PLEASE NOTE – This post has been updated with new easier instructions please click HERE

A while back I bought an RTL2832u device from ebay for a very small amount and was blown away by how this piece of kit performed.

Under linux and windows it worked beautifully, I then purchased a new MacBook Pro and didn’t really know what to use as I have had no experience under Mac OSX.

GQRX

So a little research came up with GQRX and I can tell you it works brilliantly and has pretty much everything you need.

Whilst there are Mac binary (DMG) files for GQRX I have not been able to find any current versions.

But I did find that MacPorts has an up to date version which is good news for us!

If you do not know what MacPorts is, it’s a an easy to use system for compiling, managing and installing open source software. Similar to Brew if you use that.

So let’s crack on and get MacPorts installed so we can get playing!

Installation

Firstly we need to install Xcode from the Apple App Store

This link will take you directly to the Xcode app in the app store.

Once you have Xcode installed, it’s time to install MacPorts

Download the Yosemite package here for any other version of Mac OSX please see this directory.

Install the package by double clicking it and proceeding through the next steps. You will more likely get to the stage in the installation where it says “Running package scripts”. At this stage it might take a while so please be patient it hasn’t stopped working and is downloading the latest base set behind the scenes.

Installing GQRX using MacPorts “Port” Command.

After the MacPorts installation has finished we then need to go ahead and issue some commands to MacPorts to install GQRX.

Fire up your Terminal of choice (I am currently using iTerm2) and issue the following command.

sudo port install gqrx

MacPorts will then compute all dependencies, download, compile and install them.

This part may take a while depending on your systems hardware as it has to compile the whole of GNU Radio and some other dependencies.

Once it has finished compiling and installing there will be a new menu item in your dash (F4) called MacPorts and within that folder your will be your shiny new GQRX Icon.

Playtime!

Launch GQRX and you will be preseneted with the following screen.

No Sound Huh?

Hit the top left to activate the application and you will be surfing the airwaves in not time, I did get a little annoyed after setting this up because there was no sound at all, luckily though it was just me being lazy and expecting the application to work straight away as it has done with all other applications I have used.

Demodulation

What I didn’t do was set the demodulation type. In the top right hand side of the program is the receiver options with the multi choice “Mode” box. You can have a look at other options to suit yourself but I chose WFM (Stereo) and all was working well.

So.. There you have it, you are now up and running and ready to surf the air waves. I hope this worked for you as it is pretty straight forward. If I missed anything or you’d like to point anything out please contact me!

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