Libre SDR

[G8YTZ]

Has anyone got the Ali Express Libre SDR working with the Portsdown on Tx?

I'm using F5OEO's firmware for the Libre, can be found here: https://github.com/F5OEO/tezuka_fw?tab=readme-ov-file.
Results are good using DATV-EASY, very impressive Tx MER, I'm seeing 35+ dB MER into GB3JV, vs 30dB for the same field strength using the Lime. Works fine with Portsdown Band Viewer. Also has Ethernet, flash storage and Micro SD Card, so you don't have to flash when testing.

For Portsdown Tx the firmware reports as not compatible, though it des try to Tx. so perhaps this is just a Portsdown. Experiments so far are with USB, not tried Ethernet.

Has excellent frequency stability, 2 x Tx and 2 x Rx, so full duplex ok + external reference input, solid aluminium case.
47.5MHz - 6GHz, 16MHz BW all for £150 delivered, tax paid.

[g0mjw]

I suggest you stick to the standard firmware, then it behaves like a Pluto and anyone considering building a PD4, stick to the standard supported hardware. Don't be cheap, unless you can afford it.

As you have discovered, with tezuka the LibreSDR will work with SDR Console and SDR Television but that won't help with the PD4. You can't install the Pluto 0303 on the LibreSDR, at least I don't think you can, and I don't know if Evariste plans to migrate that over, but I suspect not.

If you want Dave to support the LibreSDR, which will be a long shot given all the work required, he will need to have one to test with.

The performance I have seen on SDR TV is OK and it is a good price. I think there may be several variants of it.

Mike

[DL5BCA]

Hello,

I've also ordered one and think it will support the SDR console and upcoming DATV implementations in the future.

Simon is already testing it, see here and the following blog posts: https://www.sdr-radio.com/libresdr

73 Thomas DL5BCA

[radiogareth]

So with reports of them working and of being good quality I bought myself one. Took a couple of weeks to arrive (slower than usual) and I was refunded a £1 voucher for late delivery without asking.
It arrived well packed with a network cable, two USB-C leads, a short USB C extension (save W.A.T. on the resident USB-C) and 4 identical (probably 2.45GHz wifi) antenna.
It had a SD card in it but I chose to keep that 'in case' and used a spare.
1. It needs to be formatted as FAT32 so you can't use a card bigger than 32GB. Its not large software so almost any card will do although older slower cards may well impact on boot time).
2. Download the required version from here: https://github.com/F5OEO/tezuka_fw/releases
3. I used the LibreSDR.zip
4. Unzip it somewhere suitable
5. Open the directory, then go down one layer into the folder with a file labelled sdimg (and others)
6. Copy those files onto the freshly formatted SD card.
7.Place card in LibreSDR and power up using the OTG USB-C socket (not the debug one).
8. After a brief pause of some 10 seconds its contents will appear in your windows drive viewer.
9. I loaded OBS and DATVEasy 2.17, chose the standard Pluto as device and it worked.

Looking forward to the extra opportunities this unit offers such as dual RX&TX and coverage to below 50MHz with a saving of around £100 on a Pluto. What they might be I have no idea.....plus you get a nice alloy box.
I hope this saves others a lot of messing about, several hours worth in my case....
Gareth

[Basil]

Well, I don't even have one of those, but I would nonetheless like to show my appreciation for sharing the results of the time and effort you put into this!


Sometimes doing a good turn is like wetting yourself when wearing a dark suit. You get a nice warm feeling but no one notices or cares

[radiogareth]

I don't own a dark suit
More good news...it works on 51MHz and as expected, 71 too although I found it disconnected itself when I changed frequency in DATVEasy 2.17. It might be because I'm connecting it via a switched hub, which may or may not be a bit flakey....
Thats said, the Pluto I use via the same hub is well-behaved.
I wonder if the other half could do some sort of band-viewer while the other half is RX/TXing....
Gareth

[G4FRE]

Inspired by Mikes explanation yesterday on the AMSAT QO100 net yesterday i dug out the Libresdsr put the pluto.frm onto its drive and ejected it and it worked

I updated to SDR console 3.4 and that works fine, during which. I saw a signal on 144.5 which sounded like SSTV and discovered an SSTV store and forward SSTV repeater in south birmingham GB7TW which I hadnt seen before. 2 hours later, after many rabbit holes, i managed to get a signal through it

I did see SDRTV on simons site which I installed but it currently does nothing when launched, even after uninstalling & reinstalling a couple of times

so i reverted to DATV-Easy which works fine on DATV with the Libresdr

One thing i did learn the hard way. DONOT hang large adaptors (eg N/SMA) on the libresdr SMA connectors, they are VERY fragile. I had to take the libresdr apart and replace the connector!

Dave
G4FRE

The returned signal from GB7TW

202504211509.jpg (21.08 KiB) Viewed 1104 times

[i2NDT]

Dave,
I guess you need to install the latest SDR Console:

Chapter 3 Installation
This program uses many DLLs from SDR Console, so must be installed in the same folder as SDR Console.
In addition, make sure you have at least SDR Console v3.4 dated January 8th 2025 or later.
good luck

best 73
de
i2NDT Claudio

[G4FRE]

Hi Claudio
as noted in my post i had installed the latest sdr console (3.4) yesterday from the website which worked fine with the libresdr on narrowband

SDRTV IS installed in the same folder as SDR Console

will wait to see what others experience before contacting Simon

Dave
G4FRE

[g0mjw]

Have you started it properly Dave ? And you did download it from the SDR-TV page and not from anywhere else?