Differences

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--- software [2026/05/17 23:20] – [Radio Astronomy] dsheen
+++ software [2026/05/18 00:06] (current) – [RF Data Handling] dsheen
@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 The code for the client and server is [[https://github.mit.edu/w1xm/BigDishControlServer|on MIT GitHub]]. A public mirror is [[https://github.com/w1xm/BigDishControlServer|located here]].
+TODO: actually mirror it to the mirror now that we've invalidated the passwords that were in the git repo
+====== RF Data Handling ======
+The main radio for the dish is currently an Ettus X300 with twin UBX-160 daughtercards.
+For realtime processing of rf data, your best bet is usually to start with a gnuradio-companion flowgraph. gqrx can also be used for simply viewing the recieved spectrum and tuning the sdr. these can be installed along with other useful sdr drivers, gnuradio libraries, and the like with [[https://github.com/radioconda/radioconda-installer|radioconda]].
+For storage of RF data for later analysis, we typically use [[https://github.com/MITHaystack/digital_rf|digital_rf]] which provides a number of useful tools for rf data recording (such as thor.py) and for viewing said data (drf_sti.py). It is also included in radioconda.
+**Note:** You should generally avoid storing RF sample data to the same hard disk partition as a computer OS. The file sizes become large very quickly and accidentally filling the drive (and thereby rendering the computer unuseable) is a real possibility. Most machines with access to the [[networking|RF Data Network]] have dedicated /data partitions for this purpose that map to a separate raid array that is substantially larger than the partition for user and operating system files.
+if you don't need to save data but want to retain it for a few seconds for some reason, the "drf ringbuffer" tool can provide a good option for managing digital_rf files in-memory. laforge.mit.edu and scotty.mit.edu have memory mapped file folders at /tmp/ramdisk for this purpose. This can also help to protect against dropped samples due to disk IO rate variations by using drf mirror to copy rf data from the ringbuffer to disk.
 ====== Application-Specific Software ======
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 The example pointing scripts for the BigDishControlServer software include a small Python program that bridges the WebSocket-based protocol to rotctl protocol, which is used by satellite-tracking software like Gpredict. Note that currently Gpredict/rotctl cannot supply tracking velocities, so the tracking accuracy will be a bit worse.
+Some ephemeris are available only in formats which are incompatible with gpredict. Programs to interpret a subset of these into the commands for the dish can be found here [[https://github.com/w1xm/BigDishTools/tree/main/simple_tracking_scripts|Bigdish tracking scripts and coordinate converters]] and can produce command files readable by [[https://github.com/w1xm/BigDishTools/blob/main/dish_client|WR66_run_pointing_file.py]]
 ===== Radio Astronomy =====
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 TODO: add a separate page with references for srt-py things
-Note that the srt-py code is meant to be easy to use teaching software and is fairly limited in its ability to handle wideband observations or interact more creatively with the radome and radio systems. For more advanced observing projects, writing code to control the dish and radio separately, generally using digital_rf for handling RF data, is often advantageous. Examples and tools for tracking objects with direct command of the dish and analyzing the raw sample data from the radio can be found here [[https://github.com/w1xm/BigDishTools|BigDishTools]]
+Note that the srt-py code is meant to be easy to use teaching software and is fairly limited in its ability to handle wideband observations or interact more creatively with the radome and radio systems. For more advanced observing projects, writing code to control the dish and radio separately, generally using digital_rf for handling RF data, is often advantageous. Additional Examples and tools for tracking objects with direct command of the dish and analyzing the raw sample data from the radio can be found here [[https://github.com/w1xm/BigDishTools|BigDishTools]]