GNU Radio can be installed from:

https://github.com/gnuradio

There are different releases for different operating systems and the Windows version is called radioconda – this and Linux and Mac releases can be found at following URL:

https://github.com/ryanvolz/radioconda/releases

GitHub – WVURAIL/gr-radio_astro: This package provides GNUradio OOT modules and grc flowgraphs that fascilates Radio Astronomy Observations with software defined radio devices.

https://github.com/WVURAIL/gr-radio_astro

gr-radio_astro

This package provides GNUradio OOT modules and grc flowgraphs that facilates Radio Astronomy Observations with software defined radio devices.

There are two flavors of this projects:

1. NSF Integrate and Detect softwares that allow for HI measurements and also event detections from cosmic ray detections, developed by Dr. Glen Langston. See here and the lightwork memo series for more details.
2. DSPIRA software developed for and by High School Teachers part of the NSF funded RET program called Digital Signal Processing in Radio Astronomy (DSPIRA) at WVU university from the summers of 2017 to 2021. For more details visit the webpage and the companion website called dspira-lessons that has lessons, guides and more material help one to use radio astronomy in a high school classroom. This material is designed by the High School teachers part of this program.

Installing from Source

1. Install GNUradio
2. 2. Install gnuradio external python dependencies and SDR drivers by typing the following and hit enter:
   sudo apt install gnuradio gr-osmosdr airspy python3-h5py python3-ephem git cmake liborc-0.4-dev -y
3. To clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/WVURAIL/gr-radio_astro.git

4. Switch to the gr-radio_astro directory: cd gr-radio_astro
5. Make a build directory: mkdir build, and then move to it: cd build
6. Then run the following in the build directory:cmake .. sudo make sudo make install

Additional Steps for setting the proper Python environment:

8. Edit your .bashrc file and add this to the bottom to set Python path: export PYTHONPATH=/usr/local/lib/python3/dist-packages:/usr/local/lib/python3.10/dist-packages:$PYTHONPATH
9. Additionally you can create appropriate symbolic links
   1. Check which python is the installed version of GNURadio by opening gnuradio-companion in a terminal window and click on Help --> About and noting the python version on the dialog box that opens.
   2. Go to the following by typing: cd /usr/local/lib/python3.10/dist-packages or cd /usr/local/lib/python3.9/dist-packages for the appropriate python version.
   3. Type ln -s /usr/local/lib/python3/dist-packages/radio_astro

Running from a bootable USB Flash Drive with preinstalled software:

Instructions to set up a persistant USB flash with preinstalled software drive are here – and also at bottom of this page.

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Installing on a Raspberry Pi.

Supported Raspberry Pi Devices

All devices must have RAM greater than 4GB

1. Raspberry Pi 4 Model B
2. Raspberry Pi 400

Installing Ubuntu image with radio astronomy preinstalled on a Raspberry Pi

This image requires a minimum of 16GB of space on the SD card.

1. Download the image here
2. Unzip the .zip file.
3. Use Raspberry Pi Imager to install this image.
   1. Insert SD card into your card reader on your computer
   2. Open Raspberry Pi imager.
   3. Click Choose OS, and choose Use Custom.
   4. Select the correct image file downloaded in step 1 and 2 from your system.
   5. Click Choose storage and select your inserted SD card.
   6. Click write.
   7. More info here and a video
4. Insert SD card to Raspberry Pi and power it up.
5. The default user name is pi, with password raspberry. Change the password after first boot.

Installing Ubuntu 22.04 with spectrometer_w_cal.grc on Bootable Flashdrive

Aug 7, 2020 | 1 minute read

Image the Flashdrive:

1. Before starting, you will need the program balenaEtcher, which is an easy-to-use cross-platform tool for burning images to SD cards, USB drives and other removable devices. It can be downloaded from https://www.balena.io/etcher/.
2. Download the file ubuntu_radio_astro08_2022_2.zip while in either Windows or Ubuntu.
3. Unzip this file in a folder of your choice.
4. Install a 32 GB or larger flash drive in the usb port. [We recommend a Samsung 32 GB flash drive.]
5. Run balenaEtcher. Choose the file ubuntu_radio_astro08_2022_2.img as the image and the flash drive as the target.
6. The Ubuntu with spectrometer_w_cal.grc image should now be on this bootable flashdrive.

How to Run Gnuradio and the spectrometer_w_cal.grc program from the flashdrive.

1. To run Gnuradio and the spectrometer_w_cal.grc program, place the bootable flash drive in a USB port.
2. Start or reboot the computer. While it is starting, hold down the bootable key (F12) to pull up a menu of boot options.
3. Scroll down to the flashdrive and hit enter.
4. On the first installation screen, choose run Ubuntu persistent live (the choice at the top). IT MAY TAKE A FEW MINUTES FOR THE SYSTEM TO BOOT UP, DEPENDING ON THE FLASHDRIVE USED. BE PATIENT!
5. Open a Terminal by selecting the terminal icon on the left menu bar.
6. Type and enter gnuradio-companion at the prompt.
7. The spectrometer_w_cal.grc program should open.
8. Before you hit the Play button at the top of the program window, you will need to adjust the gains for the AIRSpy in the OSMOCOM block. The nominal gain values for the AIRSpy are 17 12 10.
9. NOTE: When the save/write to file buttons are hit, the data files are written to the Spectra folder. Before you run GNURadio, you will need to create the Spectra folder. Click on the Files icon on the left side of the screen. Create the Spectra folder at this level.
10. NOTE: The system clock time defaults to UTC/London. Change it if needed.
11. Enjoy radio astronomy observations!