Software Defined Radio

sdrangel

sdrangel is the heavyweight of the graphical SDR tools. Where gqrx and CubicSDR are receivers, SDRangel is closer to a workstation: it handles a wide range of hardware (receive and transmit), runs many demodulators and analyzers at once, and includes plugins for decoding specific systems — ADS-B, AIS, APRS, DAB, digital voice modes, and more — all in one interface. It has a steeper learning curve to match, but when you need to do several radio things at the same time it’s without equal in this toolkit.

SDRangel is a graphical application, so Oniomarchy launches it into its own window from Security → Software Defined Radio → sdrangel. Installed from the AUR (as sdrangel-bin).

Using it

SDRangel is built from devices, channels, and features you add to a workspace:

1. Add a sample source (your SDR device) to create a receiver.
2. Add channels on top of it — each channel is a demodulator or decoder tuned to an offset within the captured bandwidth, so you can run, say, an ADS-B decoder and an FM demodulator simultaneously.
3. Add features for higher-level functions like maps, satellite tracking, or a spectrum analyzer.

Because it does so much, SDRangel rewards spending time with its documentation — but for multi-signal monitoring and built-in protocol decoding it’s the most capable option here. For simple listening, gqrx is quicker to get going.