NooElec NESDR Smart (Software Defined Radio )

[hawsey]

Happy New Year

I'm trying to set up a Joggler as an SDR with the above .
I think I'm just making Linux errors as usual .
If I type lsusb I see the device listed but then the instructions say type
lsmod | grep dvb
But I get nothing , pdf below

https://www.nooelec.com/store/downloads ... ubuntu.pdf

Any ideas please

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[hawsey]

I gave Android a go with an SDR app called SDR touch and surprised myself as it works
You download SDR touch and also the generic RTL driver as an app .
I'm using the non paid Demo version to start with .

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[hawsey]

I have had more experiments with my Android Ham Radio stuff .
Has anyone an idea how I would get a microphone working on the Joggler using Android ICS ? Is there anywhere internal that I could solder to maybe? I would like the microphone working for Zello , which kind of turns your device in to a CB / Ham radio albeit over the internet .

So I managed to get an aeroplane scanner working which is cool , I can see the planes flying overhead on screen then I use my phone to look up where it's going , so far I've seen planes from my local airport , Newcastle , Glasgow and Edinburgh . So happy with that .
Police scanner radio is another great app where you can listen to US services from all over the States ( this doesn't use the dongle )
I've managed to load loads of other Amature Radio apps but not tried them yet .
Some photos of my experiments

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[pete]

@Gary,

Here installed the SDR drivers on a RPi2 which is in the attic and used to download NOAA weather maps the drivers are all the same.

Here is the DIY of the installation on the RPi which should work fine for you.

hxxps://gist.github.com/floehopper/99a0c8931f9d779b0998

Here is an easier one:

hxxps://drwxr.org/2017/04/setting-up-rtl-sdr-on-raspberry-pi-3/

Here is my DIY blog on doing this for NOAA satellites. The drivers are all the same:

hxxps://forums.homeseer.com/forum/homeseer-products-services/general-discussion-area/how-to-s/106941-raspberry-pi-noaa-weather-satellite-receiver

change the xx to tt above for the web links.

When you run rtl_test and see values then you are connected to the SDR and OK.

Very nice stuff. Here never did attempt this on the Joggler and the RPi2. The RPi2 is all just command line scripts that do JPG snapshots when the weather satellite goes over head.

I have used the SDR software on the desktop.

Not sure how well the Joggler will do with the graphics.

Here purchased a small kit with SDR radio and two antennas.

[hawsey]

Nice one , Pete yes , I love the Raspberry Pi but here just seeing how far I can push the Joggler , yes my SDR kit came with 3 or 4 antennas .
Picking up the aircraft over my house has been fun.
I broke my Ubuntu and Android builds unfortunately so tonight I will rebuild and back up this time .
Ideally I would leave two Jogglers running 24/7 , maybe logging the info . I will try the satellite stuff also .

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[Juggler]

Hi Hawsey

Not sure where you are now with this. I think the reason your not seeing anything when doing lsmod | grep dvb is that the buntu your using is a joggler buntu and not the full fledged 17.04 for desktop/server, which will have default drivers for DVB dongles.

I've looked over the NooElec pdf and I reckon if you start from page 3 "What that does is disallow the default module (driver) to load. Now we need to tell it to load the driver we want. But first, we need to download it onto the computer.". First thing to do is :

sudo apt-get install rtl-sdr

and this should get the drivers you need to do SDR stuff with your NooElec dongle. Just keep working forward from there in the PDF. You don't need to be concerned with blacklisting drivers, as no drivers are being loaded on the device being plugged in.

In the distant past I've used a cheap DVB dongle to receive some raw ADS-B data. See :

https://www.rtl-sdr.com/adsb-aircraft-r ... h-rtl-sdr/

I think I used the server version of BuZz's buntu as it has less overhead. SDR can be processor intensive. Worked pretty well with the little mag mount on an open, used Fray Bentos tin on top of my huge, old CRT monitor...

Once you get RTL-SDR installed and working, you'll be able to do a lot.

HTH

J

[Juggler]

Just looked back over more of your posts. Easiest way to have microphone input would be to use a usb sound card dongle. This may be recognised in Joggler Android. Is there a version of Zello for Linux ?

Looking at your pics above I saw Cleveland police. I recall listening to a more local to you, Cleveland police. A big incident at Teesside Airport in the late 1970's, on Band II (FM band 88-108 MHz) on a small Bush brand transistor radio. Many things were more open years ago...

And nice to see GB3TW repeater too. Haven't used that for nearly 30 years now... I could just about get into it with an FT290 with around 3 watts out and a 2M home made dipole, mounted in the loft. It was about 27 miles away by direct propagation. Was a lot better with a 9 element beam I had mounted on the shed using an inverted washing dryer (made great large tripods!). But these paled compared to a small handy and a rubber duck stood near to Eston Nab, on the Cleveland Hills, which was very close and a good hard walk away. Had many great days there, especially on CB. Got a lot of good contacts, QSL cards and was almost into Scotland a few times - the Cheviots, I think. Another breaker, high up.

[Juggler]

If you use the server version of Ubuntu, i.e. no Desktop Environment, these are some of the RTL-SDR commands you can use (from the man pages)

https://manpages.debian.org/jessie/rtl- ... .1.en.html
https://manpages.debian.org/jessie/rtl- ... .1.en.html
https://manpages.debian.org/jessie/rtl- ... .1.en.html
https://manpages.debian.org/jessie/rtl- ... .1.en.html

This is a good read too :

https://osmocom.org/projects/rtl-sdr/wiki/Rtl-sdr

[hawsey]

If you use the server version of Ubuntu, i.e. no Desktop Environment, these are some of the RTL-SDR commands you can use (from the man pages)

https://manpages.debian.org/jessie/rtl- ... .1.en.html
https://manpages.debian.org/jessie/rtl- ... .1.en.html
https://manpages.debian.org/jessie/rtl- ... .1.en.html
https://manpages.debian.org/jessie/rtl- ... .1.en.html

This is a good read too :

https://osmocom.org/projects/rtl-sdr/wiki/Rtl-sdr

Thanks Juggler , no desktop environments ,i struggle with a bit ha haa.
I'm still messing but so far I've only managed to get Android SdR Touch working .
I think Linux and XP both would work well for an SDR but unfortunately I've not had much time to experiment .
Watch this space ....

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[Juggler]

When I did SDR on the Joggler, I used BuZz's Ubuntu 14.04 server edition, I think. It worked OK, I recall. I think I tried GQRX on BuzZ's XFCE Ubuntu and the Joggler struggled, especially on producing a waterfall. I had better results with an Android 4 tablet using some SDR app. I didn't look into why the Joggler didn't cope very well.

You may get different results. I tried maybe 4 years ago.

But using the rtl-sdr basic tools, I had good results.

Just had a quick look into using the framebuffer with GQRX and drew a blank.

However, this article aimed at the RPi2, includes an interesting app that generates some sort of spectrum display using Fast Fourier Transforms (FFT) :

https://www.rs-online.com/designspark/t ... nu-radio-2

This is a great list of SDR software :

https://www.rtl-sdr.com/big-list-rtl-sd ... -software/

I now remember using dump1090 and I think it worked very well on the Joggler. There are many interesting projects in there, several I've not seen before...

J