SDRangel Now Available on Android: Mobile ADS-B, AIS, APT, Digital Voice, POCSAG, APRS, RS41 Radiosonde Decoders

SDRangel is a free open source software defined radio program that is compatible with many SDRs, including RTL-SDRs. SDRAngel is set apart from other programs because of it's huge swath of built in demodulators and decoders.

Thank you to reader Jon for writing in and noting that SDRangel has recently been released for Android as a free Google Play download. This is an amazing development that could open up many doors into portable decoding setups as the Android version supports almost every decoder implemented on the desktop version. Jon writes:

It includes most of the functionality of the desktop version of SDRangel, including:

  • AM, FM, SSB, Broadcast FM and DAB, AIS, ADS-B, Digital Voice (DMR, dPMR, D-Star, FreeDV), Video (DVB-S, DVB-S2, NTSC, PAL), VOR, LoRa, M17, Packet (AX.25), Pager (POCSAG), Radiosonde (RS41), Time signal (MSF, DCF77, TDF and WWVB) modems.
  • RTL SDR, Airspy, Airspy HF, LimeSDR, HackRF and SDRplay support via USB OTG as well as networked SDRs
  • 2D and 3D signal analysis in both time and frequency domain with statistical measurements of SNR, THD, THD+N, SINAD, SFDR and channel power
  • Satellite tracker, star tracker, maps and rotator controller

It should work on Android 6 and up. It’s a straight port of the desktop application, so although it will run on a phone, probably best used on a large tablet with a stylus or mouse.

SDRangel on Android
SDRangel on Android

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Terry

Hi Folks
I am not getting a waterfall or amplitude/frequency measurments on the spectrum display on SDRangel. I am, however receiving a live spectrum. I have tried running several versions of the software but the problem persists. i have tried updating (and rolling back) display drivers but still have the same problem. I can receive basic signals but without the waterfall i am unable to move forward. SDR# running without issue.
Any assistance would be appreciated.
Thanks
RTL-SDR.COM dongle
Windows 10 64 bit o/s x64 bit based processor

Mully89

I have installed on my samsung galaxy tablet along with the SDRPlay Beta android driver, but can not get a connection to my RSP1A New to all this, Anyone else had a play with this setup?

steve

Ah ha, got it…open one of the initial features, like APT or AIS then I can see RTL (0) and in there us the add using icon next to where it says RTL-SDR 0

Thanks for that.

James Dorothy

It would be amazing if we could get a NXDN and Tetra decoder as well! Running the ultimate digital voice decoder on an android device…

Jon

NXDN should be supported in the DSD Demodulator

Mickey599

I have been with this rtl-sdr receivers from beginning probably more than ten years ago, from early e4000 tuners etc. and despite Windows/Linux programs that evolved over time there was small number of programs for smartphones/tablets. I personally think that was due to lack of processor power/display size/overall performance.
Nowadays you have large tablets/displays or high-resolution screens with very powerful processors, but one thing I think is still lacking behind practical use of these setups is battery. As I remember V3 SDR is using around 300mA when running and on top of that add computing/processor + heat generated from both OTG step up converter and other components, that could lead to destroying battery capacity quick. If you use it in cold/hot environments that is even worse.
Also add many other factors like quality of OTG cables, connector damage, bulky overall setup etc. I really don’t see any practical long run usage of rtl sdr+android setup. I am saying this for portable devices not like built in car entertainment systems and similar. It could be used of course to hunt some radiosondes or source of unwanted RF signal or stuff like that but only if it is short term usage.

By writing this, I really didn’t wanted to underestimate the fantastic work of developers of this software and hope to things will change in favor of future devices.

ivan

Hera arae some real screen pictures from android device https://www.todo-sdr.com/sdrangel-ya-esta-disponible-para-android/

Norbert

Hello all, who can help me??? SDRANGLE latest version runs well on Windows 10 64bit system, aS well the AIS channel de oder the data well, but no ships view on the Feature MAP???? What I’m doing wrong, own position is setup well!!!

Cheers, Norbert

Norbert

….sorry, I’ve done a mistake on my tablet, so question applaus 3 times, sorry…

Norbert

Hello all, need help again due update… who can help me??? SDRANGLE latest version runs well on Windows 10 64bit system, aS well the AIS channel de oder the data well, but no ships view on the Feature MAP???? What I’m doing wrong, own position is setup well!!!

Cheers, Norbert

Norbert

Hello all, need help again due update… who can help me??? SDRANGLE latest version runs well on Windows 10 64bit system, aS well the AIS channel de oder the data well, but no ships view on the Feature MAP???? What I’m doing wrong, own position is setup well!!!

Cheers, Norbert

Berbalang

Any chance it will be available on the Kindle?

beta-tester

is the video showing the sdr angle features on an android device?

Jon

The video is showing an older version of SDRangel (v6) on Windows, but basically everything in the video should be supported on Android.

beta-tester

i installed it on my SmartPhone with Android 7 – Galaxy 9 S+.
but SDR Angel hangs or crashes all the time randomly. No spectrum nor waterfall view is visible. And it looks there is no PlutoSDR support avainable to select as source.
the UI is extremly small font – it is hard to read or select something.
is my SmartPhone too old?

beta-tester

what are the hardware requirements and what android version is required?

Jon

Android 6 or newer. CPUs supporting either armeabi-v7a or arm64-v8a.

Anonymous

How well does SDRangel for Android handle SDRs that are compute intensive? I thought this was one of the reasons hampering practical use of SDR programs on smart phones.

Jon

Most SDRs that support large bandwidths also support decimation, so you can reduce the amount of processing required if you have a slow device. Current top end devices have plenty of processing power though.

Jon

It certainly does satellite tracking and supports a variety of digital voice codecs. There are both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. If you’re having trouble using it, try asking on the SDRangel mailing list.

SteveO

That was referring to the Android version, no digital voice I cant see it either, the sat tracking is under APT decoder etc I believe.

Jon

The only feature missing from the Android version is the 3D Maps. It sounds like you are only looking at the example configurations. To access the full list of demodulators and features, you need to press the Add Channel or Add Feature button in the toolbars.
See the docs for Adding a Channel here: https://github.com/f4exb/sdrangel/wiki/Quick-start
For digital voice, press Add Channel, then you can choose DSD, FreeDV or M17 demodulators.
To add the Satellite Tracker, press Add Feature, then select it. There’s lots more in there 🙂

Alan d

I still cannot see any digital voice or DVB-T/S on android version?

Jon

Perhaps ask for help on the mailing list (https://groups.io/g/sdrangel) – posting a screenshot of what you are doing.

There is no DVD-T support. DVB-S and DVB-S2 are supported by the DATV modulator and demodulators. To access these, you need to press the Add Channel button in the Device then select DATV Demodulator.

(The Add Channels button is just to the left of where it says RTL-SDR[0].)

steve

I can’t see any of that on Android version either, found add features with a list of stuff but no digital voice or DATV in there?

burt

Getting there but doesn’t include half the stuff claimed in the article, digital voice, sat tracking etc. What a shame they can’t do 32bit version.

SDRexpert

um, actually that is all included. You need to get familiar with the software under the “channels” and “features” functions. There are some good videos out there. And why would they need to support 32 bit? Its time to upgrade to 64 and its not a big expense. SDR is compute intensive and you need a good computer to get the best experience. Good news is that even a $400 USD laptop new should be pretty good for things these days. There are used 64 bit out there too.