Modules

A module is one rpitx program behind the Module interface. Its name is the rpitx binary name, its Go struct defines the JSON fields, and its ParseArgs method validates them and builds the command line. Pick a module from the table, read its page for the fields, and pass the name to Exec.

Module name Constant Go type What it sends Program run
pifmrds ModuleNamePIFMRDS PIFMRDS FM broadcast with RDS pifmrds
tune ModuleNameTUNE TUNE A plain carrier tune
pichirp ModuleNamePICHIRP PICHIRP A carrier sweep pichirp
morse ModuleNameMORSE MORSE Morse code morse
pocsag ModuleNamePOCSAG POCSAG POCSAG pager messages pocsag
spectrumpaint ModuleNameSPECTRUMPAINT SPECTRUMPAINT A picture on a waterfall display spectrumpaint
pift8 ModuleNameFT8 FT8 FT8 pift8
pisstv ModuleNamePISSSTV PISSTV SSTV pictures, Martin 1 pisstv
pirtty ModuleNamePIRTTY PIRTTY RTTY pirtty
fsk ModuleNameFSK FSK FSK text via minimodem /tmp/fsk.sh
audiosock-broadcast ModuleNameAudioSockBroadcast AudioSockBroadcast Audio from a unix socket, AM, DSB, SSB, FM or raw /tmp/audiosock_broadcast.sh
sendiq ModuleNameSENDIQ SENDIQ Raw I/Q samples sendiq

The SSTV constant is spelled ModuleNamePISSSTV, with three S. It is exported under that name, so it stays.

Rules every module shares

Frequency

Every module checks its carrier frequency against one range, 5 kHz to 1500 MHz. (The rpitx usage texts say 50 kHz; gorpitx allows down to 5 kHz.) The limits are minFreqKHz and maxFreqKHz in gorpitx.go.

Module Field Unit Accepted
pifmrds freq MHz 0.1 to 1500, in steps of 0.1
sendiq freq Hz 5000 to 1500000000
all others frequency Hz 5000 to 1500000000

Hz values are passed to the program rounded to a whole number. A missing or zero frequency fails with frequency must be positive (commonerrors.ErrInvalidValue), except in pifmrds, where it fails as a missing required field. A value outside the range fails with ErrFreqOutOfRange.

The range check is the hardware limit, not a license. Most of that range is not yours to transmit on.

Required and optional fields

  • Required fields are plain values. Optional fields are pointers in the Go structs (*int, *float64, *bool, *string) with omitempty, so leaving one out differs from sending zero.
  • An optional flag goes on the command line only when you set it. Where the program takes positional arguments, gorpitx fills in a default instead; each page says which.
  • Text fields that must not be empty also reject strings of only spaces.
  • File fields are checked with os.Stat before anything starts, and a missing file fails with commonerrors.ErrFileNotFound.
  • Validation stops at the first bad field. The Errors page lists what comes back.

Remember that values you leave out keep what the previous call set. See Arguments persist between calls.

rpitx programs not wrapped

rpitx ships more programs than these 12. The ones that would fit the same pattern, freedv (FreeDV digital voice, freedv vco.rf frequency [samplerate]) and piopera (OPERA, piopera CALLSIGN mode frequency), have no module yet. Run them yourself, or add a module as described in Development.

Table of contents