GQRX(1)

📦
version 2.17.7 · 6 versions
, in fedora 44, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

🦋 GQRX — okay bestie, let's talk software defined radio 🦋

So like… this is the manual page for gqrx, a User Command in the GQRX(1) family. Yes it's a manpage. Yes it's giving ancient scroll. But it's also literally the whole guide to a whole SDR receiver, so grab a strawberry 🍓 and let's go.

✨ NAME ✨

gqrx — Software Defined Radio GUI application. That's the whole vibe. One name, one job, iconic behavior 💅

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

Gqrx is a software defined radio (SDR) receiver built with GNU Radio and the Qt GUI toolkit. It plays nice with hardware that gr-osmosdr supports, which includes:

  • Funcube Dongle
  • RTL-SDR
  • Airspy
  • HackRF
  • BladeRF
  • RFSpace
  • USRP
  • SoapySDR

So yeah, if your little USB stick is one of those, you're so back 🫶

Gqrx can run as an AM/FM/SSB receiver with audio output, or as an FFT-only instrument if you just wanna look at the pretty spectrum and not hear anything. There are also various hooks for interacting with external applications using network sockets, which is the "talking to other programs behind the scenes" part. Very main character of it, honestly.

fr fr do this first: it is strongly recommended to run the volk_profile utility before running gqrx. It detects and enables processor-specific optimisations, and in many cases that gives you a significant performance boost. Not optional-feeling, okay? Just do it.

The first time you start gqrx, it opens a device configuration dialog. Supported devices that are connected to the computer are discovered automatically, and you can pick any of them from the drop-down list. Very demure, very automatic. ✨

Now — if you don't see your device in that drop-down list, it could be because:

  • The driver has not been included in a binary distribution
  • The udev rule has not been properly configured
  • Linux kernel driver is blocking access to the device

(That third one is the sneaky one. Kernel said "no ❤️")

You can test your device using device specific tools, such as rtl_test, airspy_rx, hackrf_transfer, qthid, etc. Little vibe check for your hardware before you blame the app 🧚

Also!! Gqrx supports multiple configurations and sessions if you have several devices, or if you want to use the same device under different configurations. You can load a configuration from the GUI, or you can use the -c command line argument. Options, options, options. We love her.

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

One bullet per flag, no notes, no skipping. We're thorough in this group chat.

  • -h, --help — Display the help page. The classic "help me" button, and honestly? Relatable.
  • -s, --style _style_ — Use the given style (fusion, windows). Pick your aesthetic, bestie.
  • -l, --list — List existing configurations. So you can see what you already got.
  • -c, --conf _file_ — Start with a specific configuration file. The main-character way to load a session.
  • -e, --edit — Edit the configuration file before using it. Peek before you commit 🙈
  • -r, --reset — Reset the configuration file. Clean slate energy. It's giving fresh start 💀

💜 SEE ALSO 💜

That's the link. Go there. Slay.

Okay that's the whole page!! This was gqrx version 2.17.7, dated May 27, 2025, and yes, the manpage itself is filed under GQRX(1) in the User Commands section. Mwah. Go tune something. 👑💖

📦 where this page comes from