RTL TCP - Githubissues

gaspar1987 commented 4 years ago

Hello, I'd like to know how we use your tcp. To activate the software. Thank you for giving me more information on this to help me solve the problem. Thank you.

f4exb commented 4 years ago

You cannot use RTL-SDR via TCP it has to be connected to your system via USB. There are no plans to have RTL-TCP supported... period.

dterweij commented 4 years ago

Oh that is pitty. My RTL_SDR is plugged in at the PC located in the attic. Close to the antenna (3 meters of cable). 90% of all tools I do use is over RTL_TCP connection to my PC downstairs. Please try to plan it... I am not planning to move the equipment from attic to downstairs. Period :)

f4exb commented 4 years ago

Expanding the "period"... This issue was closed for two good reasons:

Streaming real time data at relatively fast rate over TCP is a bad idea so I will not promote it
SDRangel has its own options for remote operation that use UDP and FEC redundancy for protection against block loss. Please check these plugins:
- https://github.com/f4exb/sdrangel/blob/master/plugins/channelrx/remotesink/readme.md (sender side)
- https://github.com/f4exb/sdrangel/blob/master/plugins/samplesource/remoteinput/readme.md (receiver side)

In addition there is a server flavor of SDRangel that lets you run it on a RPi4 (for example) as a headless server. There are Docker images in Docker hub to just do that: https://hub.docker.com/r/f4exb06/sdrangelsrv The sdrangel-docker ancillary project: https://github.com/f4exb/sdrangel-docker contains more info about running SDRangel in Docker.

In a server configuration the SDRangel instance can be controlled with the REST API over http (here TCP is what we need: real time is unimportant but we need the commands to be securely addressed). There is a web application to do that interactively: https://github.com/f4exb/sdrangelcli (Docker images in the same Docker Hub as above). You can also develop your own interface.

Myself I have a few remote receivers using this configuration some just in the back of my armchair some 1 km away over WiFi and this is working great.

So really no reason to support RTL TCP.

synthead commented 3 years ago

I would really like to see rtl_tcp support, even if there are other options :+1:

betzburger commented 2 years ago

It looks like sdrangel is a really nice program with many features and I would love to try it. My Raspberry 4 is in the attic and the only way to use it by now is to send the data with rtl_tcp to the network and take the data back from the network with gqrx. This is how I do at the moment. For me (sorry) it seems it is super complicated to do the same with sdrangel / sdrangelsrv. At least I can't find any easy to follow step-by-step instruction. If there is some it would be fantastic.

icedream commented 2 years ago

The problem I currently have with this is I use a range of tools to process data via the network, all using RTL-TCP. SDRangel is one of the very few apps that decidedly do not cooperate with this protocol and would require exclusivity over the receiving device to set up a server, stopping the functionality of all other apps the moment I would migrate to its solution.

If there were a way to at least set up a server that can take RTL-TCP via localhost and convert it to something SDRangel can work with more efficiently, I'd have less trouble using it. But as of right now this effectively means I can't use SDRangel even if I really want to do so.

f4exb commented 2 years ago

I have zero motivation to write a plugin for rtl-tcp but of course you are welcome to contribute

c3kkos commented 1 year ago

Hi there, i agree with you, f4exb, regarding the rtl_tcp option. too high bandwidth is required to transfer raw data.

SO my aim is to use your remote sink but i don't know how to use it. Must i compile it from a git clone?

i already tried with your sdrdaemon but no luck. i cant get it working (no connect)

srcejon commented 1 year ago

Whether you use UDP or TCP isn't really going to change the bandwidth requirement.

To reduce the bandwidth, lower sample rate as much as possible and make sure you're using 8-bit transfers.

I have been messing around with a few ways of supporting compressed IQ streams in Remote TCP Sink and Input plugins, but, not ready yet.

c3kkos commented 1 year ago

The only srv i know that has data compression is spyserver. Closed source. YET it works with sdr++ but with severe limitations in bandwidth

f4exb / sdrangel

RTL TCP #456