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linrad

SM5BSZ's DSP receiver — the deep-toolbox SDR for weak-signal work

What it does

A software-defined receiver with an unusually deep DSP toolbox — adaptive noise blanking, smart filtering, coherent averaging — driven from a dense X11 interface. The classic choice for EME and other weak-signal work where its blanker still outclasses newer SDR GUIs.

Why you would want it

Nothing else in the catalog has Linrad's noise-blanking pedigree. If your problem is hearing a station under local impulse noise or off the Moon, this is the tool the weak-signal community still reaches for.

Before it will work

An SDR or soundcard input, and patience with the interface — first-run setup walks through hardware configuration in a terminal-style UI. Runs under X11; install as linrad from the PATH.

How it installs

  • source (autotools) from https://www.sm5bsz.com/linuxdsp/archive/lir05-02.tbz — arch x86_64
  • build dependencies: build-essential, patch, nasm, libx11-dev, libxext-dev
  • the project's build system has no install rule; the binaries listed below are copied into the prefix instead
  • Patched before configure runs, so the generated Makefile inherits the fix. The 64-bit X11 target (xlinrad64) is what AHRL shipped; the ARM targets are unmeasured here and the block is x86_64-gated rather than guessed (D-002, D-025).

Binaries this produces:

  • xlinrad64 → linrad

Known problems

The interface predates every modern UI convention; read SM5BSZ's site before judging it. Built with -Werror removed (see the patch) — the warnings are real but benign 1990s C, and fixing them upstream is beyond a packaging project's remit.

Keeping it current

  • probe: none
  • strategy: rebuild
  • Upstream versions land as lirNN-MM.tbz in sm5bsz.com/linuxdsp/archive/. Slow-moving and worth checking manually; the SourceForge mirror carries only packaged snapshots.

Where to get help with the software itself

Leif Asbrink SM5BSZ's site and the linrad mailing list — documentation is extensive, in its own idiom.

Source: catalog/packages/linrad.yaml