25 miles 154mhz rtl-sdr v4

[L8rGator]

I would like to try to listen to these frequencies from Charlton County GA
154.190
159.090
154.430

I am about 25miles away in Kingsland GA off i95. The closest tower seems to be near Mill Branch Road, Folkston.

What would be the cheapest way to accomplish this antenna wise? No luck with the ones I have now so far.

I have an 2nd floor room with a window facing west on a 2 story house to work with. Or potentially i could put an antenna on a one story house, probably not facing west.

I have 2 old fc0012 dongles on a potato with trunk recoder. I also have a sdr-rtl v4 and a v3 on windows with sdrtrunk - but those has to stay in the one story house.

Current Antennas (pictured):
Rtl-sdr kit antennas (adjustable dipole with 2 sets of poles).
Whip antennas (2 types)
Magnet antenna
Stock bcd436 radio antenna

I have no other equipment.

Thank you!
-a total newbie

 

[ecps92]

I would like to try to listen to these frequencies from Charlton County GA
154.190
159.090
154.430

I am about 25miles away in Kingsland GA off i95. The closest tower seems to be near Mill Branch Road, Folkston.

What would be the cheapest way to accomplish this antenna wise? No luck with the ones I have now so far.

I have an 2nd floor room with a window facing west on a 2 story house to work with. Or potentially i could put an antenna on a one story house, probably not facing west.

I have 2 old fc0012 dongles on a potato with trunk recoder. I also have a sdr-rtl v4 and a v3 on windows with sdrtrunk - but those has to stay in the one story house.

Current Antennas (pictured):
Rtl-sdr kit antennas (adjustable dipole with 2 sets of poles).
Whip antennas (2 types)
Magnet antenna
Stock bcd436 radio antenna

I have no other equipment.

Thank you!
-a total newbie

I would say, unless a hill/mountain is in the way, 25mi is not far and even a paper-clip would work, only you will know what works for you.

 

[popnokick]

None of the antennas you have in your pic are directional. If none of them are working, get yourself a directional antenna (yagi / beam). If you want to do it inexpensively, go to a home or hardware store and get a low-cost set-top / desktop TV antenna. Even one of the "flat panel" types will work. Shouldn't be more than $25. And you'll need an adapter to go from the F-male connector to the SMA antenna port (or MMCX) on your RTL-SDR. Yes, you could spend a LOT more on a commercial yagi and expensive coax. But why not try the TV antenna first... especially since your desired signals are towers only 25 miles distant?

 

[dkcorlfla]

Another option that may help a lot would be a 2 meter VHFham radio yagi . Those frequencies are little above the 2 meter band but close enough for RX .

 

[L8rGator]

I also have this old tv antenna on the other side of my house.

 

[popnokick]

Alright! There you go. You may need to turn it 90 degrees so the elements are vertically polarized (pointing up and down). But try it first to see if you pick up anything. If not, then re-orient it to vertical. You'll need an adapter to go from the F-connector on the antenna cable to your RTL-SDR.