This program receives NRSC-5 digital radio stations using an RTL-SDR dongle. It offers a command-line interface as well as an API upon which other applications can be built. Before using it, you'll first need to compile the program using the build instructions below.
$ sudo apt install git build-essential cmake autoconf libtool libao-dev libfftw3-dev librtlsdr-dev
$ git clone https://github.com/theori-io/nrsc5.git
$ cd nrsc5
$ mkdir build
$ cd build
$ cmake [options] ..
$ make
$ sudo make install
$ sudo ldconfig
Available build options:
-DUSE_NEON=ON Use NEON instructions. [ARM, default=OFF]
-DUSE_SSE=ON Use SSSE3 instructions. [x86, default=OFF]
-DUSE_FAAD2=ON AAC decoding with FAAD2. [default=ON]
-DLIBRARY_DEBUG_LEVEL=1 Debug logging level for libnrsc5. [default=5]
-DBUILD_DOC=ON Generate html API documentation [default=OFF]
You can test the program using the included sample capture:
$ xz -d < ../support/sample.xz | src/nrsc5 -r - 0
Follow the Ubuntu instructions above, but replace the first command with the following:
$ sudo dnf install make patch cmake autoconf libtool libao-devel fftw-devel rtl-sdr-devel libusb-devel
Building on macOS using Homebrew
$ curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/theori-io/nrsc5/master/nrsc5.rb > /tmp/nrsc5.rb
$ brew install --HEAD -s /tmp/nrsc5.rb
To build the program for Windows, you can either use MSYS2 on Windows, or else use a cross-compiler on an Ubuntu, Debian or macOS machine. Scripts are provided to help with both cases.
Install MSYS2. Open a terminal using the "MSYS2 MinGW 32-bit" shortcut. (Or use the 64-bit shortcut if you prefer a 64-bit build.)
$ pacman -Syu
If this is the first time running pacman, you will be told to close the terminal window. After doing so, reopen using the same shortcut as before.
$ pacman -Su
$ pacman -S git
$ git clone https://github.com/theori-io/nrsc5.git
$ nrsc5/support/msys2-build
You can test your installation using the included sample file:
$ cd ~/nrsc5/support
$ xz -d sample.xz
$ nrsc5.exe -r sample 0
If the sample file does not work, make sure you followed all of the instructions. If it still doesn't work, file an issue with the error message. Please put "[Windows]" in the title of the issue.
Once everything is built, you can run nrsc5 independently of MSYS2. Copy the following files from your MSYS2/mingw32 directory (e.g. C:\msys64\mingw32\bin):
- libnrsc5.dll
- nrsc5.exe
$ sudo apt install mingw-w64
$ support/win-cross-compile 32
Replace 32 with 64 if you want a 64-bit build. Once the build is complete, copy *.dll and nrsc5.exe from the build-win32/bin (or build-win64/bin) folder to your Windows machine.
$ brew install mingw-w64
$ support/win-cross-compile 32
Replace 32 with 64 if you want a 64-bit build. Once the build is complete, copy *.dll and nrsc5.exe from the build-win32/bin (or build-win64/bin) folder to your Windows machine.
frequency center frequency in MHz or Hz
(do not provide frequency when reading from file)
program audio program to decode
(0, 1, 2, or 3)
-g gain gain
(example: 49.6)
(automatic gain selection if not specified)
-d device-index rtl-sdr device
-p ppm-error rtl-sdr ppm error
-H rtltcp-host rtl_tcp host with optional port
(example: localhost:1234)
-r iq-input read IQ samples from input file
-w iq-output write IQ samples to output file
-o audio-output write audio to output file
-t audio-type type of audio output (wav or raw)
(default is wav. used in conjunction with -o)
-q disable log output
-l log-level set log level
(1 = DEBUG, 2 = INFO, 3 = WARN)
-v print the version number and exit
--am receive AM signals
(default is FM)
-T enable bias-T
-D direct-sampling-mode enable direct sampling
(1 = I-ADC input, 2 = Q-ADC input)
--dump-aas-files dir-name dump AAS files
(WARNING: insecure)
--dump-hdc file-name dump HDC packets
Tune to 107.1 MHz and play audio program 0:
$ nrsc5 107.1 0
Tune to 107.1 MHz and play audio program 0. Manually set gain to 49.0 dB and save raw IQ samples to a file:
$ nrsc5 -g 49.0 -w samples1071 107.1 0
Read raw IQ samples from a file and play back audio program 0:
$ nrsc5 -r samples1071 0
Tune to 90.5 MHz and convert audio program 0 to WAV format for playback in an external media player:
$ nrsc5 -o - 90.5 0 | mplayer -
To switch between audio programs at runtime, press 0 through 7.
To quit, press Q.
If you get errors trying to access your RTL-SDR device, then you may need to use Zadig to change the USB driver. Once you download and run Zadig, select your RTL-SDR device, ensure the driver is set to WinUSB, and then click "Replace Driver". If your device is not listed, enable "Options" -> "List All Devices".
