$20 SDR Radio

[radiowave15]

This is nothing too new, but I had to try it out. A friend of mine picked up one of the tv tuner cards (Realtek RT 2832u/4000) that were reported to be good for a cheap SDR. I didn't think it would work but, wow, after just a little bit of playing around today it was pulling in signals. The antenna that I quickly connected was not overly secure, my filter parameters are probably not set up right, and I'm sure I'm off on a bunch of other settings, but even with all of that it was working.

I was surprised at the amount of computer resources that were required though. My desktop is a single core machine that is about 7 years old. (I plan to build a new quad core system in the next month or two).

In any event, I always make a little video of these things, so here's a clip of this chip and SDR# software.

I'm open to comments and suggestions.

$20 SDR TV Tuner Card - Unboxing - YouTube

Thanks for taking a look,
Dan

 

[SCPD]

First what OS are you running. Windows 7 or vista.

Here are some quick sdrsharp settings/tweaks

Lower your sample rate to about 1.024 msps
set the rf gain to auto
set filter audio to off
set filter order to about 10

Also your youtube videos are awesome.

 

[radiowave15]

Thanks

Fantastic. Thank you very much for taking a look and for the tips. Will do.

I'm running Windows 7.

Dan

 

[SCPD]

I will try to write up some quick tweaks to the OS if i have some time later and it will help speed up your system.

What version are you running? The stable release of SDR# or the latest build. I would suggest always using the latest build.

SDR# Dev (Continuous Integration, Last Changed Rev: 968 )
SDR# RTLSDR Plugin (Continuous Integration, Last Changed Rev: 968 )

 

[StephenVa]

Well worth the 20 bucks and pretty easy to set up. I'm going to pick up a couple extras just to have around.

 

[radiowave15]

Cool

I will try to write up some quick tweaks to the OS if i have some time later and it will help speed up your system.

What version are you running? The stable release of SDR# or the latest build. I would suggest always using the latest build.

SDR# Dev (Continuous Integration, Last Changed Rev: 968 )
SDR# RTLSDR Plugin (Continuous Integration, Last Changed Rev: 968 )

Very kind of you. I believe it is the latest revision. I've been out most of the day - sorry to not have gotten back to you earlier.

Dan

 

[scottb908]

Where did you order hem from and any directions for setting it up. That looks great to have with my laptop.

 

[SCPD]

Everything you need to know about the usbsdr is here
Mike Xeno: RTL SDR

You are going to have to go to a lot of external links but i think i covered everything to get it up and running.

The most important thing is the zadig drivers.

 

[radiowave15]

Thanks Mike. I'll try to take a look at that later today. Very appreciated.

@ Scott - I bought mine from Amazon. Shipping was supposed to take a month or more; it got from Hong Kong to Maryland in about 10 days, I was surprised.

Setting it up was not too difficult but takes a little bit of playing around - at least it did for me. I tinker with computer system but am no expert in any way.

Dan

 

[W9NES]

Cool Video Dan.