📡 SDR-Commander

A modern web-based control panel for managing RTL-SDR dongles on headless Linux servers. Switch between multiple radio modes, decode pager messages, capture sensor data, and stream raw IQ samples—all from your browser.

Features

• Multi-Mode Operation — Seamlessly switch between pager decode, RTL_433, and RTL_TCP modes
• Real-Time WebSocket Updates — Live data streaming to your browser
• Persistent SQLite Database — All decoded messages and sensor readings are stored
• Telegram Notifications — Get pager alerts with flexible whitelist/blacklist filtering
• Modern Web UI — Clean, responsive interface with dark mode aesthetics

Operating Modes

Mode	Description	Tools Used
📟 Pager Decode	Decodes POCSAG pager messages (fire/EMS/hospital)	rtl_fm + multimon-ng
🌡️ RTL_433 Decode	Scans 433 MHz for weather stations, sensors, TPMS	rtl_433
📶 RTL_TCP	Streams raw IQ data over network for remote SDR apps	rtl_tcp

Note: The SDR dongle can only run one mode at a time. Switching modes automatically stops the previous service.

Requirements

Hardware

• RTL-SDR USB dongle (RTL2832U-based)

Software

• OS: Debian/Ubuntu Linux (tested on Debian Trixie)
• Node.js: 18+
• RTL-SDR tools: rtl_fm, rtl_tcp
• Decoders: multimon-ng, rtl_433

Install Dependencies (Debian/Ubuntu)

sudo apt install rtl-sdr multimon-ng rtl-433

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://git.wardnet.me/kurtis/SDR-Commander.git

# Install Node.js dependencies
npm install

# Start the server
npm start

The control panel will be available at http://your-server-ip:3000

Configuration

Configuration is stored in config.json (created automatically on first run):

{
  "pager": {
    "frequency": "152240000",
    "gain": 40,
    "sampleRate": 22050
  },
  "telegram": {
    "enabled": false,
    "botToken": "",
    "chatId": "",
    "topicId": "",
    "whitelist": {
      "capcodes": [],
      "types": [],
      "protocols": []
    },
    "blacklist": {
      "capcodes": [],
      "types": [],
      "protocols": []
    }
  }
}

Telegram Notifications

1. Create a bot with @BotFather on Telegram
2. Get your Chat ID (use @userinfobot)
3. Enter credentials in Settings tab or edit config.json
4. Optionally configure whitelist/blacklist to filter notifications

Systemd Services

For production use, set up systemd services for automatic startup:

/etc/systemd/system/sdr-control.service

[Unit]
Description=SDR Control Panel
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=root
WorkingDirectory=/path/to/sdr-control
ExecStart=/usr/bin/node server.js
Restart=on-failure

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

sudo systemctl enable sdr-control
sudo systemctl start sdr-control

API Endpoints

Endpoint	Method	Description
/api/status	GET	Current mode and service status
/api/mode/:mode	POST	Switch mode (pager, 433, tcp, stop)
/api/config	GET/POST	Read/update configuration
/api/pager	GET	Fetch pager messages (with pagination)
/api/sensors	GET	Fetch sensor readings (with pagination)
/api/debug	GET	System debug information
/api/telegram/test	POST	Send test notification

WebSocket

Connect to /ws for real-time updates:

• { type: 'pager', data: {...} } — New pager message
• { type: 'sensor', data: {...} } — New sensor reading
• { type: 'log', data: {...} } — Debug log entry

Project Structure

sdr-control/
├── server.js          # Express + WebSocket server
├── config.json        # Runtime configuration (auto-generated)
├── sdr_data.db        # SQLite database
├── package.json
└── public/
    ├── index.html     # Main UI
    ├── app.js         # Frontend JavaScript
    └── styles.css     # Styling

Database Schema

Pager Messages

Column	Type	Description
id	INTEGER	Primary key
timestamp	DATETIME	Receive time
capcode	TEXT	Pager address
protocol	TEXT	POCSAG512/1200/2400
type	TEXT	alpha/numeric
message	TEXT	Decoded content
frequency	TEXT	Receive frequency

Sensor Data

Column	Type	Description
id	INTEGER	Primary key
timestamp	DATETIME	Receive time
model	TEXT	Device model
sensor_id	TEXT	Device ID
temperature	REAL	Temperature reading
humidity	REAL	Humidity percentage
battery	TEXT	Battery status

Tech Stack

• Backend: Node.js, Express, WebSocket (ws)
• Database: SQLite (better-sqlite3)
• Frontend: Vanilla HTML/CSS/JS
• SDR Tools: rtl_fm, multimon-ng, rtl_433, rtl_tcp

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Built for headless SDR servers 🛰️