I got my Spectrum Analyzer and here are the steps I use to install and configure it on my Linux (Ubuntu) laptop. Download the software here. http://www.dl4jal.eu/ link to the file http://www.dl4jal.eu/linnwt4_V4_11_10.tar.gz Copy the file to your favorite directory mkdir nwt cd nwt cp /home/anton/Downloads/linnwt4_V4_11_10.tar.gz ./ Unzip the file in the directory. unzip linnwt4_V4_11_10.tar.gz Check if the files has unziped There should be a directory linnwt4_V4_11_10 and cd to it. cd linnwt4_V4_11_10 Check if you have qmake installed qmake -v You need vertion QT 4 + if you don't have it, install it. sudo apt-get install build-essential now install QT sudo apt-get install gcc qt4-qmake libqt4-dev now create a directory build inside the linnwt4_V4_11_10 directory mkdir build Change to the build directory cd build run the gmake command qmake -qt4 ../ Then run the make command make Get coffee ;-) it takes 2 min There should the be a new file in exsiting directory called linnwt. Connect your spectrum analizer to your laptop USB connector. then run the apllication linnwt sudo ./linnwt mmmmm, its German! no problem, run it with this parameter to get it in Englesh sudo ./linnwt ../app_en.qm
USB device error could not find your NWT device.
So how do I identify my USB device and configure it in the software ?
Run the command tail -f /var/log/syslog
Then unplug your spectrum analyzer usb cable from laptop and reconnect it after 2 seconds to laptop.
There will be new text appearing in the terminal console. Something like this below.
Jun 26 11:55:07 anton-SATELLITE-P755 kernel: [51330.537093] usb 2-1.2: USB disconnect, device number 5 Jun 26 11:55:07 anton-SATELLITE-P755 kernel: [51330.537573] ftdi_sio ttyUSB0: FTDI USB Serial Device converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0 Jun 26 11:55:07 anton-SATELLITE-P755 kernel: [51330.537628] ftdi_sio 2-1.2:1.0: device disconnected Jun 26 11:55:10 anton-SATELLITE-P755 bluetoothd[800]: Authentication attempt without agent Jun 26 11:55:10 anton-SATELLITE-P755 bluetoothd[800]: Access denied: org.bluez.Error.Rejected Jun 26 11:55:11 anton-SATELLITE-P755 kernel: [51334.756112] usb 2-1.2: new full-speed USB device number 6 using ehci-pci Jun 26 11:55:11 anton-SATELLITE-P755 kernel: [51334.855421] usb 2-1.2: New USB device found, idVendor=0403, idProduct=6001 Jun 26 11:55:11 anton-SATELLITE-P755 kernel: [51334.855430] usb 2-1.2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3 Jun 26 11:55:11 anton-SATELLITE-P755 kernel: [51334.855434] usb 2-1.2: Product: FT232R USB UART Jun 26 11:55:11 anton-SATELLITE-P755 kernel: [51334.855437] usb 2-1.2: Manufacturer: FTDI Jun 26 11:55:11 anton-SATELLITE-P755 kernel: [51334.855440] usb 2-1.2: SerialNumber: AL01PTLP Jun 26 11:55:11 anton-SATELLITE-P755 kernel: [51334.858330] ftdi_sio 2-1.2:1.0: FTDI USB Serial Device converter detected Jun 26 11:55:11 anton-SATELLITE-P755 kernel: [51334.858406] usb 2-1.2: Detected FT232RL Jun 26 11:55:11 anton-SATELLITE-P755 kernel: [51334.859036] usb 2-1.2: FTDI USB Serial Device converter now attached to ttyUSB0 Jun 26 11:55:12 anton-SATELLITE-P755 mtp-probe: checking bus 2, device 6: "/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb2/2-1/2-1.2" Jun 26 11:55:12 anton-SATELLITE-P755 mtp-probe: bus: 2, device: 6 was not an MTP device
You will be looking for ttyUSB?? in the text.
I my example, my usb was ttyUSB0
So now enter your ttyUSB?? in this usb port detail screen below. and then save your configeration.
Select the Settings > Options Menu from the pulldown menu in LinNWT4 application.
Change the value to /dev/ttyUSB?? Your port number found above.
In my case it was /dev/ttyUSB0
O.k., lets now setup a Frequency Spectrum scan.
Add frequency svan limits and then select a single or continuos scan option.
Connect your filter or circuit for testing on SMA terminals.
Then click on your Graphics display to see the return loss of you filter or circuit under test.
What can I do with the TP-Link TL-WR703N router? (APRS, SDR)
Basically
this device is meant to be a little 3g travel router. You can plug in a
3g USB adapter and share that Internet connection to multiple devices
over WIFI. It also supports Ethernet. It runs a Linux operating system
so this opens up lost of Amateur Radio opportunities. So for $24 you can
get a 400mhz Linux computer, with Ethernet, Wifi and USB ports and
several GPIO pins.
1) SDR Using a RTL-SDR dongle on TL-WR703n you can listing to Amateur radio frequencies. If you’re running OpenWrt Barrier Breaker (i.e. trunk) you can install librtlsdr SDR dongle labraries Here is the pre compiled applications https://steve-m.de/projects/rtl-sdr/openwrt/packages/
got to the newly created directory gnuradio when the cloning is done
cd gnuradio
make a build directory
mkdir build
goto the build directory
cd build
Compile gnuradio
cmake ../
if you get an error-- WARNING: Found a known bad version of Boost (v104601). Disabling.
Then run cmake -DENABLE_BAD_BOOST=True ../
This can take a couple of hours depending on the speed of you Linux server.
make
Now install the newly compiled binaries into the required directories
sudo make install
Now load the the gnu drivers
sudo ldconfig
Build and Install RTL-SDR drivers go to your favorite install directory
cd ../../../
get the latest source code from osmocom.org
git clone git://git.osmocom.org/rtl-sdr.git
go to the newly created directory
cd rtl-sdr/
Now compile the rtl drivers
create the build directory
mkdir build
go to the build directory
cd build
compile the code
cmake ../
make
now install the compiled binaries
sudo make install
load the drivers
sudo ldconfig
now copy the content of the file rtl-sdr.rules and append it to the /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-cd.rules file
use your favorite editor
vi rtl-sdr.rules and copy the content.
then open the file /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-cd.rules
sudo vi /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-cd.rules and append the previous files content at the end in ubuntu 16.04 the file name was /etc/udev/rules.d/rtl-sdr.rules
This is how my file looked like
# This file maintains persistent names for CD/DVD reader and writer devices.
# See udev(7) for syntax.
#
# Entries are automatically added by the 75-cd-aliases-generator.rules
# file; however you are also free to add your own entries provided you
# add the ENV{GENERATED}=1 flag to your own rules as well.
Building and Install Gqrx with command line. git clone https://github.com/csete/gqrx.git gqrx.git cd gqrx.git mkdir build cd build cmake .. make sudo make install
If you want to build the code using the Qt development environment then follow the steps below cd ../../
git clone https://github.com/csete/gqrx.git
cd gqrx
qtcreator ./gqrx.pro
A new window will open (the QT compiler).
When it opens click the build menu then the build all option.
QT Compiler
you should see The process "/usr/bin/make" exited normally.
Plug in your RTL dongle.
Now run gqrx.
gqrx
Select Yes
GQRX Should now be open. On the first run you will be prompted for a device listing.
Select your SDR (in my case RTL dongle)
In the device drop down menu select "ezcap USB 2.0 DVB-T/DAB/FM Dongle", then continue to the main GQRX window.
Select File->Start DSP. You should now be receiving something.
Tune to a local radio station between 88-108Mhz FM.
select Wide FM Stero as the Mode Type.
Now connect a proper external antenna to your RTL dongle or Softrock HF/VHF kit.
Hope you have lost of fun ;-)
Here is a video of GQRX using the 100Khz to 17Ghz RTL dongle in direct conversion mode.
How to configure your direct conversion dongle.
Here is the screen-shot of the configuration on Linux for Gqrx
Device Select other
Device String rtl=0,direct_sample=2 (possibly 0/1/2)(This number could differ depending on which pin was wired via balin)
Device String rtl=0,direct_sample=2
Here is a picture of the 100KHX to 1.7Ghz rtl dongle
Setting up my 30m APRS on HF using Quisk SDR, Soundmodem and Xastir on Linux.
Here is how I conferred my HF APRS gateway from a HF SDR. (30m Softrock SDR)
30m APRS hardware
1) Install QUISK (SDR software) on on Linux. 2) Install Alsa loop. (loopback sound driver) 3) Install Soundmodem. (AFSK Modem) 4) Install Xastir. ( APRS IGate and map viewer)
So lets begin.
1) Install QUISK (SDR software) on on Linux.
The Quisk instillation need Python so you will have to install the following first. Install the following packages. sudo apt-get install python2.7, python2.7-dev, python-wxgtk2.8, fftw3-dev, libasound2-dev, and portaudio19-dev.
goto your Downloads directory. ( or you favorite directory) cd Downloads Download the Quisk application from if you want the latest version at http://james.ahlstrom.name/quisk/docs.html (quisk-3.4.4.tar.gz tar -xvf and then run quisk.py you need python ass seen above) or you could run the command sudo apt-get install quisk
Here is the instructions if you get the latest version
sudo apt-get install quisk wget http://james.ahlstrom.name/quisk/quisk-3.6.18.tar.gz unzip the quisk source code tar -xvf quisk-3.6.18.tar.gz there should now be a directory quisk-3.6.10 goto quisk-3.6.10 directory cd quisk-3.6.10 Compile the quisk application sudo make sudo make install you now need to create a configuration file for quisk to see your Softrock lite II sdr sound input IQ signal. Create a text file with you favorite text editor and copy the text below and save it as 30m_aprs_quisk_conf_sdriq.py #***************************************************** # These are the configuration parameters for Quisk using the # SDR-IQ by RfSpace as the capture device. # Please do not change this sample file. # Instead copy it to your own .quisk_conf.py and make changes there. # See quisk_conf_defaults.py for more information. from sdriqpkg import quisk_hardware # Use different hardware file # In ALSA, soundcards have these names: #name_of_sound_play = "hw:0" #name_of_sound_play = "hw:1" #name_of_sound_play = "plughw" #name_of_sound_play = "plughw:1" #name_of_sound_play = "default" use_sdriq = 1 # Use the SDR-IQ sdriq_name = "pcm.sdrXonarD1Record12" sdriq_clock = 66666667.0 # actual sample rate (66666667 nominal) sdriq_decimation = 1250 # Must be 360, 500, 600, or 1250 sample_rate = int(float(sdriq_clock) / sdriq_decimation + 0.5) # Don't change this name_of_sound_capt = "" # We do not capture from the soundcard name_of_sound_play = "hw:0" # Play back on this soundcard need s to be loopback device playback_rate = 48000 # Radio sound play rate channel_i = 0 # Soundcard index of left channel channel_q = 1 # Soundcard index of right channel display_fraction = 0.85 # The edges of the full bandwidth are not valid
Then save the file. We now need to setup the ALSA sound system to map the alsa audio coming into the server to a friendly name "pcm.sdrXonarD1Record12" see above config file. Run the command sudo arecord -l it will list all the ALSA audio input devices. sudo arecord -l **** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices **** xcb_connection_has_error() returned true Home directory /home/anton not ours. card 0: D1 [Xonar D1], device 0: Multichannel [Multichannel] Subdevices: 0/1 Subdevice #0: subdevice #0 card 1: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: VT1708S Analog [VT1708S Analog] Subdevices: 2/2 Subdevice #0: subdevice #0 Subdevice #1: subdevice #1 card 2: D1_1 [Xonar D1], device 0: Multichannel [Multichannel] Subdevices: 0/1 Subdevice #0: subdevice #0 card 3: M44 [M Audio Delta 44], device 0: ICE1712 multi [ICE1712 multi] Subdevices: 0/1 Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
Please note I have multiple sound cards in my Linux server so you might not have as many interfaces listed as mine above.
Identify the your sound card in the list. in my case it is :card 3: M44 [M Audio Delta 44], device 0: ICE1712 multi [ICE1712 multi] You now need to configure the ALSA system to map the name of quisk to this card and you do it in the ALSA config file in your user home directory. (in my case it is /home/anton) cd to go to your home directory pwd To list your home directory /home/anton edit the following ALSA audio mapping file with you favorite text editor .asoundrc (note the dot in front of the name it means its hidden) I use VI as an editor
vi .asoundrc
Add the following and change the names relevant your sound card name (RED)
card M44 # this has to be done to force reboot to point to same cards
}
#************************* controller section *********************************** ctl.sdrM44_card {#defining the control interface type hw card M44 # this has to the same as above } #****************************** recording *********************************** pcm.sdrM44Record12 { # input input 1 and 2 type plug slave { pcm "dsnooper_M44" channels 4 } ttable.0.0 1 ttable.1.1 1 }
Run the quisk with your costume configuration with the full path to the configfile sudo quisk -c /home/anton/Downloads/quisk-3.6.10/quisk_conf_softrock_iq.py
Now we need to setup the ALSA loop back audio interface for Quisk to send the USB demodulated audio to Xastir or Fldigi or what ever modem device you are using.
2) Install ALSA loop. (Loopback sound driver)
To check if it is already installed in the ALSA device driver. run the command sudo arecoed -l If you see the loopback devise skip this section below and go section 3
Compiling snd-aloop if needed
Update: it may not be needed any longer as of kernel 2.6.38 ...
It may well be that the ALSA Loopback kernel module was not included in your distribution's kernel package (it is the case in e.g. debian, as far as I know). This is no bother as we can easily compile it. Note that there is no way around since the loopback ALSA module is not part of the kernel baseline in general. So unless your kernel packager had done the following work, you will have to do it yourself ...
Warning: I tried alsa-driver 1.0.21 against 2.6.33.5-rt22 and while it compiled fine, it would not load at all, even when forced. So don't waste your time with this version combo.
Make sure you really don't have it installed. Better check that not :) sudo modinfo snd-aloop
If modinfo reports nada, time to check that you have installed the kernel headers corresponding to your presently running kernel. I'll leave this to you as this is very distro dependent. In debian based distros, the package is called something like linux-headers-xxx and must match the installed kernel (package linux-image-xxx).
Time to make a backup of the installed kernel modules. Example:
cd mkdir backup cd backup cp -a /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/sound .
Prerequisite: you of course need a compiler and other tools. In debian based distros, you can check that you have a package called build-essential installed: dpkg -l build-essential
If not, just get it: sudo apt-get install build-essential
Now grab the alsa-driver source code (same version as your installed ALSA, in my case 1.0.23 which I will use in my description) from the The ALSA website, uncompress, untar it and cd to the alsa-driver top dir. Here is a command summary
cd mkdir source cd source wget ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/driver/alsa-driver-1.0.23.tar.bz2 tar jxvf alsa-driver-1.0.23.tar.bz2 cd alsa-driver-1.0.23
Now you have to configure the source package for compilation. To help you, look at what ALSA modules are currently loaded: cat /proc/asound/modules
make sudo make install
It will normally install all the compiled modules into the correct location of your kernel installation. Now check that the kernel knows about the loopback module:
~$ sudo modinfo snd-aloop filename: /lib/modules/2.6.32/kernel/sound/drivers/snd-aloop.ko license: GPL description: A loopback soundcard author: Jaroslav Kysela <perex@perex.cz> srcversion: B85A5847D027749DCF96195 depends: snd-pcm,snd vermagic: 2.6.32 SMP preempt mod_unload modversions CORE2 parm: index:Index value for loopback soundcard. (array of int) parm: id:ID string for loopback soundcard. (array of charp) parm: enable:Enable this loopback soundcard. (array of bool) parm: pcm_substreams:PCM substreams # (1-8) for loopback driver. (array of int)
Now lets load it. But before that, shut down all audio apps (including firefox). Once done, do this: sudo modprobe snd-whatever-module-you-need sudo modprobe snd-aloop sudo alsa force-unload
Now, see if it works: ~$ lsmod | grep aloop snd_aloop 4732 0 snd_pcm 57065 6 snd_aloop,snd_hdsp snd 40404 18 snd_aloop,snd_hdsp,snd_pcm,snd_hwdep,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device If all was ok then add snd-aloop in /etc/modules. (If you wish, you can give the loopback soundcard another name than "Loopback" in a modprobe option but I kept the default throughout the entire HOWTO and there is no need to change it.) In case anything went wrong and you wish to go back to your previous ALSA installation, no problem: sudo rm /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/sound sudo cp -a ~/backup/sound /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/ sudo alsa force-reload there should be two new ALSA devicess
This virtual sound card consists of 2 devices: hw:Loopback,0 hw:Loopback,1 to see if the loop back connector is active run the command aplay -l or arecord -l
if you did see the above loopback then you are ok and we can just add the loopback configuration to the 30m_aprs_quisk_conf_sdriq.py file as above.
edit the file 30m_aprs_quisk_conf_sdriq.py and make shore the it has the following. name_of_sound_play = "hw:0" # Play back on this soundcard need s to be loopback device select the configeration button on quisk to see if the loopback is working fine.
Now we can configure Soundmodem and Xastir to decode our HF APRS....
3) Install Soundmodem. (AFSK Modem)
Instillation of soundmodem sudo apt-get install soundmodem
We now need to configure the soundmodem and this can easily be done with guide. sudo soundmodemconfig
Set up the ALSA audio driver and point it to the loopback interface we have configured above " plughw:Loopback,1,0"
Create a new channel by write clicking on the previous configuration that was created and selecting new channel.
Select KISS and then enter the serial device file /dev/soundmodem0
Select Modulator and set the bits 300 board and Frequencies to 900Hz , 1.1 Khz and enable Differential Encoding.
Select Demodeluator and set the bits 300 board and Frequencies to 900Hz , 1.1 Khz and enable Differential Encoding.
Now to test your configuration.
Select the diagnose menu and then the spectrum option and then tune the APRS frequency on the Quisk SDR so that the AFSK tones is in the center of pass band section in the spectrum display below. (Center frequency is 1Khz) You can also then check if you Radio audio frequency is flat. (Both peeks is the same high)
Move your mouse cursor over display to find frequency of display. ( wait for APRS message to be received on HF)
Adjust the Quisk SDR frequency until the APRS signal is across the 1Khz frequency. see above
That's it, your soundmodem is configured.
here is a copy of my soundmodem configuration file /etc/ax25/soundmodem.conf that was generated with soundmodemconfig application.
