[Discuss-gnuradio] Problem converting RTL 8 bit IQ samples to gnuradio native format.

[Salvatore Sanfilippo]

Hello, I'm using modes_rx in order to decode ADS-B messages.
Usually I use it with an RTL-based SDR simply as:

modes_rx -d

In this way it works perfectly.

However I need to record raw IQ samples using rtl_sdr and later
process them with modes_rx -F option (that reads data from file, in
the gnuradio format).

So I tried the following:

rtl_sdr -f 1090000000 -s 4000000 /tmp/modes.bin

And alter I converted modes.bin into modes.cfile using the following C program:

int main(void) {
    unsigned char in[2];
    float out[2];

    while(fread(in,1,2,stdin) == 2) {
        out[0] = in[0];
        out[1] = in[1];
        out[0] = (out[0] - 127)*(1.0/128);
        out[1] = (out[1] - 127)*(1.0/128);
        fwrite(out,sizeof(float),2,stdout);
    }
    return 0;
}

I'm using a little endian computer so in theory I'm converting the 8
bit I,Q samples into 4 byte floats I,Q samples in little endian
format, that should be the native format of Gnuradio from what I read
on the internet.

Unfortunately after this conversion modes_rx -F does not work as
expected, and instead outputs garbage.

I guess I'm doing something wrong in the recording or in the
conversion step, but I can't find what the problem is. If you can
point me to the right direction I'll appreciate your help.

Regards,
Salvatore

--
Salvatore 'antirez' Sanfilippo
open source developer - VMware
http://invece.org

Beauty is more important in computing than anywhere else in technology
because software is so complicated. Beauty is the ultimate defence
against complexity.
       — David Gelernter