Tagged: limesdr

OnAir Adds Decoder Support for Almost Every Signal

Just last week we posted about OnAir, a new open-source program that started out as an easy-to-use digital and analog TV decoder for software-defined radios. It also had support for a few digital modes like ADS-B, GNSS and DMR.

In the last week, with the obvious help of Claude AI, OnAir has added experimental support for almost every single analog and digital signal and application out there. Support ranges from digital voice modes like P25 and NXDN, to HF digital modes like HFDL, to aircraft signals like ACARS and VOR/ILS, to ocean radar, to a radio astronomy integrator, to satellite decoders like Iridium and Inmarsat, to cell tower metadata decoders to Wi-Fi and many many more.

Obviously, with these decoders all being vibecoded so quickly, there is no guarantee yet that they will all work as expected. However, we did give some decoders in the program a test with an RTL-SDR. A DMR control channel was successfully decoded, and it read the calls; ADS-B showed aircraft; LTE PCI values were detected with the LTE decoder; and POCSAG messages came in cleanly.

From our own experience with Claude, Opus 5.5 is very capable of vibe-coding decoders, so there is a high chance that most, if not all, of the decoders implemented in this software will work. 

OnAir Updated to Add Almost Every Decoder Possible
OnAir Updated to Add Almost Every Decoder Possible

AI Disclaimer: This software was coded with Claude AI.

OnAir: A Digital TV and DAB Decoder for SDRs

Thank you to Kristijonas for writing in and sharing with us his project, OnAir. OnAir is an easy-to-use digital TV decoder for DVB-T2, DVB-T, ATSC 1.0, ATSC 3.0, ISDB-T, and a digital audio decoder for DAB / DAB+ and FM Radio. It also supports Analog TV modes such as PAL, SECAM, and NTSC, and data modes like ADS-B, GNSS (GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou), and DMR.

It supports various wideband SDRs, including HackRF, PlutoSDR, BladeRF, LimeSDR, USRP, Airspy R2, and SDRplay. RTL-SDRs unfortunately do not have enough bandwidth to decode digital TV channels in SDR mode, but the software still supports RTL-SDRs for narrowband signals.

The software is easy to install, with an installer .exe being available for Windows, a .deb file for Debian Linux, and a .dmg file for macOS. 

OnAir Screenshot
OnAir Screenshot

AI Disclaimer: This software lists Claude as a contributor.

xSDR Crowdfunding Campaign Now Live

Back in January, we posted about the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for Wavelet Lab's M.2 form factor xSDR software-defined radio product. The campaign went live a few days ago, with the xSDR priced at US$549 and a delivery date of July 15, 2026.

xSDR is a compact, single-sided M.2 software-defined radio designed for seamless integration into modern computing platforms. The “x” stands for extended; xSDR delivers extended bandwidth in the same minimal footprint as our previous model, uSDR. With 2x2 MIMO RX/TX channels, a wide 30 MHz–3.8 GHz tuning range, and up to 122.88 MSPS sampling and an updated FPGA, xSDR is a flexible platform for embedded RF, wireless research, signal intelligence, and rapid prototyping.

Designed to fit the M.2 2230 A+E-key form factor (30 mm × 22 mm), xSDR plugs directly into laptops, tablets, smartphones, and embedded computers. When paired with the wsdr.io web platform, it enables instant creation, control, and sharing of RF applications right from a browser, with no complex drivers or software setup required.

We note that sSDR, their higher end software defined radio product is due to be released for crowdfunding in March.

xSDR - A tiny, single-sided M.2 software-defined radio with 2× RX / TX channels up to 3.8 GHz

New Upcoming Crowdfunded SDRs from Wavelet Lab: xSDR and sSDR

Thank you to Andrew from Wavelet Lab, the original creators of uSDR and xMASS SDR, for writing in and sharing news about two of their soon-to-be-released SDR hardware products, xSDR and sSDR. 

If you are unfamiliar with Wavelet Labs' previous products, uSDR is a small M.2 SDR board based on the Lime LMS6002D chip. It has both TX and RX capabilities, a 300 - 3700 MHz tuning range, and up to 28 MHz of bandwidth. xMASS, on the other hand, uses multiple modular 'xSDR' boards to create an up to 8x8 MIMO receiver. Previously, xSDR was only available for purchase with an xMASS board, but the new crowdfunding campaign makes xSDR available as a standalone product.

Andrew summarizes:

xSDR - a compact SDR module derived from the xMASS SDR (2 RX / 2 TX). We’ve seen many requests for the module itself, so we decided to make it available as a standalone product.

We add that xSDR has 2x2 MIMO RX/TX capabilities, an extended tuning range of 30 MHz to 3.8 GHz, and a channel bandwidth of up to 90 MHz. It retains the same M.2 connector and form factor as the uSDR. 

sSDR - an M.2 form-factor SDR covering up to 11 GHz. This is our most ambitious bet so far, as there’s currently no comparable alternative on the market in this price range (~$1k).

sSDR has even higher rated specs, with 2x2 MIMO RX/TX capabilities, a tuning range of 30 MHz to 11 GHz, and a bandwidth of up to 120 MHz.

Andrew notes that xSDR is due to be released at the end of January, and sSDR in March.

xSDR (top) and sSDR (bottom)

uAVD: Analog Video Decoder Windows Software for SDRs

Thank yoy to Viol Tailer for submitting news about the release of his new software called "uAVD - Analog Video Decoder". uAVD is capable of demodulating the following:

  • AM (broadcast analog television - NTSC, PAL, SECAM)
  • FM (FPV drone video links)
  • RAW (composite output from VHS, camcorders, game consoles)

The software uses the uSDR software as a host, and it passes the IQ passband stream to the uAVD via a uSDR-TCP link. uSDR is a lightweight general purpose multimode software defined radio receiver Windows application that we have posted about on the blog in the past. Currently, it supports RTL-SDR, AirSpy, BladeRF, HackRF, FobosSDR, and LimeSDR devices.

The software supports full color and grayscale modes. With a wideband receiver, it will be possible to receive full-color video. With the reduced bandwidth available with an RTL-SDR, only grayscale will be available.

The code is not open-source, but the software is freely available from SourceForge.

The image below shows it being used to receive video from a camcorder composite video output. A FobosSDR used in direct sampling mode is used to receive the signal.

uAVD Receiving Camcorder Composite Video via the Direct Sampling Input in FobosSDR
uAVD Receiving Camcorder Composite Video via the Direct Sampling Input in FobosSDR

Below is a video from a user of the software demonstrating it in action.

uSDR and uAVD analog video decoder

Creating an Open Source DMR Transceiver with a LimeSDR Mini

Thank you to Adrian Musceac for writing and sharing his article detailing how he implemented an open-source DMR (Digital Mobile Radio) transceiver modem with his LimeSDR Mini and GNU Radio.

DMR is a digital voice communications protocol often used by commercial business band radios, as well as by amateur radio hobbyists.

Adrian explains:

I wrote an article about the implementation of an open-source DMR transceiver using the LimeSDR-mini, GNU Radio and Codec2, which could be used for SDR experiments.

The DMR modem was designed to work both in repeater and direct (DMO) mode, and supports voice and other basic features of the ETSI TS 102 361-1 standard.

In the article there is discussion about aspects of the TDMA transmission, time synchronization, as well as how David Rowe's Codec2 can be used to replace the default vocoder.

The work builds upon Jonathan Naylor's extensive DMR implementation which a large number of amateur radio operators are using as part of MMDVM.

DMR TX Flowgraph
DMR TX Flowgraph
Transmitting DMR with the LimeSDR-mini

The Taylorator: Flooding the Broadcast FM Band with Taylor Swift Songs using a LimeSDR

Over on Hackaday and creator Stephen's blog, we've seen an article about the 'Taylorator,' open source software for the LimeSDR that floods the broadcast FM band with Taylor Swift music. In his blog post, Stephen explains how he wrote this software, explaining the concepts behind audio preparation, FM modulation, and what computing hardware was required to implement it.

The advertised use case of the Taylorator is obviously a bit of a joke; however, as the video on Stephen's blog shows, his software can play a different song on every broadcast FM channel. So, there could be some use cases where you might want people to be able to tune an FM radio to custom music on each channel. Of course, you could also just use it to play a practical joke on someone.

In terms of legality, in his blog post, Stephen notes that blasting the broadcast FM band on every channel is probably not legal and may go against the spirit of low-power FM transmitter laws in most countries. However, he notes that spreading a few mW over 20 MHz of bandwidth results in a weak signal that is unlikely to travel very far. Regardless, we would advise potential users of the software to check their local laws before going ahead and playing around with something like this.

The software is open source and available on Stephen's GitLab.

The Taylorator: Broadcasting Taylor Swift songs on every broadcast FM channel
The Taylorator: Broadcasting Taylor Swift songs on every broadcast FM channel

Monitoring Aircraft Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) with LimeSDR

Daniel Estévez has recently posted on his blog about how he uses a LimeSDR to record and analyze the DME signal used by aircraft. DME or Distance Monitoring Equipment is a radio navigation technique sometimes used by aircraft.

The concept behind DME is simple: the aircraft broadcasts a signal pulse, and a ground station receives and repeats the pulse back at another frequency. The aircraft receives the return pulse, and from the time it has taken to receive that return pulse, the distance to the ground station can be determined. The frequencies used are between 960 MHz and 1215 MHz, and the aircraft and ground station pulses are always spaced apart by 63 MHz.

In his post, Daniel explains how he records the two signals spaced 63 MHz apart using his LimeSDR. Recording this large bandwidth has some challenges since typically the LimeSDR only supports a bandwidth of 61.44 MHz, which is too small for the 63 MHz spacing. However, Daniel explains in his post how he got around this limitation by using the two RX channels on the LimeSDR, sampling at a higher 80 MSPS sample rate, and then using the LimeSDR DSP to downconvert and decimate each DME channel to 2.5 MSPS, making the final sample rate small enough to be sent over USB.

The rest of the post details his experiments, analysis, and results when receiving the two DME channels through GNU Radio.

Daniel's LimeSDR DME Receiver Setup
Daniel's LimeSDR DME Receiver Setup

[Also seen on Hackaday]