PlutoSiege

ISM-Band RF Capture & Replay Tool for PlutoSDR

REGULATORY DISCLAIMER
RF transmission is regulated by local authorities. Replay only signals you own or are permitted to transmit, into a dummy load or at the lowest power required.

About

PlutoSiege is a terminal application (TUI) for recording and replaying short ISM-band RF bursts (e.g. 433 MHz, 868 MHz) from car remotes, garage doors, doorbells, and wireless sensors.

Built for the ADALM-Pluto (AD9363/AD9361) SDR architecture, it saves recordings in standard SigMF (Signal Metadata Format) so they can be opened in other SDR tools like URH, IQEngine, GNU Radio, or Inspectrum.

Hardware Compatibility

Fully supports both official Analog Devices ADALM-Pluto hardware (Rev. B / Rev. C) and third-party clones/analogues based on the same AD9363/AD9361 transceivers (such as Pluto Nano, Pluto Plus, and other custom PlutoSDR boards).

Features

• Level Metering: Real-time dBFS level meter with saturation (SAT!) warning.
• Threshold Detection: Automated noise floor estimation or manual threshold setting.
• Pre-Trigger Buffer: Keeps a ring buffer of history before trigger so preambles are not missed.
• SigMF Format: Saves .sigmf-meta and .sigmf-data pairs.
• GPS Geotagging: Records precise coordinates in SigMF metadata via gpsd and displays geotags during replay.
• Digital Loopback Test: Built-in test screen to check hardware loopback and SNR.
• Linux Native: Built and optimized specifically for Linux environments (supports all major distribution families: Debian-based, RPM-based, Arch-based, etc.).

Installation

1. System Drivers (libiio)

Install the required IIO system drivers for your distribution family:

Debian-based (Ubuntu, Debian, Kali, Mint, etc.):

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y libiio0 libiio-dev libiio-utils

RPM-based (Fedora, RHEL, CentOS, Rocky, etc.):

sudo dnf install -y libiio python3-iio libiio-utils

Arch-based (Arch Linux, Manjaro, etc.):

sudo pacman -S libiio

2. Optional: GPS Support (gpsd)

If you plan to use GPS geotagging for SigMF recordings, install the gpsd daemon and tools:

Debian-based:

sudo apt install -y gpsd gpsd-clients

RPM-based:

sudo dnf install -y gpsd gpsd-clients

Arch-based:

sudo pacman -S gpsd

Note: Configure and start the gpsd service according to your specific GPS receiver hardware (USB dongle, UART module, Bluetooth, or virtual source) so that it listens on 127.0.0.1:2947. Once running, enable GPS in PlutoSiege Settings (Enable GPS (gpsd): yes).

3. Python Package & Setup

Clone the repository and install dependencies:

git clone https://github.com/SketchTurnerDev/pluto_siege.git
cd pluto_siege
pip install -r requirements.txt

Quick Start

Launch via the main script:

python pluto_siege.py

Or run as a package:

python -m pluto_siege

Or install in editable mode:

pip install -e .
pluto_siege

Demo

Application Menu

The main menu provides access to all core operations:

1. Capture

Listens for incoming RF bursts on the configured receiver frequency (rx_freq).

• Real-time dBFS level meter with saturation (SAT!) warnings.
• Automated noise floor estimation or manual threshold detection.
• Pre-trigger history ring buffer to preserve signal preambles.
• Saves captures as standard SigMF (.sigmf-meta and .sigmf-data) pairs with optional GPS geolocation tags.

2. Transmit

Browse and replay saved SigMF recordings.

• Displays recorded timestamp, center frequency, sample rate, sample count, and GPS coordinates.
• Replays signals via the PlutoSDR transmitter on the configured frequency (tx_freq).
• In-place deletion of unwanted recordings (D or Delete).

3. Loopback Test

Internal hardware diagnostic to verify the SDR transceiver and USB/DMA pipeline.

• Transmits an internal digital test tone through the AD936x loopback path.
• Calculates received Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) to confirm hardware health.

4. Settings

Configures radio parameters, trigger behavior, GPS integration, and interface preferences. Settings can be edited directly in the TUI and are saved to settings.json.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
pluto_uri	str	usb:	Pluto connection URI (usb: or ip:).
pluto_ip	str	192.168.2.1	Remembered Pluto IP address when toggling between USB and IP modes.
rx_freq	int	433920000	Receiver center frequency in Hz.
tx_freq	int	433920000	Transmitter center frequency in Hz.
permit_out_of_spec_frequency	bool	false	Allows tuning outside 325 MHz – 3.8 GHz range (up to 70 MHz – 6.0 GHz).
sample_rate	int	2100000	Sample rate in Hz (521 kSPS – 61.44 MSPS).
rx_gain	float	15.0	Manual RX hardware gain in dB (0.0 to 74.5 dB).
tx_gain	float	0.0	Manual TX attenuation gain in dB (-89.75 to 0.0 dB).
auto_threshold	bool	true	Automated noise floor calculation.
auto_trigger_margin	float	8.0	Margin in dB above noise floor required to trigger capture (1.0 to 30.0 dB).
manual_threshold	float	-30.0	Fixed trigger threshold in dBFS when auto is off.
pre_trigger_buffers	int	2	Number of pre-trigger buffers kept in memory.
silence_seconds	float	0.80	Silence required to stop recording.
max_post_trigger_seconds	float	4.00	Maximum recording length after trigger.
rx_buffer_size	int	32768	DMA buffer size in samples (1024 to 32768).
enable_gps	bool	false	Hardware GPS geolocation in SigMF recordings via gpsd daemon.
gpsd_host	str	127.0.0.1	Local or remote gpsd daemon host address.
gpsd_port	int	2947	gpsd daemon TCP port (default 2947).
enable_sound	bool	true	Acoustic cue feedback for trigger, TX, and status events.
enable_mouse	bool	true	Terminal mouse interaction support.

License

Distributed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPL-3.0). See LICENSE for details.