Search results for: windows

FoxSDR: A From-Scratch Software-Defined Radio Receiver for Windows

Thank you to an anonymous contributor (known only as wonderingStars on GitHub) for writing and sharing their project, 'FoxSDR'. FoxSDR is advertised as a 'software-defined radio receiver written from scratch'. Like most receiver programs, it includes a spectrum and waterfall and various demodulation modes.

Key features include a Windows desktop application and optional browser-based interface, a built-in ADS-B decoder and map, and native support for drivers for the HackRF, Airspy R2/Mini/HF+, RTL-SDR, SDRplay RSPs, Mirics MSi2500, RX888 mk2 and the ALDAMN-Pluto. Being browser-based means that the server can run remotely and be placed close to the antenna to reduce signal losses, and the SDR can be accessed from any networked device. They have also recently added AIS, APRS, SSTV, Morse, RTTY, POCSAG, Inmarsat-C, ACARS, SSTV, NOAA APT, GOES HRIT/LRIT, WEFAX, two-tone paging, EAS/SAME alerts, 406 MHz distress beacons, VOR, ERT utility meters, 433 MHz weather sensors, a satellite pass predictor and map, a band survey engine, and OpenStreetMap map imagery.

The contributor writes that FoxSDR is currently Windows-only; however, they will add full Linux support once the Windows version is completely stable. They note that they are in the final stages of the beta and that, based on telemetry, they have over 100 installs in the last month and a few dozen people using it on any given day. They note that their three-year development plan includes support for all operating systems, including Android.

FoxSDR Interface
FoxSDR Interface

IC-SDR: A New Multimode SDR Software for Windows Written in Go

Thank you to Luis Lopez Martinez for writing in and sharing the release of his open-source software, IC-SDR, a new multi-mode SDR application for Windows written in Gowith a focus on performance and efficiency. Luis writes:

IC-SDR supports AM, NFM, WFM, LSB and USB demodulation, along with several integrated digital decoders:

  • AIS
  • ADS-B (1090 MHz and UAT 978 MHz)
  • Radiosondes
  • APRS
  • RTL_433
  • DMR
  • SSTV
  • TETRA

It also includes a memory bank, real-time spectrum and waterfall displays, an audio recorder with automatic silence removal, and a frequency-segment scanner with instant triggering.

The Windows release can be found on the project's GitHub Releases page.

CellScope: LTE Sniffing on Windows

Over on YouTube, Sarah from the SignalsEverywhere YouTube channel has uploaded a new video showing a new open-source program she's developed called CellScope, which is used for LTE sniffing. She notes that CellScope is essentially LTE Sniffer, but ported for Windows. CellScope needs a wideband SDR, and it currently supports LibreSDR B210 Clone, HackRF and the Airspy R2/Mini

LTE (aka 4G) is a modern mobile wireless standard used by cellphones for data. While it is encrypted, there is still some data transmitted in the clear, such as the devices connected to the cell site and how much data they are pulling down, if there is an active call on the cell site, and of course the data activity can be useful to monitor too. 

In the video Sarah shows CellScope in action, demonstrating it detecting a call from her phone and visualizing the data transfer activity from her device when pulling down data.

CellScope is open-source and available on GitHub. If you don't want to compile it yourself, the Windows executable can be purchased from her site for a minimum $0.00 donation.

CellScope: LTE Sniffing on Windows

NyxScope: A Windows Multi-Protocol SDR Decoder Program with Multiple Digital Native Decoders

WARNING: Multiple people have noted that this program is not working as expected and may be overly buggy.

Recently, we've learned about NyxScope, a multi-protocol SDR receiver program for Windows that comes with multiple native decoders built right into the software. Their own description describes this all-in-one program best:

You get spectrum and waterfall, multiple concurrent VFOs, trunked-radio following, digital voice, aviation and marine tracking, paging, ISM sensors, HD Radio, and transcription, in one binary.

NyxScope includes decoders for P25 Phase 1 and Phase 2 voice, EDACS and NXDN control channels, ADS-B, AIS, ACARS, POCSAG, FLEX, LoRa CSS PHY + LoRaWAN MAC, Morse, RDS, CTCSS/DCS, Iridium decoding (with voice), and also includes a signal classification tool, Bluetooth LE scanner, and Whisper voice-to-text transcriber. It also outsources decoding of other protocols to mature decoding software such as multimon-ng, rtl_433, dsd-neo, nrsc5, direwolf, dumpvdl2, dump978, rs41mod where required, noting that the outsourced decoders are bundled with the software, meaning no extra installation work is required.

The software supports RTL-SDR, HackRF, Airpsy, bladeRF, SDRplay, Fobos and PlutoSDR. It also supports using multiple SDRs used in parallel.

The software does not appear to be open source, but it is provided for free with a limitation of 3 concurrent VFOs and a limitation on recording, transcribing, and pager messages. A perpetual per-machine license for $89.95 can be purchased to lift these restrictions and add access to their FCC frequency lookup database.

AI-Disclaimer: While the developers have not noted any use of AI tools, we suspect that AI was used in the creation of this software.

NyxScope Screenshot Scanning the 800 MHz Band
NyxScope Screenshot Scanning the 800 MHz Band

NRSC5 Studio: A New Feature-Rich Windows GUI for the nrsc5 HD Radio Decoder

We've recently had several submissions about the release of a new program called NRSC5 Studio, a new native open source Windows and Linux supported GUI for the nrsc5 HD Radio decoder. We note that in the past, we've posted about nrsc5 and the NRSC5-DUI interface.

nrsc5 is an open source decoder for the proprietary HD Radio digital audio standard used by FM broadcasters in North America, and it works with low-cost RTL-SDR dongles. NRSC5 Studio is written in Rust with an egui-based dockable interface, and it wraps nrsc5 to provide tuning, HD1 to HD4 subchannel selection, station presets, and now-playing metadata with album art and station logos.

NRSC5 Studio appears to be quite feature-rich. There's a live FFT spectrum and waterfall display tapped from the same I/Q stream feeding the decoder, a QPSK constellation viewer driven by live MER readings per sideband, and a closed loop AGC that automatically tunes the R820T2 gain table to maximize MER. Other extras include a rolling 8-hour album art collage heat map, a 24-hour song log with CSV export, and TPEG traffic map and animated weather radar decoding on stations that broadcast it (currently iHeartMedia stations only).

A portable zip release is available on the GitHub releases page, requiring no installer or admin rights.

AI-Disclaimer: The software Readme credits GitHub Copilot, an AI tool.

NRSC5 Studio Screenshot
NRSC5 Studio Screenshot

uAVD: Analog Video Decoder Windows Software for SDRs

Thank yoy to Viol Tailer for submitting news about the release of his new software called "uAVD - Analog Video Decoder". uAVD is capable of demodulating the following:

  • AM (broadcast analog television - NTSC, PAL, SECAM)
  • FM (FPV drone video links)
  • RAW (composite output from VHS, camcorders, game consoles)

The software uses the uSDR software as a host, and it passes the IQ passband stream to the uAVD via a uSDR-TCP link. uSDR is a lightweight general purpose multimode software defined radio receiver Windows application that we have posted about on the blog in the past. Currently, it supports RTL-SDR, AirSpy, BladeRF, HackRF, FobosSDR, and LimeSDR devices.

The software supports full color and grayscale modes. With a wideband receiver, it will be possible to receive full-color video. With the reduced bandwidth available with an RTL-SDR, only grayscale will be available.

The code is not open-source, but the software is freely available from SourceForge.

The image below shows it being used to receive video from a camcorder composite video output. A FobosSDR used in direct sampling mode is used to receive the signal.

uAVD Receiving Camcorder Composite Video via the Direct Sampling Input in FobosSDR
uAVD Receiving Camcorder Composite Video via the Direct Sampling Input in FobosSDR

Below is a video from a user of the software demonstrating it in action.

uSDR and uAVD analog video decoder

A New Radiosonde Decoder and Tracker Program for Windows and RTL-SDR

Thank you to Mario Ančić for informing us about his recently released software, "Radiosonde-decoder-and-tracker-for-Windows". As the name implies, this is Windows only software that can decode and track radiosondes.

A radiosonde is a lightweight instrument package typically carried by a weather balloon to collect atmospheric data such as temperature, humidity, pressure, and GPS position. It transmits this data back to the ground via radio signals. Using an RTL-SDR or another software-defined radio (SDR) along with appropriate decoding software, hobbyists or researchers can receive, decode, and visualize these signals.

Mario has shared the following information about his software:

The program supports four types of sondes: RS-41, M10, M20, and DFM (PS-15, DFM09, DFM17 tested).

The program is designed to run without any additional installations or software, except for the ZADIG driver for RTL-SDR (RTL2832). It uses RTL-FM for SDR reception and the popular open-source RS1729 for decoding. Decoding is also possible via the audio input (using Virtual Audio Cable and SDR# or SDR++ or any other SDR software).

The received data can be sent to servers such as Radiosondy, Wettersonde, or other APRS-based weather radiosonde servers. Optionally, the data can be sent to two servers simultaneously.

Further information and the downloadable program are available in the Release section on the page:
recently released software, "Radiosonde-decoder-and-tracker-for-Windows"

The program is intended for 64-bit Windows OS (Windows 7 or newer) and is Freeware.

We note that the software is freeware; however, it does not appear open source, as no code has been shared.

Radiosonde Decoder and Tracker Screenshot
Radiosonde Decoder and Tracker Screenshot

A Registry Hack to Stop Windows 11 Replacing the WinUSB Driver Installed via Zadig

Thank you to Paul Sudduth who submitted a registry hack he's found to stop Windows 11 from overwriting the WinUSB drivers installed by Zadig during each automatic update.

Windows overwriting the WinUSB drivers with broken TV drivers during automatic updates is a common issue, and usually the fix is to re-run Zadig and reinstall the WinUSB drivers. However, this registry hack should prevent Windows updates from touching the driver, preventing the issue. Paul writes:

To "stop" receiving driver updates, copy the following text into a .reg file and import it by double-clicking on the file you created.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\current\device\Update] "ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\Update] "ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsUpdate\UX\Settings] "ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate] "ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\Update\ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate] "value"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Device Metadata] "PreventDeviceMetadataFromNetwork"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DriverSearching] "SearchOrderConfig"=dword:00000000 "DontSearchWindowsUpdate"=dword:00000001

To "start" receiving driver updates, copy the following text into a .reg file and import it by double-clicking on the file you created.
 
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
 
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\current\device\Update] "ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate"=-
 
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\Update] "ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate"=-
 
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsUpdate\UX\Settings] "ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate"=-
 
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate] "ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate"=-
 
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\Update\ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate] "value"=dword:00000000
 
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Device Metadata] "PreventDeviceMetadataFromNetwork"=-
 
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DriverSearching] "SearchOrderConfig"=dword:00000001 "DontSearchWindowsUpdate"=-