Installing SDR applications for the SDRplay RSP1A on a Raspberry Pi
With 32-bit Raspberry Pi Debian buster.

This document will guide you through installing SDR applications on the platform built in the document: Installing drivers and support for the SDRplay RSP1A on a Raspberry Pi and depends on that installation.

This document is intended to be followed in the order it is written. If you want to skip installing one of applications, there may be some missing prerequisites.

Install:

• Install QRadioLink
  Multimode SDR transceiver for GNU radio using the Internet for VOIP communication (radio over IP) with various analog, digital voice and digital video modes.
  • Prerequisites
    • mumble

      sudo apt install mumble mumble-server

    • Ensure that libusb-0.1-4 in not installed.

      # Look to see that "Installed" does not appear after libusb-0.1-4
      apt list -a libusb-0.1-4
      
      # If it is installed, remove it:
      sudo apt remove libftdi1 libftdi-dev libusb-0.1-4
      sudo apt autoremove

    • Install additional packages:
      Note: On Ubuntu 20.04 newer libjpeg-turbo8 libjpeg-turbo8-dev has to be installed instead of libjpeg62-turbo libjpeg62-turbo-dev

      sudo apt-get install protobuf-compiler libopus-dev libspeexdsp1 libspeexdsp-dev libjpeg62-turbo libjpeg62-turbo-dev libconfig++9v5 libconfig++-dev libftdi1-2 libftdi1-dev libsndfile1-dev libsndfile1 libjpeg-dev libprotoc-dev liblimesuite-dev liblimesuite20.10-1
      

    • Make applications that need libftdi1 0.20 use the new packages

      sudo ln -s /usr/include/libftdi1/ftdi.h /usr/include/ftdi.h
      sudo ln -s /usr/lib/arm-linux-gnueabihf/libftdi1.so.2.5.0 /usr/lib/arm-linux-gnueabihf/libftdi.so.1
      sudo ln -s /usr/lib/arm-linux-gnueabihf/libftdi1.so.2.5.0 /usr/lib/arm-linux-gnueabihf/libftdi.so

  • Install

    cd ~/
    git clone https://codeberg.org/qradiolink/qradiolink
    cd qradiolink/
    # To get the last release
    # git checkout master
    # To get the latest version with recent changes (instead of git checkout master):
    git checkout next
    sh ./build_debian.sh
    

  • To run

    build/qradiolink
    # or from anywhere
    ~/qradiolink/build/qradiolink
    

  • Click the Setup tab
  • Click the General Settings tab
    • To use a SoapySDR device
      • Select your receive device from the RX device args menu.
      • In RX antenna, enter RX
      • If you have a transmit device, select it from the TX device args menu.
      • In TX antenna, enter TX
      • Click Save.
    • To use the built-in gr-osmosdr device
      • For the SDRplay RSP1A
        • In RX device args, enter sdrplay=0,hwVer=255
        • In RX antenna, enter RX
        • Click Save.
      • For HackRF
        • In RX device args, enter hackrf=0
        • In RX antenna, enter RX
        • In TX device args, enter hackrf=0
        • In TX antenna, enter TX
        • Click Save.
      • For rtl-sdr
        • In RX device args, enter rtl=0
        • In RX antenna, enter RX
        • Click Save.
  • Click the Radio settings tab
    • For Output audio device, select alsa_output.platform-fef00700.hdmi.iec958-stereo or similar. It will vary between Operating Systems.
    • You may want to uncheck TX Limits if you are not in IARU region 1.
  • Click the Spectrum tab
  • Click RX to start the SDR receiver.
  • Note: For the first time an SDR application is run after GNU Radio installation, wait 3-4 minutes for the terminal to print 3 lines of "gr::vmcircbuf_sysv_shm: shmat (3): Invalid argument". It will work correctly after that.There is a function in GNU Radio that does not work on the Raspberry Pi. GNU Radio will eventually fix itself.
• CubicSDR - build from source to get the latest version that supports the SDRplay RSP Duo.
  A very nice versatile SDR application.
  • Prerequisites
    • Install FFTW3 if not currently installed

      sudo apt-get install freeglut3 freeglut3-dev libgtk2.0-dev libgtk-3-dev libtinyxml2.6.2v5
      

    • liquid-dsp

      cd ~/
      git clone https://github.com/jgaeddert/liquid-dsp
      cd liquid-dsp
      ./bootstrap.sh
      ./configure
      make -j 4
      sudo make install
      sudo ldconfig
      

    • RtAudio

      sudo apt-get install libasound2-dev portaudio19-dev
      cd ~/
      Download http://www.music.mcgill.ca/~gary/rtaudio/release/rtaudio-5.2.0.tar.gz 
      tar -zxvf rtaudio-5.2.0.tar.gz
      cd rtaudio-5.2.0
      # ./configure --help # display the available options
      ./configure --with-jack --with-alsa --with-pulse
      mkdir build
      cd build
      cmake ../
      make -j 4
      sudo make install
      sudo ldconfig
      cd tests
      # Try one of these to see if it will play something. Press CTRL-C to exit.
      ./playsaw 1 48000
      ./playsaw 1 44100
      ./playsaw 2 44100 # 2 different sawtooth waveforms, one in each speaker
      
      # If you don't hear a sound from any of these, it may have selected the headphone output.
      # Set speakers as default
      pacmd set-default-sink 0
      

    • wxWidgets
      • CubicSDR wants to use a static installation of wxWidgets. CubicSDR has been updated to use wxWidgets 3.1.5. It appears that older versions will not work. I have not been able to get the packaged version to work. This will take quite a while.
        The installation path for this installation is included in the CubicSDR installation command.
      • Prerequisites:
        Remove all wxWidgets items using Add / Remove Software

        sudo apt install libgtk2.0-dev libgtk-3-dev
        

      • Install
        Note: replace '~/Develop/wxWidgets-staticlib' with your own path if you installed it in a different location. Use this path when building CubicSDR.

        cd ~/ 
        git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/wxWidgets/wxWidgets.git
        # Alternately, if you downloaded the archive to ~/
        # tar -xvf  wxWidgets-3.1.5.tar.bz2
        # rename the install folder to wxWidgets
        cd wxWidgets/
        mkdir -p ~/Develop/wxWidgets-staticlib
        ./autogen.sh
        ./configure --with-opengl --disable-glcanvasegl --disable-shared --enable-monolithic --with-libjpeg --with-libtiff --with-libpng --with-zlib --disable-sdltest --enable-unicode --enable-display --enable-propgrid --disable-webview --disable-webviewwebkit --prefix=`echo ~/Develop/wxWidgets-staticlib` CXXFLAGS="-std=c++0x"
        make -j4
        sudo make install
        sudo ldconfig

  • Build CubicSDR

    cd ~/
    git clone https://github.com/cjcliffe/CubicSDR.git
    cd CubicSDR
    mkdir build
    cd build
    # Works with HDMI, Headphones and Default
    cmake ../ -DOTHER_LIBRARIES:FILEPATH=/usr/lib/gcc/arm-linux-gnueabihf/10/libatomic.so -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DwxWidgets_CONFIG_EXECUTABLE=~/Develop/wxWidgets-staticlib/bin/wx-config -DUSE_HAMLIB=1 -DUSE_AUDIO_PULSE=0 -DUSE_AUDIO_OSS=0 -DUSE_AUDIO_ALSA=1
    
    make -j 4
    # You can now run the build from the folder, note if you're on 64-bit linux it will be in x64/
    x86/CubicSDR
    
    # Install CubicSDR (and launcher in Applications menu)
    sudo make install
    sudo ldconfig
    

    • There will be an icon for CubicSDR in the Applications Menu in the Other group.
• gqrx
  Can operate as an AM/FM/SSB receiver with audio output or as an FFT-only instrument. There are also various hooks for interacting with external applications using network sockets. One of the few that has a noise blanker and allows custom bandpass adjustment.
  • Prerequisites

    # portaudio should have been installed for RtAudio.
    sudo apt install portaudio19-dev
    

  • Install

    export CXXFLAGS='-O2 -march=native -mtune=native'
    export CFLAGS='-O2 -march=native -mtune=native'
    
    cd ~/
    git clone https://github.com/csete/gqrx.git gqrx
    cd gqrx
    mkdir build
    cd build
    cmake ..
    make -j 4
    sudo make install
    sudo ldconfig
    

  • To start gqrx, type gqrx at the command prompt and press enter.
  • The Configure I/O devices dialogue box will appear.
  • Select your SDR device from the Devices menu.
  • Select an audio device
  • The defaults for the other items should be OK.
  • Click OK.
  • Click the Start DSP processing button on the top left of the gqrx window.
  • Note: When using AM, be sure to uncheck DCR in the "..." button to the far right of Mode, or there will be no audio.
• SdrGlut
  A simple software defined radio player. It is small, fast and efficient. Very low CPU load. Has Search and Scan Features. Supports SDRplay RSPduo running in Dual Tuner mode.
  • Prerequisites
    • SoapySDR and the other items on the OS installation and drivers page for your OS.
    • RtAudio (installed earlier in this document)
    • liquid-dsp (installed earlier in this document)
    • It needs

      sudo apt-get install libopenal-dev libalut0 libalut-dev

    • Setup for the SdrGlut V1.24+ Voice Command Module
      • For on older systems

        pip install SpeechRecognition
        sudo apt install python3-pyaudio

      • With recent python versions, pip install SpeechRecognition will give the following error:
        error: externally-managed-environment...
        There is no package for python3-speechrecognition, so we will install it from source.
        
        Download the source archive from https://pypi.org/project/SpeechRecognition/#files
        Extract it to your home directory and change to the directory created from the archive.

        cd ~/SpeechRecognition-3.10.0
        sudo python3 setup.py install
        
        #Test installation:
        python3
        import speech_recognition
        # There should be no error
        ^D to exit.
        

  • Install

    cd ~/Desktop
    git clone https://gitlab.com/righthalfplane/SdrGlut.git
    cd SdrGlut
    make -f makefileRaspbian
    
    Run the program:
    ./sdrglut.x
    or
    ~/Desktop/SdrGlut/sdrglut.x
    

  • It is not uncommon for audio to be distorted. Try this fix, which will work for most installations:

    sudo mousepad /etc/openal/alsoft.conf
    

  • Find the line: #periods = 3  Remove the "#" and change it to periods = 4
  • Reboot and run SdrGlut. The audio should be good.
  • Altermate method to remove distortion in SdrGlut caused by PulseAudio
    Note: Installs some Qt4 packages

    sudo apt-get install alsoft-conf
    sudo alsoft-conf
    

    Click on the Backend tab. Disable everything except ALSA and PortAudio. Make sure that ALSA is listed first. The distortion should be gone the next time you run the program.
• OpenWebRX
  This procedure assumes that you have gone through the basic system installation. It also depends on items installed on the utilities page. This procedure is based on this manual installation.
  • Prerequisites
    • sudo apt-get install netcat sox libtool libfftw3-dev libsamplerate-dev mplayer octave gnuplot gnuplot-x11 libudev-dev libprotobuf-dev libicu-dev
    • Install csdr

      cd ~/
      git clone -b master https://github.com/jketterl/csdr.git
      cd csdr
      mkdir build
      cd build
      cmake ..
      make -j4
      sudo make install
      cd ../..
      sudo ldconfig
      

    • Install pycsdr

      cd ~/
      git clone -b master https://github.com/jketterl/pycsdr.git
      cd pycsdr
      sudo python3 setup.py install install_headers
      cd ..
      

    • Install js8py library

      cd ~/
      git clone -b master https://github.com/jketterl/js8py.git
      cd js8py
      sudo python3 setup.py install
      cd ..
      sudo ldconfig
      

    • Install owrx_connector

      cd ~/
      git clone -b master https://github.com/jketterl/owrx_connector.git
      cd owrx_connector
      mkdir build
      cd build
      cmake ..
      make -j4
      sudo make install
      cd ../..
      sudo ldconfig
      

    • Install optional digital voice
      Digital voice requires an AMBE server (hardware or software).
      A software MBE server is installed in these procedures.

      cd ~/
      git clone -b master https://github.com/jketterl/codecserver.git
      cd codecserver
      mkdir build
      cd build
      cmake ..
      make -j4
      sudo make install
      cd ../..
      
      # Move the service file to the correct location
      sudo mv /usr/local/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/systemd/system/codecserver.service /lib/systemd/system
      
      sudo ldconfig
      
      # Create the codecserver user and set permissions:
      sudo adduser --system --group --no-create-home --home /nonexistent --quiet codecserver
      sudo usermod -aG dialout codecserver
      # The username "codecserver" is used for the systemd service unit.
      
      # Copy the configuration file
      sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/etc/codecserver
      sudo cp ~/codecserver/conf/codecserver.conf /usr/local/etc/codecserver
      
      # Add configuration for mbelib:
      sudo mousepad /usr/local/etc/codecserver/codecserver.conf
      
      # Add these 3 lines to the end of codecserver.conf:
      [device:mbelib]
      driver=mbelib
      unvoiced_quality=3
      
      # Save and close the file.
      
      sudo systemctl daemon-reload
      sudo systemctl restart codecserver
      

    • Install mbelib

      cd ~/
      git clone https://github.com/szechyjs/mbelib.git
      cd mbelib
      mkdir build; cd build
      cmake ..
      make -j $(nproc)
      sudo make install
      cd ~/
      sudo ldconfig
      

    • Install codecserver-mbelib-module

      cd ~/
      git clone https://github.com/fventuri/codecserver-mbelib-module.git
      cd codecserver-mbelib-module
      mkdir build
      cd build
      cmake ..
      make -j $(nproc)
      sudo make install
      cd ..
      sudo ldconfig
      
      sudo systemctl restart codecserver
      

    • Install digiham

      cd ~/
      git clone -b master https://github.com/jketterl/digiham.git
      cd digiham
      mkdir build
      cd build
      cmake ..
      make -j4
      sudo make install
      cd ../..
      sudo ldconfig
      

    • Install pydigiham

      cd ~/
      git clone -b master https://github.com/jketterl/pydigiham.git
      cd pydigiham
      sudo python3 setup.py install
      cd ..

    • Install codec2 from source:
      Check to see if the codec2 package is installed. Removing it will uninstall too many other required packages..

      # Do not install this if the codec2 packages are installed.
      # If you install the freedv package, it will also install libhamlib4.
      cd ~/
      git clone https://github.com/drowe67/codec2.git
      cd codec2
      mkdir build
      cd build
      cmake ..
      make -j4
      sudo make install
      
      # manually install freedv_rx since it's not part of the default install package
      sudo install -m 0755 src/freedv_rx /usr/local/bin
      cd ../..
      sudo ldconfig
      

    • Install m17-cxx-demod

      sudo apt-get install libboost-program-options-dev
      cd ~/
      git clone https://github.com/mobilinkd/m17-cxx-demod.git
      cd m17-cxx-demod
      mkdir build
      cd build
      cmake ..
      make -j4
      sudo make install
      cd ../..
      sudo ldconfig
      

    • DRM/Dream has not yet been tested with OpenWebRX. We may have to build a special version.
    • For Packet / APRS, Direwolf must be installed as described on the utilities page.
    • Install the aprs-symbols to be able to display APRS positions on the map (you can change the destination, if you update the config accordingly)

      sudo git clone https://github.com/hessu/aprs-symbols /usr/share/aprs-symbols

    • wsjt-x must be installed as described on the utilities page.
    • Data storage

      sudo mkdir /var/lib/openwebrx
      # If necessary, change the user from pi to your actual user name.
      sudo chown pi. /var/lib/openwebrx
      
      # Warning, This step will overwrite any existing user database.
      sudo sh -c "echo [] > /var/lib/openwebrx/users.json"
      # If necessary, change the user from pi to your actual user name.
      sudo chown pi. /var/lib/openwebrx/users.json
      sudo chmod 0600 /var/lib/openwebrx/users.json
      

  • Install OpenWebRX

    cd ~/
    git clone -b master https://github.com/jketterl/openwebrx.git
    cd openwebrx
    
    # Create an initial user for the web configuration interface. Replace [username] with the name you will be using.
    ./openwebrx.py admin adduser [username]
    # Enter and confirm the password
    

  • Run OpenWebRX.

    # Open the SDRPlay device once before running OpenWebRX to avoid a crash.
    SoapySDRUtil --probe="driver=sdrplay"
    
    # Start OpenWebRX
    sudo systemctl start codecserver
    cd ~/openwebrx
    ./openwebrx.py
    

  • Open the GUI in any web browser.

    http://localhost:8073
    
    # Using the IP address of your Raspberry Pi, you can open it on another computer on your local network.
    
    ip address
    
    # IP addresses for all of your interfaces will be displayed. Substitute that for localhost in the URL as in the example below.
    http://192.168.1.12:8073
    
    # If you can set up your router, you can access OpenWebRX from the Internet.

  • You should log in as the administrator user that you set up and configure it for your system.
  • If you wish to Install OpenWebRX as a systemd service, see the documentation.