GR_PLOT_PSD(1)

📦
version 3.10.12.0 · 14 versions
, in fedora 43

💖 GR_PLOT_PSD 💖

okay bestie, so this is gr_plot_psd, straight out of the User Commands manual (section 1, iykyk). It's the GNU Radio power spectrum plotting girlie and she is THAT girl. Let's get into it 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

gr_plot_psd — GNU Radio power spectrum plotting 💅

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

gr_plot_psd: [options] input_filename

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So here's the vibe. This script takes a GNU Radio binary file (and yes, you tell it what data type it is with --data-type, don't be shy) and it shows you the I&Q data versus time, plus the power spectral density (PSD) plot. Two plots, one icon. 👑

The y-axis values are plotted assuming volts as the amplitude of the I&Q streams, and then they get converted into dBm in the frequency domain. And the 1/N power adjustment out of the FFT? That's handled internally, bestie. You don't gotta do a thing. ✨

The script plots a certain block of data at a time — you tell it which one on the command line with -B or --block. Where do you wanna start in the file? That's -s or --start, and it defaults to 0 (aka the very start of the file, the beginning of the lore). 📖

By default the system assumes a sample rate of 1, so in time, each sample is just plotted versus the sample number. If you want a true time and frequency axis, set the sample rate (-R or --sample-rate) to the sample rate that was used when the samples got captured. fr fr, that's the move. 🎀

And finally — the size of the FFT used for the PSD and spectrogram plots can be set independently with --psd-size and --spec-size, respectively. Independent! They don't even know each other. 💀

Oh and heads up: the spectrogram plot does not display by default. It's off. It's dormant. It's waiting. You turn it on with -S or --enable-spec. 🔥

👑 OPTIONS 👑

  • -h, --help — shows this help message and then dips. exit. bye. 💖
  • -d DATA_TYPE, --data-type=DATA_TYPE — specify the data type. Your options are complex64, float32, (u)int32, (u)int16, (u)int8. [default=complex64] ✨
  • -B BLOCK, --block=BLOCK — specify the block size. [default=8192] 🧚
  • -s START, --start=START — specify where to start in the file. [default=0] 🌸
  • -R SAMPLE_RATE, --sample-rate=SAMPLE_RATE — set the sampler rate of the data. [default=1.0] 🌈
  • --psd-size=PSD_SIZE — set the size of the PSD FFT. [default=1024] ⭐
  • --spec-size=SPEC_SIZE — set the size of the spectrogram FFT. [default=256] 🍓
  • -S, --enable-spec — turn on plotting the spectrogram. [default=False] 💜
quick note bestie: --spec-size and -S are a package deal in spirit — you gotta turn the spectrogram on before you get to see it, no cap.

💜 SEE ALSO 💜

  • gr_plot_psd_c(1)
  • gr_plot_psd_f(1)

the family reunion 🫶

and that's the whole page!! this was gr_plot_psd version 3.10.12.0, dated 2026-01-03, page GR_PLOT_PSD(1). slay, go plot something pretty 💅✨🎀

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