SDR# SDR# Plug-in: Frequency Scanner updated

[PatrickPierre73]

Hi buddies ! Is there a way to automatically start an audio recording when the scan stops on a given frequency ? (even using another plugin associated with Frequency Scanner)

 

[VladeDoddy]

There's an audio recorder plugin that comes with the SDR# community package. It can be set to record when SDR#'s audio is unmuted which makes it work perfectly with Frequency Scanner if you use the audio mute feature. It can also be set to record only when squelch is broken if you prefer to use SDR#'s squelch.

 

[PatrickPierre73]

Thanks Vlade, that's exactly what I'm looking for.
I just had a look at the "Community Package' ; is it the "audio recorder" or the"IF recorder" ?

Best regards.

 

[VladeDoddy]

The "Audio Recorder" is the one I tried. If you don't want to deal with the community package and all of its other plugins and your browser can translate web pages you can download just that plugin on this website: Все доступные на этом сайте плагины с кратким описанием (rtl-sdr.ru)

 

[PatrickPierre73]

I already use some Vasili's plugins, hence I'm aware of this website.
Thanks again.

 

[causeway74]

Talking of the audio recorder plugin, it would be awesome if there was a flag somewhere, perhaps in FreqMan, where we could indicate whether or not the audio recording would be used for a particular frequency. There are many things that I care not to keep recordings of, others the opposite.

No pressure for thewraith2008 I am sure - I'm guessing this would be an audio rec plugin update rather than the scanner plugin but it still could be nice. Combine that with CTCSS codes in the filenames and I think my wishlist would be complete.

 

[thewraith2008]

Frequency Scanner plug-in updated to v2.2.8.0

Plug-in UI should be better now when using with SDR# 1800
- see changelog.txt for details



Download
NOTE: Use 7zip or WinRAR to extract files from the .7z file and read the .pdf file for installation and usage of files with SDR#.

MD5 HASH: 163e2ac9b294a27ac0ded9ace8d1b423

 

[noamlivne]

Hi,
I hope this was not asked before (I tried to search for it).
In the first versions of the original Scanner plugin the scanner pane could be detached from SDR#.
So while surfing the net, one can view the scanning progress including controlling it.
See pic for example.
Can this be done in this excellent updated plugin?

 

[thewraith2008]

Hi,
I hope this was not asked before (I tried to search for it).
In the first versions of the original Scanner plugin the scanner pane could be detached from SDR#.
So while surfing the net, one can view the scanning progress including controlling it.
See pic for example.
Can this be done in this excellent updated plugin?

It's my understanding you can do this now with the newer SDR# (1778+).
I doubt I will add this for older SDR# versions.



Latest version (v2.2.8.0) can be found here: MEGA - Download

 

[noamlivne]

It's my understanding you can do this now with the newer SDR# (1778+).
I doubt I will add this for older SDR# versions.



Latest version (v2.2.8.0) can be found here: MEGA - Download

Thank you very much for your response and for your excellent work.

 

[morfis]

It's my understanding you can do this now with the newer SDR# (1778+).

Confirmed

 

[noamlivne]

Confirmed

Indeed the Scanner pane (and other panes) can float around, but unfortunately I did not manage to detach it as a separate window from the Airspy program (tested now with ver 1784).

So currently I must have the Airspy program open somewhere and in the foreground for the Scanner pane to also be in the foreground.

If I click on a part of a window that is not related to Airspy, the Airspy (and Scanner) go to the background, unfortunately.

In the original version of the Scanner plugin, the Scanner pane was considered a separate window in addition to SDR# and stayed in the foreground while SDR# was minimized, and thus I could have continued using my laptop normally while viewing only the Scanner pane. (See another pic for example from the original Scanner plugin and the two separate windows.)

But this is I guess not related to the new and updated Scanner plugin, and it is more a "feature" of the non-stop-updating Airspy program.

 

[morfis]

Indeed the Scanner pane (and other panes) can float around, but unfortunately I did not manage to detach it as a separate window from the Airspy program (tested now with ver 1784).

So currently I must have the Airspy program open somewhere and in the foreground for the Scanner pane to also be in the foreground.

SDRsharp main window must be open and not minimised to taskbar but it doesn't need to be in the foreground. When I tested it this morning the scanner display was visible, and seen actively scanning, whilst sdrsharp was hidden under the browser window.

 

[noamlivne]

SDRsharp main window must be open and not minimised to taskbar but it doesn't need to be in the foreground. When I tested it this morning the scanner display was visible, and seen actively scanning, whilst sdrsharp was hidden under the browser window.

And what happened when you clicked the browser for example? Did the Scanner pane remain in the foreground or went to the background?
For me everything went to the background and disappeared.

 

[morfis]

And what happened when you clicked the browser for example? Did the Scanner pane remain in the foreground or went to the background?
For me everything went to the background and disappeared.

I was typing the reply on here so the browser window is the one that had focus. Scanner panel remained visible and active

 

[noamlivne]

I was typing the reply on here so the browser window is the one that had focus. Scanner panel remained visible and active

Interesting. Thank you for the info.

 

[RDowson]

What’s the scanning speed of this solution for airband VHF and UHF? I was using SDRuno with an RSP1A and I could only scan about 5 saved channels per second. This was no good as it was cutting the start off of transmissions.
Ideally, I need an SDR solution to be able to scan at least 50 channels per second. Even that is half the speed of my Uniden scanners.

 

[VladeDoddy]

It depends on multiple factors as to how fast it can scan. To use my RTL-SDR V3 dongles as an example, they can switch center frequencies about 16 times per second and can sample about 1.92 MHz of bandwidth reliably. Depending on the step size of the bands being tuned that can add up to several hundred to even a few thousand frequencies per second being scanned.

I just did a test with the civil air band and it takes 0.6 seconds to scan it. With the military air band it takes 5.7 seconds. I also have over 100 local frequencies saved in the frequency manager and it's able to scan all of those twice per second. So it performs way better than my old Radio Shack scanner which takes over 20 seconds to scan the civil air band, doesn't even include the military air band, and takes over two seconds to scan my local frequencies.

I'm not that familiar with the RSP1A other than it's able to handle much more bandwidth than the RTL dongles. Even if it's only able to switch center frequencies five times per second it should still perform similarly or even better on the VHF and UHF air bands since it would need to switch center frequencies less often.

 

[RDowson]

It depends on multiple factors as to how fast it can scan. To use my RTL-SDR V3 dongles as an example, they can switch center frequencies about 16 times per second and can sample about 1.92 MHz of bandwidth reliably. Depending on the step size of the bands being tuned that can add up to several hundred to even a few thousand frequencies per second being scanned.

I just did a test with the civil air band and it takes 0.6 seconds to scan it. With the military air band it takes 5.7 seconds. I also have over 100 local frequencies saved in the frequency manager and it's able to scan all of those twice per second. So it performs way better than my old Radio Shack scanner which takes over 20 seconds to scan the civil air band, doesn't even include the military air band, and takes over two seconds to scan my local frequencies.

I'm not that familiar with the RSP1A other than it's able to handle much more bandwidth than the RTL dongles. Even if it's only able to switch center frequencies five times per second it should still perform similarly or even better on the VHF and UHF air bands since it would need to switch center frequencies less often.

From speaking to SDRplay, it seems like the limitation is due to their memory bank widget and they’re hoping to make substantial improvements to that in a future release.
I now have something to look forward to! Hopefully that fixes the issue I was having.

 

[bf109e]

Hi @thewraith2008
Could the scanner auto start after starting SDRSHARP ?
amazing job¡ Thank you so much.