With this plugin you can create a key/value text mapping to turn any USB control device into something that can control various settings in SDR#. The controller hardware could perhaps be anything from a USB knob controller to a gamepad.
Alan also provides an example of a hardware USB knob controller that he's created which works together with the plugin. On the linked page he shows the components required to build the controller, how to wire up the circuit and provides the Arduino code.
In the new version the 'Net Info' button is now functioning and it is possible to see the current calls, groups, and meta information on the current cell and neighbour cell. It also appears that it has been updated to allow for multiple SDR# TETRA decoder instances to be opened simultaneously now for wider band monitoring.
Eddie Mac has just released another useful plugin for SDR# called "Toolbar Plugin". This is an accessibility improvement plugin that simply puts many of the plugin controls on the SDR# toolbar. This eliminates the need to constantly open and close plugin panels on the left.
The plugin includes controls for setting the demodulation mode, changing the FFT display settings, a direct frequency entry text box, frequency stepper buttons, an SNR level meter, squelch controls, analog/digital preset buttons, screen grabber controls, and time slot selectors for the TETRA decoder plugin. The analog/digital preset buttons are quite interesting as they allow you to set presets for either analog or digital signals. For example for a digital signal you could set the preset to use NFM demodulation, and to launch the DSD+ application automatically.
More information about this and Eddie's other plugins can be found on his site, and on this forum post.
Some toolbar plugin selections.Analog/Digital Preset Settings
Over on his site rtl-sdr.ru, Vasilli has been back at work creating new plugins for SDR#. The latest plugin is a TCP server that takes the demodulated mono audio stream from SDR# and sends it over TCP (note that the site is in Russian but the Google translate button on the right can be used). This can be used to easily stream audio over the internet or a network, or even locally on the same PC to another program. If enough programs support TCP audio streams, then the plugin could potentially replace the need for software like Virtual Audio Cable or VBCable by allowing another method for piping the audio from SDR# into a decoding program.
Installing the plugin is the same as usual. Just extract the SDRSharp.TcpServer.dll file to the SDRSharp folder, open plugins.xml with a text editor and paste in the 'magic line' specified in MagicLine.txt.
To test the server you can connect to it with VLC media player. Some special commands need to be specified to VLC in order for it to understand the audio format. To enter them go to Media->Open Network Stream and make sure 'Show more options' is checked. Enter the network URL as 'TCP://127.0.0.1:20022' (without quotes), and enter the Edit Options field as ':demux=rawaud :rawaud-channels=1 :rawaud-samplerate=48000 :rawaud-fourcc=s16l' (without quotes). Ensure the first colon in the line is copied over properly. Then enable the TCP server in the SDR# plugin, and click Play in VLC. Ensure the SDR# is muted, and the volume in VLC turned up. Audio should now begin streaming through TCP.
Hopefully in the future we can see some audio compression algorithms and more decoding software supporting TCP audio connections.
Vasilli has also updated many of his other plugins too, including creating a DSD_TCP plugin which allows you to transmit the digital audio directly to DSD+ via a TCP connection.
Recently the commonly used Frequency Manager Suite Plugin for SDR# has been updated. The plugin suite works well with the RTL-SDR and includes features such as a frequency scanner and manager, a scanner metrics recorder, a scheduler, an activity logger and a frequency entry plugin. The changelog is shown below:
Frequency Manager + Scanner
New feature: you may now optionally display the descriptions of frequencies in your database on the spectrum window. You control the colors and transparency of the descriptions and their marker lines.
New feature: the Browse window now allows you to type a frequency directly into the grid, and the grid will dynamically filter your database to matching frequencies. You may type a partial frequency and all frequencies that start with the same digits will be displayed. The more digits you type, the more specific the filtering.
New feature: A checkbox in Preferences lets you control whether the Last Update field is changed when performing bulk edits. When unchecked this permits you to retain the original date and time the frequency was recorded in the database.
New feature: You may now change the font size in the Scanner Decisions window and plugin. The new size will be remembered and used the next time you start SDR#.
New article: User David Bunyan has provided a how-to article in the Appendix on how to use the scanner effectively for WFM DXing. See also the WFM DXing Databases download in the Download Here section to get pre-built databases for different regions around the world, also graciously provided by David Bunyan.
Scanner Metrics
Bug fix: fixed error in the queue manager that prevented recording activity when the date-time format on the computer was not United States.
Bug fix: fixed error that prevented SM from putting its database in the same folder as FM, if the FM database location was changed after SM was loaded.
Data Tools
New feature: default values for imports. Will automatically assign values when they are missing from the source import data.
Bug fix: Fixed culture-specific issue with Frequency values when an Eibi database is downloaded.
Bug fix: Fixed bug that caused Data Tools to change the current database in Frequency Manager + Scanner.
Bug fix: Importing an SDR# Frequency Manager data file now results in a prompt to add or replace existing data in the target FMSuite database.
The Pluginator
New feature: The Pluginator now knows many of the most popular plugins. So now you may simply select one from a list and it will be installed to Plugins.xml, as opposed to requiring you to type the configuration data for the chosen plugin.
The IF Processor plugin is designed to upgrade the Zoom FFT plugin that comes standard with a fresh install of SDR#. The IF processor plugin comes with a tracking notch filter and an asymmetric filter controls. These features will allow you to easily remove interfering signals that appear on top of your signal of interest.
The Audio Processor plugin allows you to improve the audio output using a controllable graphical audio bandpass filter. This feature can help you to remove any hiss or other undesirable sounds in the output audio.
The two new SDR# plugins demonstrated on an AM signal
The SDR# plugins programmer over at rtl-sdr.ru has recently released a new plugin which allows the decoding of PAL / SECAM TV images from within SDR# (note link in Russian, use Google translate or see the download link at the bottom of the page). The author also writes that if you are using a newer software defined radio like an Airspy, you can also receive the audio channel using the SDR# multiple VFO plugin.
We note that there is also the TVSharp software by the same author which is a standalone program that can decode PAL and NTSC.
The developer over at rtl-sdr.ru has released a new plugin for SDR# (note in Russian – use Google translate) which allows the digital voice decoder DSD+ to be controlled via a GUI interface from SDR#. To use this plugin you will need to have a copy of DSD+ already downloaded as you will need to point the plugin to the DSD+ install directory. You will also need to have virtual audio cable software such as VAC or VBCable setup.
Information on downloading and setting up DSD+ can be found here.
