Installing SDR applications on a Raspberry Pi and Ubuntu

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
```
  - 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 libjpeg-turbo8-dev libjpeg8-dev libconfig++9v5 libconfig++-dev libftdi1 libftdi-dev libsndfile1-dev libsndfile1 libjpeg-dev libprotoc-dev liblimesuite-dev liblimesuite20.10-1
```
- Install
```
cd ~/
git clone https://codeberg.org/qradiolink/qradiolink
cd qradiolink/
# To get the latest version with recent changes (instead of git checkout master):
# git checkout next
# To get the normal release
git checkout master
sh ./build_debian.sh
```
- To run
```
build/qradiolink
# or from anywhere
/home/pi/qradiolink/build/qradiolink
```
  - Click the Setup tab
  - Click General Settings
  - For SDRplay
    - Using SoapySDR, works best with 1000000 Hz and 5000000 Hz-8000000 Hz sample rates
      - In RX device args, enter soapy=0,driver=sdrplay
    - Using the built in sdrplay driver, works best with 2000000 Hz through 10000000 Hz sample rates
      Note: QRadioLink may crash when starting up with this driver. Try several times and it will eventually work.
      - In RX device args, enter driver=sdrplay
    - In RX antenna, enter RX
  - 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
  - Under Radio settings, change Output audio device to pulse
  - 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 2-3 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 RSP Duo.
A very nice versatile SDR application.

Prerequisites

Install FFTW3 if not currently installed

sudo apt-get install 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 3.2.1. 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 the Package Manager.

Install
Note: replace '~/Develop/wxWidgets-staticlib' with your own path if you installed it in a different location. Use this path when building CubicSDR. Note that ./configure parameters are updated and they have a CXXFLAGS parameter which would conflict with the CXXFLAGS environment variable.

cd ~/ 
# If you wish to use git to install wxWidgets, use the commands below and skip the archive.
# git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/wxWidgets/wxWidgets.git
# git checkout v3.2.1

# Download this archive to your home directory.
https://github.com/wxWidgets/wxWidgets/releases/download/v3.2.1/wxWidgets-3.2.1.tar.bz2 
tar -xvjf wxWidgets-3.2.1.tar.bz2
# rename the install folder to wxWidgets
cd wxWidgets/
mkdir -p ~/Develop/wxWidgets-staticlib
./autogen.sh
./configure --prefix=`echo ~/Develop/wxWidgets-staticlib` --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 CXXFLAGS="-std=c++0x"
make -j4
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/8/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/
cd 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 It will appear after a restart..

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
  - 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
```
pip install SpeechRecognition
sudo apt install python3-pyaudio
```
- Install
```
cd ~/Desktop
git clone https://gitlab.com/righthalfplane/SdrGlut.git
cd SdrGlut
make -f makefileUbunta

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 featherpad /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.

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