mirror of
https://github.com/idanoo/m2.nz.git
synced 2024-11-23 00:35:12 +00:00
46 lines
2.0 KiB
Markdown
46 lines
2.0 KiB
Markdown
+++
|
|
title = "Configuring an APRS receiver with an RTL-SDR and Direwolf"
|
|
tags = ["aprs", "amateur radio", "vhf", "direwolf"]
|
|
date = "2021-12-16"
|
|
+++
|
|
|
|
What is APRS? Automatic Packet Reporting System! Essentially a VHF radio sending out GPS location pings in the 2M ham band which can be seen at [aprs.fi](https://aprs.fi/). If you take a look at that link you will often see radiosondes and their reported data, weather stations as well as bunch of amateur operators transmitting data all over the world. Fascinating stuff.
|
|
|
|
I recently got my hands on an RTL-SDR v3 which claims much better accuracy and performance over previous models. Figured I'd give it a go receiving APRS and see what I could get. I did a bit of research and tested a few different packages but ended up settling with [Direwolf](https://github.com/wb2osz/direwolf). For those interested, I'm running this on an Ubuntu 20.04 LXC container with USB passthrough for the SDR itself.
|
|
|
|
Here is a run through of installing/configuring an APRS feeder with an SDR and Direwolf.
|
|
```shell
|
|
# Install required packages
|
|
apt-get install rtl-sdr direwolf
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
My `sdr.conf` file for reference with callsign and location blanked out.
|
|
```shell
|
|
root@aprs:~# cat /root/sdr.conf
|
|
ACHANNELS 1
|
|
ADEVICE null null
|
|
CHANNEL 0
|
|
|
|
MYCALL <CALLSIGN>-10
|
|
IGSERVER aunz.aprs2.net
|
|
IGLOGIN <CALLSIGN> 23018
|
|
|
|
MODEM 1200
|
|
AGWPORT 8000
|
|
KISSPORT 8001
|
|
|
|
PBEACON sendto=IG delay=0:30 every=10:00 symbol="/-" lat=-12.3456 long=12.3456 alt=in_meter comment="RTLSDR"
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
This is my `run.sh` script I currently launch in `screen` until I can get around to setting up a systemd service.
|
|
It simply gets the output from the APRS frequency and pipes it into direwolf launched with our above `sdr.conf` config.
|
|
|
|
```shell
|
|
#!/bin/bash
|
|
|
|
# -f 144.575M Tunes to 144.575 Mhz
|
|
# -g 20.7 is the gain value, rtl_test to view available options
|
|
|
|
rtl_fm -f 144.575M -s 22050 -g 20.7 | direwolf -c /root/sdr.conf -r 22050 -D 1 -B 1200 -
|
|
```
|
|
If you set up the LONG/LAT coords properly, you should be able to view your home station on [aprs.fi](https://aprs.fi/)! |