Discussion:
[Hackrf-dev] Auto-calibration in receiving mode
Matteo Terzi
2018-04-17 14:03:34 UTC
Permalink
Hi all,
I'd like to know if there is a way to create a program, with GNU Radio
Companion, which can acquire an unknown signal and display it on a FFT
Sink, which should auto-calibrate on the right value of the signal.
To explain better:
I want to acquire a signal, but I don't know its value (Hz); so I need a
FFT Sink that can do an auto-calibration, according to the value of the
signal, to show me what the hackrf is acquiring, without having the issue
to set the sample rate of the FFT Sink to an huge value to cover all the
frequencies (difficult to visualize).
Thanks for the support

Matteo
--
Matteo TERZI
Google Gmail Member
Dominic Spill
2018-04-23 22:20:40 UTC
Permalink
Hi Matteo,

I'm not sure I understand the question. What are you trying to achieve?
Is there a known signal and you want to automatically find it? Something
like GSM and you want to know which frequency the local towers are using?

Or is it something else?

Thanks,
Dominic

On 17 April 2018 at 08:03, Matteo Terzi <***@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi all,
> I'd like to know if there is a way to create a program, with GNU Radio
> Companion, which can acquire an unknown signal and display it on a FFT
> Sink, which should auto-calibrate on the right value of the signal.
> To explain better:
> I want to acquire a signal, but I don't know its value (Hz); so I need a
> FFT Sink that can do an auto-calibration, according to the value of the
> signal, to show me what the hackrf is acquiring, without having the issue
> to set the sample rate of the FFT Sink to an huge value to cover all the
> frequencies (difficult to visualize).
> Thanks for the support
>
> Matteo
> --
> Matteo TERZI
> Google Gmail Member
>
> _______________________________________________
> HackRF-dev mailing list
> HackRF-***@greatscottgadgets.com
> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/hackrf-dev
>
>
Matteo Terzi
2018-04-24 09:03:57 UTC
Permalink
​Hi Dominic,
What I'm trying to do is:
​- I want to acquire a signal from a general device ( garage door opener
remote control, rf car's key etc). So I don't know the real value of the
signal (2Hz or 40GHz). Is the hackrf able to set itself on the right value
of frequency and let me know the result by means of a graphic. I wanna use
it as a sniffer/reader of frequencies.

Thanks for the support
Matteo


2018-04-24 0:20 GMT+02:00 Dominic Spill <***@gmail.com>:

> Hi Matteo,
>
> I'm not sure I understand the question. What are you trying to achieve?
> Is there a known signal and you want to automatically find it? Something
> like GSM and you want to know which frequency the local towers are using?
>
> Or is it something else?
>
> Thanks,
> Dominic
>
> On 17 April 2018 at 08:03, Matteo Terzi <***@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>> I'd like to know if there is a way to create a program, with GNU Radio
>> Companion, which can acquire an unknown signal and display it on a FFT
>> Sink, which should auto-calibrate on the right value of the signal.
>> To explain better:
>> I want to acquire a signal, but I don't know its value (Hz); so I need a
>> FFT Sink that can do an auto-calibration, according to the value of the
>> signal, to show me what the hackrf is acquiring, without having the issue
>> to set the sample rate of the FFT Sink to an huge value to cover all the
>> frequencies (difficult to visualize).
>> Thanks for the support
>>
>> Matteo
>> --
>> Matteo TERZI
>> Google Gmail Member
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> HackRF-dev mailing list
>> HackRF-***@greatscottgadgets.com
>> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/hackrf-dev
>>
>>
>


--
Matteo TERZI
Google Gmail Member
Dominic Spill
2018-04-24 15:37:07 UTC
Permalink
Hi Matteo,

I think I understand what you're looking for. You want to transmit a
signal, e.g. keyfob, and have the HackRF automatically show you the
frequency that it's transmitting on.

You could use HackRF in a spectrum analyzer mode, such as hackrf_sweep, to
see where the transmission is and then manually zoom in to it, but having
the software do that automatically is more complicated because there's no
way to know which signal you are hoping to focus on.

Does that answer your question?

Dominic

On 24 April 2018 at 03:03, Matteo Terzi <***@gmail.com> wrote:

> ​Hi Dominic,
> What I'm trying to do is:
> ​- I want to acquire a signal from a general device ( garage door opener
> remote control, rf car's key etc). So I don't know the real value of the
> signal (2Hz or 40GHz). Is the hackrf able to set itself on the right value
> of frequency and let me know the result by means of a graphic. I wanna use
> it as a sniffer/reader of frequencies.
>
> Thanks for the support
> Matteo
>
>
> 2018-04-24 0:20 GMT+02:00 Dominic Spill <***@gmail.com>:
>
>> Hi Matteo,
>>
>> I'm not sure I understand the question. What are you trying to achieve?
>> Is there a known signal and you want to automatically find it? Something
>> like GSM and you want to know which frequency the local towers are using?
>>
>> Or is it something else?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Dominic
>>
>> On 17 April 2018 at 08:03, Matteo Terzi <***@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi all,
>>> I'd like to know if there is a way to create a program, with GNU Radio
>>> Companion, which can acquire an unknown signal and display it on a FFT
>>> Sink, which should auto-calibrate on the right value of the signal.
>>> To explain better:
>>> I want to acquire a signal, but I don't know its value (Hz); so I need a
>>> FFT Sink that can do an auto-calibration, according to the value of the
>>> signal, to show me what the hackrf is acquiring, without having the issue
>>> to set the sample rate of the FFT Sink to an huge value to cover all the
>>> frequencies (difficult to visualize).
>>> Thanks for the support
>>>
>>> Matteo
>>> --
>>> Matteo TERZI
>>> Google Gmail Member
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> HackRF-dev mailing list
>>> HackRF-***@greatscottgadgets.com
>>> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/hackrf-dev
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Matteo TERZI
> Google Gmail Member
>
Matteo Terzi
2018-04-26 08:21:42 UTC
Permalink
Hi Dominic,

You have been clear.
So, to summarise, I have to analyze the signal with the maximum sample rate
(20MHz), to include the right value in the graphic and then with the
buttons "db/Div" and "Ref level" I must zoom on what I'm interested in.
Do you know a block that functions in this way?
Give me a feedback.
Thanks a lot

Matteo

2018-04-24 17:37 GMT+02:00 Dominic Spill <***@gmail.com>:

> Hi Matteo,
>
> I think I understand what you're looking for. You want to transmit a
> signal, e.g. keyfob, and have the HackRF automatically show you the
> frequency that it's transmitting on.
>
> You could use HackRF in a spectrum analyzer mode, such as hackrf_sweep, to
> see where the transmission is and then manually zoom in to it, but having
> the software do that automatically is more complicated because there's no
> way to know which signal you are hoping to focus on.
>
> Does that answer your question?
>
> Dominic
>
> On 24 April 2018 at 03:03, Matteo Terzi <***@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> ​Hi Dominic,
>> What I'm trying to do is:
>> ​- I want to acquire a signal from a general device ( garage door opener
>> remote control, rf car's key etc). So I don't know the real value of the
>> signal (2Hz or 40GHz). Is the hackrf able to set itself on the right value
>> of frequency and let me know the result by means of a graphic. I wanna use
>> it as a sniffer/reader of frequencies.
>>
>> Thanks for the support
>> Matteo
>>
>>
>> 2018-04-24 0:20 GMT+02:00 Dominic Spill <***@gmail.com>:
>>
>>> Hi Matteo,
>>>
>>> I'm not sure I understand the question. What are you trying to
>>> achieve? Is there a known signal and you want to automatically find it?
>>> Something like GSM and you want to know which frequency the local towers
>>> are using?
>>>
>>> Or is it something else?
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Dominic
>>>
>>> On 17 April 2018 at 08:03, Matteo Terzi <***@gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi all,
>>>> I'd like to know if there is a way to create a program, with GNU Radio
>>>> Companion, which can acquire an unknown signal and display it on a FFT
>>>> Sink, which should auto-calibrate on the right value of the signal.
>>>> To explain better:
>>>> I want to acquire a signal, but I don't know its value (Hz); so I need
>>>> a FFT Sink that can do an auto-calibration, according to the value of the
>>>> signal, to show me what the hackrf is acquiring, without having the issue
>>>> to set the sample rate of the FFT Sink to an huge value to cover all the
>>>> frequencies (difficult to visualize).
>>>> Thanks for the support
>>>>
>>>> Matteo
>>>> --
>>>> Matteo TERZI
>>>> Google Gmail Member
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> HackRF-dev mailing list
>>>> HackRF-***@greatscottgadgets.com
>>>> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/hackrf-dev
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Matteo TERZI
>> Google Gmail Member
>>
>
>


--
Matteo TERZI
Google Gmail Member
Brian Gieryk
2018-04-24 15:52:10 UTC
Permalink
Never having used hackrf_sweep, this may be a stupid question.

Is there a peak find/hold function?

That may, if the span is narrow enough to eliminate strong signals of no interest, be what is sought after.

Then, perhaps, one could write a simple block, that tied into the peak find, that would set the RBW to an appropriate value dependent on frequency?

Brian
KE6IYC


On Apr 24, 2018, at 08:37 AM, Dominic Spill <***@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Matteo,

I think I understand what you're looking for.  You want to transmit a signal, e.g. keyfob, and have the HackRF automatically show you the frequency that it's transmitting on.

You could use HackRF in a spectrum analyzer mode, such as hackrf_sweep, to see where the transmission is and then manually zoom in to it, but having the software do that automatically is more complicated because there's no way to know which signal you are hoping to focus on.

Does that answer your question?

Dominic

On 24 April 2018 at 03:03, Matteo Terzi <***@gmail.com> wrote:
​Hi Dominic,
What I'm trying to do is:
​- I want to acquire a signal from a general device ( garage door opener remote control, rf car's key etc). So I don't know the real value of the signal (2Hz or 40GHz). Is the hackrf able to set itself on the right value of frequency and let me know the result by means of a graphic. I wanna use it as a sniffer/reader of frequencies.

Thanks for the support
Matteo


2018-04-24 0:20 GMT+02:00 Dominic Spill <***@gmail.com>:
Hi Matteo,

I'm not sure I understand the question.  What are you trying to achieve?  Is there a known signal and you want to automatically find it?  Something like GSM and you want to know which frequency the local towers are using?

Or is it something else?

Thanks,
  Dominic

On 17 April 2018 at 08:03, Matteo Terzi <***@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi all,
I'd like to know if there is a way to create a program, with GNU Radio Companion, which can acquire an unknown signal and display it on a FFT Sink, which should auto-calibrate on the right value of the signal.
To explain better: 
I want to acquire a signal, but I don't know its value (Hz); so I need a FFT Sink that can do an auto-calibration, according to the value of the signal, to show me what the hackrf is acquiring, without having the issue to set the sample rate of the FFT Sink to an huge value to cover all the frequencies (difficult to visualize).
Thanks for the support

Matteo
--
Matteo TERZI
Google Gmail Member

_______________________________________________
HackRF-dev mailing list
HackRF-***@greatscottgadgets.com
https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/hackrf-dev





--
Matteo TERZI
Google Gmail Member
Dominic Spill
2018-04-24 16:03:24 UTC
Permalink
On 24 April 2018 at 09:52, Brian Gieryk <***@mac.com> wrote:
>
> Never having used hackrf_sweep, this may be a stupid question.

Not a stupid question at all.

> Is there a peak find/hold function?

hackrf_sweep is the backend, while there are multiple frontend pieces of
software. I believe that some of them have peak hold and some (e.g.
QSpectrumAnalyzer) show a waterfall plot that could be used to answer the
question of which frequency a devices is transmitting on.

> That may, if the span is narrow enough to eliminate strong signals of no
interest, be what is sought after.
>
> Then, perhaps, one could write a simple block, that tied into the peak
find, that would set the RBW to an appropriate value dependent on frequency?

That's a good thought.

>
> On Apr 24, 2018, at 08:37 AM, Dominic Spill <***@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi Matteo,
>
> I think I understand what you're looking for. You want to transmit a
signal, e.g. keyfob, and have the HackRF automatically show you the
frequency that it's transmitting on.
>
> You could use HackRF in a spectrum analyzer mode, such as hackrf_sweep,
to see where the transmission is and then manually zoom in to it, but
having the software do that automatically is more complicated because
there's no way to know which signal you are hoping to focus on.
>
> Does that answer your question?
>
> Dominic
>
> On 24 April 2018 at 03:03, Matteo Terzi <***@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Dominic,
>> What I'm trying to do is:
>> - I want to acquire a signal from a general device ( garage door opener
remote control, rf car's key etc). So I don't know the real value of the
signal (2Hz or 40GHz). Is the hackrf able to set itself on the right value
of frequency and let me know the result by means of a graphic. I wanna use
it as a sniffer/reader of frequencies.
>>
>> Thanks for the support
>> Matteo
>>
>>
>> 2018-04-24 0:20 GMT+02:00 Dominic Spill <***@gmail.com>:
>>>
>>> Hi Matteo,
>>>
>>> I'm not sure I understand the question. What are you trying to
achieve? Is there a known signal and you want to automatically find it?
Something like GSM and you want to know which frequency the local towers
are using?
>>>
>>> Or is it something else?
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Dominic
>>>
>>> On 17 April 2018 at 08:03, Matteo Terzi <***@gmail.com>
wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hi all,
>>>> I'd like to know if there is a way to create a program, with GNU Radio
Companion, which can acquire an unknown signal and display it on a FFT
Sink, which should auto-calibrate on the right value of the signal.
>>>> To explain better:
>>>> I want to acquire a signal, but I don't know its value (Hz); so I need
a FFT Sink that can do an auto-calibration, according to the value of the
signal, to show me what the hackrf is acquiring, without having the issue
to set the sample rate of the FFT Sink to an huge value to cover all the
frequencies (difficult to visualize).
>>>> Thanks for the support
>>>>
>>>> Matteo
>>>> --
>>>> Matteo TERZI
>>>> Google Gmail Member
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> HackRF-dev mailing list
>>>> HackRF-***@greatscottgadgets.com
>>>> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/hackrf-dev
>>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Matteo TERZI
>> Google Gmail Member
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> HackRF-dev mailing list
> HackRF-***@greatscottgadgets.com
> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/hackrf-dev
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> HackRF-dev mailing list
> HackRF-***@greatscottgadgets.com
> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/hackrf-dev
>
pete M
2018-04-24 16:23:28 UTC
Permalink
I understand the OP question. And Brian gave a pretty good explanation on how to do it..

If I may add my grain of salt, it would be Wise to ‘zoom’ to a part of the scanned Spectrum based on a peek that have a minimum amplitude. If not the software would jump all over the place Inside the scanned Spectrum if not signal is present, and I am pretty sure this would be cpu intensive to say the least. A little hysteresis (delay before changing a few 100 of milisecond) would also help to locate signal that does not have a stable frequency.



Provenance : Courrier<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> pour Windows 10

________________________________
De : HackRF-dev <hackrf-dev-***@greatscottgadgets.com> de la part de Dominic Spill <***@gmail.com>
Envoyé : Tuesday, April 24, 2018 12:03:24 PM
À : Brian Gieryk
Cc : hackrf-dev
Objet : Re: [Hackrf-dev] Auto-calibration in receiving mode

On 24 April 2018 at 09:52, Brian Gieryk <***@mac.com<mailto:***@mac.com>> wrote:
>
> Never having used hackrf_sweep, this may be a stupid question.

Not a stupid question at all.

> Is there a peak find/hold function?

hackrf_sweep is the backend, while there are multiple frontend pieces of software. I believe that some of them have peak hold and some (e.g. QSpectrumAnalyzer) show a waterfall plot that could be used to answer the question of which frequency a devices is transmitting on.

> That may, if the span is narrow enough to eliminate strong signals of no interest, be what is sought after.
>
> Then, perhaps, one could write a simple block, that tied into the peak find, that would set the RBW to an appropriate value dependent on frequency?

That's a good thought.

>
> On Apr 24, 2018, at 08:37 AM, Dominic Spill <***@gmail.com<mailto:***@gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> Hi Matteo,
>
> I think I understand what you're looking for. You want to transmit a signal, e.g. keyfob, and have the HackRF automatically show you the frequency that it's transmitting on.
>
> You could use HackRF in a spectrum analyzer mode, such as hackrf_sweep, to see where the transmission is and then manually zoom in to it, but having the software do that automatically is more complicated because there's no way to know which signal you are hoping to focus on.
>
> Does that answer your question?
>
> Dominic
>
> On 24 April 2018 at 03:03, Matteo Terzi <***@gmail.com<mailto:***@gmail.com>> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Dominic,
>> What I'm trying to do is:
>> - I want to acquire a signal from a general device ( garage door opener remote control, rf car's key etc). So I don't know the real value of the signal (2Hz or 40GHz). Is the hackrf able to set itself on the right value of frequency and let me know the result by means of a graphic. I wanna use it as a sniffer/reader of frequencies.
>>
>> Thanks for the support
>> Matteo
>>
>>
>> 2018-04-24 0:20 GMT+02:00 Dominic Spill <***@gmail.com<mailto:***@gmail.com>>:
>>>
>>> Hi Matteo,
>>>
>>> I'm not sure I understand the question. What are you trying to achieve? Is there a known signal and you want to automatically find it? Something like GSM and you want to know which frequency the local towers are using?
>>>
>>> Or is it something else?
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Dominic
>>>
>>> On 17 April 2018 at 08:03, Matteo Terzi <***@gmail.com<mailto:***@gmail.com>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hi all,
>>>> I'd like to know if there is a way to create a program, with GNU Radio Companion, which can acquire an unknown signal and display it on a FFT Sink, which should auto-calibrate on the right value of the signal.
>>>> To explain better:
>>>> I want to acquire a signal, but I don't know its value (Hz); so I need a FFT Sink that can do an auto-calibration, according to the value of the signal, to show me what the hackrf is acquiring, without having the issue to set the sample rate of the FFT Sink to an huge value to cover all the frequencies (difficult to visualize).
>>>> Thanks for the support
>>>>
>>>> Matteo
>>>> --
>>>> Matteo TERZI
>>>> Google Gmail Member
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> HackRF-dev mailing list
>>>> HackRF-***@greatscottgadgets.com<mailto:HackRF-***@greatscottgadgets.com>
>>>> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/hackrf-dev
>>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Matteo TERZI
>> Google Gmail Member
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> HackRF-dev mailing list
> HackRF-***@greatscottgadgets.com<mailto:HackRF-***@greatscottgadgets.com>
> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/hackrf-dev
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> HackRF-dev mailing list
> HackRF-***@greatscottgadgets.com<mailto:HackRF-***@greatscottgadgets.com>
> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/hackrf-dev
>
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