Using Steam Deck as portable SDR station?

[InfernalWheel]

Waiting on getting my Deck and planning on doing some monitoring with Software Defined Radio (SDR) and I havent used Arch in a couple of years. Has anyone had any experience with this on the Deck?

[retrogunner]

I'll be doing this too. (I should be getting my Q2 invite any day now.) Currently I use my Mint Linux 2-n-1 (having a touchscreen is nice.)

The challenge will be there doesn't appear to be any SDR related flatpaks on flathub.org. Search the general discussions here for 'flatpak. I've a few post/replies here on their usage.

Lack of flatpaks leaves either AppImage (preferred) or direct install (bad as it install be lost on OS Updates).

Luckily, AppImages exist for:
* CubicSDR - https://github.com/cjcliffe/CubicSDR/releases
* Gqrx SDR - https://github.com/gqrx-sdr/gqrx/releases
* SoapySRD - https://github.com/mryndzionek/composable-sdr/releases (2 yrs old)

Now it's likely you'll want to have some other application that isn't available as AppImage or Flatpak format. At that point, you'll need to make your own.

Being Linux powered, you could do that on the Deck. I would recommend using a full-on laptop/pc for that. It doesn't need to be Arch (which what SteamOS 3.x is based on), but using Arch or Manjaro on the PC would help maintain a consistent experience.

You'll also need to install some packaging build tools and the dependencies which need to be stored in the package types (gnome/kde) per their instructions. Another reason why package building on the Steam Deck is less desirable.

To make an AppImage isn't too hard. This HOWTO walks you through:
https://www.booleanworld.com/creating-linux-apps-run-anywhere-appimage/
There's also YT vids on using 'appimagetool' (besides the official docs) on how to make them.

A cool thing with AppImage is you can also config them to create an alternative AppImage configuration directory so you can make it truly portable (for use on an SD Card or USB Stick.
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1009888/how-does-an-appimage-persist-settings-between-launches

As for making your own flatpaks (which cannot be setup for portable storage), it's pretty easy too (having looked over the docs):
* https://flatpak-testing.readthedocs.io/en/latest/building-simple-apps.html
* https://docs.flatpak.org/en/latest/building-introduction.html
* https://develop.kde.org/docs/build/flatpak/packaging/

I hope this helps those in Radioland or needing an app not in AppImage/Flatpak.

Cheers. retro.

[InfernalWheel]

Oh SWEET! Thanks @retrogunner thats a LOT of info for me to pour through! GROOVY!

[Prezidentas]

with all the custom software and SDR drivers that you need to get it would make a lot more sense to use a different operating system than SteamOS. I've done NOAA and METEOR sattelite decoding under Linux, there is enough software for that, plus the older NOAA software runs under Wine just fine, though I only used it for decoding and not the initial recording iirc. Just listening for audio (like ATC or taxis) would be pretty easy with GQRX.

[InfernalWheel]

Originally posted by Red Star Gopnik:

with all the custom software and SDR drivers that you need to get it would make a lot more sense to use a different operating system than SteamOS. I've done NOAA and METEOR sattelite decoding under Linux, there is enough software for that, plus the older NOAA software runs under Wine just fine, though I only used it for decoding and not the initial recording iirc. Just listening for audio (like ATC or taxis) would be pretty easy with GQRX.

I had thought about that and am prepared to dual boot or just load up an sd card with another OS just for use with SDR software if need be. Thanks for your response. :)