LINRAD USER DATA BANK

Introduction
LINRAD is an early attempt to get into this new field of qualified signal processing,
it is NOT just a DSP package for EME enthusiasts.

It is a weak siganl receiving software and hardware package. Applications go from VLF to uWave,
From EME, to QRP, Amateur Radio contesting, Aurora, monitoring of beacons, spectrum analyses,
frequency measurement, and other applications.

LINRAD is using the LINUX Operating System as its platform. Most of us are not familiar with Linux, its many versions and flexibility. Recently, the basic installation of Linux on a standard PC has become quite straight forward. Most so-called distributions provide good instructions on how to go about it.

Linux is quite flexibility and powerful at times and it requires more understanding by the user. There is however a large amount of information available.

Most good things come for a price, either in real money or intellectual effort!

The target here is to report on experiences with LINUX, the installation of the operating system and the adaptation to the LINRAD hardware.

Linrad is using 2 or 3 cards depending on the user's preferences. The "normal" usage, with a conventional transceiver is with two cards.

It is only, when using the Delta 44 soundcard that one needs a second card for the audio output because the Delta 44 does not allow the input and output sampling rates to be different. (and some day the Delta 44 output will be fine for the tx side)

A video card is used for the processing of the graphics. Some, if not most of the problems during installation and setup are related to the type and manufacturer of these cards. It could be beneficial to research the internet or inquire other LINRAD users about the usage of potential audio and video cards, the audio cards in particular. ( Look for the availability of card drivers under LINUX )

Users of LINRAD might use different LINUX distributions and versions, different PC's with RAM and CPU's.

If one follows the work that has been done under Linux and by the community of LINUX users in many areas, it is clear that LINUX has many advantages, though it may require extra reading and effort for some of us, the new users of LINUX.

We like to report here on experiences. In order to do this we need input from users and potential users. That is YOU .

The presentation of the data is experimental at this point and as we move along it might change.

Leif's many pages, compiled as a Manual


VK2KU's paper on Linrad with a SDR-IQ


Contributors of Linrad User Data are listed here:

 You will find here descriptions, questions and answers by Leif, SM5BSZ

Call Linux Distro Notes
JR1EDE Debian ..
W3SZ (1) Red Hat 8.0 ..
DL4MEA Mandrake 8.0 ..
KB0VUK (1) Mandrake 8.0 ..
KB0VUK (2) Mandrake 8.0 ..
G0RUZ Red Hat 7.0 ..
KJ9I Red Hat 7.0 ..
WA6KBL Mandrake 9.0 ..
PE1LWT Red Hat 7.2 ..
Kanatha Mandrake 9.0 ..
OE8FNK Red Hat 8.0 ..
N1KI Red Hat 9.0 ..
KJ7F SuSe 8.2 ..
PA2DW Red Hat 9.0 ..
W3SZ (2) Red Hat 8.0 [ 1 ]
AB2RC Mandrake 9.2
DL2JA SuSe 9.2 ..
DK3BU SuSe 9.0 ..
K1JT Red Hat 9.0 [ 2 ]
KA1ZE Red Hat 8.0 ..
DF9CY SuSe 8.2 [ 2 ]
WA1ECF SuSe 9.2 Pro ..
ON5GN SuSe 9.1 [ 2 ]
DD6VSF Debian 3.1 ..
EA1ABZ Debian 3.0 [ 2 ]
PE1ITR Red Hat 9.0 [ 2 ]
G8RWG Red Hat 9.0 [ 2 ]
KJ7F(2) SuSe 9.2 [ 3 ]
KM5PO Red Hat 9.0 [ 2 ]
DL3IAE SuSe 9.2 Pro ..
SP8RHP Slackware 9.1 ..
IK4PMB Fedora C 3 ..
OH1ZAA Knoppix 3.81 [ 2 ]
ON4IY Knoppix 3.81 --
OH1ZAA (2) Knoppix 4.02 [ 2 ]
KK4VT Mandrake 10.0 --
SP8RHP Slackware 9.1 --
IK2DDR Mandrake 9.1 --
IK7EZN Mandrake 10.1 [ 2 ]
W3SZ (3) Windows XP [ 4 ]
K0IK WIN XP Pro SP2 [ 2 ]
N2KFC WINDOWS [ 2 ]
YB1AQV WINDOWS ME [ 2 ]
PE1ITR(2) CORE 3 [ 2 ]
SP2GGZ (2) WINDOWS ME [ 2 ]
IS0KYB Ubuntu 6.06 LTS [ 2 ]
ON7EH Mandriva 2006 [ 2 ]
Steven Bjork Red Hat 7 [ 2 ]
PP2KR Knoppix 5.0.1 [ 2 ]
SQ7IQI FreeBSD 6.2 [ 2 ]
KL7UW WIN2000 [ 2 ]

      [ 1 ] With Parameter Info.
       [ 2 ] Additional Linrad Application Notes included.
       [ 3 ] With Sound Card Mixer Settings.
      [ 4 ] Laptop application

Linux Distributions and Versions as per time of sending the data package..

We all like to hear about all your experiences so far and in particular about your setup details, such as:

Computer, CPU speed, motherboard, RAM
Video Card
Sound Card
Linux version
Receiver Frontend details
Mixing schemes
Filtering
LO's
HF/VHF receive experiences
Everything else important for new and potential users.

You can just type in your text and your input will appear as you typed it. TNX!

    Notes on how to retrieve some of this information:

      You can find the GCC VERSION by typing: "gcc -v" ( Gnu C Compiler -version }

      For SVGALIB, please type: "updatedb" then "locate svgalib" then look for svgalib-x.x.x and report x.x.x as version number as in 1.4.3

      KERNEL version is found by using...: "uname -a"

      For systems, running GNOME, try...: programs >> system>> system info to get kernel info as in 2.4.7.10

      It does not matter if one misses a few inputs! 

            NAME:               
        CALL:               
        E-Mail: (Optional)  
        URL: (Optional)     
   
    
        MOTHERBOARD:        
        CPU Type:           
        CPU Speed:          
        CPU Memory, Cache    ( If Known )
        RAM in MB:          
    
     
        SOUND CARD:         
        SOUND CHIPSET:      
        SOUND DRIVER(S):     ( select: OSS, ALSA or distributed )
        ADDITIONAL CARD1:   
        ADDITIONAL CARD2:   
        ALSA VERSION:        ( select ALSA Version if used )
     
    
        VIDEO CARD:         
        VIDEO CHIPSET, BUSS  ( if known )
        VIDEO DRIVER:        ( if known )
        VIDEO SINGLE/DUAL     ( single/dual monitor )
      
    
        LINUX DISTRIBUTION: 
        LINUX VERSION:      
        KERNEL VERSION:      ( uname -a ) or (..>>....>>system info )
        GCC VERSION:         ( gcc - v )
      
    
        SVGALIB VERSION:     ( svgalib-x.x.x )
      
    
        LINRAD VERSION:
      Please describe your additional receiving analog modules here: ( LINRAD, preamp, mixing, LO, standard receiver etc )

      Please add your Text here ( max 80 * 20 characters ):

      For Your Questions and Answers:

Archives:

Linrad related Links:

    KB0VUK with the latest Linrad contribution: linrad-01-01.i586.rpm, a LINRAD LINUX RPM

    Use your "SAVE LINK AS" in your browser to DOWNLOAD. This is not a REAL AUDIO File.

    This is the new RPM for linrad 01-00.
    It is for     Mandrake 8.x (although it SHOULD work for others, no guarantees.)
    Since this is a binary distribution, you no longer need gcc, nasm, or any of the development libraries installed.
    Performance won't be as good as if you compiled your own, but it should be easier,,, just type:

    [root@localhost]# rpm -i linrad-01-00.i586.rpm
[root@localhost]# cd /home/linrad
[root@localhost]# ./linrad
    and you should have linrad running!

    Run Linrad from a CD by KD7HGL

Linrad Pages:

Leif, SM5BSZ

On receivers:

Installation Related:

Linux/SDR related:

ALSA, Sound Card, Delta44:

Weak signal/DSP issues:

Linrad User Pages:

pa0zn##arrl.net [note "##"]