NOAA on RTL-SDR

[DatedGore]

This is probably going to sound stupid but I am having trouble getting a local NOAA weather station on my rtl-sdr. The frequency is 162.475 but I can not get it in at all. I am using SDR Sharp

 

[AB5ID]

Can you receive local FM stations?

 

[DatedGore]

I can only get a few, not as many as i can get on a different radio like a baofeng

 

[AB5ID]

What antenna are you using?

 

[AM909]

Did you set the RF gain to something reasonable? (click the gear icon to the left of the speaker button in top toolbar, slide the RF Gain to 29.7 dB.)

 

[DatedGore]

I didnt even know about the RF gain, that fixed it. Thanks

 

[graphguy]

I didnt even know about the RF gain, that fixed it. Thanks

It did? I have the same issue with NOA on the NESDR smartXR.
I can tune various FM stations (100,000 MHZ range) and that is it.
I have tried all 3 antennas that come with it and EVERY setting combination and nada.
I have various GMRS mobile and handset units and they all get NOAA's fine.

 

[CanesFan95]

Dongles are more susceptible to adjacent channel interference that could wipe out your reception. So you have to try turning down the gain.

 

[AM909]

Dongles are more susceptible to adjacent channel interference that could wipe out your reception. So you have to try turning down the gain.

Depending on the design, not just adjacent-channel, but strong signals many megahertz away can overload it into hearing things that aren't there and not hearing things that are.

@graphguy: Maybe your dongle is defective or was damaged by a very strong signal? Not sure what it takes to blow out which devices, but transmitting with a handheld near its antenna could do it. For example, somewhere, I think I read that the SDRPlay RSP1a can be damaged by >= +10 dBm (10 mW). If I'm understanding the path loss calculator correctly, if you have a 4-watt (+36 dBm) 429 MHz (70 cm) transmitter with a 0-gain antenna positioned 1 meter away (25 dB path loss) from the receiver with a 0-gain antenna, you'll be jamming +11 dBm into the receiver.

 

[graphguy]

Dongles are more susceptible to adjacent channel interference that could wipe out your reception. So you have to try turning down the gain.

Thanks for the reply. I indeed tried that with no success. . My only other thoughts is I have 6 other radios and 3 computers within 5 feet of the dongle.

 

[spongella]

As was posted by AM909 adjust the RF gain by increasing it. The other important thing is the antenna. An outdoor antenna generally works better than an indoor one and a larger antenna generally works better. Antenna height's important too. I use a discone 20 feet above ground and pic up 5 out of 7 NOAA wx stations in the vicinity. My dongle is the one sold by rtl-sdr.com, one of the best in my experience.

 

[dlwtrunked]

Dongles are more susceptible to adjacent channel interference that could wipe out your reception. So you have to try turning down the gain.

And did he also use the right bandwidth? Also, at the moment NOAA says the Sacramento station is out-of -service.

 

[graphguy]

As was posted by AM909 adjust the RF gain by increasing it. The other important thing is the antenna. An outdoor antenna generally works better than an indoor one and a larger antenna generally works better. Antenna height's important too. I use a discone 20 feet above ground and pic up 5 out of 7 NOAA wx stations in the vicinity. My dongle is the one sold by rtl-sdr.com, one of the best in my experience.

Thanks... basically selling them with light weight antennas for indoor is a joke. Having to hook up am outdoor rig to a $30 dongle is another joke. But you are right that is an answer as I hooked up my 40 foot high uhf/vhf and it made the dongle "functional".

 

[CanesFan95]

Well, you always need a good antenna setup regardless of the type of receiver or cost. Those little included antennas with the dongles may work just about as bad on a scanner as the dongle.

 

[DS506]

Those little included antennas with the dongles may work just about as bad on a scanner as the dongle.

From my listening post in the basement, I just tried my PSR310 with factory antenna and was not able to pick up any NOAA WX stations. Connecting the telescoping tripod that came with the RTL-SDR kit, (still in the basement extended about 18 inches) I was able to pick up the local WX station (11 miles away).
Same results with the tripod connected to the SDR

With the SDR and external antenna at 30' AGL, I can easily read a second at 30 and a third at 45 miles and three enough to ID. Most distant at 105 miles

 

[KC1LML]

Regarding the small antennas, it depends on what you are trying to accomplish. For some of my applications I have to use them, because an outside antenna picks up way too many signals. For example, the one reading my electric meter - using a small inside one limits reception to just 3 electric meters, using my outside antenna brings in over 50 meters, way too much signal processing and Python cpu load. Same goes for the ones reading my Acurite sensors and security system sensors.