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installing Kiwirecorder on Ubuntu 16.04?
Hi,
I am new here and I have begun to do a lot of monitoring of the various SDR's from all over the world. I have tried using KiwiSDR's built in recorder, but I am often returning to find interruptions and complete loss of recording sessions.
Since I am on Ubuntu 16.04, I recently came across KiwiRecorder that can supposedly do a much better task, but I am at a loss as to how to install it. I tried following the only instructions I could find here, but I am unable to get very far due to many missing dependencies and I don't know how to proceed from there.
If anyone could lend some assistance, either to maybe more complete instructions and/or maybe a different recorder (more GUI based?) that is up to the task, please share. I just tried recording with Audacity, which is my audio editor on Ubuntu, but if the KiwiSDR goes down or gets interrupted, I still come back to minutes or hours of data lost. Just looking for a better way, and a way I can understand.
Thanks in advance for any help or pointers,
Jon
I am new here and I have begun to do a lot of monitoring of the various SDR's from all over the world. I have tried using KiwiSDR's built in recorder, but I am often returning to find interruptions and complete loss of recording sessions.
Since I am on Ubuntu 16.04, I recently came across KiwiRecorder that can supposedly do a much better task, but I am at a loss as to how to install it. I tried following the only instructions I could find here, but I am unable to get very far due to many missing dependencies and I don't know how to proceed from there.
If anyone could lend some assistance, either to maybe more complete instructions and/or maybe a different recorder (more GUI based?) that is up to the task, please share. I just tried recording with Audacity, which is my audio editor on Ubuntu, but if the KiwiSDR goes down or gets interrupted, I still come back to minutes or hours of data lost. Just looking for a better way, and a way I can understand.
Thanks in advance for any help or pointers,
Jon
Comments
http://ka7oei.blogspot.com/2018/10/a-quick-and-probably-incomplete-guide.html
This may help you install Kiwirecorder, but not much about using it.
73,
Clint
KA7OEI
That's the same link I posted in my question, but it looks like you are the author, is that correct? I got down to the part about installing wsjtx. I tried first the commands you posted, but then had to go to the site (princeton.edu) to get the one for my system. I ended up with a bunch of errors, similar to the part you mention about libgfortran3, but many other missing dependencies as well. I tried finding instructions to auto install the missing dependencies, but I still wasn't able to correctly install wsjtx. By the way, I think I had to go with libgfortran4 instead of 3, not sure.
Although I've been a Linux user for several years now, I still don't get into the depth others do and quickly lose a task if instructions/ commands don't go exactly as implemented.
BTW, I am interested in only recording the 16 bit wave audio files like the KiwiSDR offers, but there are so many interruptions and cut offs, stalling, etc that I haven't been able to use it reliably.
Thanks,
Jon
Don't need to install any of the WSPR/wsjtx stuff.
I have one final question for now. A week ago, I recorded an IQ wave file using just using just the red record button embedded in the KiwiSDR software. I find it nearly impossible to edit correctly in an audio editor in its current form, so is there a way I can convert this to a standard wave file like I am recording now?
Thanks again!
I have an update on what I thought earlier: Kiwirecorder is capturing at 16 and not 32 bit, which is fine, but my editor's default is set at 32 bit which threw me off.
I'm trying out the squelch threshold feature for a couple of SDR's. I am assuming it works like a standard S meter, so if I set it at 36 dB, for example, it would take at least an S6 to start recording. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Finally, those who have more knowledge about scripting and such, I wonder if it would be possible to create a script so I can just click on the script to start recording the stations; also, even more challenging, is there any way to set up kiwirecorder to start auto recording at a specified time?
Thanks again,
Jon
ron@linux-4cdz:~> crontab -e
# .---------------- minute (0 - 59)
# | .------------- hour (0 - 23)
# | | .---------- day of month (1 - 31)
# | | | .------- month (1 - 12) OR jan,feb,mar,apr ...
# | | | | .---- day of week (0 - 6) (Sunday=0 or 7) OR sun,mon,tue,wed,thu,fri,sat
# | | | | |
# * * * * * command to be executed
# * * * * * command --arg1 --arg2 file1 file2 2>&1
00 17 * 6 thu python ~/kiwiclient/kiwirecorder.py -s ka7u.no-ip.org -p 8073 -f 7490.00 -m iq -L -5000 -H 5000 &
30 17 * 6 thu for pid in $(ps -ef | awk '/python/ {print $2}'); do kill -9 $pid; done
After you make your changes to the crontab, you save it with:
:wq
You can create bash scripts that will auto run:
#! /bin/bash
#
python ~/kiwiclient-jks-v0.1/kiwirecorder.py -s southwest.ddns.net -p 8073 -f 3965.00 -m iq -L -5000 -H 5000
After you save this type of file, make it executable:
chmod +x test
ron@linux-4cdz:~> ls -lt test
-rw-r--r-- 1 ron users 0 May 3 14:53 test
ron@linux-4cdz:~> chmod +x test
ron@linux-4cdz:~> ls -lt test
-rwxr-xr-x 1 ron users 0 May 3 14:53 test
So this file can be clicked on from the GUI and run, or it can be run from the command line:
./test
or if not in the directory it resides, by specifying the full path to the file.
Ron
KA7U
I wish I knew how to work with that script; can you give me an example, perhaps if I wanted to record a specific site, say yours, at 10 AM today and then stop at 1 PM? The problem with scripts for me is that it takes me forever to get the punctuation correct. This was the problem I had with the kiwirecorder. When I would look at the help file, it would seem to show, at least in my mind, at least two or more ways per command to implement it, when only one way would be right. If you could give me an example script, I'll be able to go from there I think. I wasn't even aware of "cron" until I brought it up in Ubuntu. Pretty elementary my Linux knowledge when it gets technical, although I do really like it for the net.
By the way, I did come across your site. Am most impressed by the DIY loop and I was surprised that the preamp wasn't that expensive at all. Since my space is severely limited, should I re-enter the SDR hobby with my own receiver, I'll almost have to go with a compact loop.
I pretty much understand kiwirecorder now thanks to, at least in part, the group's help. I'm still not quite sure how to figure out the squelch threshold. I would pick an S unit, say 6 S units, then set it for 36 db but it doesn't seem to work that way, so would appreciate any thoughts. One thing that is somewhat annoying is that one of the sites I've been trying to record seems to switch their site at least twice weekly so an IP I set up for Monday won't work on Tuesday; sometimes I don't seem to be able to record at all and kiwirecorder just hangs.... perhaps there is a time limit per day?
Anyway, thanks for the group's help. I wouldn't have gotten this far had I not joined up to get more specifics. It's interesting to be able to open an IQ file in SDR Sharp and have most functions available as if it had been live. If anyone can suggest something better than SDR Sharp and still free, please share. I do run SDR Sharp on Win as a portable file so I didn't have to install it.
Thanks once again in advance,
Jon
See the -L/-H or --lp-cutoff/--hp-cutoff parameters and examples in the "Makefile" file.
Also the --tlimit/--time-limit parameters to limit the length of a recording. There currently is no option to schedule the recording start time.
Kiwi sites using dynamic ip addresses that change frequently as their URL is bad practice. Much better to use one of the free DDNS/DUC providers so their Kiwi can have a fixed domain name as the URL.
I'm not sure what's going on with the sites I was talking about. I don't think they're changing IP's as I thought; it seems there are two or more separate receivers. So, sometimes I get the one when clicking from the map, but sometimes the other... but only one spot appears on the SDR map. I'm pretty new to all this, so it's probably something I don't know about yet.
I missed that the first time
73, VR2BG.
Of course the passband can be whatever you want. So you could have an asymmetrical AM passband where the low side was -5000 and high side 2500.
In fact it is a fiction to have the modes USB, LSB and CW. Internally to the Kiwi it is really only mode SSB with USB/LSB/CW defined only by the passband shape. For example, you can get DSB simply by setting a passband that resembles an AM passband while in any of the SSB modes.
I wish I knew how to work with that script; can you give me an example, perhaps if I wanted to record a specific site, say yours, at 10 AM today and then stop at 1 PM? The problem with scripts for me is that it takes me forever to get the punctuation correct. This was the problem I had with the kiwirecorder. When I would look at the help file, it would seem to show, at least in my mind, at least two or more ways per command to implement it, when only one way would be right. If you could give me an example script, I'll be able to go from there I think. I wasn't even aware of "cron" until I brought it up in Ubuntu. Pretty elementary my Linux knowledge when it gets technical, although I do really like it for the net.
I'm on the road this weekend and will be home tomorrow, but for now I'll explain the crontab file in more detail. My notes will be in line with the file and will follow after a # sign. The # sign in a bash script and many other scripts is used as a note holder. The sign and the text following won't be executed with the script. An exception is the line: #!bin bash . This line starts a bash interpreter, but no need to get into that here and besides, I might be in deeper water than I'm qualified. LOL
Now the crontab file:
ron@linux-4cdz:~> crontab -e # This command opens the crontab file in an editor, usually the VI editor. You will need to review the use of the VI editor.
# .---------------- minute (0 - 59) # This string of notes shows where the time and date statements are placed on each line of the executable crontab file.
# | .------------- hour (0 - 23)
# | | .---------- day of month (1 - 31)
# | | | .------- month (1 - 12) OR jan,feb,mar,apr ...
# | | | | .---- day of week (0 - 6) (Sunday=0 or 7) OR sun,mon,tue,wed,thu,fri,sat
# | | | | |
# * * * * * command to be executed These two lines attempt to show in general terms where the command arguments are placed on a line.
# * * * * * command --arg1 --arg2 file1 file2 2>&1
# the following line says "at 00 minutes, 10 hours, * day of month not specified, the 5th month May, on Sunday, do the commands
00 10 * 5 sun python ~/kiwiclient/kiwirecorder.py -s ka7u.no-ip.org -p 8073 -f 7490.00 -m iq -L -5000 -H 5000 & #This command starts the recorder.
00 13 * 5 sun for pid in $(ps -ef | awk '/python/ {print $2}'); do kill -9 $pid; done #This command stops the recorder.
#After you make your changes to the crontab, you save it by pressing the esc key and then type:
:wq
Ron
KA7U
jks, it's possible that I may have had the passband setting wrong in the config. I'll have to try it again to be sure. It's fairly easy to get +/- mixed up or even deleted if not careful.
Kiwirecorder, although when it works, it's working well, I'm finding that I'm not able to record all of the SDR's I come across for some reason. I've been trying to get one recording from an SDR with "no-ip" as part of the name. I put that into Kiwirecorder and it just hangs. I even took the no-ip and did an IP look up and tried that: still hangs. However, I do see plenty of WSPR daemon going on incessantly it seems, so much be something I'm lacking.
Here's what I want: Whenever I start up the job, I would like Kiwirecorder (which is located in cd kiwiclient/kiwirecorder if that's relevant) to record an IQ file for one minute starting at 15 minutes past every hour and recording for only one minute.... at 5 Mhz and I'll keep the station private for now. Then, 30 minutes past, same thing, another minute recorded from 30-31 minutes, 45-46 minutes, and then at the top of the hour also for one minute. When I go offline or want to stop, I just shut it down. Nothing automatic. However, there should be four one minute files in the kiwiclient directory for every hour that I had the job active.
Maybe you can help me with this. I wasn't sure how to stop the recording for the end of every minute and was going to add the 60 sec time limit into the kiwirecorder string itself.
Thanks in advance for any help. I think I'll try and give this another go today if possible.
I do have a question now though that I hope you or someone else could answer. I don't really want to keep a job set up this way and would prefer to be able to manually start and stop it. I tried creating a shell script with the cron info and got an error when I tried to execute it on the desktop as test.sh (I assume because shell does not recognize the cron time format). So, does anyone know how I could set up the cron to have more control in the way I describe?
Thanks in advance!