sdr radio

gents i am trying to get setup in sdr radio. i purchased a nesdr smart dongle and have installed sdr sharp but i only seem to be able to get fm radio stations frequencies is there anything else i need to download to get scanner frequencies.

thanks for any help

There is a Software Defined Radio forum further down the list. You have a better chance of getting an answer there.

What type of antenna are you using?

judy2 said:

gents i am trying to get setup in sdr radio. i purchased a nesdr smart dongle and have installed sdr sharp but i only seem to be able to get fm radio stations frequencies is there anything else i need to download to get scanner frequencies.

thanks for any help

Click to expand...

All you have to do is change the frequency once you are getting FM radio.

Mark
536/436/ws1095/996p2/996xt/325p2/396xt/psr800/396t/HP-1/HP-2 & others

i have changed to different frequencies but get nothing while looking at the graft i see the peaks and it appears there is something being broadcast but i get no voice. i have used frequencies i have programmed into my scanner and i am using a external antenna.

judy2 said:

i have changed to different frequencies but get nothing while looking at the graft i see the peaks and it appears there is something being broadcast but i get no voice. i have used frequencies i have programmed into my scanner and i am using a external antenna.

Click to expand...

Are you trying to receive trunked (800-900mz) or conventional in lower frequencies?

Trunked following requires two dongles to get voice. All you get with one is control channel noise. This is fine for running stuff like Unitrunker, which is what I use my dongle for. For voice and following trunked systems you need to run 2 dongles simultaneously. One to track control channel and a second to operate voice channels.

If you are doing conventional, there should be no difference than FM radio broadcast.

Mark
536/436/ws1095/996p2/996xt/325p2/396xt/psr800/396t/HP-1/HP-2 & others

judy2 said:

i have changed to different frequencies but get nothing while looking at the graft i see the peaks and it appears there is something being broadcast but i get no voice. i have used frequencies i have programmed into my scanner and i am using a external antenna.

Click to expand...

Trunked voice monitoring requires 2 dongles simultaneously. One to track control channel and second to track voice.

One dongle, tuned to control channel does allow use of Unitrunker application, which is why I use dongle.

Conventional frequencies are identical to FM radio signals. If in VHF band, might need a different antenna.

Mark
536/436/ws1095/996p2/996xt/325p2/396xt/psr800/396t/HP-1/HP-2 & others

so if i run two dongles will they both work on sdr sharp. most of the you tube stuff i have looked at does not show two dongles, so what i am saying is how are they configured

You have an outside antenna but is it for VHF and UHF?

If you are receiving FM stations that is at least a good sign.

With SDR# go to the gear icon and make sure your RF gain is set to max. See if you get improvement in your signals. Make sure none of the three boxes to the above left in that window are checked. Sampling mode should be set a Quadrature sampling. I use a sample rate of 1.024 MSPS.

Make sure you are using NFM for scanner stuff, WFM for FM broadcast band.

Under "Audio" make sure you have the correct sound card selected.

Adjust the volume control for SDR#. Also make sure that your computer's audio is turned on or at least at a normal level.

Let us know how you made out.

judy2 said:

i have changed to different frequencies but get nothing while looking at the graft i see the peaks and it appears there is something being broadcast but i get no voice. i have used frequencies i have programmed into my scanner and i am using a external antenna.

Click to expand...

The three most common causes of this problem are:
1. Not adjusting the gain of the SDR. FM broadcast stations are high power and other stuff of interest is not.
2. Remember that other stuff is a narrower bandwidth. Using one too wide will result in little audio hearable.
3. If you are too close to a high power transmitter (like an FM broadcast station), you many be de-sensed.

If you are in the US, I would look for NOAA weather on one of the 162 MHz frequencies.

judy2 said:

so if i run two dongles will they both work on sdr sharp. most of the you tube stuff i have looked at does not show two dongles, so what i am saying is how are they configured

Click to expand...

This is complicated in the setup. The first dongle needs to be set up as a monitor on the control channel. You will know you have this right if you have Unitrunker (free) tracking and providing TGID, radio ID data, and correct voice frequency information.

The second dongle needs to be set up differently, and in effect slaved to the first dongle so it is being directed to proper voice frequencies by the control channel dongle so it can follow conversations.

While I regularly use the 1 dongle and Unitrunker setup, I have enough scanners I never bothered trying the second dongle setup, which is more complicated. Unless the system is a protocol that the scanner won't decode and SDR will, I would stay with scanner for audio, but it's a personal decision. SDR can decode some protocols that the scanner might not, such as DMR or others.

There are some threads here that discuss these specific SDR dongle double setup configurations a lot further, much more than I could provide here.

Mark
536/436/ws1095/996p2/996xt/325p2/396xt/psr800/396t/HP-1/HP-2 & others

you probably have to change the frequency correction. i have a nooelec and got that set at -63
with sdrsharp it doesnt work if i set the number at the top, got to click on active frequencies on the graph or move the vertical bar