rtl_test(1)

📦 version 2.0.3, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 rtl_test(1) — a benchmark tool for RTL2832 based DVB-T receivers 💖

okay bestie, buckle up, because we're about to vibe check your SDR hardware. this is rtl_test, a whole little program whose entire personality is "let's find out what your dongle can actually do." 💅

✨ NAME ✨

rtl_test — a benchmark tool for RTL2832 based DVB-T receivers 🫶

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

So what does this icon do? It tests the tuning range and the functional sample rates of your device, on your system — because apparently your computer's whole deal matters too, not just the dongle. It does this by using a re-purposed DVB-T receiver as a software defined radio. It was written for, and incorporated into, the osmocom rtl-sdr project. 💖

Now, the lore: there's much software available for the RTL2832, like, an overwhelming amount. Most of the user-level packages rely on the librtlsdr library, which ships as part of the rtl-sdr codebase. And that codebase contains both the library itself and a bunch of command line tools, like rtl_test, rtl_sdr, rtl_tcp, and rtl_fm. These command line tools use the library to:

  • test for the existence of RTL2832 devices 👀
  • perform basic data transfer functions to and from the device 🚚

And because most of the RTL2832 devices are connected using USB, the librtlsdr library depends on the libusb library to communicate with the device. no cap, that's the whole chain of custody. 🔗

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

rtl_test [OPTIONS]

💅 OPTIONS 💅

  • -s samplerate — set the samplerate (default: 2048000 Hz) 🎚️
  • -d device_index — pick which device you're talking to (default: 0)
  • -t — enable Elonics E4000 tuner benchmark] 🏁
  • -p — enable PPM error measurement 📏
  • -b output_block_size — set the output block size (default: 16 * 16384)
  • -S — force sync output (default: async) ⚡

🔥 EXAMPLES 🔥

Wanna check the possible tuning range? bestie, fair warning: it may heavily vary by some MHz depending on your device and the temperature 🌡️. But when you're ready, call:

rtl_test -t

Wanna check the maximum samplerate possible on your machine? Type this — and then keep changing the rate down until no sample loss occurs:

rtl_test -s 3.2e6

For reference, a samplerate of 2.4e6 is known to work even over tcp connections (see rtl_tcp above 👆). A sample rate of 2.88e6 may work without lost samples, but honestly this may depend on your PC/Laptop's host interface. it's giving "your mileage may vary." 😭

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

RTL-SDR wiki documentation: http://sdr.osmocom.org/trac/wiki/rtl-sdr 📚

Other rtl-sdr programs:

👑 AUTHOR 👑

This manual page was written by Maitland Bottoms for the Debian project (but may be used by others). slay, Maitland. 💜

Copyright (c) 2013 A. Maitland Bottoms <bottoms@debian.org>

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. ⚠️

no warranty bestie, I'm just the messenger 💀

that's the whole page, fr fr. this is rtl_test(1), from the RTL-SDR package, version 0.5.0. go forth and benchmark, main character. 🎀✨🦋💖

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