Files
intercept/utils/sdr/rtlsdr.py
Smittix de3f972aa2 fix: detect bias-t support before passing -T to rtl_sdr/rtl_fm
Stock rtl-sdr packages don't support the -T bias-tee flag (only
RTL-SDR Blog builds do). Passing -T to stock rtl_sdr causes an
immediate exit, breaking meteor scatter and waterfall modes.

Now probes the tool's --help output before adding -T, with a regex
that avoids false-matching "DVB-T" in the description text.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-03-02 21:52:54 +00:00

331 lines
10 KiB
Python

"""
RTL-SDR command builder implementation.
Uses native rtl_* tools (rtl_fm, rtl_433) and dump1090 for maximum compatibility
with existing RTL-SDR installations. No SoapySDR dependency required.
"""
from __future__ import annotations
import logging
import re
import subprocess
from typing import Optional
from .base import CommandBuilder, SDRCapabilities, SDRDevice, SDRType
from utils.dependencies import get_tool_path
logger = logging.getLogger('intercept.sdr.rtlsdr')
def _rtl_fm_demod_mode(modulation: str) -> str:
"""Map app/UI modulation names to rtl_fm demod tokens."""
mod = str(modulation or '').lower().strip()
return 'wbfm' if mod == 'wfm' else mod
def _rtl_tool_supports_bias_t(tool_path: str) -> bool:
"""Check if an rtl_* tool (rtl_fm, rtl_sdr) supports the -T bias-tee flag.
The -T flag is only available in RTL-SDR Blog builds, not in stock
rtl-sdr packages shipped by most distros.
"""
try:
result = subprocess.run(
[tool_path, '--help'],
capture_output=True,
text=True,
timeout=5
)
help_text = result.stdout + result.stderr
# Match "-T" as a CLI flag (e.g. "[-T]" or "-T enable bias"),
# not as part of "DVB-T" or similar text.
return bool(re.search(r'(?<!\w)-T\b', help_text))
except Exception as e:
logger.warning(f"Could not detect bias-t support for {tool_path}: {e}")
return False
def _get_dump1090_bias_t_flag(dump1090_path: str) -> Optional[str]:
"""Detect the correct bias-t flag for the installed dump1090 variant.
Different dump1090 forks use different flags:
- dump1090-fa, readsb: --enable-biast (no hyphen before 't')
- dump1090-mutability, original dump1090: no bias-t support
Returns the correct flag string or None if bias-t is not supported.
"""
try:
result = subprocess.run(
[dump1090_path, '--help'],
capture_output=True,
text=True,
timeout=5
)
help_text = result.stdout + result.stderr
# Check for dump1090-fa/readsb style flag (no hyphen)
if '--enable-biast' in help_text:
return '--enable-biast'
# No bias-t support found
return None
except Exception as e:
logger.warning(f"Could not detect dump1090 bias-t support: {e}")
return None
class RTLSDRCommandBuilder(CommandBuilder):
"""RTL-SDR command builder using native rtl_* tools."""
CAPABILITIES = SDRCapabilities(
sdr_type=SDRType.RTL_SDR,
freq_min_mhz=24.0,
freq_max_mhz=1766.0,
gain_min=0.0,
gain_max=49.6,
sample_rates=[250000, 1024000, 1800000, 2048000, 2400000],
supports_bias_t=True,
supports_ppm=True,
tx_capable=False
)
def _get_device_arg(self, device: SDRDevice) -> str:
"""Get device argument for rtl_* tools.
Returns rtl_tcp connection string for network devices,
or device index for local devices.
"""
if device.is_network:
return f"rtl_tcp:{device.rtl_tcp_host}:{device.rtl_tcp_port}"
return str(device.index)
def build_fm_demod_command(
self,
device: SDRDevice,
frequency_mhz: float,
sample_rate: int = 22050,
gain: Optional[float] = None,
ppm: Optional[int] = None,
modulation: str = "fm",
squelch: Optional[int] = None,
bias_t: bool = False,
direct_sampling: Optional[int] = None,
) -> list[str]:
"""
Build rtl_fm command for FM demodulation.
Used for pager decoding. Supports local devices and rtl_tcp connections.
Args:
direct_sampling: Enable direct sampling mode (0=off, 1=I-branch,
2=Q-branch). Use 2 for HF reception below 24 MHz.
"""
rtl_fm_path = get_tool_path('rtl_fm') or 'rtl_fm'
demod_mode = _rtl_fm_demod_mode(modulation)
cmd = [
rtl_fm_path,
'-d', self._get_device_arg(device),
'-f', f'{frequency_mhz}M',
'-M', demod_mode,
'-s', str(sample_rate),
]
if gain is not None and gain > 0:
cmd.extend(['-g', str(gain)])
if ppm is not None and ppm != 0:
cmd.extend(['-p', str(ppm)])
if squelch is not None and squelch > 0:
cmd.extend(['-l', str(squelch)])
if direct_sampling is not None:
# Older rtl_fm builds (common in Docker/distro packages) don't
# support -D; they use -E direct / -E direct2 instead.
if direct_sampling == 1:
cmd.extend(['-E', 'direct'])
elif direct_sampling == 2:
cmd.extend(['-E', 'direct2'])
if bias_t:
if _rtl_tool_supports_bias_t(rtl_fm_path):
cmd.append('-T')
else:
logger.warning("Bias-t requested but rtl_fm does not support -T (RTL-SDR Blog drivers required).")
# Output to stdout for piping
cmd.append('-')
return cmd
def build_adsb_command(
self,
device: SDRDevice,
gain: Optional[float] = None,
bias_t: bool = False
) -> list[str]:
"""
Build dump1090 command for ADS-B decoding.
Uses dump1090 with network output for SBS data streaming.
Note: dump1090 does not support rtl_tcp. For remote SDR, connect to
a remote dump1090's SBS output (port 30003) instead.
"""
if device.is_network:
raise ValueError(
"dump1090 does not support rtl_tcp. "
"For remote ADS-B, run dump1090 on the remote machine and "
"connect to its SBS output (port 30003)."
)
dump1090_path = get_tool_path('dump1090') or 'dump1090'
cmd = [
dump1090_path,
'--net',
'--device-index', str(device.index),
'--quiet'
]
if gain is not None:
cmd.extend(['--gain', str(int(gain))])
if bias_t:
bias_t_flag = _get_dump1090_bias_t_flag(dump1090_path)
if bias_t_flag:
cmd.append(bias_t_flag)
else:
logger.warning(
f"Bias-t requested but {dump1090_path} does not support it. "
"Consider using dump1090-fa or readsb for bias-t support."
)
return cmd
def build_ism_command(
self,
device: SDRDevice,
frequency_mhz: float = 433.92,
gain: Optional[float] = None,
ppm: Optional[int] = None,
bias_t: bool = False
) -> list[str]:
"""
Build rtl_433 command for ISM band sensor decoding.
Outputs JSON for easy parsing. Supports local devices and rtl_tcp connections.
Note: rtl_433's -T flag is for timeout, NOT bias-t.
Bias-t is enabled via the device string suffix :biast=1
"""
rtl_433_path = get_tool_path('rtl_433') or 'rtl_433'
# Build device argument with optional bias-t suffix
# rtl_433 uses :biast=1 suffix on device string, not -T flag
# (-T is timeout in rtl_433)
device_arg = self._get_device_arg(device)
if bias_t:
device_arg = f'{device_arg}:biast=1'
cmd = [
rtl_433_path,
'-d', device_arg,
'-f', f'{frequency_mhz}M',
'-F', 'json'
]
if gain is not None and gain > 0:
cmd.extend(['-g', str(int(gain))])
if ppm is not None and ppm != 0:
cmd.extend(['-p', str(ppm)])
return cmd
def build_ais_command(
self,
device: SDRDevice,
gain: Optional[float] = None,
bias_t: bool = False,
tcp_port: int = 10110
) -> list[str]:
"""
Build AIS-catcher command for AIS vessel tracking.
Uses AIS-catcher with TCP JSON output for real-time vessel data.
AIS operates on 161.975 MHz and 162.025 MHz (handled automatically).
"""
if device.is_network:
raise ValueError(
"AIS-catcher does not support rtl_tcp. "
"For remote AIS, run AIS-catcher on the remote machine."
)
cmd = [
'AIS-catcher',
f'-d:{device.index}', # Device index (colon format required)
'-S', str(tcp_port), 'JSON_FULL', 'on', # TCP server with full JSON output
'-q', # Quiet mode (less console output)
]
if gain is not None and gain > 0:
cmd.extend(['-gr', 'TUNER', str(int(gain))])
if bias_t:
cmd.extend(['-gr', 'BIASTEE', 'on'])
return cmd
def build_iq_capture_command(
self,
device: SDRDevice,
frequency_mhz: float,
sample_rate: int = 2048000,
gain: Optional[float] = None,
ppm: Optional[int] = None,
bias_t: bool = False,
output_format: str = 'cu8',
) -> list[str]:
"""
Build rtl_sdr command for raw I/Q capture.
Outputs unsigned 8-bit I/Q pairs to stdout for waterfall display.
"""
rtl_sdr_path = get_tool_path('rtl_sdr') or 'rtl_sdr'
freq_hz = int(frequency_mhz * 1e6)
cmd = [
rtl_sdr_path,
'-d', self._get_device_arg(device),
'-f', str(freq_hz),
'-s', str(sample_rate),
]
if gain is not None and gain > 0:
cmd.extend(['-g', str(gain)])
if ppm is not None and ppm != 0:
cmd.extend(['-p', str(ppm)])
if bias_t:
if _rtl_tool_supports_bias_t(rtl_sdr_path):
cmd.append('-T')
else:
logger.warning("Bias-t requested but rtl_sdr does not support -T (RTL-SDR Blog drivers required).")
# Output to stdout
cmd.append('-')
return cmd
def get_capabilities(self) -> SDRCapabilities:
"""Return RTL-SDR capabilities."""
return self.CAPABILITIES
@classmethod
def get_sdr_type(cls) -> SDRType:
"""Return SDR type."""
return SDRType.RTL_SDR