Windows Free?

[k1fm]

Hello,

I realize that this is not strictly related to the hardware itself however has anybody been able to use the Peaberry without MS Windows?
I would like to buy a kit but the prospect of having to use it under Windows kills my enthusiasm. (I currently use HDSDR with Afedri SDR or an RTL2832U under OSX).

73's
Alain

[AE9RB]

My desktop is not Windows so I run HDSDR under a VM. But check out Quisk, ghpsdr3, and DSP Radio. The Peaberry hardware was designed to be compatible with any OS. Avoiding the Microsoft tax will become easier as more folks support the development efforts on other operating systems.

[Paul NT7U]

I came across a YouTube video of a Peaberry v1 being used with a MacBook under OSX (link below). From what David told me OSX and Linux have no issues with detecting and swiftly setting up the USB ports on the Peaberry v2. I have the v2 kit but it will be another week at least before I have two hands working on building it (recovering from a recent surgery). Once I do I intend to operate it using OSX, Linux, and Windoze. Perhaps I will post a YouTube video of it running on all three after the fact.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQTVc4Ch51I

Yes, not having to use Windoze is a goal of many people including me. Too bad that most develop for it primarily but perhaps that will change. Perhaps the change is already happening as there are more and more cross-platform projects.

73, Paul NT7U

[hansvi]

At home, I exclusively use Linux out of principle. I have a Peaberry V1 and a V2 (I love them both) and I've been using Quisk, GnuRadio, fldigi, linrad, hamlib, usbsoftrock and WSPR (just got that one working). I'm more soft- than hardware minded in expertise, and I fully intend to make my Peaberries run well under Linux. If you have any problems getting it working, I'm willing to offer help (as far as I can). Just post a message, and if I'm in a period where I don't regularly check the forum, pm me. Sometimes these things require some software changes to make it work, but the great thing about open source is that you can (good luck making that paddle work with HDSRD - maybe more begging will work ).

I'm still looking for a great generic SDR app for Linux though. Quisk is fine, and it's easy to hack, but it's not as slick as HDSDR.

73,
Hans - ON8VQ

[jbike]

How about a version of qtradio? I compiled this for ubuntu a few years ago for the softrock ensemble 2. The trouble is that I needed to install a bunch of packages from synaptic (the universal repo) in addition to compiling several from source. It was a pain and If I did not make any mistakes, took an hour. With Ubuntu we could zip it all up in what's called a PPA, or personal package archive and make it easy for everyone! Or better yet, compile a .deb with all the dependencies satisfied. Do you have the time/ skills to pull this off? It would make life easy for folks to try the radio. Configuring the server is a bit more difficult- I did both. Jbike

[hansvi]

How about a version of qtradio?

I have come across qtradio a while ago (briefly), but as I understood it, it is receive-only. Is that correct? If if has a client/server, RX/TX capability, that would be extremely interesting.

Do you have the time/ skills to pull this off? It would make life easy for folks to try the radio. Configuring the server is a bit more difficult- I did both. Jbike

I've never created a PPA, and lately I have returned to Debian from Ubuntu. That said, there are plenty of partitions on my PC and can always re-install it on one. Or maybe go VM.
I'm definitely willing to give it a try.

I must admit that ever since I built two Peaberries, I've been kind of addicted to solder fumes, constantly looking to score a challenging SMD build. Recently I bought a PCB for a N2PK VNA, and I'm currently checking dealers for parts. So my time is a bit divided.

[R2AEE]

How about a version of qtradio?

I have come across qtradio a while ago (briefly), but as I understood it, it is receive-only. Is that correct? If if has a client/server, RX/TX capability, that would be extremely interesting.

It has ability to transmit and I have successfully used it with peaberry (althohgh it required a bit patching). For amd64 you can get it from my repo http://repo.yume.ru/unstable/ it's named ghpsdr3rxtx.

[to_vinca]

I wonder if folks might find this useful:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/sof ... pics/77020

That post describes and includes the code for a little linux "expect" script I wrote to overcome the shortcomings of HDSDR running in WINE in L-Ubuntu 12.04. It uses HDSDR's CAT interface to establish communication between HDSDR's graphical interface for tuning and the linux command line utility, "usbsoftrock." That is the well known utility that can control an Si570 in a softrock (or similar?) SDR. I use it with a softrock. I wonder if Peaberry users would find it helpful.

In Linux, I find myself using quisk to quickly check the bands for activity using quisk's convenient push-buttons. Then, when I want to tune a particularly difficult signal, I run HDSDR with the above script. HDSDR's audio filter features are extraordinary. I often use the manual, multiple notch filters to remove strong carriers (I've used maybe 5 or 6 notches at once...never all 10, yet...). This combination works well enough that I have not booted windows (for my swl hobby) for months.

[hansvi]

More choices is always a good thing, but has this already been tested with a Peaberry? As I understand it, the RXTX Ensemble uses the sound card of the PC. The audio from the Peaberry comes from USB so you may be stuck with the same USB problem. Except if the USB audio part is handled by Linux, while wine connects to the Alsa device for audio.

ps- An interesting observation is that the noise floor seems to be a bit lower when running in L-Ubuntu 12.04 than when running in Windows XP on the same pc hardware (my pc is set up for dual-boot). I wonder if Windows may be exercising peripheral hardware (video, usb, keyboard, etc. ...) in a way that produces more spurious RF than Linux does. Curious...

I seriously doubt that. Either it's a wrong impression, or there may be some processing steps in the sound driver (like audio gain setting) that are different.

[to_vinca]

No, this has not yet been tested with Peaberry AFAIK. In my case, with the softrock ensemble, I use an external usb "soundcard," a soundblaster x-fi device. Ubuntu and Wine cooperate nicely with respect to sharing sound samples, with the native linux usb soundblaster driver in control of the usb sound device. HDSDR running in WINE sees the audio ports discovered by the linux sound drivers and allows the user to configure HDSDR to use them. So, you asked exactly the right question. I don't know the answer and don't own a Peaberry (yet), but it seemed like something an ambitious Peaberry user might be interested in tinkering with. If sound and control are both passing through the same usb port, but the Peaberry sound ports are all recognized by linux drivers as they are with my softrock setup, and usbsoftrock can control the Si570 in the Peaberry as it does with a softrock, then perhaps the little script solves the HDSDR tuning problem for Peaberry as its does for a softrock.

With respect to the casual observation of noise, sound driver built-in defaults could certainly affect the impression. Calibrated testing would be useful. However, it also seems likely there must be a difference (+ or - ?) in noise behavior because Linux hardware drivers are all unique to linux and not derived from windows code. It is very clear that disk and NIC activity is different in Linux, from observation of activity lights, for example. More specifically, while running quisk or hdsdr in linux, disk accesses are nil unless Ubuntu happens to start an auto-update, whereas windows always seems to exercising the disk. That suggests to me the possibility of more or less noise propagating through power and ground or radiating to the radio front end, depending on OS.