SDR-Waterfall2Img - universal SDR Waterfall Image Saver.

Usage

Application is intended to process and save data from different SDR receiver and save it in the waterfall format.

Features:

• Unlimited (almost) waterfall size and lots of parameters to tune
• Support of different SDR receivers by using vendor neutral SoapySDR API
• Cross platform, works anywhere, from Windows and OSX to Raspberry Pi

Screenshots

Command line examples

Get receiver info (name, available gains, etc)

python3 info.py

Use SDRplay

python3 wf2img.py --sdr=sdrplay --f=101000000 --sr=8000000 --sdrgain="IFGR:30;RFGR:2" --average=64

Use RTLSDR

python3 wf2img.py --sdr=rtlsdr --imagewidth=1024 --sr=2048000 --f=122000000 --average=32 --sdrgain="TUNER:40"

(Important: image width should be power of 2: 512, 1024, 2048, etc)

On some computers additional parameters may be required:

python3 wf2img.py --sdr="driver=rtlsdr,rtl=1" --imagewidth=1024 --sr=2048000 --f=122000000 --average=32 --sdrgain="TUNER:40"

Use HackRF

python3 wf2img.py --sdr=hackrf --imagewidth=4096 --sr=20000000 --f=127000000 --average=64 --sdrgain="AMP:0;LNA:37;VGA:24"

Recording in the specified time

python3 wf2img.py --sdr=rtlsdr --average=4 --f=101000000 --tStart="18:40" --tEnd="19:00" or python3 wf2img.py --sdr=rtlsdr --average=4 --f=101000000 --tStart="18:40" --tLimit=1200

Batch processing (several recordings in different times)

python3 wf2img.py --sdr=rtlsdr --average=4 --batch="122000000;16:18;16:19;126000000;16:20;16:21"

Save IQ (WAV)

python3 wf2img.py --sdr=sdrplay --f=101000000 --sr=8000000 --sdrgain="IFGR:30;RFGR:2" --saveIQ=1 --saveWaterfall=0

Save IQ + Waterfall (not recommended on weak computers like Raspberry Pi)

python3 wf2img.py --sdr=sdrplay --f=101000000 --sr=8000000 --sdrgain="IFGR:30;RFGR:2" --saveIQ=1 --saveWaterfall=1

Convert IQ WAV to Waterfall image

python wav2img.py --average=4 --imagewidth=2048 --input=HDSDR_20171018_222123Z_122000kHz_RF.wav

(Important: image width should be power of 2: 512, 1024, 2048, etc)

Installation and requirements

Windows install:

• Install Python 3 from https://www.python.org/downloads/ (I used C:\Python3 folder)

• Run C:\Python3\Scripts\pip.exe install pillow numpy

• Install SoapySDR binaries. Easiest way - to install Pothos Core, it contains all binaries: https://github.com/pothosware/PothosCore/wiki/Downloads

• Download and unpack SDR-Waterfall2Img from this page

• Run and enjoy

Raspberry Pi:

sudo apt-get update

Install SoapySDR sudo apt-get install python-dev swig git clone https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR.git

Follow the instructions: https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki/BuildGuide

sudo pip-3.2 install pillow numpy git clone https://github.com/dmitryelj/SDR-Waterfall2Img.git

OSX:

Build SoapySDR: git clone https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR.git

Follow the instructions: https://github.com/pothosware/SoapySDR/wiki/BuildGuide

sudo pip-3.2 install pillow numpy git clone https://github.com/dmitryelj/SDR-Waterfall2Img.git

Optional: If the app is not working with "soapysdr not found" error, copy SoapySDR python libraries from 'osx' or "SoapySDR/build" subfolder to the folder script