Developer @dernasherbrezon has recently released a new program called "sdr-server" which is a streaming server. Unlike the more basic rtl_tcp server, sdr-server has some more advanced features like being able to serve multiple clients a slice of the bandwidth simultaneously. When compared to SpyServer, another advanced RTL-SDR compatible streaming server, sdr-server has similar features, however, sdr-server is open source. Some of the key features include:

  • Share available RF bandwidth between several independent clients:
    • Total bandwidth can be 2016000 samples/sec at 436,600,000 hz
    • One client might request 48000 samples/sec at 436,700,000 hz
    • Another client might request 96000 samples/sec at 435,000,000 hz
  • Several clients can access the same band simultaneously
  • Output saved onto disk or streamed back via TCP socket
  • Output can be gzipped (by default = true)
  • Output will be decimated to the requested bandwidth
  • Clients can request overlapping RF spectrum
  • Rtl-sdr starts only after first client connects (i.e. saves solar power &etc). Stops only when the last client disconnects
  • MacOS and Linux (Debian Raspberrypi)
How bandwidth slices can be shared with sdr-server.