SDR on pandora ?

[joachim]

has anyone tried SDR on pandora ? This is Radio reception with cheap DVB-T Sticks and there are some projects for the beaglebone. One with gqrx software is shown here :

https://www.youtube.com/embed/2cEy1m2KRNQ?feature=oembed

 

[fantomid]

Give your feedback if you test it.

First, we could prepare a list about software and hardware to have.

Maybe someone will test it afterwards.

 

[joachim]

Because you need a special chip in the stick I ordered one and it should arrive at the end of the week. Then I can give more info. Here is more about SDR

http://www.rtl-sdr.com/about-rtl-sdr/

 

[dimag0g]

Does anybody know if this [SIZE=10pt]LOGILINK VG0002A t[/SIZE]uner has the right chipset? It is listed in compatibility list as both compatible and non-compatible. I have asked the shop support by e-mail and they say they don't know:
 

[SIZE=11pt]Leider liegen uns hierzu keinerlei Informationen des Herstellers vor. [/SIZE]

 

[joachim]

If its for the price you can get one for the same price on ebay. Maybe you wait some days until I can try my ordered stick. Its marked there as RTL2832 / R820T.

 

[joachim]

Ok , got the stick and it works. Check here

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Neu-TV28T-v2-USB-DVB-T-RTL-SDR-Receiver-RTL2832U-R820T-Tuner-MCX-Input-/390886343895?pt=DE_Computing_TV_Tuner_Videoaufnahmeger%C3%A4te&hash=item5b02a444d7

or similar for under 10€

Software install is shown on german board (in english), check here

http://forum.gp2x.de/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=17524&p=205639#p205639

I used Slackware 14.1 (no need for new install) and it worked well.

Happy testing.

 

[levi]

Nice, what did you test it receiving?  Judging by that test command line, that looks like an FM frequency to me - is that what you're receiving?  In the OP you talked about MPEG2 DVB-T, and I've wondered about receiving DAB using these things.

 

[joachim]

I was reciving fm, yes. DVB-T is the receiver stick which can be used for frequencies from about 25 MHz to 2000 MHz where different Signals are sent ( AM, FM, DAB, DVB-T etc.). The decoding must be done with the software because you get the raw data and so for more sophisticated signals like digital audio/video you need a fast machine (they say for DAB you need dualcore at about 2GHz).

Or you use the internal stick -hardware to decode the signal but then you need a driver/firmware for the stick. I have another stick (no RTL2832 chip) with firmware so I can watch DVB-T with mplayer.

 

[dimag0g]

I have another stick (no RTL2832 chip) with firmware so I can watch DVB-T with mplayer.

Why isn't it possible to use the same stick for SDR (with raw data) and watching DVB-T (using firwmare decoding)?

 

[joachim]

I guess it is possible, but this stick is a no name stick (just reads DVB-T, DAB + FM and has RTL2832 chipset) and I have no firmware for it. Maybe someone knows where to get one then I/you can try. The packed soft is only for Win and has just a driver and some dlls + TV soft for Win. Even DAB and FM is not possible out of the box. I am searching for software to get radio working too. If you know a good program help is welcomed.

Edit : found in a Raspi forum that the kernel must support the tuner

" ... That's quite a good find. Unfortunately, for those of us with R820T Rafael tuners, it still won't work, as the tuner is not supported by the 3.6.11 kernel at the moment. "

My Slackware shows 3.2.61 so I guess my stick will not work even with firmware.

 

[joachim]

here are some news  :

after updating my Slackware to 14.1.9 (I guess ; uname shows 3.2.64) the SDR first is not working.

After some research I found the new kernel supports the stick as DVB-T with a module so DVB-T is working. For SDR you have to unload the module first with modprobe -r. After reloading the module DVB-T is working again - very nice. Now I can do SDR and DVB-T with  the same stick.

 

[Eight Bit]

Will this work under Angstrom?

 

[joachim]

I tested with SZ 1.60 (not latest because MeTV no longer working) and had no success. Got error when trying to install software following the description " make not found". Also DVB-T not working. Maybe someone can try with last SZ version.

Or switch to Slackware and be happy.