Hey, I'm fairly new to the radio community. I bought a VX-7R a long time ago to listen to the maintenance departments at work, but never learned how to use any of the other features of the radio. I also have rtl-sdr that I've been playing with, but I'm a bit overwhelmed with this stuff in general. I want to learn more about all things radio, but I'm not sure where to begin. I'm struggling to understand all the different antenna's and how to set them up, the different Bands and what they mean, all the digital stuff, and so on. My main interest is just listening to what's out there and going on around my city. I think decoding digital stuff like satellite images, or water/electric meters, hospital pagers, and stuff like that would be cool too. After the recent hurricanes I think it would be a good emergency tool and skill to have as well... Does anyone have any advice on resources like videos or books to guide me through this stuff? I appreciate any advice:)

Random Wire on this one?

Hello fellow community - trying to experiment with a random wire on this balun.. I guess the upper part highlighted in yellow is the part where i plug in my wire, and the lower one is the ground right? Since it makes sense accordintg to how the PCB looks.. Trying to use it with a SDR receiver..

Also have some cheap speaker cable/wire that i wanna use with that to experiment around..should i tie up both ends of the cable or just seperate it and use it like that

Any help and advice is highly appreciated!

How should I connect an antenna to an ADL5801 mixer board like this? Should I plug it into RF_IP connector and leave the second one, or should I terminate second connector with some dummy load? How to connect two antennas at once?

https://preview.redd.it/035mx196njyd1.png?width=1019&format=png&auto=webp&s=471f824090eeb7f8388bb496603f75723fdfccad

https://preview.redd.it/bmsfm497njyd1.png?width=1674&format=png&auto=webp&s=736df27ca463a4ce2688140da9aaaf735b1862ab

I'm using dsdplus and i'm listening to this DMR channel i put the info into sentinel so i could listen to is on my sds100 but i'm not hearing it on my sds100. does anyone know if i'm putting it into sentinel the correct way?

So in school we have this project where I and some classmates are building an antenna in order to then spy on a monitor. We built a yagi-antenna for 1058 MHz with 9 dbi and I have a SDRplay RSPduo which I connect it to the computer with. I have tested and made sure that the antenna can pick up radio signals, eventhough it isnt built for that frequency. But when I try to listen to the computer screen around 1030-1050 MHz I get nothing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlVM9xqGKx8 this is the video that I'm trying with. So I'm wondering if there might be something wrong with the antenna or if there is some sort of setting inside SDRUno that I just havent turned on?

Hiya I was wondering what LNA's you'd recommend for the 137 MHz is range

I need to buy a receiver for the HF bands and specifically to copy CW signals on the amateur bands and I am torn between am rtlsdr device and an entry level commercial receiver like the XHDATA D808 or Tecsun PL 330.

1. What is the status of rtlsdr on a Linux computer in 2024? Can a dongle receive on the HF band natively without an additional converter? Is there software for Linux to achieve this? How much am I expected to spend? for the dongle (I'm in UK)?

2. If the above is true, how would performance, specifically on CW, compare to one of the commercial radios described above? CW requires a tight filter, which commercial receivers don't have. Would a rtlsdr dongle be a better or worse choice, also in terms of selectivity or sensitivity?

Can i make a wide band antenna out of a pvc pipe , copper cable and a cable to connect it to my scanner?

I have a few HD antenna amps, and I tried one with my RTLSDR dongle... doesn't seem to work well. I get about the same signal strength as if I were to run without one.

What amp should I be using? Will an old analog cable TV distribution amplifier work?

Also, i get a lot of local radio station interference in the shortwave bands. Is there a way I can selectively block the broadcast band, unless I specifically tune to the broadcast bands?

Here’s my issue: I have an SDR SDRplay RSP1 receiver that works perfectly at home with my loop antenna and connected to my laptop. Currently, I'm away and it's connected to another antenna, but I'm mostly hearing white noise. I checked to ensure the laptop is running on battery and not plugged in. I tried this antenna a few days ago, and everything was working perfectly.

So even though i already dived a bit into the SDR world for a while now, i came across a topic i havent found any good answer to: Direct Sampling..
So far i had and used the RTL SDR V4 and had the direct sampling in SDR++ always disabled and not set to I or Q branch. I was getting decent results even on shortwave.

Now i purchased a NOOELEC V5, since i like to run SDRangel ADS-B and SDR++ at the same time with a funky dual antenna balcony set up, but the nooelec v5 behaves quiet differently on SDR++ than the RTLSDR v4.

When setting it to q branch i have different reception...long story short: what is the correct setup in the direct sampling menu on SDR++ or for that matter, any SDR software..?

When do i use direct sampling, for which range of frequency, what are the differences...?

Enlighten me please, because all i have found so far was a bit beyond my tech understanding so far

Thanks in advance fellow SDR geeks :)

Hey everyone!

I’m working on a project using GNU Radio to broadcast video. So far, I’ve been using a HackRF as the transmitter (TX) and an RTL-SDR as the receiver (RX), and everything’s working smoothly. But for my project requirements, I need to switch from the HackRF to a BladeRF as the TX.

I tried changing the device arguments in the Osmocom sink from “hackrf” to “bladerf” in the GNU Radio Companion (GRC) file, but it didn’t work. I’m not sure if there’s something else I’m missing to get the BladeRF to transmit correctly.

If it’s helpful, I can share my current .grc file for context.

Any tips on best practices for BladeRF settings, or anything else I should watch out for, would be amazing. Thanks in advance for the help! grc file https://github.com/gnuradio/gnuradio/blob/main/gr-dtv/examples/dvbt_tx_8k.grc

note : i've changed the soapy custom sink into a osmocom sink . thank you !

Trying to research geolocation on drones and it seems like TDOA is the most reliable way to do it and I'm looking at a more stationary system. Running into a few issues.

• Sourcing equipment

I want to be able to catch up to 6 GHz which I know RTL SDRs aren't capable of so I wanted to find alternatives. One paper I found had a guy use a Keysight RF sensor that was capable of it but not only do I doubt it's available to private buyers, it's also $23K+. RTL SDRs are much cheaper however they don't hit the frequencies that higher end drones like DJI operate on. Then there's the snag of figuring out if the stuff I do find is compatible with each other.

• Software

Software I was able to find is also only for equipment that is most likely, again, not sold to private citizens. The closest I could find to software are scripts you would put on a raspberry pi. I also never was able to get Kiwi SDR to load unless I'm an idiot. From what I've heard there are practically no GUIs for this so does that mean I need to learn how to code one myself?

I'm new to the rtl sdr and sdr in general. I was told I would not be able to go above 1.7ghz without additional hardware and get much of anything.

I was playing around with sdr++ in Linux and enabled q-branch under direct sampling sampling and getting tons of super strong signals, I assume from satelite radio brodcasts.

How am I able to do that range without additional hardware? I assume it may be because most of the sats I'm getting have direct beams pointed to my geographical area, and there is probably tons of signals I actually may be missing in the ghz ranges, and I'm only getting those strong sat signals

Hey, we trying to receive weather data from the Noaa satellites for a school projects. We are using a Wraase APT-06 receiver paired with a KX-137 antenna and are have set up the Wxtoimg correctly (as far as we know). However we have after mutliple tried not been able to get any useable images and were wondering if we are making any obvious mistake or any of you are having any ideas that may help us.

Pictures:

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1285163597319639082/1301172096855965786/noaa-18-09041231-mcir.jpg?ex=67238272&is=672230f2&hm=5df696d403138d9c69c19c11d277b5e83718fe1f3bf0ade726177d72128d2174&

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1285163597319639082/1301172048361422869/noaa-17-09111300-norm.jpg?ex=67238266&is=672230e6&hm=ad9a76fcdd392e827cf7375c20d2ff6a8ff0ae00ffe903be934e788add9af8b0&

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1285163597319639082/1301172047753515068/noaa-17-09111300-mcir.jpg?ex=67238266&is=672230e6&hm=02645ce9ff4962b1380ad894a38590f27734bfcc9b80b441e43e0543f9212c65&

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1285163597319639082/1301189652971257876/R-09191101-png.jpg?ex=672392cc&is=6722414c&hm=f2f2f7019378b86798ae2d6f205606dda202ee1c9103a658a2c015a5005cf413&

I've got this idea to put an SDR behind the dashboard of my car and to connect it to the vehicles antenna and then to my phone for roadtripping. I'd want to use it to listen in to weather reports and first responder radios when car accidents block up the highways and such. Would this idea work? And is there an app that would let my iPhone communicate with the SDR? I'm pretty new to all of this so please forgive if these are stupid questions

I have the rtl-sdr built into my transever(sorta). I was wondering what software is the best for pulling really hard-to-hear out of the noise with my rtl-sdr.

Hi there,

since I hate to use my Android + RTLSDR-dongle on that clunky OTG-cable I wonder if there is some more rugged portable solution? I have seen people using stuff like the Pluto+ or what it was named and put a PiZero and a TFT inside, together with a powerbank.

Can you recommend anything that's not 4 figures expensive?

For someone just getting started in this hobby what is the best starting setup with a windows based pc?

I have 2 x RTL-SDR Blog V3 R860 RTL2832U 1PPM TCXO HF Bias Tee SMA Software Defined Radios and I am looking for a reliable, easy to follow guide on setting up the software for these.

A lot of the videos and such Ive found are quite a few years old and I was hoping for a more current guide, if possible.

Thank you in advance for any assistance.

Could this be due to the length of the USB cable causing a lower voltage on the end that's plugged into the SDR?

Also could I try using a active USB extension cable like the one found here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/404798681637?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=tqqhjqwdtqa&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=qxoFkwISTOG&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Good morning all -

First things first - I read the QSG. I've also spent about four hours working on this situation with no luck.

I am using a V4 on a Dell XPS13 Snapdragon. This is arm64 architecture but I believe Windows 11 has native x86 emulation. Secure Boot and Driver Signature Enforcement are disabled.

Using Zadig 2.4, when I plug the dongle in I get "Bulk In, Interface (Interface 0)" and "... (Interface 1)" in the drop down. I only see an "Install Driver" button though, when the QSG's screenshot shows that button labeled as "Replace Driver."

The "From" driver is "(NONE)" and the USB ID is correct (0BDA 2838 00).

My complete log is below. I'm absolutely lost at this point after hours of Googling.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Using inf name: Bulk-In_Interface_(Interface_0).inf
Successfully extracted driver files.
Installing driver. Please wait...
libwdi:info [extract_binaries] successfully extracted driver files to C:\Users\ajusk\usb_driver
libwdi:info [wdi_prepare_driver] successfully created 'C:\Users\ajusk\usb_driver\Bulk-In_Interface_(Interface_0).inf'
libwdi:info [wdi_prepare_driver] Creating and self-signing a .cat file...
libwdi:debug [AddFileHash] 'wdfcoinstaller01011.dll': PE type
libwdi:info [ScanDirAndHash] added hash for 'C:\Users\ajusk\usb_driver\amd64\wdfcoinstaller01011.dll'
libwdi:debug [AddFileHash] 'winusbcoinstaller2.dll': PE type
libwdi:info [ScanDirAndHash] added hash for 'C:\Users\ajusk\usb_driver\amd64\winusbcoinstaller2.dll'
libwdi:debug [AddFileHash] 'bulk-in_interface_(interface_0).inf': INF type
libwdi:info [ScanDirAndHash] added hash for 'C:\Users\ajusk\usb_driver\bulk-in_interface_(interface_0).inf'
libwdi:debug [AddFileHash] 'wdfcoinstaller01011.dll': PE type
libwdi:info [ScanDirAndHash] added hash for 'C:\Users\ajusk\usb_driver\x86\wdfcoinstaller01011.dll'
libwdi:debug [AddFileHash] 'winusbcoinstaller2.dll': PE type
libwdi:info [ScanDirAndHash] added hash for 'C:\Users\ajusk\usb_driver\x86\winusbcoinstaller2.dll'
libwdi:info [CreateCat] successfully created file 'C:\Users\ajusk\usb_driver\Bulk-In_Interface_(Interface_0).cat'
libwdi:info [RemoveCertFromStore] deleted existing certificate 'CN=USB\VID_0BDA&PID_2838&MI_00 (libwdi autogenerated)' from 'Root' store
libwdi:info [RemoveCertFromStore] deleted existing certificate 'CN=USB\VID_0BDA&PID_2838&MI_00 (libwdi autogenerated)' from 'TrustedPublisher' store
libwdi:debug [CreateSelfSignedCert] set Enhanced Key Usage, URL and CPS
libwdi:debug [CreateSelfSignedCert] created new key container
libwdi:debug [CreateSelfSignedCert] generated new keypair
libwdi:info [CreateSelfSignedCert] created new self-signed certificate 'CN=USB\VID_0BDA&PID_2838&MI_00 (libwdi autogenerated)'
libwdi:debug [SelfSignFile] successfully created certificate 'CN=USB\VID_0BDA&PID_2838&MI_00 (libwdi autogenerated)'
libwdi:info [SelfSignFile] added certificate 'CN=USB\VID_0BDA&PID_2838&MI_00 (libwdi autogenerated)' to 'Root' and 'TrustedPublisher' stores
libwdi:info [SelfSignFile] successfully signed file 'C:\Users\ajusk\usb_driver\Bulk-In_Interface_(Interface_0).cat'
libwdi:info [SelfSignFile] successfully deleted private key
libwdi:debug [wdi_install_driver] using progress bar mode
libwdi:debug [installer process] got parameter Bulk-In_Interface_(Interface_0).inf
libwdi:debug [process_message] got request for device_id
libwdi:debug [installer process] got device_id: 'USB\VID_0BDA&PID_2838&MI_00\6&38A180A5&2&0000'
libwdi:debug [process_message] got request for hardware_id
libwdi:debug [installer process] got hardware_id: 'USB\VID_0BDA&PID_2838&REV_0100&MI_00'
libwdi:debug [installer process] got user_sid: 'S-1-5-21-700860050-4024866743-3350311124-1001'
libwdi:debug [installer process] using syslog 'C:\Windows\inf\setupapi.dev.log'
libwdi:debug [installer process] syslog reader thread started
libwdi:debug [installer process] successfully disabled the system restore point creation setting
libwdi:debug [process_message] switching timeout to infinite
libwdi:debug [installer process] Installing driver for USB\VID_0BDA&PID_2838&REV_0100&MI_00 - please wait...
libwdi:debug [syslog] 
libwdi:debug [syslog] /
libwdi:debug [syslog] 8&MI_01\6&38A180A5&2&0001}
libwdi:debug [syslog]      dvi:                     Query-and-Remove succeeded
libwdi:debug [syslog]      dvi:                {Delete Device - exit(0x00000000)}
libwdi:debug [syslog]      dvi:           {Remove DEVICE exit (0x00000000)}
libwdi:debug [syslog]      dvi:      Default installer: Exit
libwdi:debug [syslog]      dvi: {DIF_REMOVE - exit(0x00000000)} 08:33:01.657
libwdi:debug [syslog] <<<  Section end 2024/10/29 08:33:01.657
libwdi:debug [syslog] <<<  [Exit status: SUCCESS]
libwdi:debug [syslog] >>>  [Device Uninstall (Device Manager) - USB\VID_0BDA&PID_2838&MI_00\6&38A180A5&2&0000]
libwdi:debug [syslog] >>>  Section start 2024/10/29 08:33:06.761
libwdi:debug [syslog]       cmd: "C:\Windows\system32\mmc.exe" C:\Windows\system32\devmgmt.msc
libwdi:debug [syslog]      dvi: {DIF_REMOVE} 08:33:06.761
libwdi:debug [syslog]      dvi:      Default installer: Enter 08:33:06.761
libwdi:debug [syslog]      dvi:           {Remove DEVICE}
libwdi:debug [syslog]      dvi:                {Delete Device - USB\VID_0BDA&PID_2838&MI_00\6&38A180A5&2&0000}
libwdi:debug [syslog]      dvi:                     Query-and-Remove succeeded
libwdi:debug [syslog]      dvi:                {Delete Device - exit(0x00000000)}
libwdi:debug [syslog]      dvi:           {Remove DEVICE exit (0x00000000)}
libwdi:debug [syslog]      dvi:      Default installer: Exit
libwdi:debug [syslog]      dvi: {DIF_REMOVE - exit(0x00000000)} 08:33:06.795
libwdi:debug [syslog] <<<  Section end 2024/10/29 08:33:06.796
libwdi:debug [syslog] <<<  [Exit status: SUCCESS]
libwdi:debug [syslog] >>>  [Device Install (UpdateDriverForPlugAndPlayDevices) - USB\VID_0BDA&PID_2838&REV_0100&MI_00]
libwdi:debug [syslog] >>>  Section start 2024/10/29 08:35:45.751
libwdi:debug [syslog]       cmd: "C:\Users\ajusk\usb_driver\installer_x64.exe" "Bulk-In_Interface_(Interface_0).inf"
libwdi:debug [syslog] lk-In_Interface_(Interface_0).inf"
libwdi:debug [process_message] switching timeout back to finite
libwdi:debug [installer process] more recent driver was found (force option required)
libwdi:debug [process_message] installer process completed
Driver Installation: FAILED (Resource already exists)
4 devices found.
libwdi:debug [wdi_create_list] Hardware ID: USB\VID_0BDA&PID_2838&REV_0100
libwdi:debug [wdi_create_list] Compatible ID: USB\COMPAT_VID_0BDA&DevClass_00&SubClass_00&Prot00
libwdi:debug [wdi_create_list] Driver version: 10.0.26100.1882
libwdi:debug [wdi_create_list] usbccgp USB device (0): USB\VID_0BDA&PID_2838\00000001
libwdi:debug [wdi_create_list] Device description: 'Blog V4 (Composite Parent)'
libwdi:debug [wdi_create_list] Hardware ID: USB\VID_27C6&PID_633C&REV_0100
libwdi:debug [wdi_create_list] Compatible ID: USB\COMPAT_VID_27C6&Class_FF&SubClass_00&Prot_00
libwdi:debug [wdi_create_list] Driver version: 3.6.380.330
libwdi:debug [wdi_create_list] WUDFRd USB device (1): USB\VID_27C6&PID_633C\UID07640E8F_XXXX_MOC_B0
libwdi:debug [wdi_create_list] Device description: 'Goodix Fingerprint USB Device'
libwdi:debug [wdi_create_list] Hardware ID: USB\VID_0BDA&PID_2838&REV_0100&MI_00
libwdi:debug [wdi_create_list] Compatible ID: USB\COMPAT_VID_0bda&Class_ff&SubClass_ff&Prot_ff
libwdi:debug [wdi_create_list] Driverless USB device (2): USB\VID_0BDA&PID_2838&MI_00\6&38A180A5&2&0000
libwdi:debug [wdi_create_list] Device description: 'Bulk-In, Interface (Interface 0)'
libwdi:debug [wdi_create_list] Hardware ID: USB\ROOT_HUB30&VIDQCOM&PID0D08&REV0000
libwdi:debug [wdi_create_list] Compatible ID: 
libwdi:debug [wdi_create_list] Driver version: 10.0.26100.2161
libwdi:debug [wdi_create_list] USBHUB3 USB device (3): USB\ROOT_HUB30\3&2A02A9A5&0&0
libwdi:debug [wdi_create_list] Hardware ID: USB\VID_0BDA&PID_2838&REV_0100&MI_01
libwdi:debug [wdi_create_list] Compatible ID: USB\COMPAT_VID_0bda&Class_ff&SubClass_ff&Prot_ff
libwdi:debug [wdi_create_list] Driverless USB device (4): USB\VID_0BDA&PID_2838&MI_01\6&38A180A5&2&0001
libwdi:debug [wdi_create_list] Device description: 'Bulk-In, Interface (Interface 1)'
libwdi:debug [wdi_create_list] Hardware ID: USB\ROOT_HUB30&VIDQCOM&PID0C8C&REV0000
libwdi:debug [wdi_create_list] Compatible ID: 
libwdi:debug [wdi_create_list] Driver version: 10.0.26100.2161
libwdi:debug [wdi_create_list] USBHUB3 USB device (5): USB\ROOT_HUB30\4&4757E73&0&0