Mar 12
Please see this post for the latest details on v1.10.
So there I am, minding my own business at 2am or so my time, tuning across 8 MHz with SdrDx using my 20 meter inverted vee, and I see a RTTY signal. Ever the optimist, I fire up the Jack server (this connects the audio output of one application on the Mac to the input of another application), then an old version of fldigi I have lying around, “jack” them together, and lo and behold, the signal is unencrypted, 45 baud 170 Hz shift RTTY. That was startling enough, but the signal turns out to be a news feed, something I haven’t seen on the shortwave bands in at least ten, perhaps as much as twenty, years.
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I’ve been working on developing OSX/Mac and Windows versions of SdrDx, an application originally based upon CuteSDR, Moe Wheatly’s open source application that supported RFSPACE software defined radios.
At this time, SdrDx for OSX and Windows supports RFSPACE, FunCube Pro, Andrus MK1.5, AFEDRI, FunCube Pro Plus, Peaberry, and Softrock SDR receivers.
SdrDx can be made to support any SDR with a soundcard interface with a little scripting work; both the Peaberry and Softrock support demonstrate this mechanism.
SdrDx (running on the Mac) is shown to the right. SdrDx is a closed-source, free application with many additional features above and beyond CuteSDR, and no longer depends upon the CuteSDR codebase.
SdrDx, in combination with your SDR, is an extremely powerful receiver. Reception, recording, playback, analysis, processing — it’s all there, and it’s all been made as easy to use as possible. Extensive documentation covers every aspect of operating the software, as well as providing numerous examples and images to help you along. If you’re an expert radio user, you’re sure to settle right in. If you’re still learning, you can look forward to software that lets your capabilities grow with your knowledge.
You can download the executable application(s) appropriate to your OS (OSX or Windows) and the SDR-IQ TCP server for your OS (if you have an SDR-IQ and don’t already have a server) below. Remember, you MUST have a network server application installed to support the SDR-IQ. These are available in the list of downloads below. Other SDR types do not require a server application.
The main application zip file will un-compress to a folder, inside which you will find the SdrDx application, and some other files. Please read the documentation carefully.
The VFO Suite application is an accessory for SdrDx that provides many independent VFOs that each track frequency, mode, waterfall and spectrum state, and more. Each VFO may optionally be limited so that it will not track outside a band, so you can, for instance, set up a VFO that lets you tune the 20m amateur band, but not outside it. VFO Suite connects to SdrDx via TCP, so it can run on any machine with a TCP connection to the machine running SdrDx, including, of course, on the same machine.
Note to PC users: Run SdrDx and VFO Suite out of the folders I supply them in. Don’t stick the executables somewhere else. That way lies madness. MaDnEsS!
Current Version and related downloads
Changes
Please refer to this page.
System Requirements
SdrDx for the Mac requires an Intel CPU, running Leopard 10.5.8 or later.
So far, I have numerous third-party reports of SdrDx working under 10.5, 10.6, and 10.7.
And of course it requires an SDR as well if you want to receive live, although it can play back pre-recorded files without an SDR; in the specific case of the SDR-IQ, you’ll need a server application that puts the SDR-IQ on the network. SdrDx’s support of RFSPACE SDRs is only via network connections, it does not directly interface with the USB connection of the SDR-IQ.
For the Mac, I am presently designing and testing and compiling under OS X 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard.)
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SdrDx Beta for the PC requires an Intel CPU, running Windows XP or (possibly) a later version of the OS. It requires an RFSPACE SDR, AFEDRI, Andrus MK1.5, FUNcube Dongle, Soundcard-based SDR, or pre-recorded RF files as well; in the specific case of the SDR-IQ, you’ll need a server application that puts the SDR-IQ on the network. SdrDx handles the RFSPACE SDRs via the network, it does not directly interface with them via USB.
For Windows, I am presently designing, testing, and compiling under Windows XP (in a VM.)
The FT-2000 is a superb radio, one of its key features being a general-coverage receiver suitable for shortwave listening.
Unfortunately, just “out of the box”, it isn’t really set up to make this convenient. Following are some suggestions or tips that make the radio a lot more enjoyable to use for SWL purposes.
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