--- name: "rtl_power" section: "1" platform: "linux" package: "rtl-sdr" version: "1:2.0.3-1" release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01" platforms: ["linux"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/rtl_power" --- # rtl\_power(1) wideband spectrum monitor utility ## NAME rtl\_power: - wideband spectrum monitor utility ## DESCRIPTION Uses a re-purposed DVB-T receiver as a software defined radio to receive signals in I/Q data form. Written for and incorporated in the osmocom rtl-sdr project. ## USAGE rtl\_power, a simple FFT logger for RTL2832 based DVB-T receivers This tool gathers signal data over a very wide area of the frequency spectrum, and then that data can be used to find active areas of the spectrum. Use: rtl\_power **-f** freq\_range \[-options\] \[filename\] **-f** lower:upper:bin\_size \[Hz\] - (bin size is a maximum, smaller more convenient bins - will be used. valid range 1Hz - 2.8MHz) - \[-i integration\_interval (default: 10 seconds)\] - (buggy if a full sweep takes longer than the interval) - \[-1 enables single-shot mode (default: off)\] \[-e exit\_timer (default: off/0)\] \[-d device\_index (default: 0)\] \[-g tuner\_gain (default: automatic)\] \[-p ppm\_error (default: 0)\] filename (a '-' dumps samples to stdout) - (omitting the filename also uses stdout) ### Experimental options: - \[-w window (default: rectangle)\] - (hamming, blackman, blackman-harris, hann-poisson, bartlett, youssef) - \[-c crop\_percent (default: 0%, recommended: 20%-50%)\] - (discards data at the edges, 100% discards everything) (has no effect for bins larger than 1MHz) - \[-F fir\_size (default: disabled)\] - (enables low-leakage downsample filter, - fir\_size can be 0 or 9. 0 has bad roll off, - try with '-c 50%') - \[-P enables peak hold (default: off)\] \[-D enable direct sampling (default: off)\] \[-O enable offset tuning (default: off)\] ### CSV FFT output columns: - date, time, Hz low, Hz high, Hz step, samples, dbm, dbm, ... ## EXAMPLES - rtl\_power **-f** 88M:108M:125k fm\_stations.csv - (creates 160 bins across the FM band, - individual stations should be visible) - rtl\_power **-f** 100M:1G:1M **-i** 5m **-1** survey.csv - (a five minute low res scan of nearly everything) - rtl\_power **-f** ... **-i** 15m **-1** log.csv - (integrate for 15 minutes and exit afterwards) - rtl\_power **-f** ... **-e** 1h \| gzip \> log.csv.gz - (collect data for one hour and compress it on the fly) ### Convert CSV to a waterfall graphic with: - http://kmkeen.com/tmp/heatmap.py.txt rtl\_power, a simple FFT logger for RTL2832 based DVB-T receivers Use: rtl\_power **-f** freq\_range \[-options\] \[filename\] **-f** lower:upper:bin\_size \[Hz\] - (bin size is a maximum, smaller more convenient bins - will be used. valid range 1Hz - 2.8MHz) - \[-i integration\_interval (default: 10 seconds)\] - (buggy if a full sweep takes longer than the interval) - \[-1 enables single-shot mode (default: off)\] \[-e exit\_timer (default: off/0)\] \[-d device\_index (default: 0)\] \[-g tuner\_gain (default: automatic)\] \[-p ppm\_error (default: 0)\] filename (a '-' dumps samples to stdout) - (omitting the filename also uses stdout) ### Experimental options: - \[-w window (default: rectangle)\] - (hamming, blackman, blackman-harris, hann-poisson, bartlett, youssef) - \[-c crop\_percent (default: 0%, recommended: 20%-50%)\] - (discards data at the edges, 100% discards everything) (has no effect for bins larger than 1MHz) - \[-F fir\_size (default: disabled)\] - (enables low-leakage downsample filter, - fir\_size can be 0 or 9. 0 has bad roll off, - try with '-c 50%') - \[-P enables peak hold (default: off)\] \[-D enable direct sampling (default: off)\] \[-O enable offset tuning (default: off)\] ### CSV FFT output columns: - date, time, Hz low, Hz high, Hz step, samples, dbm, dbm, ... - rtl\_power **-f** 88M:108M:125k fm\_stations.csv - (creates 160 bins across the FM band, - individual stations should be visible) - rtl\_power **-f** 100M:1G:1M **-i** 5m **-1** survey.csv - (a five minute low res scan of nearly everything) - rtl\_power **-f** ... **-i** 15m **-1** log.csv - (integrate for 15 minutes and exit afterwards) - rtl\_power **-f** ... **-e** 1h \| gzip \> log.csv.gz - (collect data for one hour and compress it on the fly) ### Convert CSV to a waterfall graphic with: - http://kmkeen.com/tmp/heatmap.py.txt ## SEE ALSO RTL-SDR wiki documentation: **http://sdr.osmocom.org/trac/wiki/rtl-sdr** Other rtl-sdr programs: [rtl\_adsb(1)](/rtl_adsb/1.md), [rtl\_eeprom(1)](/rtl_eeprom/1.md), [rtl\_fm(1)](/rtl_fm/1.md), [rtl\_sdr(1)](/rtl_sdr/1.md), [rtl\_tcp(1)](/rtl_tcp/1.md), [rtl\_test(1)](/rtl_test/1.md) ## AUTHOR This manual page was written by Maitland Bottoms for the Debian project (but may be used by others). ## COPYRIGHT Copyright (c) 2013 A. Maitland Bottoms \ This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.