PlutoSDR SDR# Plugin + New Dual Core CPU Hack

A new plugin for SDR# has been released which allows SDR# to be used with the ADALM-PLUTO SDR. To use the plugin you’ll have to apply the frequency range hack first, which allows the PlutoSDR to tune to 70 – 6000 MHz. Then simply extract the plugin to the SDR# directory and add the key to the FrontEnds.xml file.

We tested the plugin out and found that it worked well with our PlutoSDR. The interface allows you to set the sample rate up to 19 MSPS, but anything over 4 MSPS causes dropped samples and anything over 5 MSPS is labelled as not supported. The advertised hardware limit of the PlutoSDR with no dropped samples is 4 MSPS, and we did notice audio jitter at 5 MSPS and above. Anything higher than 5 MSPS shows noticeable jitter in the waterfall display too. Note that this is not a problem of the plugin or SDR#, but rather of the hardware limitations.

Over on the PlutoSDR forums user jocover also discovered a new hack which allows you to enable dual-core support on the PlutoSDR. It’s not clear if this helps with anything useful yet, but maybe useful for some custom applications that make use of the CPU.