq range</code>: the allowed tuning frequency
+***The sub-category under the <code>Full gain range</code> provides the specific gain stages of the device among with the allowed values range
-** <code>Sample rates</code>: a list with the available sampling rate values that the device can provide
+**<code>Full freq range</code>: the allowed tuning frequency

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:19, 19 March 2020
Line 189:		Line 189:
	Sample rates: 0.25, 1.024, 1.536, 1.792, 1.92, 2.048, 2.16, 2.56, 2.88, 3.2 MSps		Sample rates: 0.25, 1.024, 1.536, 1.792, 1.92, 2.048, 2.16, 2.56, 2.88, 3.2 MSps
	</pre>		</pre>
		+
		+	* The section <code>Peripheral summary</code> provides general information about the device capabilities.
		+	Among others, this section contains the number of supported RX or TX streams (channels) and various devices specific settings.
		+	* Depending the number of available RX or TX streams, <code>SoapySDRUtil --probe</code> provides a informative section for each one
		+	** <code>Supports AGC</code>: a boolean indicating if the device supports AGC
		+	** <code>Stream arguments</code>: Stream specific arguments. Unfortunately due to a limitation of the SoapySDR, this arguments apply on all the available streams of the same direction (RX or TX)
		+	** <code>Antennas</code>: The available antennas of the device
		+	** <code>Full gain range</code>: The allowed gain range, of the abstracted gain provided by SoapySDR. This is an attempt to combine the different gain stages of each device and provide a single parameter with linear response. Most of the times this is not possible. Therefore, for devices with multiple gain stages this method should be avoided
		+	*** The sub-category under the <code>Full gain range</code> provides the specific gain stages of the device among with the allowed values range
		+	** <code>Full freq range</code>: the allowed tuning frequency
		+	** <code>Sample rates</code>: a list with the available sampling rate values that the device can provide

@@ Line 37: / Line 37: @@
 ==Get information about your SDR Setup==
 === SoapySDR workflow ===
 As mentioned in the previous sections, SatNOGS uses the gr-soapy and the SoapySDR library to access the SDR device.
 SoapySDR uses a plug-in architecture.
@@ Line 88: / Line 89: @@
 {{Message|For all the available SoapySDR modules please visit https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki/DriverGuide#modules }}
 The next step is to identify if SoapySDR have access to the attached SDR devices.
 This can be perfomed using the <code>SoapySDRUtil --find</code> command.
@@ Line 117: / Line 119: @@
    serial = 1D42574F558C9F
 </pre>
 {{Warning|If the device cannot be found, the corresponding module is already installed and available factories list contains the device factory, consider the permissions of the user for the particular SDR device}}

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 Each ground station is equipped with an SDR device.
 Through the [https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki SoapySDR] library and the
-[[File:Sdr-arch.png|alt=|thumb|SatNOGS SDR frontend architecture]]
+[[File:Sdr-arch.png|center|thumb|SatNOGS SDR frontend architecture]]
 ===gr-soapy===
 The [https://gitlab.com/librespacefoundation/gr-soapy gr-soapy] is a GNU Radio module that interfaces with the [https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki SoapySDR], a vendor neutral and platform independent SDR support library.
-The goal of this module is to provide a unified way of signal reception through a wide range of different SDR devices, while at the same time allowing full parameterization of the device specific capabilities. [https://gitlab.com/librespacefoundation/gr-soapy gr-soapy] is responsible for setting the proper sampling rate, configure the available gain stages of the device and apply any kind of device specific configuration. It provides a source block for signal reception and a sink block for signal transmission.
+The goal of this module is to provide a unified way of signal reception through a wide range of different SDR devices, while at the same time allowing full parameterization of the device specific capabilities.
-[[File:Soapy source0.png|thumb]]
+[https://gitlab.com/librespacefoundation/gr-soapy gr-soapy] is responsible for setting the proper sampling rate, configure the available gain stages of the device and apply any kind of device specific configuration.
-[[File:Soapy source1.png|thumb]]
+It provides a source block for signal reception and a sink block for signal transmission.
+[[File:Soapy source0.png|center|thumb|Soapy Source block General Tab]]
+[[File:Soapy source1.png|center|thumb|Soapy Source block RF Tab]]
 Pre-built packages for a wide range of Soapy modules, as well as the Soapy core library and the gr-soapy are available for some distributions (including latest Raspbian) at [https://build.opensuse.org/project/subprojects/home:librespace openSUSE build service].
 ===gr-satnogs===
-The [https://gitlab.com/librespacefoundation/satnogs/gr-satnogs gr-satnogs] is the GNU Radio module providing all the necessary DSP blocks required to demodulate, synchronize and decode satellite frames. It also provides blocks for debugging and experimenting with known satellite telecommunication schemes. For adding support for a new satellite, this is the first project that you have to dig in.  [https://gitlab.com/librespacefoundation/satnogs/gr-satnogs gr-satnogs] tries to provide a unified decoder API for any kind of digital system, by properly extending a base decoder class. For more information refer to the [https://gitlab.com/librespacefoundation/satnogs/gr-satnogs#development-guide<nowiki> Development Guide].</nowiki>
+The [https://gitlab.com/librespacefoundation/satnogs/gr-satnogs gr-satnogs] is the GNU Radio module providing all the necessary DSP blocks required to demodulate, synchronize and decode satellite frames.
 Pre-built packages are available for some distributions (including latest Raspbian)  at [https://build.opensuse.org/project/subprojects/home:librespace openSUSE build service].
 ===satnogs-flowgraphs===
-The [https://gitlab.com/librespacefoundation/satnogs/satnogs-flowgraphs satnogs-flowgrapgs] provides a set of GNU Radio flowgraphs utilizing the GNU Radio blocks and those provided by [https://gitlab.com/librespacefoundation/satnogs/gr-satnogs gr-satnogs]. In an attempt to keep the  visual programming language of GNU Radio, all flowgraphs are based on the GNU Radio Companion, the graphical interface of GNU Radio. This allows users without programming background skills to follow the logic more easily. The integrated build system, uses the GNU Radio compiler (grcc) to generate python executable scripts from the visual representation of the flowgraph.
+The [https://gitlab.com/librespacefoundation/satnogs/satnogs-flowgraphs satnogs-flowgrapgs] provides a set of GNU Radio flowgraphs utilizing the GNU Radio blocks and those provided by [https://gitlab.com/librespacefoundation/satnogs/gr-satnogs gr-satnogs].
-[[File:Flowgraph.png|thumb]]
+In an attempt to keep the  visual programming language of GNU Radio, all flowgraphs are based on the GNU Radio Companion, the graphical interface of GNU Radio.
 Pre-built packages are available for some distributions (including latest Raspbian)  at [https://build.opensuse.org/project/subprojects/home:librespace openSUSE build service].
-==Configure the SDR frontend==
+==Get information about your SDR Setup==
-As mentioned in the previous sectios, SatNOGS uses the gr-soapy
+=== SoapySDR workflow ===

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 Each ground station is equipped with an SDR device.
 Through the [https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki SoapySDR] library and the
-[[File:Sdr-doc.svg|thumb|SatNOGS SDR frontend architecture]]
+[[File:Sdr-arch.png|alt=|thumb|SatNOGS SDR frontend architecture]]
@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 The [https://gitlab.com/librespacefoundation/gr-soapy gr-soapy] is a GNU Radio module that interfaces with the [https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki SoapySDR], a vendor neutral and platform independent SDR support library.
-The goal of this module is to provide a unified way of signal reception through a wide range of different SDR devices, while at the same time allowing full parameterization of the device specific capabilities.
+The goal of this module is to provide a unified way of signal reception through a wide range of different SDR devices, while at the same time allowing full parameterization of the device specific capabilities. [https://gitlab.com/librespacefoundation/gr-soapy gr-soapy] is responsible for setting the proper sampling rate, configure the available gain stages of the device and apply any kind of device specific configuration. It provides a source block for signal reception and a sink block for signal transmission.
-[https://gitlab.com/librespacefoundation/gr-soapy gr-soapy] is responsible for setting the proper sampling rate, configure the available gain stages of the device and apply any kind of device specific configuration. It provides a source block for signal reception and a sink block for signal transmission.
+[[File:Soapy source0.png|thumb]]
 Pre-built packages for a wide range of Soapy modules, as well as the Soapy core library and the gr-soapy are available for some distributions (including latest Raspbian) at [https://build.opensuse.org/project/subprojects/home:librespace openSUSE build service].
 ===gr-satnogs===
-The [https://gitlab.com/librespacefoundation/satnogs/gr-satnogs gr-satnogs] is the GNU Radio module providing all the necessary DSP blocks required to demodulate, synchronize and decode satellite frames.
+The [https://gitlab.com/librespacefoundation/satnogs/gr-satnogs gr-satnogs] is the GNU Radio module providing all the necessary DSP blocks required to demodulate, synchronize and decode satellite frames. It also provides blocks for debugging and experimenting with known satellite telecommunication schemes. For adding support for a new satellite, this is the first project that you have to dig in.  [https://gitlab.com/librespacefoundation/satnogs/gr-satnogs gr-satnogs] tries to provide a unified decoder API for any kind of digital system, by properly extending a base decoder class. For more information refer to the [https://gitlab.com/librespacefoundation/satnogs/gr-satnogs#development-guide<nowiki> Development Guide].</nowiki>
-It also provides blocks for debugging and experimenting with known satellite telecommunication schemes. Pre-built packages are available for some distributions (including latest Raspbian)  at [https://build.opensuse.org/project/subprojects/home:librespace openSUSE build service].
+Pre-built packages are available for some distributions (including latest Raspbian)  at [https://build.opensuse.org/project/subprojects/home:librespace openSUSE build service].
 ===satnogs-flowgraphs===
-The satnogs-flowgrapgs is a set of
+The [https://gitlab.com/librespacefoundation/satnogs/satnogs-flowgraphs satnogs-flowgrapgs] provides a set of GNU Radio flowgraphs utilizing the GNU Radio blocks and those provided by [https://gitlab.com/librespacefoundation/satnogs/gr-satnogs gr-satnogs]. In an attempt to keep the  visual programming language of GNU Radio, all flowgraphs are based on the GNU Radio Companion, the graphical interface of GNU Radio. This allows users without programming background skills to follow the logic more easily. The integrated build system, uses the GNU Radio compiler (grcc) to generate python executable scripts from the visual representation of the flowgraph.
 ==Configure the SDR frontend==
 As mentioned in the previous sectios, SatNOGS uses the gr-soapy