DABstar

Table of Content

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• Pictures from version V4.0.0 to V4.6.0
  • Main window
  • Scope Spectrum Correlation Statistic window
  • FIB content window
  • Journaline window
  • TII-list window which shows received transmitter details
  • Map view of received transmitters
  • DABstar version update dialog
  • Technical details window of the selected service
  • The PRS correlation window of a whole DAB frame (CIR)
  • Configuration window
  • Some of the device windows
• Releases
• Introduction and history
• V3.x.y
• Version 2.3.0 and above
• What is new in 2.2.0
• What is new in 2.1.0
• What is new in 2.0.0
  • Buttons are icons now
  • Service List
    • Favorites
    • Sorting
    • Channel Buttons
    • Target Button
  • Some help for scanning
• How to apply TII info
• Installing on Linux from current mainline
  • QWT installation / building
    • Original description
    • QWT short build description
  • Building DABstar
  • RTL-SDR driver installation
  • Installing USRP UHD
  • Installing AirSpy
• Licences
  • Journaline

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Pictures from version V4.0.0 to V4.6.0

Main window

Scope Spectrum Correlation Statistic window

FIB content window

Journaline window

TII-list window which shows received transmitter details

Map view of received transmitters

DABstar version update dialog

(unfortunately, the link coloring could not be made better readable, looks better in Windows)

Technical details window of the selected service

The PRS correlation window of a whole DAB frame (CIR)

Configuration window

Some of the device windows

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Releases

Latest AppImage versions see Linux Release Page.

old-dab provides also Windows versions, see Windows Release Page. The feature-set could be a bit different between Linux and Windows, even with same version number.

Introduction and history

DABstar was originally forked from Jan van Katwijk's great work of Qt-DAB from commit (tree) from 2023-05-30. Some fixes and adaptions afterwards to Qt-DAB are included.

With meanwhile (not just perceived) hundreds to thousand of hours work, there are huge changes and additions (but also reductions) made and there will be bigger changes in the future, I decided to give it the new name DABstar.

I saw that with starting of Qt-DAB 6.x, Qt-DAB uses also new code parts and ideas from here. I am very appreciated about this :smiley:. This is of course very acknowledged that my work can give something back.

I will try to maintain always a working state on the head of the main branch, so use this for building the software for yourself. Please do not try any other branch besides main branch. They are indented for development, backups and tests and will not always work in their current state.

Recommended is to checkout a Tag of a released version, these are better tested.

As this README got meanwhile quite long, I cut off the description regarding versions until 1.7.1, but you can still read it here: README.md of V1.7.1

V3.x.y

I and old-dab made big changes on the mainline, including the upgrade from Qt 5 to Qt 6. So, I decided to raise the major version to 3.

Version 2.3.0 and above

Beginning with this version, please look to the Release Page for a more detailed description of the changes.

What is new in 2.2.0

• A bigger fix replaying files regarding my new service list. There is still the small issue that the channel name does not (necessarily) fit to the file content.
• There is only one file-reading dialog now. The file type selection happens in the file dialog field. It is selectable whether the QT or native file dialog should be shown.
• Improve error checking for file handling.
• Refine the setting management. This causes that the setting file (in ~/.config/dabstar/) got a new filename. So, the settings has to be put-in new.
  Same happens to the service-list database file, so possibly already made favorites got lost. Sorry for that circumstance.
• Small UI refinements.
• Many small refinements under the hood.

What is new in 2.1.0

• Some minor fixes and refinings made.
• Add status information to the main Widget, see below the MOT picture:
  • Show the ACC decoder input bit rate.
  • Show whether Stereo mode is active.
  • Show whether EPG (Electronic Program Guide) data are available
  • Show whether SBR (Spectrum Band Replication) mode is active
  • Show whether PS (Parameter Stereo) mode is active
  • Show whether an announcement is currently made.

(move over the status elements like SBR or PS to get tooltip information)

What is new in 2.0.0

Buttons are icons now

I replaced all buttons on the main window to quadratic ones with icons on it. Some have animations or change colors or the icon itself after clicking. See the tooltips for further information what each button does.

Service List

The major new thing is the complete new written service selector on the left side of the main window:

The list is stored as a SQlite database in the folder ~/.config/dabstar. The list will be filled when selecting a new channel (with eg. the combobox on the right bottom corner in the picture) or click the "Scan" button to scan all typical DAB channels. While the scan is running the button is animated.

The current selected service is shown with an orange background. With the brown colored entries, you will find other services from the same channel (here 11C). When you click on such services the switching time is quite short.

The services with a gray background are from another channel. Selecting this will take a bit longer time (about 3 seconds) till audio comes up. Note: Not each service entry has audio, especially that with SPI and EPG in its name.

Favorites

You can select a current running service as a favorite by clicking . Click the same button again to deselect the favorite state. On the left side of the service list you will see an active favorite state. The favorites are stored separately with the service list, so a re-scan would not delete them.

Sorting

When you click on the header description you can change the sorting of the columns. Selecting the "Fav" column behaves that way that the favorites always located on the top but the service column will be sorted (ascending oder descending).

Channel Buttons

With the up/down-buttons you can step one service up or down in the list (with wrap-around). Change the sorting of the list if you only want mainly to step within the favorites or within the same channel.

Target Button

If you "lose" the orange current service selection you can click this button . The current service will be shown in the list center (if possible).

Some help for scanning

For a successful reception a good leveling of the device is necessary. Click to open the device widget (it differs for the different devices). The best feedback regarding signal quality can be seen on the Spectrum Scope with . There, many explanations would be necessary for the details. Look at the tool tips for further help there.

For a faster signal check you would see the yellow bar

below the picture on the main window. This bar must reach 100% if the signal is good enough.

Also, the clock on the top of the service list can be used as indicator. Its time is only shown (and the background light up) if th