OPTION-3:
DVB-T plugged into Windows Computer - Using Command LIne
Important: If you want to plug in your DVB-T Dongle into Windows Computer, you should install its driver Zadig from http://zadig.akeo.ie/
STEP 1 of 8:
Download Python Installation File python-2.7.14.msi from the site given below, and install it on your computer
STEP 2 of 8:
Download Python Imaging Library Installation File Pillow-4.3.0.win32-py2.7.exe from the site given below, and install it on your computer
IMPORTANT NOTE: Pillow and PIL are not compatible. If you have already installed PIL, first uninstall it, and then install Pillow
STEP 3 of 8:
Create a new folder of a name of your choice and at a location of your choice. For this guide, I will use new folder name “RF Scan”, location inside “Download” Folder.
STEP 4 of 8:
Download RelWithDebInfo.zip from here:
Download link: Making sure you're not a bot!
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Web Page:
(Scroll down to bottom of page to find download link)
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STEP 5 of 8:
Un-zip RelWithDebInfo.zip. It will create a folder RelWithDebInfo and inside this folder another folder rtl-sdr-release which contains several files and 2 folders named x32 and x64.
Open folder x32
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Copy following 3 files of folder x32 into newly created folder RF Scan.
(1) libusb-1.0.dll
(2) rtl_power.exe
(3) rtlsdr.dll
STEP 6 of 8:
Download file heatmap·py by Right-Clicking on the link below, and choosing “Save Link As…”
Move the downloaded file heatmap·py into folder RF Scan.
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/keenerd/rtl-sdr-misc/master/heatmap/heatmap.py
STEP 7 of 8:
Make sure no program is using DVB-T Dongle. Stop any such program to free DVB-T.
Open Command console by typing cmd.exe in search. Once the Command Console is open, do following:
# First CD to folder RF Scan
#Once in folder RF Scan, give following command
rtl_power -f 800M:1200M:100k -i 30 -c 50% -e 30m -g 30 -F 9 >scan.csv
The above command will generate following output.
Wait for 30 minutes for scan to finish.
When scan is finished, it will say “Exiting… Canceled by user”.
Scan will create a file “scan.csv” in current folder and save scan data in it.
This will produce a very wide image (4000 pixels!) that shows spectrum power from 800MHz - 1.2GHz.
If you want a narrower image, increase “100k” above to something larger, it controls the bandwidth that corresponds to one pixel on the x axis.
-i controls the integration interval (time for one pixel on the y axis)
-e is the total runtime, longer gives you a taller image.
STEP-8 of 8:
Create an image “scan.png” in current folder from data stored in file “scan.csv”
Open Command console by typing cmd.exe in search. Once the Command Console is open, do following:
# First CD to folder RF Scan
#Once in folder RF Scan, give following command
heatmap.py scan.csv scan.png
The above command will generate following output.
This will produce a very wide image (4000 pixels!) that shows spectrum power from 800MHz - 1.2GHz.
Example of Scan of Existing RF Signals by rtl-power
This image is very wide (4000 pixel), but displayed smaller. As a result details are not clear.
Click over it to see bigger size.
Three 500 pixel wide cut-outs from above 4000 pixel wide image. These cutouts show details better.
