GNU Radio Installation and Setup Guide

Installing GNU Radio is a straightforward process that requires careful attention to detail.

First, you'll need to install the necessary dependencies, including the GNU Radio package itself, as well as the USRP hardware drivers.

The GNU Radio package is available for download on the official GNU Radio website, and can be installed using the package manager of your choice.

The installation process typically involves a series of commands, including the installation of the GNU Radio package and the USRP hardware drivers.

To ensure a successful installation, it's essential to follow the instructions carefully and verify that all dependencies are installed correctly.

You can verify the installation by running the GNU Radio console application, which provides a command-line interface for working with GNU Radio.

The console application allows you to execute GNU Radio code and test your installation.

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For Ubuntu users, installing GNU Radio is a straightforward process that involves using Personal Package Archives (PPAs) on launchpad.net. Be sure to uninstall any previously installed versions first.

You can also install GNU Radio using prebuilt binaries, which is the recommended method for most platforms. For Debian, Ubuntu, and derivatives, you can use a specific command to install the latest version.

If you're using a different operating system or version, you can try building GNU Radio from source code. This process is detailed in the Installing From Source instructions.

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If you're on Ubuntu, you can install the latest builds of GNU Radio from PPAs on launchpad.net.

Before installing, make sure to uninstall any previously installed versions of gnuradio.

For Debian, Ubuntu, and their derivatives, you can install GNU Radio using available binary package distributions.

The recommended way to install GNU Radio on most platforms is using available binary package distributions.

To do this, consult your distribution information to obtain the version of GNU Radio which is included.

For other operating systems and versions, check the Quick Start guide.

If you're feeling adventurous, you can try building GNU Radio from source code.

Complete instructions for building GNU Radio from source code can be found in Installing From Source.

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PyBOMBS is no longer recommended for installing modern versions of GNU Radio.

In the past, we used PyBOMBS to install GNU Radio, but it's now outdated.

We recommend exploring alternative installation methods for modern versions of GNU Radio.

GNU Radio is a signal processing package and part of the GNU Project, distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). It's written entirely in C++ and has user tools like GNU Radio Companion written in Python.

The GNU Radio software provides a framework to build and run software radio or signal-processing applications, known as flowgraphs, which are a series of signal processing blocks connected together. These flowgraphs can be written in either C++ or Python.

First published in 2001, GNU Radio is an official GNU package initiated by philanthropist John Gilmore with a $320,000 funding.

GNU Radio is a powerful software-defined radio system that provides a framework for building and running signal-processing applications. It's a key feature of reconfigurability that allows a single, general-purpose radio to be used as the radio front-end, with the signal-processing software handling the processing specific to the radio application.

The GNU Radio applications are known as "flowgraphs", which are a series of signal processing blocks connected together to describe a data flow. These flowgraphs can be written in either C++ or Python.

The GNU Radio infrastructure is written entirely in C++, and many of the user tools are written in Python. This allows for a wide range of possibilities for building and customizing signal-processing applications.

GNU Radio is a signal processing package and part of the GNU Project, distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). Most of the project code is copyrighted by the Free Software Foundation.

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GNU Radio was first published in 2001 as an official GNU package, initiated by philanthropist John Gilmore with a funding of $320,000 (US) for code creation and project-management duties.

The project began as a fork of the Pspectra code developed by the SpectrumWare project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 2004, a complete rewrite of GNU Radio was completed, leaving no original Pspectra code.

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Matt Ettus joined the project as one of the first developers and created the Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) to provide a hardware platform for use with the GNU Radio software. This innovation opened up new possibilities for the project.

In 2004, Matt founded Ettus Research LLC and started selling USRPs that worked with GNU Radio, making it easier for users to get started.

Eric Blossom was the first Project Lead, but he stepped down in September 2010 and was replaced by Tom Rondeau.

The GNU Radio Companion is a graphical UI used to develop GNU Radio applications.

It was developed by Josh Blum during his studies at Johns Hopkins University from 2006 to 2007. GRC is effectively a Python code-generation tool that generates Python code when a flowgraph is compiled.

GRC generates Python code that creates the desired graphical user interface (GUI) windows and widgets, and creates and connects the blocks in the flowgraph. This allows for efficient development and testing of GNU Radio applications.

GRC supports GUI creation using the Qt toolkit.

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GNU Radio's plotting and data visualization capabilities are a major strength of the platform. It provides many common plotting and data visualization data sinks, including FFT displays, symbol constellation diagrams, and scope displays.

These are commonly used both for debugging radio applications and as the user-interface to a final application. They're incredibly useful for getting a visual representation of your data, and can be a huge time-saver when troubleshooting issues.

You can use GNU Radio with a variety of operating systems, including Linux, macOS, and Windows. This makes it a great choice for amateur radio enthusiasts who may be working on different platforms.

Here are some of the common types of plots you can create with GNU Radio:

These plots can be used for a variety of purposes, from debugging your radio application to creating a user-friendly interface for your final application. They're an essential part of any radio development workflow.

If you're using GNU Radio and gr-iio, you'll need to install some additional packages. You'll need bison, flex, cmake, git, and libgmp-dev if you didn't install libiio from source.

For GNU Radio 3.7+ to enable python support, you'll need swig.

The GNU Radio repository has several sample flow graphs that use the FMCOMMS-2/3/4 IIO blocks, located in the “iio-example” folder.

Here are the required packages for GNU Radio and gr-iio:

Meshtastic is a project that utilizes GNU Radio to decode and visualize Meshtastic messages. You can open the Meshtastic_US_allPresets.grc file in GNU Radio Companion to visualize Meshtastic on preset channels.

To do this, you'll need to have GNU Radio Companion open and then navigate to File > Open, selecting the Meshtastic_US_allPresets.grc file. This will allow you to see the LongFast channel, zoomed in to observe the waterfall in more detail.

If you have a less expensive SDR, you can open one of the other RX files that targets a narrower range of frequencies, for example Meshtastic_US_62KHz_RTLSDR.grc for the RTL-SDR v4.

If you want to get rid of the center spike in received RF energy, you can either install the gr-correctiq plugin or re-tune off the center frequency of the channel you want to observe.

Here are the two GRC scripts mentioned in the article, modified to only look at a single channel:

Building Meshtastic into a system is a great way to unlock its full potential. The Meshtastic_SDR project by Josh Conway is a fantastic resource for decoding Meshtastic signals.

To get started, you'll need to clone the project to your Pi by running the following Terminal commands. This will give you access to the necessary files and tools for building Meshtastic into GNU Radio.

Renaming the files to end in .grc will allow you to open them up in GNU Radio Companion, a powerful tool for working with Meshtastic signals.

You can visualize Meshtastic on preset channels using GNU Radio Companion. Open GNU Radio Companion and navigate to File > Open, then select the file ~/Downloads/meshtastic_sdr/gnuradio scripts/RX/Meshtastic_US_allPresets.grc.

If you have a less expensive/fancy SDR, you can open one of the other RX files that targets a narrower range of frequencies, such as Meshtastic_US_62KHz_RTLSDR.grc for the RTL-SDR v4.

To filter down the HackRF Source and view the LongFast channel, use a Rational Resampler. This will allow you to zoom in on the waterfall in more detail.

You can also use the gr-correctiq plugin to get rid of the center spike in received RF energy, or re-tune off the center frequency of the channel you want to observe.

Here are the GRC scripts that the author used to test Meshtastic on a single channel:

Debugging and setup can be a challenge, especially when working with GNU Radio. If you're experiencing trouble launching GNU Radio's GUI, try running pip install numpy==1.26.4 to force-install an older version of numpy.

If you're still having trouble, try launching GNU Radio Companion from the command line with gnuradio-companion. This can help you troubleshoot any issues.

To ensure a smooth setup process, make sure you've installed the necessary dependencies, including numpy, and that you've used the correct path in the cmake command when compiling and installing the lora_sdr module.

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Setting up your Raspberry Pi for SDR work is a breeze. You can install GNU Radio, a powerful tool for SDR, by opening the Terminal and running the command.

The installation is easy since GNU Radio is in the official Apt repositories. You can launch GNU Radio's GUI by going to Pi menu > Programming > GNU Radio Companion. If you get an error window, you may need to force-install an older version of numpy by running pip install numpy==1.26.4.

If you're still having trouble launching GNU Radio Companion, try launching it from the command line with gnuradio-companion. This can help resolve any issues.

Debugging Paths can be a real challenge, especially when working with complex software like GNU Radio. Make sure you used the correct path in the cmake .. -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=[path here] command when compiling and installing the lora_sdr module.

If you're having trouble uninstalling the library, try running the commands in the build directory, cd ~/Downloads/gr-lora_sdr/build, and then re-create the build directory and re-run the install commands.

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Sometimes, permissions issues can cause problems with device identification, like when using a HackRF One with GNU Radio. Try running lsusb to ensure you can see the device, and if not, try running SoapySDRUtil with sudo to see if that resolves the issue.

Rebooting often fixes the issue, but if not, take a closer look at your bus and processing workload to see if it's being overwhelmed by high sample rates or processing demands.

For 3.7, certain binary installs of GNU Radio will recommend you include python bindings in a competing folder to GNU Radio's built-in blocks.

This may require you to manually copy blocks between the /usr/lib and /usr/local/lib folders.

If you receive an import error for iio_swig, this is likely the case.

To remedy this, move the blocks between the necessary folders.

This is due to the iio python blocks being placed in the gnuradio subfolder.

For 3.8, make sure the gr-iio swig interface is on your PYTHONPATH.

Otherwise, you will get import errors in python.

The common command to add the path is (depending on OS and install location):

The added path is the location of the newly installed iio folder.

You'll need to add this path to your system's environment variables.

Next, add the following to your .bashrc file:

Then, in Ubuntu, source the file with the command.

The FMCOMMS-2 and PlutoSDR blocks are two essential components of GNU Radio, allowing for flexible and efficient signal processing.

The FMCOMMS-2 block is a versatile IIO block that can work with multiple boards, including the AD-FMCOMMS[234], ADRV9361, ADRV9364, ADRV9363, and ARRADIO boards. It can stream samples over the IP network or USB, making it a faster option when possible.

To use the FMCOMMS-2 block, you can set the "IIO context URI" parameter to the IP address of the target board, allowing for remote streaming of samples. This is a preferred method when possible, as it takes advantage of the faster IP network.

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The FMCOMMS-2 block can run over the IP network or USB, but it's worth noting that the target board may not have the same processing power as your PC.

The PlutoSDR block offers a range of configuration options, including RF Bandwidth, Sample Rate, and LO Frequency, which can be used to configure the RX and TX analog filters.

Here's a breakdown of the key configuration options for the PlutoSDR block:

The PlutoSDR block also offers configuration options for the TX side, including RF Port Select, Attenuation, and Cyclic mode.

GNU Radio 3.8 requires a non-master branch, specifically upgrade-3.8, due to its limited mainstream support across package managers.

To get GNU Radio 3.8+, you'll need to consult the GNU Radio wiki.

Building gr-iio from source is necessary in 3.8+ versions, and it requires liborc-dev.

For GNU Radio 3.7, you can install it directly from the package management on Ubuntu 16.04 or newer. This will ensure compatibility with the gr-iio package built from source.

To get the latest and most feature-complete work, it's recommended to build libiio and gr-iio from the latest GitHub sources, even if they're available from the package management.

You won't need to take any additional steps for GNU Radio 3.8.2.

GNU Radio 3.8 is not fully mainstream across package managers, so you'll need to take a specific step to get it working.

To get GNU Radio 3.8+, you'll need to consult the GNU Radio wiki, which recommends using a non-master branch called upgrade-3.8.

You'll also need to install liborc-dev for gr-iio in 3.8+.

To build and install gr-iio from source, you can follow the instructions provided by the GNU Radio wiki.

If you're using a Kuiper version, GNU Radio 3.8.2 is already installed by default.

However, if you need to install it manually, you can do so by following the instructions for GNU Radio 3.8.2, which involve modifying the cmake command for the gr-iio configuration.