If you do a Google search for something like “gqrx el capitan”, you’ll find a few guides on using Homebrew to install a bunch of packages that’ll fetch you an old version of GQRX.
It turns out there’s a much easier way with the latest version (2.4.1, at the time of this writing). Just download the app bundle directly from the developer. It’s as simple as an app you drag to /Applications
and run.
GQRX is a graphical frontend for the GNU Radio SDR (Software-Defined Radio) framework. It allows you to use cheap $20 SDR USB dongles to receive radio frequency signals. I use the extremely popular NooElec NESDR Mini 2 stick.
To see what you can do with GQRX, watch Samy Kamkar’s entertaining Digital Ding Dong Ditch Prank video on YouTube.
/Applications
/Applications/GQRX.app
. It will probably give you some warning about an untrusted developer.Mode
under Receiver Options
to WFM (Mono)
. Make sure you hear the station through your Mac’s speakers.
rtl_*
command-line utilities are available in /Applications/Gqrx.app/Contents/MacOS/
FFT Settings
: