SvxLink Now Supports the RTL-SDR
SvxLink is an EchoLink and general purpose voice services system for controlling ham radio repeaters. A repeater is a radio tower that receives a weak transmission from a handheld or remote radio and then repeats the same message with greater power over a wide area. With repeaters radio communications can cover a much further distance.
Ham radio enthusiasts often set up repeaters for their own frequencies, so that they can be heard over a wider range. To control the repeater software like SvxLink is required. In the latest software update of SvxLink they added RTL-SDR support. They write:
The biggest news in this release is the support for RTL2832U based DVB-T USB dongles. This make it possible to use such USB dongles as cheap SDR (Software Defined Radio) receivers. This will open up the world of cheap receiver hardware to all SvxLink users. It will for example be very cheap to set up an extra receiver with local coverage for a SvxLink based repeater, as long as there is a network connection to the repeater. The modulation forms supported are: FM, FM narrow, AM, AM narrow, USB, LSB, CW, CW wide and wideband FM (broadcast). Running multiple receivers on the same dongle is supported as well as using multiple dongles.
Here is an example of the config you’ll need for setting up the SDR as a receiver.
This example monitors 145MHz with a tone of 141.3Hz