LIBRE SDR - The new Pluto??

Digital ATV - The latest generation, cutting edge ATV - Please discuss it all here.
Forum rules
This forum is run by the BATC (British Amateur Television Club), it is service made freely available to all interested parties, please do not abuse this privilege.

Thank you
Post Reply
radiogareth
Posts: 1476
Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2016 9:46 am

LIBRE SDR - The new Pluto??

Post by radiogareth » Fri Jan 09, 2026 4:58 pm

Lots of people have bought themselves a Libre SDRs a (I did) and I have had it working fine with SDR Television (well documented software :-)).
This was however, only achieved after spending several hours trying to find what works and what to do with the various software and connectivity issues.
So please post 'what worked for you' and especially helpful things like where you found the file(s), what you did with them and then how you got it to do what you wanted :-)
Thanks in anticipation!
Gareth
(As a P.S. Dave G8GKQ ha looked carefully at a LibreSDR and if it could work with Portsdown,the answer is NO.)

Basil
Posts: 428
Joined: Tue Sep 10, 2013 7:28 pm

Re: LIBRE SDR - The new Pluto??

Post by Basil » Fri Jan 09, 2026 5:38 pm

Are all Libre SDR's the exact same or does their source alter any technical details affecting usage and compatibility with software and firmware? I get the jitters with this sort of thing in case I end up with one from batch X that no one knows how to tame :)

I think I did read or hear that Pluto SDR's were going to be discontinued, yet the major resellers seem to be expecting more stock...

I concur with you Gareth, assembling all the key requirements to run a Libre in one location or as a magazine article would be great, I know and accept coders like to code and not to write definitive manuals.
Best regards,

Chris, 2E0ILY in rural Shropshire.

G4GUO
Posts: 736
Joined: Tue Feb 16, 2010 12:51 pm

Re: LIBRE SDR - The new Pluto??

Post by G4GUO » Thu Jan 15, 2026 3:53 pm

I have bought a number of LibreSDRs (4 so far) and the only difference I have found is some of the passive components used in them.
The later ones seem to use cheaper parts.
They are all based on Analog Devices libiio library so are pretty much interchangeable.
If you pull out the SD card they behave like a Pluto, if you leave the card in they use a slightly different but more extensive version of Linux.
The pluto firmware adds an extra interpolator/decimator stage in the HDL.
The various special ham versions of the firmware add minor features (consult the authors of the firmware).
If you want to use them in Python here is a good link to look at

https://pysdr.org/content/pluto.html

Basil
Posts: 428
Joined: Tue Sep 10, 2013 7:28 pm

Re: LIBRE SDR - The new Pluto??

Post by Basil » Thu Jan 15, 2026 4:38 pm

Thanks for the detailed information Charles, I appreciate your time and knowledge.
Best regards,

Chris, 2E0ILY in rural Shropshire.

radiogareth
Posts: 1476
Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2016 9:46 am

Re: LIBRE SDR - The new Pluto??

Post by radiogareth » Fri Jan 16, 2026 10:17 am

There is a limitation to the required FAT32 uSD card formatting requirement as I found when I tried to use a 64GB card. Its 32GB max. That took a while to figure out....
Gareth

Post Reply

Return to “DATV - Digital ATV”