SDRPlay with Ubuntu 14.04 64 bit and SDR-J

Post information or questions regarding SDRplay products here
Post Reply
IW2DHW
Posts: 59
Joined: Wed Sep 23, 2015 7:33 pm

SDRPlay with Ubuntu 14.04 64 bit and SDR-J

Post by IW2DHW » Wed Sep 23, 2015 7:40 pm

I have some trouble with my new SDRPlay and Ubuntu 14.04 54 bits
SDRPlay work without any problem using Windows 8.1

With Ubuntu 14.04 API library is installed in /usr/local/lib and SDR-J don't find it
A copy of library to /usr/lib solve the problem. Is a "dlopen" problem?

After this I am unable to open device for rights problem. Udev rule suggested in API install document don't work
For starting SDR-J I need to run it as root user.

Is anyone having this problems? Is my Ubuntu broken?

Regards
Franco Spinelli
Last edited by IW2DHW on Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am, edited 0 times in total.
Reason: No reason

AH6DL
Posts: 49
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2015 7:24 am

Re: SDRPlay with Ubuntu 14.04 64 bit and SDR-J

Post by AH6DL » Thu Sep 24, 2015 2:42 am

Here's what my working udev rule (saved as 66-mirics.rules) looks like:

Code: Select all

SUBSYSTEM=="usb",ENV{DEVTYPE}=="usb_device",ATTRS{idVendor}=="1df7",ATTRS{idProduct}=="2500",MODE:="0666"
It shouldn't make any difference, but I've got SDR-J programs in a directory off of my home directory, where I've got write permission. I'm not seeing any sign of anything being written to files in this directory since the initial installation, so don't see why leaving SDR-J in /usr/local or /usr/opt should cause any problems.

If you didn't already, you might try running an "sudo ldconfig -a" in the /usr/local/lib to make sure the SDR-J library is registered.

Hope this helps! The latest gr-osmosdr library is working well now (make sure you get the latest release with the change -- updated 9/21/2015) so that's another option. See the Linux thread in Code Corner for details. GQRX now works fine with SDRplay. While not as powerful as SDR-J for digital modes, I find GQRX easier to use for general SW listening, VHF/UHF monitoring, aircraft, Wx-Sat and FM (analog) radio listening.

...Doug, AH6DL
Last edited by AH6DL on Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am, edited 0 times in total.
Reason: No reason

IW2DHW
Posts: 59
Joined: Wed Sep 23, 2015 7:33 pm

Re: SDRPlay with Ubuntu 14.04 64 bit and SDR-J

Post by IW2DHW » Thu Sep 24, 2015 6:54 pm

For Udev problem was my fault. I have created a file with name ending in -rules and not in .rules
Corrected this now udev rule is working.

For library I have done no other test.

I have also compiled gnuradio and gr-osmosdr from GIT. After this downloaded GQRX from GIT, compiled and installed. GQRX is working with my old rtl-sdr device but not with SDRPlay. I get strange spectrum signal, at startup hardware field "Sample rate" is empty, after a run if I select hardware button SDRPlay is lost (there is only "other" field) and on terminal window I get a lot of Error: USB buffer overflow.

I attach a screenshot of GQRX tuned on 10099800, Rtty freq of Offenbach.

Regards
Franco Spinelli
Attachments
screenshot.png
GQRX screenshot
screenshot.png (231.51 KiB) Viewed 17417 times
Last edited by IW2DHW on Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am, edited 0 times in total.
Reason: No reason

AH6DL
Posts: 49
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2015 7:24 am

Re: SDRPlay with Ubuntu 14.04 64 bit and SDR-J - added GQRX tips

Post by AH6DL » Thu Sep 24, 2015 7:16 pm

There's still some work needed on the SDRplay / GQRX interface, but if you enter these values it should work fine:

Sampling rate - one of these
8000000
5000000
2500000
2048000
2000000
1536000
-- I usually use 1536000

Bandwdith:
I don't recall all the wider bandwidths I've tested, but I use these the most:
1536000
600000

The wrong sampling rate / bandwidth combination can cause buffer problems, but I haven't seen it using the above combinations with the latest code.

You'll also find you need to "bounce" the RF gain to activate DC removal. I boast it to max and then back it off, usually to around 72 unless more gain is needed for satellites, etc. Also, because frequency changes to the SDRplay itself can take a moment to settle, it is better to use the receiver offset tuning in the receiver tab to fine tune or band-scan an HF band.

Make sure the gr-osmosdr you compiled has the latest sdrplay_source_cc.c code! The old code dropped packets, which caused all kind of problems. See my recent posts on the Code Corner / Linux discussion (within the last few days -- not the earlier experiments) to see what it should look like. The problems you are seeing may be due to t he wrong sampling rate/bandwidth or could be the old code.

With the new code and these combinations, GQRX is working fine for me. I grabbed a good NOAA-19 APT pass late yesterday afternoon and it was clean except for my known antenna nulls. I still haven't gotten the Meteor N-2 LRPT GRC receiver working the way I want yet. I needed to add an offset using the FIR Frequencly Xlating Filter to remove the DC carrier and for some reason I can't get the QPSK decoder to lock even though the FFT spectrum display looks fine.

Hope this helps. Let us know how it works.

73...
...Doug, AH6DL
Last edited by AH6DL on Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am, edited 0 times in total.
Reason: No reason

IW2DHW
Posts: 59
Joined: Wed Sep 23, 2015 7:33 pm

Re: SDRPlay with Ubuntu 14.04 64 bit and SDR-J

Post by IW2DHW » Sat Sep 26, 2015 12:15 pm

For SDR-J problem, udev and API related, I have solved with a test machine with Ubuntu 15.10 beta 2 and new version of SDR-J
Non there is no problem in finding API library and no permission problem on device RSP.

For gr-osmosdr and gqrx I need a info: I need to download gr-osmosdr from git.osmocom.org/gr-osmosdr, ad per link in platform page of SDRPlay site or from github.com/SDRplay/gr-osmosdr/tree/sdrplay_support as per sdrplay message of 22 september in Linux topic? Or from git.osmocom.org/gr-osmosdr for all but sdrplay_source_cc.c and this from github?

I need to remove all gr-osmosdr and gqrx and restart from correct source.

Regards

Franco Spinelli
Last edited by IW2DHW on Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am, edited 0 times in total.
Reason: No reason

Post Reply