Rpitx-ui: A stable rpitx fork for use with the HackerGadgets adapter board

uConsole
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Hey uConsole community!

I’ve noticed that quite a few of you are taking advantage of the HackerGadgets adapter board and its dedicated RF output to experiment with rpitx on your uConsoles. Since you already have the perfect hardware setup for this, I’d like to share my updated rpitx-ui fork here. It’s much more stable and easier to build now. I hope you find it useful for your projects!

Here is what’s new:

  • SSB Mode Rewrite: SSB modulation has been rewritten from scratch to eliminate the massive transmission delays present in the original rpitx. I also split the single “SSB” UI menu entry into separate USB and LSB options for direct sideband selection.

  • CW Mode Rewrite: The Morse code transmitter was completely rewritten in modern C++ to fix buffer overflows and parsing issues. I also added a dedicated “CW” mode to the UI, allowing you to easily transmit custom messages and set the WPM speed directly from the menu.

  • AM/NFM Fixes: Fixed the AM/NFM modules. Transmission now works correctly and no longer completely freezes the system.

  • CMake & CI/CD: Completely moved the build system to CMake. I also added build verification via GitHub Actions (currently checked against the latest Raspberry Pi OS 64-bit, Debian Trixie). This makes the build process much more robust across different environments.

  • Global Installation: Fixed the installation of binaries and scripts. It is no longer tied to the repository directory - all necessary files now install globally to the system and can be run from anywhere.

If you want to give it a spin on your uConsole, here is the quick guide to get started:

git clone GitHub - IgrikXD/rpitx-ui: RF transmitter for Raspberry Pi with improved UI functionality, built with CMake. · GitHub

cd rpitx-ui

./install.sh

rpitx-ui

Also, you can find a detailed description in the README.md here: rpitx-ui/README.md at master · IgrikXD/rpitx-ui · GitHub

Hopefully, with these fixes, building and running rpitx on your uConsole will be much smoother :slight_smile:

Just a quick note: I’m still waiting for my uConsole to arrive, so all testing was done on a standard Raspberry Pi 4B. However, you shouldn’t have any issues running this on the uConsole’s based on CM4 core.

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Hi, I’m using the cm5 adapter in a uConsole. Do I need to solder the 0Ω resistor near the RPiTX connector for RPiTX to work, or is it optional? My rpitx-ui is transmitting, but I’m not seeing any RF output. Thanks.

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Good day! Operation on the Raspberry Pi CM5 is not supported due to an incompatibility between librpitx and the CM5 RF backend. To use rpitx/rpitx-ui in the uConsole, you need to use a Raspberry Pi CM4.

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Thanks for the clarification. That’s unfortunate, but good to know before spending too much time troubleshooting on the CM5.

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In the future, I will add this information to the repository and also include a CMake warning stating that CM5 is not supported. Thank you.

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