intercept/docs/HARDWARE.md

Hardware & Installation

Supported SDR Hardware

Hardware	Frequency Range	Gain Range	TX	Price	Notes
RTL-SDR	24 - 1766 MHz	0 - 50 dB	No	~$25	Most common, budget-friendly
LimeSDR	0.1 - 3800 MHz	0 - 73 dB	Yes	~$300	Wide range, requires SoapySDR
HackRF	1 - 6000 MHz	0 - 62 dB	Yes	~$300	Ultra-wide range, requires SoapySDR

INTERCEPT automatically detects connected devices and shows hardware-specific capabilities in the UI.

Requirements

Hardware

• SDR Device - RTL-SDR, LimeSDR, or HackRF
• WiFi adapter capable of monitor mode (for WiFi features)
• Bluetooth adapter (for Bluetooth features)
• GPS dongle (optional, for precise location)

Software

• Python 3.9+ required
• External tools (see installation below)

Tool Installation

Core SDR Tools

Tool	macOS	Ubuntu/Debian	Purpose
rtl-sdr	brew install librtlsdr	sudo apt install rtl-sdr	RTL-SDR support
multimon-ng	brew install multimon-ng	sudo apt install multimon-ng	Pager decoding
rtl_433	brew install rtl_433	sudo apt install rtl-433	433MHz sensors
dump1090	brew install dump1090-mutability	sudo apt install dump1090-mutability	ADS-B aircraft
aircrack-ng	brew install aircrack-ng	sudo apt install aircrack-ng	WiFi reconnaissance
bluez	Built-in (limited)	sudo apt install bluez bluetooth	Bluetooth scanning

LimeSDR / HackRF Support (Optional)

Tool	macOS	Ubuntu/Debian	Purpose
SoapySDR	brew install soapysdr	sudo apt install soapysdr-tools	Universal SDR abstraction
LimeSDR	brew install limesuite soapylms7	sudo apt install limesuite soapysdr-module-lms7	LimeSDR support
HackRF	brew install hackrf soapyhackrf	sudo apt install hackrf soapysdr-module-hackrf	HackRF support
readsb	Build from source	Build from source	ADS-B with SoapySDR

Note: RTL-SDR works out of the box. LimeSDR and HackRF require SoapySDR plus the hardware-specific driver.

Quick Install Commands

Ubuntu/Debian

Note

Known Issue: On the latest version of Debian (Trixie) and those distros that use it dump1090 is not available in the repsitories and will need to be built from source until the developers release it.

# Core tools
sudo apt update
sudo apt install rtl-sdr multimon-ng rtl-433 dump1090-mutability aircrack-ng bluez bluetooth

# LimeSDR (optional)
sudo apt install soapysdr-tools limesuite soapysdr-module-lms7

# HackRF (optional)
sudo apt install hackrf soapysdr-module-hackrf

macOS (Homebrew)

# Core tools
brew install librtlsdr multimon-ng rtl_433 dump1090-mutability aircrack-ng

# LimeSDR (optional)
brew install soapysdr limesuite soapylms7

# HackRF (optional)
brew install hackrf soapyhackrf

Arch Linux

# Core tools
sudo pacman -S rtl-sdr multimon-ng
yay -S rtl_433 dump1090

# LimeSDR/HackRF (optional)
sudo pacman -S soapysdr limesuite hackrf

Linux udev Rules

If your SDR isn't detected, add udev rules:

sudo bash -c 'cat > /etc/udev/rules.d/20-rtlsdr.rules << EOF
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0bda", ATTRS{idProduct}=="2838", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0bda", ATTRS{idProduct}=="2832", MODE="0666"
EOF'

sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
sudo udevadm trigger

Then unplug and replug your device.

Blacklist DVB-T Driver (Linux)

The default DVB-T driver conflicts with rtl-sdr:

echo "blacklist dvb_usb_rtl28xxu" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-rtl.conf
sudo modprobe -r dvb_usb_rtl28xxu

Verify Installation

Check what's installed:

python3 intercept.py --check-deps

Test SDR detection:

# RTL-SDR
rtl_test

# LimeSDR/HackRF
SoapySDRUtil --find

Python Dependencies

Option 1: setup.sh (Recommended)

./setup.sh

This creates a virtual environment and installs dependencies automatically.

Option 2: pip

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

Option 3: uv (Fast alternative)

uv is a fast Python package installer.

# Install uv (if not already installed)
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

# Create venv and install deps
uv venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate
uv sync

# Or just install deps in existing environment
uv pip install -r requirements.txt

Option 4: pip with pyproject.toml

pip install .           # Install as package
pip install -e .        # Install in editable mode (for development)
pip install -e ".[dev]" # Include dev dependencies