diff --git a/lib/misc_utils/burst_file_source_impl.cc b/lib/misc_utils/burst_file_source_impl.cc
index 4367150..85d5ad9 100644
--- a/lib/misc_utils/burst_file_source_impl.cc
+++ b/lib/misc_utils/burst_file_source_impl.cc
@@ -28,8 +28,6 @@
 #include "burst_file_source_impl.h"
 #include "stdio.h"
 
-#define PMT_SIZE 174
-
 namespace gr {
   namespace gsm {
 
@@ -86,16 +84,13 @@
 
     void burst_file_source_impl::run()
     {
-        char *unserialized = (char*)malloc(sizeof(char) * PMT_SIZE);
-        while (d_input_file.read(unserialized, PMT_SIZE) && !d_finished)
+        std::filebuf* pbuf = d_input_file.rdbuf();
+        while (!d_finished)
         {
-            if (d_input_file.bad())
-            {
+            pmt::pmt_t burst = pmt::deserialize(*pbuf);
+            if (pmt::is_eof_object(burst)) {
                 break;
             }
-
-            std::string s(unserialized, PMT_SIZE);
-            pmt::pmt_t burst = pmt::deserialize_str(s);
             message_port_pub(pmt::mp("out"), burst);
         }
         d_input_file.close();
diff --git a/lib/qa_utils/burst_source_impl.cc b/lib/qa_utils/burst_source_impl.cc
index db3d85a..f415eaf 100644
--- a/lib/qa_utils/burst_source_impl.cc
+++ b/lib/qa_utils/burst_source_impl.cc
@@ -31,8 +31,6 @@
 #include <grgsm/gsmtap.h>
 #include <grgsm/endian.h>
 
-#define PMT_SIZE 174
-
 namespace gr {
   namespace gsm {
 
@@ -110,8 +108,6 @@
 
     void burst_source_impl::run()
     {
-        char *unserialized = (char*)malloc(sizeof(char) * PMT_SIZE);
-
         for (int i=0; i<d_burst_data.size(); i++)
         {
             if (d_burst_data[i].length() == BURST_SIZE &&
diff --git a/python/CMakeLists.txt b/python/CMakeLists.txt
index 6f49e71..418605e 100644
--- a/python/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/python/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@
 GR_ADD_TEST(qa_decryption ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE} ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/qa_decryption.py)
 GR_ADD_TEST(qa_burst_printer ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE} ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/qa_burst_printer.py)
 GR_ADD_TEST(qa_message_printer ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE} ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/qa_message_printer.py)
+GR_ADD_TEST(qa_burst_file_source ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE} ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/qa_burst_file_source.py)
 GR_ADD_TEST(qa_burst_timeslot_splitter ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE} ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/qa_burst_timeslot_splitter.py)
 GR_ADD_TEST(qa_burst_sdcch_subslot_splitter ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE} ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/qa_burst_sdcch_subslot_splitter.py)
 GR_ADD_TEST(qa_burst_timeslot_filter ${PYTHON_EXECUTABLE} ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/qa_burst_timeslot_filter.py)
diff --git a/python/qa_burst_file_source.py b/python/qa_burst_file_source.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cf8835e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/qa_burst_file_source.py
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# @file
+# @author (C) 2018 by Vasil Velichkov <vvvelichkov@gmail.com>
+# @section LICENSE
+#
+# Gr-gsm 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 3, or (at your option)
+# any later version.
+#
+# Gr-gsm 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.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with gr-gsm; see the file COPYING.  If not, write to
+# the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street,
+# Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
+#
+#
+
+from gnuradio import gr, gr_unittest, blocks
+import grgsm_swig as grgsm
+import tempfile
+
+class qa_burst_file_sink (gr_unittest.TestCase):
+
+    def setUp (self):
+        self.tb = gr.top_block ()
+
+    def tearDown (self):
+        self.tb = None
+
+    def test_blob_only (self):
+        # prepare the input burst file
+        temp = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile()
+        handle = open(temp.name, "wb")
+        handle.write(bytearray([
+            0x07, 0x06, 0x0a, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0xa4, 0x01, 0x00, 0x02, 0x04, 0x03, 0x01, 0x00, 0x6f,
+            0xcd, 0x00, 0x00, 0x25, 0xc9, 0x82, 0x06, 0x1c, 0xf5, 0x38, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
+            0x01, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01,
+            0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
+            0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x00,
+            0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x01,
+            0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x01,
+            0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01,
+            0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00,
+            0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01,
+            0x00, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01
+            ]))
+        handle.flush();
+
+        src = grgsm.burst_file_source(temp.name);
+        dst = grgsm.burst_sink();
+        self.tb.msg_connect(src, "out", dst, "in")
+        self.tb.run ()
+
+        self.assertEqual([2476418], list(dst.get_framenumbers()))
+        self.assertEqual([1], list(dst.get_timeslots()))
+        self.assertEqual([
+            "0000001000000101010111111110101000000000010101010111101010101001011011101111000101101111100000000001010101111010101010000000010101011101111010101001"],
+            list(dst.get_burst_data()))
+
+    def test_fn_time (self):
+        # prepare the input burst file
+        temp = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile()
+        handle = open(temp.name, "wb")
+        handle.write(bytearray([
+            0x07,
+            #     the additional fn_time field - 51 bytes
+                  0x07, 0x07, 0x02, 0x00, 0x07, 0x66, 0x6e, 0x5f, 0x74, 0x69, 0x6d, 0x65, 0x07, 0x07, 0x0b,
+            0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x0a, 0x3b, 0x73, 0x0b, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
+            0x01, 0x07, 0x0b, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x04, 0x3f, 0xe4, 0x99, 0x45,
+            0xbe, 0x81, 0xc0, 0xf4,
+            #     the 173 original 173 bytes
+                  0x06, 0x0a, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0xa4, 0x01, 0x00, 0x02, 0x04, 0x03, 0x01, 0x00, 0x6f,
+            0xcd, 0x00, 0x00, 0x25, 0xc9, 0x82, 0x06, 0x1c, 0xf5, 0x38, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
+            0x01, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01,
+            0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
+            0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x00,
+            0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x01,
+            0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x01,
+            0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01,
+            0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00,
+            0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01,
+            0x00, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x01, 0x00, 0x00, 0x01
+            ]))
+        handle.flush();
+
+        src = grgsm.burst_file_source(temp.name);
+        dst = grgsm.burst_sink();
+        self.tb.msg_connect(src, "out", dst, "in")
+        self.tb.run ()
+
+        self.assertEqual([2476418], list(dst.get_framenumbers()))
+        self.assertEqual([1], list(dst.get_timeslots()))
+        self.assertEqual([
+            "0000001000000101010111111110101000000000010101010111101010101001011011101111000101101111100000000001010101111010101010000000010101011101111010101001"],
+            list(dst.get_burst_data()))
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    gr_unittest.run(qa_burst_file_sink, "qa_burst_file_sink.xml")