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30 Frequently Asked Questions
⚠️ Experimental Software Warningtetra-bluestation is highly experimental software.
Please check back regularly, as features get added very quickly and other topics might be covered.
A free and open-source TETRA base station software stack for experimentation and research. See the Introduction for a full description, and the What works / Not functional sections there for the current feature status.
No. See the warning on the Home page.
Yes. TETRAPack is currently implemented via the Brew link protocol, but theoretically any service that implements that procotol would support it.
See the hardware compatibility table on the Requirements page. The short rule: only SDRs with reliable full-duplex hardware timestamping are supported.
The PlutoSDR is now supported via a firmware mod that adds hardware timestamping. See the Dependencies and Building section for details on how to apply it.
Other devices in this family (Pluto+, LibreSDR, ZynqSDR, OpenSourceSDRLab 7010/7020) are not supported at this time. They require a firmware mod that enables reliable hardware timestamping, but no such mod has been identified for these devices yet. This may change in the future. See Requirements for details and a reference link.
No. The HackRF is half-duplex — it cannot transmit and receive at the same time, which a TETRA base station must do. This is a fundamental hardware limitation.
Depends on your needs: if you plan to use this stack on a "hotspot" configuration, you probably won't need more than what the SDR puts out (between 0 and 10dBm depending on hardware).
If you want to create a more powerful base station to cover a larger area, please read the Miscellaneous section about challenges of amplifying a TETRA (Pi/4 DQPSK) signal.
An SWR/Power meter is not enough! You need proper measuring equipment to make sure your signal is "clean". Again, refer to the Miscellaneous section.
Yes — a Raspberry Pi 4 (2 GB) has been confirmed to work. See Requirements for minimum specs and configuration tips (real-time scheduling, SD card speed, etc.). You might be able to get away with lower-spec hardware (some users have reported Bluestation running well on Pi3 and Zero 2W), but as this software grows, expect the requirements to increase as well.
BlueStation officialy aims to support Pi5, so if in the future the compute loads turns out to be too heavy, Pi4 support might have to be dropped.
All install procedures have been written with Debian 13 "Trixie" - Raspberry Pi OS in mind.
No. The software is evolving too fast for packaged images to stay useful. You need to build from source on a Debian-based system — see Dependencies and Building.
Use the main upstream repository for the most stable experience. Forks exist for experimental features, and are used by the dev team to create pull requests to the upstream repository.
At this stage, group calls are supported. Full Duplex is being worked on.
Yes.
Not yet. It is on the roadmap, but we're currently focused on stability and bugfixes with the current feature set.
Copy the example config and follow the Configuration page. That page lists the minimum fields you must change and explains every parameter.
Transmitting requires authorization. You are solely responsible for compliance. See the Licensing and Regulatory Compliance section on the Requirements page.
Join the community Telegram group: https://t.me/+ZhT3bvs_LHUwNmQ0
It's the best place for quick questions, setup help, and general discussion.
- Check the open issues to see if it's already reported.
- Make sure you are running the latest released build before opening an issue. The current build level is displayed when Bluestation starts.
- Open a new issue using the provided issue template in the repository and fill it out as completely as possible. Include the log file with your report. Issues without enough detail are hard to act on and may be deferred.
See Contributions, Forks and Issues for more on the contribution and issue process.