Category: Digital Signals

SDR-J Now Compatible with the Raspberry Pi 2

The popular software DAB (Digital Audio Broadcast) decoder SDR-J has recently been updated and can now run on the Raspberry Pi 2. In addition the author has also added experimental DRM decoding capabilities to his shortwave receiving software. The author writes about the Raspberry Pi 2:

The Raspberry PI 2 has a processor chip with 4 computing cores. By carefully spreading the computational load of the handling of DAB over these cores it is possible to run the DAB software on the Raspberry PI 2.

In my home situation the – headless – Raspberry PI 2 is located on the attic and remotely controlled through an SSH connection using the home WiFi on my laptop in my “lazy chair”. To accomodate listening remotely, the DAB software on the Raspberry PI 2 sends – if so configured – the generated PCI samples (rate 48000) also to an internet port (port 100240). On the laptop then runs a very simple piece of program reading the stream and sending it to the soundcard

DAB is a digital audio protocol that is used in some countries as a digital alternative to broadcast FM (music stations). SDR-J is a suite of programs that includes the ability to decode DAB, FM, and several shortwave modes such as AM, USB, LSB, PSK, RTTY, WeatherFax, SSTV, BPSK, QPSK, CW, NavTex (Amtor-B), MFSK, Domino, Olivia, Hell, Throb and now DRM. It can directly connect to RTL-SDR receivers as well as other hardware such as the Airspy and SDRplay.

Screenshot of SDR-J running on the Raspberry Pi 2.
Screenshot of SDR-J running on the Raspberry Pi 2.

Hacking GSM Signals with an RTL-SDR and Topguw

The ability to hack some GSM signals has been around for some time now, but the steps to reproduce the hack have been long and difficult to set up. Recently RTL-SDR.com reader Bastien wrote into us to let us know about his recently released project called Topguw. Bastien's Topguw is a Linux based program that helps piece together all the steps required in the GSM hacking process. Although the steps are simplified, you will still need some knowledge of how GSM works, have installed Airprobe and Kraken, and you'll also need a 2TB rainbow table which keeps the barrier to this hack still quite high. Bastien writes about his software:

So like I said my software can "crack" SMS and call over GSM network.

How ?

I put quotation marks in crack because my software is not enough to deciphered GSM itself. My software can make some steps of the known-plaintext attack, introduce by Karsten Nohl, and by the way, increase the time to decipher an SMS or call. I'll not explain here all the steps because they are long and tedious, but there is a lot of work done behind the Gui.

Actually my software can extract Keystream (or try to find some of them) from a capture file of GSM, or by sniffing GSM with a rtl-sdr device. Then you just have to use Kraken to crack the key and you're able to decipher sms or call.

Why ?

This hack is very interesting! With only a little receiver (rtl-sdr) and some hard-disk capacity (2Tb), everyone can try to hack the GSM. It's very low cost compare to other hack vector. Moreover the success rate is really great if you guess the Keystream correctly. So when I started to done this with my hands I though -> why don't try to make something to do this automatically.
This is how Topguw was born.

Topguw, I hope, will sensitize people about risk they take by calling or sending sms with GSM.

My software is currently in beta version but I did run several time and I got good results. Maybe better than something done by hand. But Topguw is made to help people who want to learn the hack. This is why several files are made to help GSM reverse-engineering.

Topguw can be downloaded from GitHub at https://github.com/bastienjalbert/topguw. Bastien has also uploaded a video showing his software in action. If you're interested in Bastiens YouTube channel as he plans to upload another video soon where he shows himself hacking his own GSM sms/call signals.

Topguw Proof of concept - GSM Hacking educational purpose

Of course remember that hacking into GSM signals is very illegal and if you do this then you must check the legality of doing so in your country and only receive your own messages or messages that are intended for you.

Update 27 Feb 2023: Note that this content is constantly being censored by video upload sites. If the above video is down, Bastien has uploaded links to alternative video upload sites on pastebin.

Receiving Digital Amateur TV from the ISS with an RTL-SDR

The international space station (ISS) is currently testing transmission of a DVB-S digital video signal. At the moment only a blank test pattern is transmitted, but one day they hope to be able to transmit live video properly for the purposes of making live contact with astronauts, and possibly to stream video of scientific experiments, extravehicular activities, docking operations, or simply live views of the Earth from space.

Over at www.pabr.org the author Pabr has been experimenting with using an RTL-SDR dongle for the reception of these digital amateur TV (DATV) signals. Over on Reddit he also posted some extra information about his work:

I have been able to receive DVB-S broadcasts from the ISS (known as HamVideo or HamTV) with a high-gain 2.4 GHz WiFi antenna ($50), a custom downconverter ($65), a R820T2 dongle, and a software demodulator (Edmund Tse’s gr-dvb). I used to think this could only be done with much more expensive SDR hardware.

It is commonly known that rtl-sdr dongles do not have enough bandwidth to capture mainstream satellite TV broadcasts, but the ISS happens to transmit DVB-S at only 2Msymbols/s in QPSK with FEC=1/2, which translates to 2 MHz of RF bandwidth (2.7 MHz including roll-off).

Before anyone gets too excited I should mention that:

  • This was done during a favourable pass of the ISS (elevation 85°)
  • With a fixed antenna, only a few seconds worth of signal can be captured
  • Demodulation is not real-time (on my low-end PC)
  • Currently the ISS only transmits a blank test pattern.

I now believe the BoM will be less than $50 by the time the ISS begins broadcasting interesting stuff on that channel.

Pabr uses a 2.4 GHz parabolic WiFi antenna to receive the signal. He writes that ideally a motorized antenna tracker would be used with this antenna to track the ISS through the sky. Also since the DATV signal is transmitted at around 2.4 GHz, a downconverter is required to convert the received frequency into one that is receivable with the RTL-SDR. The DATV decoder is available on Linux and requires GNU Radio.

Receiving DATV from the ISS
Receiving DATV from the ISS with an RTL-SDR

Reverse engineering a wireless thermostat with an RTL-SDR

When Tom Taylors home heating boiler was replaced the builders also replaced the old wired rotary thermostat with a digital wireless one. It sounds good, but Tom soon discovered that the thermostat UI was terrible and that the buttons were horrible to press, making him prefer to shiver in the cold. So Tom decided to see if there was a smarter way to control the heating.

When Tom investigated the thermostat, he discovered that the wireless unit transmitted in the unlicensed 433 MHz band and that the thermostat only transmitted two commands, turn on or turn off. By using his RTL-SDR and the CubicSDR software on his Mac he was able to detect the short blip of the thermostat wireless signal. Next he recorded the on and off signals and opened the sound files in Audacity, an audio processing software tool. In Audacity he was able to compare the sound waveforms of the on and off signals.

From his analysis he discovered that each signal consisted of a preamble and then an on or off command which is repeated twice, presumably to reduce the likelihood of interference. Tom also discovered that the commands were encoded with pulse width modulation.

From this knowledge Tom was then able to use a cheap 433 MHz transmitter together with an Arduino microcontroller board and a short script to create identical on or off transmissions that control the boiler. Tom writes that his next steps are now to create a heating schedule based on his families shared calender, make a thermostat control loop and create a web connected interface with a Raspberry Pi.

The 433 MHz thermostat on/off signal detected with an RTL-SDR in the CubicSDR software
The 433 MHz thermostat on/off signal detected with an RTL-SDR in the CubicSDR software

New Demo of the Upcoming Spyverter Upconverter

The Spyverter is a new high performance upconverter that is being developed by the team behind the Airspy software defined radio and the SDR# software. It is designed to be used together with the Airspy, but it should also be compatible with other SDRs as well. The main claimed advantages over other upconverters will be it’s low loss and high IIP3 performance, which means that the Spyverter will not saturate in the presence of strong signals as easily as other upconverters.

Recently W9RAN, who is involved in the design and testing of the Spyverter uploaded some demo videos of the Spyverter + Airspy combo in action. The first video shows how the Spyverter when used together with the Airspy and SDR# allows for seamless tuning between VLF, HF through to VHF/UHF (no need to set any offsets).

Seamless tuning of SDR# with AIrspy & Spyverter

The next video shows the Spyverter + Airspy combo working during a RTTY contest on 40M with very densely packed signals, some of which were very strong.

W9RAN demo of Spyverter in 40 meter RTTY contest

W9RAN (ranickel on YouTube) also has additional Spyverter + Airspy videos on YouTube for viewing if you are interested.

Reverse Engineering Bus Telemetry Data with an RTL-SDR

Bastian recently wrote into us at RTL-SDR.com to let us know that he’s been working on reverse engineering the bus telemetry system used in his hometown of Paderborn, Germany. Bus telemetry is often used to update live signs at bus stops that indicate based on GPS data how long a bus user needs to wait for the next bus.

Bus sign: Wireless bus telemetry updates this sign.
Bus sign: Wireless bus telemetry updates this sign.

A similar reverse engineering of bus telemetry was performed before by Oona Raissan in Helsinki, Finland. Oona found that in Helsinki bus telemetry was transmitted as a DARC subcarrier embedded in regular broadcast FM radio. In many countries bus telemetry runs through GSM or TETRA communications as well, which are encrypted and would be very difficult to decode.

However in Paderborn, Germany Bastian discovered that the bus telemetry system used a different protocol which he discovered by noticing that some very strong signals appeared on his spectrum at 150.9 MHz whenever a bus drove by his flat.

After making a recording of this signal in GQRX, bastian analysed it in Audacity and discovered that the binary data bits were encoded by the presence or absence of a half sine wave. After discovering the encoding he was then able to determine the bit rate and build a decoder in GNU Radio. His post goes into further detail about concepts he used in his GNU Radio program such as frame detection, bit stuffing and error detection.

Finally, with all his decoder program written he was able to gather lots of data from each packet such as the bus ID, line, bus stop, distance from last bus stop, delay, position and even the orientation of the bus. Bastian has also uploaded a video showing everything in action, which we have embedded below.

Bus position heatmap from data obtained via the RTL-SDR
Bus position heatmap from data obtained via the RTL-SDR

A new AIS Decoder for the RTL-SDR on Android

A reader of our blog, EBC81, has written in to let us know about a new RTL-SDR based AIS decoder that he has written for the Android OS. AIS stands for Automatic Identification System and is used by ships to broadcast their GPS locations, to help avoid collisions and aid with rescues. An RTL-SDR with the right software can be used to receive and decode these signals, and plot ship positions on a map.

EBC81’s program is called rtl_ais_android and can be downloaded from this GitHub link. It decodes the AIS data into NMEA messages, which can then be sent via UDP to mapping programs in Android or a program like OpenCPN on your PC. To use the app you will need a USB OTG cable to connect your Android device to the RTL-SDR.

In the future EBC81 hopes to create a second app which will display the ship positions on a map.

RTL-SDR Tutorial: Decoding Inmarsat STD-C EGC Messages

Inmarsat is a communications service provider with several geostationary satellites in orbit. They provide services such as satellite phone communications, broadband internet, and short text and data messaging services. Geostationary means that the satellites are in a fixed position in the sky and do not move. From almost any point on earth at least one Inmarsat satellite should be receivable. 

Inmarsat transmits in the L-band at around 1.5 GHz. With an RTL-SDR dongle, a cheap $10 modified GPS antenna or 1-2 LNA's and a patch, dish or helix antenna you can listen to these Inmarsat signals, and in particular decode one channel known as STD-C NCS. This channel is mainly used by vessels at sea and contains Enhanced Group Call (EGC) messages which contain information such as search and rescue (SAR) and coast guard messages as well as news, weather and incident reports. More information about L band reception is available at UHF-Satcoms page. See the end of this post for a tutorial on modifying a GPS antenna for Inmarsat reception.

Some examples of the EGC messages you can receive on the STD-C NCS channel are shown below:

Military Operations: Live Firing Warning 
STRATOS CSAT 4-AUG-2015 03:21:25 436322
SECURITE
FM: RCC NEW ZEALAND 040300 UTC AUG 15

COASTAL NAVIGATION WARNING 151/15

AREA COLVILLE, PLENTY
CUVIER ISLAND (REPUNGA ISLAND), BAY OF PLENTY
1. LIVE FIRING 060300 UTC TO 060500 UTC AUG 15 IN DANGER AREA NZM204. 
ANNUAL NEW ZEALAND NOTICES TO MARINERS NUMBER 5 REFERS.
2. CANCEL THIS MESSAGE 060600 UTC AUG 15
NNNN
Armed Robbery / Pirate Warning 
NAVAREA XI WARNING
NAVAREA XI 0571/15
SINGAPORE STRAIT.
ARMED ROBBERY INFORMATION. 301845Z JUL.
01-04.5N 103-41.8E.
FIVE ROBBERS ARMED WITH LONG KNIVES IN A SMALL UNLIT HIGH SPEED BOAT APPROACHED A BULK CARRIER UNDERWAY.  ONE OF THE ROBBERS ATTEMPTED TO BOARD THE SHIP USING A HOOK ATTACHED TO A ROPE. ALERT CREW NOTICED THE ROBBER AND RAISED THE ALARM AND CREW RUSHED TO THE LOCATION. HEARING THE ALARM AND SEEING THE CREW ALERTNESS, THE ROBBERS ABORTED  THE ATTEMPTED ATTACK AND MOVED AWAY. INCIDENT REPORTED TO VTIS SINGAPORE. ON ARRIVAL AT SINGAPORE WATERS, THE COAST GUARD BOARDED THE SHIP FOR INVESTIGATION.

VESSELS REQUESTED TO BE CAUTION ADVISED.
Armed Robbery / Pirate Warning 
NAVAREA XI WARNING
NAVAREA XI 0553/15
SINGAPORE STRAIT.
ROBBERY INFORMATION. 261810Z JUL. 
01-03.6N 103-36.7E. 
DUTY ENGINEER ONBOARD AN UNDERWAY PRODUCT TANKER DISCOVERED THREE ROBBERS IN THE ENGINE ROOM NEAR THE INCINERATOR SPACE. THE ROBBER THEIR BOAT. A SEARCH WAS CARRIED OUT. NO ROBBERS FOUND ON BOARD AND NOTHING REPORTED STOLEN. VTIS SINGAPORE INFORMED. COAST GUARD BOARDED THE TANKER FOR INVESTIGATION UPON ARRIVAL AT SINGAPORE PILOT EASTERN BOARDING AREA.VESSELS REQUESTED TO BE CAUTION ADVISED.
CANCEL 0552/15.
Submarine Cable Repair Warning 
NAVAREA XI WARNING
NAVAREA XI 0569/15
NORTH PACIFIC. 
SUBMARINE CABLE REPAIRING WORKS BY 
C/V ILE DE SEIN. 05 TO 20 AUG. 
IN VICINITY OF LINE BETWEEN 
A. 21-37.3N 156-11.5W AND 25-03.6N 148-43.2E.
CANCEL THIS MSG 21 AUG.
Search and Rescue - Missing Vessel 
ON PASSAGE FROM LAE (06-44S 147- 00E) TO FINSCHHAFEN (06-36S 147-51E), MOROBE PROVINCE. VESSEL DEPARTED LAE AT 310500Z JUL 15 FOR FINSCHAFFEN WITH ETA OF 310800Z JUL 15 BUT FAILED TO ARRIVE. 
ALL VESSELS REQUESTED TO KEEP A SHARP LOOKOUT AND BE PREPARED TO RENDER ASSISTANCE. REPORTS TO THIS STATION OR MRCC PORT MORESBY VIAEMAIL: ******@****.***.**, TELEPHONE +*** *** ****; RCC AUSTRALIA VIA TELEPHONE +*********** INMARSAT THROUGH LES BURUM (POR ***,IOR***), SPECIAL ACCESS CODE (SAC) **, HF DSC *******
NL BURUM LES 204 4-AUG-2015 03:23:14 773980
AMSA_ER 23150928
PAN PAN
FM JRCC AUSTRALIA 030858Z AUG 15 INCIDENT 2015/5086
AUS4602 CORAL AND SOLOMON SEAS
23FT WHITE BANANA BOAT WITH BROWN STRIPES, AND A 40HP OUTBOARD AND 5 ADULT MALES IS OVERDUE ON PASSAGE FROM LAE (06-44S 147- 00E) TO FINSCHHAFEN (06-36S 147-51E), MOROBE PROVINCE. VESSEL DEPARTED LAE AT 310500Z JUL 15 FOR FINSCHAFFEN WITH ETA OF 310800Z JUL 15 BUT FAILED TO ARRIVE. 
ALL VESSELS REQUESTED TO KEEP A SHARP LOOKOUT AND BE PREPARED TO RENDER ASSISTANCE. REPORTS TO THIS STATION OR MRCC PORT MORESBY VIA EMAIL: *******@****.***.**, TELEPHONE +*** *** ****; RCC AUSTRALIA VIA TELEPHONE +************ INMARSAT THROUGH LES BURUM (POR ***,IOR ***), SPECIAL ACCESS CODE (SAC) **, HF DSC *********, EMAIL: ******@****.***.** OR BY FAX +************.
NNNN
Scientific Research Vessel Drilling - Request for wide clearance 
NL BURUM LES 204 4-AUG-2015 02:29:41 709950
AMSA_ER 23153978
SECURITE
FM JRCC AUSTRALIA 040224Z AUG 15 
AUSCOAST WARNING 202/15
SPECIAL PURPOSE VESSEL JOIDES RESOLUTION CONDUCTING DRILLING OPERATIONS IN POSITION 28 39.80` S 113 34.60` E
2.5NM CLEARANCE REQUESTED.
NNNN
Weather Warning 
PAN PAN
TROPICAL CYCLONE WARNING / ISSUED FOR THE NORTH OF EQUATOR OF METAREA
XI(POR).
WARNING 050900.
WARNING VALID 060900.
TYPHOON WARNING.
TYPHOON 1513 SOUDELOR (1513) 930 HPA
AT 19.9N 133.2E WEST OF PARECE VERA MOVING WEST 12 KNOTS.
POSITION GOOD.
MAX WINDS 95 KNOTS NEAR CENTER.
RADIUS OF OVER 50 KNOT WINDS 80 MILES.
RADIUS OF OVER 30 KNOT WINDS 240 MILES NORTH SEMICIRCLE AND 210 MILES
ELSEWHERE.
FORECAST POSITION FOR 052100UTC AT 20.1N 130.6E WITH 50 MILES RADIUS
OF 70 PERCENT PROBABILITY CIRCLE.
935 HPA, MAX WINDS 90 KNOTS NEAR CENTER.
FORECAST POSITION FOR 060900UTC AT 20.8N 128.1E WITH 75 MILES RADIUS
OF 70 PERCENT PROBABILITY CIRCLE.
935 HPA, MAX WINDS 90 KNOTS NEAR CENTER.

JAPAN METEOROLOGICAL AGENCY.=

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