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RS41ng - Amateur radio firmware for Vaisala RS41 radiosonde
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Stephen D 3d2bdbf246
CATS support (#86) 
* FIFO mode working

* fifo underflow check

* fix TX LED. Not perfect - comes on for longer than we're actually TXing for, because it includes the time to fill the buffer and probably some overhead. But good enough for now

* move to big FIFO buffer. Had to implement a recommendation from the errata

* increase timeout

* a bit of cleanup I missed

* encoding CATS packets inline. Still need to support GPS and NodeInfo whiskers

* cleanup

* additional whiskers

* fix GPS and revert some settings

* revert config

* add balloon node info + more precise altitude

* address feedback

* Add comment about CATS packet parity array size

* bug fixes

---------

Co-authored-by: Stephen D <webmaster@scd31.com>
Co-authored-by: Mikael Nousiainen <mikaelnousiainen@users.noreply.github.com>
 		2024-03-23 12:05:45 +02:00
docs Graw DFM-17 radiosonde support (#61) 2023-10-15 12:38:05 +03:00
legacy-code Add support for morse code (CW) 2021-08-13 00:42:50 +03:00
src CATS support (#86) 2024-03-23 12:05:45 +02:00
tests clean up minor compiler warnings (#79) 2024-01-03 12:12:58 +02:00
.gitignore Initial commit (work in progress) 2020-08-26 22:57:35 +03:00
CMakeLists.txt Add 'pip' mode - a short beep to indicate presence of the transmitter 2022-06-16 10:31:43 +03:00
Dockerfile Copy in strlcpy from libbsd to remove dependency on libbsd (#37) 2023-08-08 18:16:29 +03:00
LICENSE.md Initial commit (work in progress) 2020-08-26 22:57:35 +03:00
README.md CATS support (#86) 2024-03-23 12:05:45 +02:00
docker_build.sh Create a Docker container for building RS41ng (#11) 2022-08-23 22:33:31 +03:00
openocd_rs41.cfg Add support for powering off the radiosonde. Improve documentation. 2021-08-16 23:24:46 +03:00

README.md

RS41ng - Amateur radio firmware for Vaisala RS41 and Graw DFM-17 radiosondes

NEW: Experimental support for Graw DFM-17 radiosondes added! Please test and report any issues! Using a DFM-17 as a primary flight tracker is NOT recommended yet!

NOTE: DFM-17 radiosondes require a GPS lock (and clear visibility to the sky) to calibrate its internal oscillator. DFM-17 transmissions, especially APRS, may not decode correctly because of incorrect timing before the internal oscillator has been calibrated.

NOTE: While this firmware has been tested (on RS41) with great success on a number of high-altitude balloon flights, it is still a work in progress and some features might not work as expected yet! In particular, the time sync (scheduling) features and use of an external Si5351 as a transmitter need more testing.

What is RS41ng?

RS41ng is a custom, amateur radio-oriented firmware for Vaisala RS41 and Graw DFM-17 radiosondes. These radiosonde models have very similar hardware, so that it is relatively easy to support both with the same codebase. It is unlikely that RS41ng could support any other radiosonde hardware for now.

Some code is based on an earlier RS41 firmware project called RS41HUP, but most of it has been rewritten from scratch. The Horus 4FSK code has been adapted from the darksidelemm fork of RS41HUP.

Asking questions, filing feature requests and reporting issues

  • Please use GitHub discussions for asking questions and for sharing info about your radiosonde-based projects
    • For example, questions about firmware configuration and connecting of external chips to the sonde belong here
  • Please use GitHub issues to file new feature requests or issues that you have already identified with the firmware

What are radiosondes and how can I get one?

Radiosondes, especially the RS41 and DFM-17, are used extensively for atmospheric sounding by the meteorological institutes in various countries and thus easily available to be collected once they land, an activity called radiosonde hunting: see YouTube presentation about Tracking and Chasing Weather Balloons by Andreas Spiess or Chasing Radiosonde Weather Balloons used in Meteorology for Fun by Mark VK5QI for more details!

You can track radiosondes without any additional equipment either via SondeHub or radiosondy.info that both use an existing network of receiver stations. Alternatively, you can set up your own radiosonde receiver station.

For your own receiver station, you will need:

  1. A cheap software-defined radio USB dongle, such as an RTL-SDR
  2. An antenna suitable for receiving the 400 MHz radiosonde band transmissions. Antennas for the 70 cm amateur radio band usually work fine!
  3. Radiosonde tracker software: common choices are RS41 Tracker for Windows and radiosonde_auto_rx for Linux / Raspberry Pi.

What can I do with the RS41 and DFM-17 radiosondes?

The Vaisala RS41 and Graw DFM-17 radiosondes both use off-the-shelf 32-bit STM32F100-series microcontrollers, which can be reprogrammed using an ST-LINK v2 programmer or a smaller ST-LINK v2 USB dongle.

There is detailed information about the hardware of these radiosonde models on the following pages:

The radiosondes can be reprogrammed to transmit different kinds of RF modulations (morse code, APRS and different FSK modulations) on the 70 cm (~433 MHz) amateur radio band. The radiosonde contain Ublox GPS chips, so it can be used as a tracker device, e.g. for high-altitude balloons.

The RS41ng firmware is just one example of what can be achieved with the hardware of these radiosondes!

What are high-altitude balloon flights?

High-altitude balloon flights arranged by hobbyists are fun technical experiments. The flight goals are usually related to aerial photography, testing of radio tracker and transmitter hardware and different kinds of measurements with on-board sensors.

The following websites contain more information about planning and launching a high-altitude balloon flight:

Why does the RS41ng firmware exist?

The motivation to develop this firmware is to provide a clean, customizable and modular codebase for developing radiosonde-based experiments.

See the feature list below.

Features

The main features the RS41ng firmware are:

  • Support for multiple transmission modes:
    • Standard 1200-baud APRS
      • Option to transmit APRS weather reports using readings from an external BMP280/BME280 sensor (only RS41 supports custom sensors)
    • Horus 4FSK v1 and v2 modes that has improved performance compared to APRS or RTTY
      • There is an option to use continuous transmit mode (for either V1 or V2 mode), which helps with receiver frequency synchronization and improves reception.
      • In order to use Horus 4FSK mode on a flight, you will need to request a new Horus 4FSK payload ID in GitHub according to the instructions at: https://github.com/projecthorus/horusdemodlib/wiki#how-do-i-transmit-it
    • Morse code (CW)
    • "Pip" mode, which transmits a short beep generated using CW to indicate presence of the transmitter
    • RS41 only: JT65/JT9/JT4/FT8/WSPR/FSQ digital modes on HF/VHF amateur radio bands using an external Si5351 clock generator connected to the external I²C bus
  • Support for transmitting multiple modes consecutively with custom, rotating comment messages (see config.c)
  • Support for GPS-based scheduling is available for transmission modes that require specific timing for transmissions
  • Enhanced support for the internal Si4032 radio transmitter via PWM-based tone generation
  • Extensibility to allow easy addition of new transmission modes and new sensors

Features available on RS41 hardware only:

  • Support for custom sensors via the external I²C bus
  • Support for counting pulses on expansion header pin 2 (I2C2_SDA (PB11) / UART3 RX) for use with sensors like Geiger counters
  • GPS NMEA data output via the external serial port pin 3 (see below). This disables use of I²C devices as the serial port pins are shared with the I²C bus pins.
    • This allows using the RS41 sonde GPS data in external tracker hardware, such as Raspberry Pi or other microcontrollers.

Notes for DFM-17:

  • DFM-17 radiosondes require a GPS lock (and clear visibility to the sky) to calibrate its internal oscillator. This is necessary, because the internal oscillator is not particularly accurate. DFM-17 transmissions, especially APRS, may not decode correctly because of incorrect timing before the internal oscillator has been calibrated.
    • The RS41 radiosonde hardware uses an external oscillator, which is more stable, so RS41 does not suffer from the same issue.

Transmission modes

On the internal Si4032 (RS41) and Si4063 (DFM-17) transmitters:

  • APRS (1200 baud)
  • Horus 4FSK v1 and v2 (100 baud)
  • Morse code (CW)
  • "Pip" - a short beep to indicate presence of the transmitter

On an external Si5351 clock generator connected to the external I²C bus of the RS41 radiosonde:

  • Horus 4FSK v1 and v2 (50 baud, because the Si5351 frequency changes are slow)
  • JT65/JT9/JT4/FT8/WSPR/FSQ mode beacon transmissions using the JTEncode library. I've decoded FT8, WSPR and FSQ modes successfully.
    • GPS-based scheduling is available for modes that require specific timing for transmissions
  • Morse code (CW)
  • "Pip"

Notes about APRS

  • Bell 202 frequencies are generated via hardware PWM, but the symbol timing is created in a loop with delay
  • There is also code available to use DMA transfers for symbol timing to achieve greater accuracy, but the timings are not working correctly

Notes about Horus 4FSK

Notes about CATS (DFM-17 only)

  • CATS is a modern packet radio standard designed for communication and telemetry. Due to its increased efficiency over APRS, it allows for fast beacon times (1 Hz or more) without congesting the network.
  • To receive CATS, you can either use an I-Gate board on a Raspberry Pi, or just a standard RTL-SDR dongle.
    • See here for the I-Gate board software.
    • See here for the SDR software.
  • In either case, CATS packets that are received get forwarded to FELINET, and relayed to APRS-IS. This means your CATS packets will show up on aprs.fi
    • If you're relying on APRS gating, be sure to set an SSID below 100 or the APRS network may reject it.
  • For more information, be sure to check the standard.

External sensors (RS41 only)

It is possible to connect external sensors to the I²C bus of the RS41 radiosonde.

The following sensors are currently supported:

Sensor driver code contributions are welcome!

Planned features

  • Configurable transmission frequencies and schedules based on location / altitude
  • Support for more I²C sensors
  • RTTY on both Si4032/Si4063 (70 cm, non-standard shift) and Si5351 (HF + 2m) with configurable shift
  • Investigate possibility to implement 1200 bps Bell 202 modulation (and possibly also 300 bps Bell 103 modulation) for APRS using Si5351, this requires special handling to make Si5351 change frequency quickly

Configuring the firmware

  1. Configure your amateur radio call sign, transmission schedule (time sync), transmit frequencies and transmission mode parameters in config.h
    • Select the desired radiosonde type in the beginning of the file by removing the // comment from either the #define RS41 or #define DFM17 lines.
    • Customize at least the following settings:
      • CALLSIGN
      • For RS41, the settings beginning with RADIO_SI4032_ to select transmit power and the modes to transmit
      • For DFM-17, the settings beginning with RADIO_SI4063_ to select transmit power and the modes to transmit
      • HORUS_V2_PAYLOAD_ID if you transmit Horus 4FSK
      • APRS_COMMENT if you transmit APRS
  2. Set up transmitted message templates in config.c, depending on the modes you use. You can customize the APRS and CW messages in more detail here.

Power consumption and power-saving features

Power consumption notes (at 3V supply voltage) for RS41 by Mark VK5QI:

  • GPS in full power acquisition mode: 110-120 mA (TX off), 160-170 mA (TX on)
  • GPS locked (5 sats), full power: 96 - 126 mA (TX off), 170 mA (TX on)
  • GPS locked, powersave mode, state 1: ~96 - 110 mA (TX off), ?
  • GPS locked, powersave mode, state 2: 60 - 90mA (TX off), 130 mA (TX on)

The variations seem to be the GPS powering up every second to do its fixes.

Time sync settings

The time sync feature is a simple way to activate the transmissions every N seconds, delayed by the TIME_SYNC_OFFSET_SECONDS setting.

Please note that the time sync requires a stable GPS signal (good visibility to the sky) to work correctly!

Time-slotted modes

For time-slotted modes like FT8 and WSPR, there default configuration file (config.h) already contains useful defaults.

FT8 example

The default FT8 configuration is:

#define FT8_TIME_SYNC_SECONDS 15
#define FT8_TIME_SYNC_OFFSET_SECONDS 1

The above means that transmissions should start every 15 seconds (counting from the beginning of each hour), but delayed by 1 second. As an example, transmissions after 12:00:00 (hh:mm:ss) would happen at 12:00:01, 12:00:16, 12:00:31; 12:00:46, 12:01:01 and so on.

The offset of 1 second is just to make sure the transmission starts strictly after the 15-second periods and never before.

If the offset was 5 seconds, transmissions would happen at 12:00:05, 12:00:20, 12:00:35, 12:00:50 and 12:01:05.

In order to transmit only in even or odd time slots of FT8, you could use:

// Transmit every 30 seconds, even time slot
#define FT8_TIME_SYNC_SECONDS 30
#define FT8_TIME_SYNC_OFFSET_SECONDS 1

// Transmit every 30 seconds, odd time slot
#define FT8_TIME_SYNC_SECONDS 30
#define FT8_TIME_SYNC_OFFSET_SECONDS 16

The latter (odd time slot) example would transmit at 12:00:16, 12:00:46, 12:01:16, 12:01:46 and so on.

WSPR example

For WSPR, the transmissions happen every 120 seconds, so the configuration has to be:

#define WSPR_TIME_SYNC_SECONDS 120
#define WSPR_TIME_SYNC_OFFSET_SECONDS 1

The above means that transmissions should start every 120 seconds (counting from the beginning of each hour), but delayed by 1 second. As an example, transmissions after 12:00:00 (hh:mm:ss) would happen at 12:00:01, 12:02:01, 12:04:01 and so on.

The offset of 1 second is just to make sure the transmission starts strictly after the 120-second periods and never before.

Manually configuring time slots for multiple payloads transmitting at different times

Sometimes it is necessary to set transmission time slots when using multiple payloads/transmitters on the same frequency. The time slots guarantee that the transmissions from different payloads will not happen simultaneously.

The time sync settings can be used to configure this type of time slots.

In this example, we configure 3 payloads to transmit every 120 seconds, so that each payload is scheduled to transmit evenly across the 120-second period, every 40 seconds (120 / 3 = 40).

First, the TIME_SYNC_SECONDS setting of the particular mode has to be set to the full interval where all payloads are expected to have their transmissions finished. This setting has to be the same for every payload. Do also remember to take into account transmission length too (depending on the mode).

Next, the TIME_SYNC_OFFSET_SECONDS needs to be set independently for each payload. The first payload would have an offset of 0, the second an offset of 40 and the third and offset of 80.

As an example, transmissions after 12:00:00 (hh:mm:ss) would happen at:

  • Payload 1: 12:00:00
  • Payload 2: 12:00:40
  • Payload 3: 12:01:20
  • Payload 1: 12:02:00
  • Payload 2: 12:02:40
  • Payload 3: 12:03:20
  • ...

The configuration with 3 payloads using Horus 4FSK V2 mode would be the following.

Payload 1:

#define HORUS_V2_TIME_SYNC_SECONDS 120 // everything happens at 120 seconds interval
#define HORUS_V2_TIME_SYNC_OFFSET_SECONDS 0 // the first payload will transmit at 0 seconds within the 120 second interval

Payload 2:

#define HORUS_V2_TIME_SYNC_SECONDS 120 // everything happens at 120 seconds interval
#define HORUS_V2_TIME_SYNC_OFFSET_SECONDS 40 // the second payload will transmit at 40 seconds within the 120 second interval

Payload 3:

#define HORUS_V2_TIME_SYNC_SECONDS 120 // everything happens at 120 seconds interval
#define HORUS_V2_TIME_SYNC_OFFSET_SECONDS 80 // the third payload will transmit at 80 seconds within the 120 second interval

Building the firmware

The easiest and the recommended method to build the firmware is using Docker.

If you have a Linux environment -- Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) or macOS might work too -- and you feel adventurous, you can try to build using the Linux-based instructions.

Building the firmware with Docker

Using Docker to build the firmware is usually the easiest option, because it provides a stable Fedora Linux-based build environment on any platform. It should work on Windows and Mac operating systems too.

The Docker environment can also help address issues with the build process.

  1. Install Docker if not already installed
  2. Set the current directory to the RS41ng source directory
  3. Build the RS41ng compiler Docker image using the following command. It is necessary to build the Docker image only once. 
    docker build -t rs41ng_compiler .
  4. Build the firmware using the following command. If you need to rebuild the firmware, simply run the command again. On Linux/macOS, run: 
    docker run --rm -it -v $(pwd):/usr/local/src/RS41ng rs41ng_compiler
    On Windows, run: 
    docker run --rm -it -v %cd%:/usr/local/src/RS41ng rs41ng_compiler
  5. The firmware will be stored in file build/src/RS41ng.elf

Now you can flash the firmware using instructions below (skip the build instructions for Linux).

Building the firmware in a Linux environment

Software requirements:

  • GNU GCC toolchain for cross-compiling the firmware for the ARM Cortex-M3 architecture (arm-none-eabi-gcc)
    • Pick the latest toolchain version available for your operating system.
  • CMake version 3.6 or higher for building the firmware
  • OpenOCD version 0.10.0 or higher for flashing the firmware

On a Red Hat/Fedora Linux installation, the following packages can be installed:

dnf install arm-none-eabi-gcc-cs arm-none-eabi-gcc-cs-c++ arm-none-eabi-binutils-cs arm-none-eabi-newlib cmake openocd

Steps to build the firmware on Linux

  1. Install the required software dependencies listed above
  2. Build the firmware using the following commands 
    mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make
  3. The firmware will be stored in file build/src/RS41ng.elf

Prepare the radiosonde for flashing the firmware

Hardware requirements:

Follow the instructions below for the radiosonde model you have.

Vaisala RS41 programming connector

The pinout of the RS41 programming connector (by DF8OE and VK5QI) is the following:

______________________|           |______________________
|                                                       |
|   9           7           5           3           1   |
|                                                       |
|   10          8           6           4           2   |
|_______________________________________________________|

(View from the bottom of the sonde, pay attention to the gap in the connector)
  • 1 - GND
  • 2 - I2C2_SDA (PB11) / UART3 RX
    • This is the external I²C port data pin for Si5351 and sensors
    • This pin can be used as input for the pulse counter.
  • 3 - I2C2_SCL (PB10) / UART3 TX
    • This is the external I²C port clock pin for Si5351 and sensors
    • This pin can alternatively be used to output GPS NMEA data to external tracker hardware (e.g. Raspberry Pi or other microcontrollers)
  • 4 - +VDD_MCU / PB1 * (10k + cap + 10k)
  • 5 - MCU switched 3.3V out to external device / Vcc (Boost out) 5.0V
    • This pin powers the device via 3.3V voltage from an ST-LINK programmer dongle
    • This pin can be used to supply power to external devices, e.g. Si5351, BMP280 or other sensors
  • 6 - +U_Battery / VBAT 3.3V
  • 7 - RST
  • 8 - SWCLK (PA14)
  • 9 - SWDIO (PA13)
  • 10 - GND

Connect the RS41 radiosonde to the programmer

  1. If your ST-LINK v2 programmer is capable of providing a voltage of 3.3V (as some third-party clones are), remove the batteries from the sonde. Otherwise, leave the batteries in and power on the sonde.
  2. Connect an ST-LINK v2 programmer dongle to the sonde via the following pins:
    • SWDIO -> Pin 9 (SWDIO)
    • SWCLK -> Pin 8 (SWCLK)
    • GND -> Pin 1 (GND)
    • 3.3V -> Pin 5 (MCU switch 3.3V) (only required when using the programmer to power the sonde)

Graw DFM-17 programming connector

The DFM-17 programming connector is an unpopulated group of pads on the circuit board between the sensor boom connector and the main STM32 microcontroller.

The pinout of the DFM-17 programming connector is the following:

_____
|   |
| S |       _____________________
| e |       |                   |
| n |       |   1           2   |
| s |       |                   |
| o |       |   3           4   |             ________________________
| r |       |                   |             |
|   |       |   5           6   |             | STM32 microcontroller
| b |       |                   |             |
| o |       |   7           8   |             |
| o |       |                   |             |
| m |       |   9          10   |             |
|   |       |                   |             |
|   |       |____________________             |
|   |
|___|

(The sensor boom connector is on the left and the main microcontroller unit on the right side)
  • 1 - VTRef
    • This pin powers the device via 3.3V voltage from an ST-LINK programmer dongle
  • 2 - SWDIO / TMS
  • 3 - GND
  • 4 - SWCLK / TCK
  • 5 - GND
  • 6 - SWO EXT TRACECTL / TDO
  • 7 - KEY
  • 8 - NC EXT / TDI
  • 9 - GNDDetect
  • 10 - nRESET

Connect the DFM-17 radiosonde to the programmer

  1. Since the DFM-17 programming connector is just an unpopulated group of pads on the circuit board, you will need to either solder wires directly to the pads or alternatively solder a 0.05" (1.27mm) 5-by-2 pin header to the pads. There are suitable ribbon cables with 5x2 0.05" connectors available for this type of pin header.
  2. Connect an ST-LINK v2 programmer dongle to the sonde via the following pins:
    • SWDIO -> Pin 2 (SWDIO)
    • SWCLK -> Pin 4 (SWCLK)
    • RST -> Pin 10 (RST)
    • GND -> Pin 5 (GND)
    • 3.3V -> Pin 1 (VTRef) (only required when using the programmer to power the sonde)
  3. If your ST-LINK v2 programmer is capable of providing a voltage of 3.3V (as some third-party clones are), remove the batteries from the sonde. Otherwise, leave the batteries in and power on the sonde.

Flashing the radiosonde with the firmware (both RS41 and DFM-17)

  1. Unlock the flash protection - needed only before reprogramming the sonde for the first time
    • openocd -f ./openocd_rs41.cfg -c "init; halt; flash protect 0 0 63 off; exit"
    • NOTE: If the above command fails with an error about erasing sectors, try replacing the number 63 with either 31 or the number the error message suggests:
      • openocd -f ./openocd_rs41.cfg -c "init; halt; flash protect 0 0 31 off; exit"
  2. Flash the firmware
    • openocd -f ./openocd_rs41.cfg -c "program build/src/RS41ng.elf verify reset exit"
  3. Power cycle the sonde to start running the new firmware

Developing / debugging the firmware

It is possible to receive log messages from the firmware program and to perform debugging of the firmware using GNU GDB.

Also, please note that Red Hat/Fedora do not provide GDB for ARM architectures, so you will need to manually download and install GDB from ARM GNU GCC toolchain. Pick the latest version available for your operating system.

Semihosting allows the firmware to send log messages via special system calls to OpenOCD, so that you can get real-time feedback and debug output from the application.

Semihosting has to be disabled when the RS41 radiosonde is not connected to the STM32 programmer dongle, otherwise the firmware will not run.

Steps to start firmware debugging and semihosting

  1. Connect the RS41 radiosonde to a computer via the STM32 ST-LINK programmer dongle
  2. Enable semihosting and logging in config.h by uncommenting the following lines 
    #define SEMIHOSTING_ENABLE
#define LOGGING_ENABLE
  3. Start OpenOCD and leave it running in the background 
    openocd -f ./openocd_rs41.cfg
  4. Start ARM GDB 
    arm-none-eabi-gdb
  5. Connect GDB to OpenOCD for flashing and debugging (assumes you are in the build directory with Makefiles from CMake ready for build) 
    target remote localhost:3333
monitor arm semihosting enable
make
load src/RS41ng.elf
monitor reset halt
continue # this command runs the firmware
  6. OpenOCD will output log messages from the firmware and GDB can be used to interrupt and inspect the firmware program.

To load debugging symbols for settings breakpoints and to perform more detailed inspection, use command file src/RS41ng.elf.

Si4032 Bell FSK modulation hack for APRS

Notes by Mikael OH3BHX:

The idea behind the APRS / Bell 202 modulation implementation is based on RS41HUP project and its "ancestors" and I'm describing it here, since it has not been documented elsewhere.

The Si4032 chip seems to support only a very specific type of FSK, where one can define two frequencies (on a 625 Hz granularity) that can be toggled by a register change. Because of the granularity, this mechanism cannot be directly used to generate Bell 202 tones.

The way Bell 202 AFSK is implemented for Si4032 is kind of a hack, where the code toggles these two frequencies at a rate of 1200 and 2200 Hz, which produces the two Bell 202 tones even though the actual frequencies are something else.

Additionally, the timing of 1200/2200 Hz was done in RS41HUP by using experimentally determined delays and by disabling all interrupts, so they won't interfere with the timings.

I have attempted to implement Bell 202 frequency generation using hardware DMA and PWM, but have failed to generate correct symbol rate that other APRS equipment are able to decode. I have tried to decode the DMA-based modulation with some tools intended for debugging APRS and while some bytes are decoded correctly every once in a while, the timings are mostly off for some unknown reason.

Currently, the Bell 202 modulation implementation uses hardware PWM to generate the individual tone frequencies, but the symbol timing is created in a loop with delay that was chosen carefully via experiments.

Debugging APRS

Here are some tools and command-line examples to receive and debug APRS messages using an SDR receiver. There are examples for using both rx_tools and rtl-sdr tools to interface with the SDR receiver. The example commands assume you are using an RTL-SDR dongle, but rx_fm (from rx_tools) supports other types of devices too, as it's based on SoapySDR.

Dire Wolf

Dire Wolf can decode APRS (and lots of other digital modes) from audio streams.

rx_tools:

rx_fm -f 432500000 -M fm -s 250000 -r 48000 -g 22 -d driver=rtlsdr - | direwolf -n 1 -D 1 -r 48000 -b 16 -

rtl-sdr:

rtl_fm -f 432500000 -M fm -s 250k -r 48000 -g 22 - | direwolf -n 1 -D 1 -r 48000 -b 16 -

SigPlay

SigPlay is a set of tools for DSP and signal processing. SigPlay also includes a command-line tool to decode and print out raw data from Bell 202 encoding, which is really useful, as it allows you to see the bytes that actually get transmitted -- even if the packet is not a valid APRS packet!

rx_tools:

rx_fm -f 432500000 -M fm -s 250000 -r 48000 -g 22 -d driver=rtlsdr - | ./aprs -

rtl-sdr:

rtl_fm -f 432500000 -M fm -s 250k -r 48000 -g 22 - | ./aprs -

Authors

Additional documentation

Vaisala RS41 hardware documentation

Vaisala RS41 hardware datasheets

Graw DFM-17 hardware documentation

Graw DFM-17 hardware datasheets

Alternative RS41 firmware projects (only for RS41!)