Radio

rtl_433 – receives and decodes radio transmissions

rtl_433 is a command-line utility that receives and decodes radio transmissions from low-power devices operating on common ISM bands.

It supports frequencies including 433.92 MHz, 868 MHz, 315 MHz, 345 MHz, and 915 MHz, and works with RTL-SDR and SoapySDR compatible hardware. The software is designed for capturing, decoding, and processing RF data from a wide range of devices, while remaining lightweight enough to run on Linux systems including embedded hardware.

This is free and open source software.

Key Features

  • Reads live data from supported SDR hardware as well as recorded sample files.
  • Includes a pulse analyzer to inspect signals and help investigate unsupported devices.
  • Supports multiple structured output formats including JSON, CSV, MQTT, InfluxDB, syslog, and HTTP.
  • Can poll multiple frequencies with configurable hopping intervals.
  • Supports configuration files for repeatable monitoring and decoding setups.
  • Low resource requirements and few dependencies.
  • Cross-platform support – runs under Linux, macOS, and Windows.

Website: github.com/merbanan/rtl_433
Support:
Developer: Benjamin Larsson and contributors
License: GNU General Public License v2.0

rtl_433 in action

rtl_433 is written in C. Learn C with our recommended free books and free tutorials.


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