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Flying WV
West Virginia University · Radio Astronomy Instrumentation Laboratory DSPIRA

Receiver Electronics

PlutoSDR software Installation

Steps for installing the PlutoSDR software on your computer

Equipment and preparation · Optional activity
Equipment
An ADALM-PLUTO receiver and a computer with GNU Radio, internet access, and software installation permissions.
Before you start
Use this optional route only for PlutoSDR. Use GNU Radio 3.10 with its included IIO blocks. Check the USB connection before configuring telescope reception.
Planning your time
Review the tasks before scheduling a class. A classroom duration has not been confirmed for this lesson.

Teaching guidance · Software compatibility

GNU Radio 3.10 includes the IIO blocks used by PlutoSDR. Follow the DSPIRA installation guide first. The Analog Devices guide explains version compatibility.

Check the installed blocks

On Ubuntu, install the device inspection utility:

sudo apt install libiio-utils
python3 -c "from gnuradio import iio; print(iio.__file__)"

Restart GNU Radio Companion and search for PlutoSDR Source. Use the block from the installed GNU Radio IIO package. The older upgrade-3.8 source-build instructions apply to GNU Radio 3.8, not the current DSPIRA setup.

Connect the receiver

Connect the PlutoSDR to the computer with a USB data cable. List available IIO contexts:

iio_info -s

Copy the detected receiver’s URI into the source block’s IIO context URI field. If no receiver appears, follow Analog Devices’ USB and device-access troubleshooting guidance.

Configure the telescope

Follow the receiver settings for tuning, sample rate, connections, and amplifier power. Set LO Frequency to int(freq) and Sample Rate to int(samp_rate). Use freq = 1421e6 and samp_rate = 3.5e6 for this lesson. Confirm reception and calibration with your equipment before collecting observations.

All 5 lessons in Receiver Electronics Published August 4, 2021