Tagged: sdr#

Decoding SSTV Transmissions from the QO-100 Satellite

Over on his YouTube channel dereksgc has uploaded a video showing how to decode Slow Scan Television (SSTV) transmissions from the QO-100 satellite. QO-100 is a commercial geostationary communications satellite available in some parts of the world that also carries a popular transponder for amateur radio. SSTV is an amateur radio communications analog protocol for transmitting images over a narrowband RF signal.

In the video dereksgc shows how to use SDR Console V3 together with a program like MMSSTV for decoding the image. He goes on to discuss the specific SSTV frequencies on QO-100, the different SSTV modes, and some demonstrations of images being received.

Decoding SSTV transmissions from the QO-100 satellite (QO-100 pt.2)

TechMinds: Testing the SDR++ Brown Fork with Built-In DSD and Remote KiwiSDR Support

Over on YouTube, Matt from Tech Minds has uploaded a video in which he demonstrates and tests an unofficial fork of the popular SDR++ software called "SDR++ Brown."

SDR++ Brown has some unique features such as the ability to connect to remote KiwiSDR WebSDRs directly within the UI, built-in FT8 and FT4 decoders with PSK reporter, a built-in DSD decoder allowing for DMR, P25 and NXDN to be decoded directly in the software, Hermes Lite 2 support, and various Android UI improvements for small screens.

Matt also notes a few bugs with the software, such as PSK Reporter and Multi-WebSDR waterfall display features being broken.

Over on X, Alexandre Rouma, creator of the original SDR++, has expressed concern about this fork. He notes that this is an unofficial fork that is not up to his standards and that support requests for SDR++ Brown should not be made to him. Instead, support requests should be made directly to the fork owner, Sanny Sanoff.

SDR Plus Plus - Brown Edition Adds New Features Including DSD!

SDR-Sharp Converter: Convert SDR# Frequency XML Lists to SDR++ Format and Vice Versa

Recently, we've seen news about the release of a new Windows program by "Majic Mushroom" called SDR-Sharp Converter. This simple software converts SDR# XML Frequency Lists to SDR++ format and vice versa. It is helpful if you use both programs and want to maintain identical frequency lists.

SDR-Sharp Converter Screenshot
SDR-Sharp Converter Screenshot

A SDR++ CSV to JSON Frequency Bookmark Converter Python Script

Thank you to RTL-SDR.COM reader Steve Hagerman for writing in and sharing his Python script that allows SDR++ users to convert a CSV file of frequency bookmark information into a JSON file that SDR++ recognizes. Steve explains:

[In SDR++] one of the biggest issues is in making frequency bookmarks. SDR++ uses a JSON file to store frequency bookmarks which is hard to edit manually. While there is a direct means to enter bookmarks directly in SDR++, it is tedious and requires too many mouseclicks.

To fix this I wrote a Python script to take easily made XLSX Spreadsheet of frequencies to convert to a JSON file that can be used directly with SDR++.

Steve's CSV to JSON Python Script Flow Graph
Steve's CSV to JSON Python Script Flow Graph

A Video Review of FobosSDR

Back in April of this year, we posted about the FobosSDR, an upcoming software defined radio product from the Ukrainian company RigExpert. FobosSDR is an RX-only USB 3.0 device, with a 100 kHz to 6 GHz tuning range, 50 MHz of bandwidth, and 14-bit ADC resolution. At the time of the previous post, FobosSDR was not yet for sale, but now we see that it is available from some European distributors with a price of 495,00 € (~US$544).

Recently 'Radio Bunker' has uploaded a video review of the FobosSDR on his YouTube channel. Note that the video is in Spanish, however, you can use the YouTube auto-translate function.

In the video, Radio Bunker unboxes the FobosSDR and explains its specs and features, then goes on to show how to install the drivers and get it up and running with SDR#. He then shows the SDR receiving some signals like broadcast AM, FM, shortwave, DAB, and WiFi in SDR# with 50 MHz bandwidth.

▶️ REVIEW: FOBOS SDR ◀️ UN RECEPTOR SDR DE GAMA ALTA

SDR# Big Guide Book: 2024 Edition Released

Paolo Romani (IZ1MLL) has recently released the 2024 version of his SDR# Big Book. The book is available for download on the Airspy downloads page, just scroll down to the title "SDR# Big Book" and choose your language. (At the time of this post only English and Italian are available in the 2024 edition, but multiple languages are available for the older guides).

Paolo writes that the book has been updated for the latest SDR# v1920 version, and now the editions will be labelled by date, instead of version number. He also writes that page 25 of the big book now includes information about the differences between RTL-SDR Blog V3 and V4 dongles. 

The Big Book of SDR# Studio 2024 Edition

SDR# Version 1920 Released

A few days ago SDRSharp version 1920 was released. SDRSharp (SDR#) is a popular Windows program that is affiliated with Airspy SDR dongles, but is compatible with RTL-SDR and various other SDRs as well. The latest version gets rid of the relatively resource heavy Telerik UI library and replaces it with a much lighter weight library.

The author of SDR#, @lambdaprog, notes that v.1920 reduces memory usage by 85% and CPU utilization by 50%. The new version also improves scalability for high sample rates and number of spectrum slices and improves plugin compatibility. Several AOR brand SDRs are also now supported in v.1920.

On the note regarding improved plugin compatibility, we've noticed that in the v.1920 update the IF Average plugin has begun working again. The IF Average plugin is used for Hydrogen line radio astronomy experiments. In the past we had to use older versions of SDR# to make it work. We have updated our Hydrogen line tutorial to reflect this.

New Tool to Convert Between SDR# and SDR++ Frequency List Formats

Thank you to 'thewsoftware' over on our forums who has shared with us his SDR# <-> SDR++ frequency list converter (sdrfc) software. SDR# and SDR++ are two popular SDR programs often used with the RTL-SDR, but each uses a different format for storing custom frequency lists.

The new sdrfc tool allows users to easily convert frequency lists between SDR# and SDR++ formats, so you don't need to manually type out a frequency list for both programs.

The sdrfc is a Windows command line tool and instructions for using it can be found on the GitHub Readme. A release zip file is available on the GitHub Releases page.

SDR# <-> SDR++ Frequency Converter Readme