SuperSDR: A KiwiSDR + CAT Client for Ham Radio

Thank you to Marco (IS0KYB) for informing us about the release of his new software called "SuperSDR". SuperSDR allows you to easily synchronize frequency tuning with a remote KiwiSDR via a CAT connection to a standard ham radio. The KiwiSDR is a 14-bit wideband RX only HF SDR which has up to 32 MHz of bandwidth, so it can receive the entire 10 kHz - 30 MHz spectrum all at once.

It allows to use a remote KiwiSDR along with a local (or even remote) standard radio in sync. It works on Linux, Windows and MacOSX.

The main purpose is to have an interactive panadapter that is not forcibly tied to our local antenna, but allows one to try any combination of CAT radio / SDR. I'd like to implement a remote KiwiSDR selection interface to choose the best SDR for the purpose.

I'm still developing it, and it is not complete feature-wise, but it is ready to be used.

Somebody asked me if it would be possible to integrate a RTL-SDR into it and I plan to do that using the old PEPYSCOPE project code [covered in a previous post].

The video below shows a slightly older version of SuperSDR in action.

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Gorizont Linux 2.0.4 Update

Thank you to Steve Cox, creator of the Gorizont Linux distribution for letting us know that the latest update is now out, although it is a small update only. Gorizont Linux is a custom distribution based on Xubuntu 20.04 LTS which contains many preinstalled RTL-SDR compatible programs. Steve writes that the following programs have been updated and added:

  • gqrx updated to 2.14.4
  • Universal Radio Hacker updated to 2.9.2
  • markjfine's nrsc5-DUI HD FM decoder included.

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NRSC5-DUI: An Updated NRSC-5 HD Radio Decoder for RTL-SDR

Recently we've seen on GitHub the release of NRSC5-DUI, a fork of NRSC5-GUI which was the first fully functional RTL-SDR compatible HD Radio decoder that we posted about back in 2017. HD Radio is a digital broadcast protocol replacement for analogue broadcast FM. It is only used in North America and is easily recognized as the two rectangular blocks on either side of a broadcast FM station signal on a spectrum analyzer/waterfall display.

According to a Reddit post by u/andrewfer000, NRSC5-DUI includes several upgrades from prior forks, including "better audio processing, better channel switcher, more station information, the option to pull album art from Discogs (currently broken due to Discogs anti-bot), better map displays, cleaner code, and optimizations for Python 3.9".

If listening to audio is not your thing, we also wanted to note that HD radio stations operated by iHeatMedia broadcast live traffic and weather radar data within their HD radio signal as well. With NRSC5-DUI this can be easily decoded and plotted on a map.

When listening to radio stations operated by iHeartMedia, you may view live traffic maps and weather radar. The images are typically sent every few minutes and will fill the tab area once received, processed, and loaded. Clicking the Map Viewer button on the toolbar will open a larger window to view the maps at full size. The weather radar information from the last 12 hours will be stored and can be played back by selecting the Animate Radar option. The delay between frames (in seconds) can be adjusted by changing the Animation Speed value. Other stations provide Navteq/HERE navigation information... it's on the TODO 'like to have' list.

NRSC5-DUI Screenshots
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Frugal Radio: Monitoring General Aviation VHF Communications

Rob from Frugal Radio has recently uploaded the next part his airband monitoring series. This episode covers the topic of monitoring General Aviation communications, which consists of communications with non-military and non-airline aircraft.

In the video Rob discusses what you might hear on general aviation channels, including things like parachuters, news helicopters, air ambulances, police aircraft, aerial surveyors, ultralights, aerobatics, flight training, private and corporate, and sightseeing. He then discusses the various frequencies in use in Canada, North America and the UK.

Monitoring General Aviation Communications in VHF Air Band

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STARWAVES DRM SoftRadio: A new Android DRM Decoder for RTL-SDR, Airspy, SDRPlay

A new RTL-SDR compatible DRM decoding Android app called "STARWAVES DRM SoftRadio" has recently been released on the Google Play store for US$5.49, and on Amazon DE for EUR4.49. The author notes that a Windows version will also be published soon. Digital Radio Monodial (DRM) is a type of digital audio shortwave radio signal that is used by some international shortwave radio broadcasters.

The STARWAVES DRM SoftRadio allows you to conveniently enjoy any DRM live radio broadcast on your Android smartphone or tablet. No Internet connection required. All you need is an SDR RF dongle or receiver connected to your device via USB.

DRM or Digital Radio Mondiale is the global digital radio standard used for all digital international transmissions as well as for national and local services in many countries. To learn more about DRM and its features visit www.drm.org.

The STARWAVES DRM SoftRadio is designed for ease-of-use and supports all core features of the DRM standard:

  • Listener-centric and easy to navigate app design and user interface
  • Multiple user interface languages. Currently supported: English, German, Simplified Chinese
  • Convenient frequency tuning and DRM Service selection
  • DRM Service labels and graphical service logos
  • Full service metadata: programme/app type, language, country of origin, etc.
  • All standardized DRM audio codecs incl. xHE-AAC with optimized tune-in performance for a quick start of audio playback
  • Journaline, DRM’s advanced text application, allows to interactively browse through latest news, sports and weather updates, programme background information and schedules, distance learning/RadioSchooling text books, travel information, and much more
  • Full Journaline feature set including hot-button interactivity, geo-references and embedded/linked images
  • Convenient and fast Journaline information access with update notifications for page-content (and automatic updates for menus), as well as persistent caching for instant content access when switching between DRM services
  • DRM text messages incl. DL+ support
  • Slideshow images
  • Unicode support for all textual elements: service labels, text messages, Journaline
  • DRM EWF – Emergency Warning Functionality within the DRM transmission: in case of an emergency alarm signal, automatically re-tunes from the current service to the emergency programme; presents the emergency audio along with multi-lingual Journaline content to provide in-depth instructions with interactive access and to serve non-native speakers or hearing impaired users

In addition, STARWAVES DRM SoftRadio is designed for maximum tuning flexibility and performance:

  • Free tuning to any DRM broadcast frequency
  • Supports all DRM frequency bands – from the former AM bands (LW/MW/SW) to the VHF bands (including the FM band), depending only on RF dongle functionality
  • Supports all DRM robustness modes (A-E), modulation parameters and on-air signal bandwidths
  • Optimized frequency tuning and re-sync performance
  • Graphical spectrum view to check the signal on the tuned frequency

For live reception, an SDR RF dongle must be connected to the device’s USB port (with USB host functionality). The following SDR RF dongle families are currently supported, along with a range of specifically tested models:

  • Airspy HF+ family: Airspy HF Discovery, Airspy HF+ (Dual Port). (Note: Airspy Mini and R2 are NOT supported.)
  • SDRplay family: SDRPlay RSP1A, SDRPlay RSPdx, SDRPlay RSPduo, SDRPlay RSP1, SDRPlay RSP2, SDRPlay RSP2pro, MSI.SDR Panadapter (Note: SDRPlay family support on Android is currently limited to the 32-bit version of this app.)
  • RTL-SDR family: The experimental support for RTL-SDR based RF dongles requires that you manually start the following separate tool before opening this app (on standard port '14423'): The app 'SDR driver' can be installed from the Google Play Store and other Android app stores.
Starwaves DRM Decoder App Screenshots
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Feeding Audio from SDR# To Multiple PCs over TCP

Thank you to M Khanfar for submitting his latest video that shows us how to use a launcher that he's created called "GUI SDR TCP STREAMER" (which is actually a combination of several freeware Windows programs including Advanced IP Scanner and TCP Streamer) to stream demodulated audio from SDR# to other PCs over a network connection.

TCP Streamer takes the audio from SDR# via VB-Cable, streams it over TCP to the client PC, then plays the audio on the client side speakers. We note that TCP Streamer should also work with any other SDR program that can output audio to VB-Cable.

SDR Audio TCP Streamer

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DragonOS: Now with RF Propagation and Calculation Tool

DragonOS is a ready to use Ubuntu Linux image that comes preinstalled with multiple SDR software packages. In the recent R14 Preview update, Aaron, the creator of DragonOS has added a new very useful RF propagation and calculation tool. The tool works in conjunction with elevation data to calculate the theoretical signal propagation of a transmitter.

The tool is provided by the open source Signal Server software package, which is based on the original SPLAT! software by John Magliacane (KD2BD). Aaron has also provided a video that demonstrates the software in action, shows how to use it, and explains his future plans for making it easier to use.

This video is a preview of a new RF Propagation and Calculation feature provided by Signal Server. Additionally, custom web server scripts by Dr. Bill Walker, will also be included in DragonOS Focal R14 in the near future. There's a lot of moving parts, but once complete, all you "should" have to do is download, convert, and place the SRTM elevation data for the areas needing coverage calculations in the /usr/src/SDF directory. In the meantime, I'd recommend reading up on all the below material. I've been reading a lot and still don't understand it all!

DragonOS Focal R14 Preview w/ Signal Server + RF Propagation Web Server (SPLAT!, Dr. Bill Walker)

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Two reviews of our new L-Band Patch Antenna + Stock Update

Last month we released our new L-band active patch antenna for sale, and not too long after we had a review from Frugal Radio praising it. We now have two more YouTube reviews available to share.

The first is from Tech Minds who does a teardown and demonstrates it receiving and decoding the Inmarsat STD-C NCS channel, receiving and decoding GPS and receiving Iridium signals. The second is from Mike Ladd from SDRplay, who tests it with an SDRplay RSP1A software defined radio. He shows that the patch works perfectly with an RSP1A, and demonstrates it receiving and decoding STD-C while mounted on the dash of his vehicle.

L-Band Patch Stock Availability Note: We note that we are already close to selling out of the first batch of these units as they sold much faster than expected! New sales of this patch are currently backordered but we expect to have a few more units from this first batch available by the end of next week. Also the freighter with Amazon USA stock should be arriving any day now, but it could still take a few weeks to get through the port and reach the warehouse due to the current port delays.

The second production batch of this antenna might still be a while away due to the electronic component shortage crisis occurring now, so if you were thinking about picking one up, please order ASAP.

RTL-SDR BLOG L-BAND Patch Antenna Version 2 - Inmarsat - Iridium - GPS

SDRplay RSP1a - RTL SDR Blog L-Band Patch antenna

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