Tagged: DAB

SDR-J Updated to Version 0.98

The RTL-SDR compatible DAB Radio receiving software SDR-J has recently been updated to version 0.98. DAB stands for digital audio broadcasting and is a type of digital radio signal used in some countries for transmitting broadcast radio stations in digital audio.

The new versions fixes some minor errors, brings back their ‘spectrum viewer’ software and also comes with a ‘DAB mini’ receiver which is simply a smaller windowed version of the regular DAB receiver. The new version also now supports the sdrplay and Airspy software defined radios.

SDR-J DAB Receiver
SDR-J DAB Receiver

New DAB Player for RTL2832U

A new Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) player has been released for RTL2832U dongles (Link text is in German use Google Translate to translate). This player uses the official drivers and not the RTL-SDR drivers, although we believe the DAB demodulation is still done in software. You will need to install the drivers provided on the download page to run this DAB player. For R820T models, the Treiber2.zip file should be used and for E4000 Treiber.zip should be used. You will also need have installed the Visual C++ Redistributable package to run the program.

The software UI is written in German, but its controls are easy to figure out for non speakers.

An alternative DAB player that uses the RTL-SDR drivers is SDR-J.

RTL2832U DAB Player
RTL2832U DAB Player

Transmitting DAB with the HackRF

A RTL-SDR.com reader has written in to let us know about his project involving transmitting Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) using GNU Radio and the HackRF. DAB is a digital radio technology that is used to broadcast radio stations. He uses the CRC-DABMUX and CRC-DABMOD software to modulate an audio file into DAB and then uses a GNU Radio python script to write the modulated signal to the HackRF for transmitting.

Wavesink Plus: Android RTL-SDR App with FM+RDS/DAB+/DRM+ Decoding

Wavesink Plus, the paid version of the trial version of Wavesink has been released on Google Play. Wavesink Plus is an Android app which has FM+RDS, DAB+ and DRM+ receiving and decoding capabilities when connected to an RTL-SDR dongle via a USB OTG cable.

We gave Wavesink Plus a test today on a HTC One X Android phone and were pleased to discover that it works perfectly. The user interface has been tidied up from previous versions, and DAB+ has been added. There is now also auto tuning functionality, which will automatically find a station.

In further testing we found that the latest version of Wavesink was fast and snappy and was able to load DAB+ stations quickly, and decode them with clear audio. FM radio also sounded clear and RDS information loaded quickly as well.

Download the trial version here and buy the full version from this link.

Wavesink Plus Decoding DAB+
Wavesink Plus Decoding DAB+

SDR-J Decoding DAB Radio in Software using RTL-SDR

Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) is a digital method for broadcasting radio stations. The rtl dongles official driver has DAB decoding capabilities. But when the rtl dongle is used as a software radio, this capability from the original drivers can not used.

SDR-J is a SDR package for Windows and Linux which is capable of receiving FM radio and decoding DAB radio completely in software. YouTube user Superphish shows a video of SDR-J decoding and playing DAB music with a rtl-sdr dongle.

DAB Radio with RTL-SDR (RTL2832) and SDR-J

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