Best OS for recording & streaming?

[kbroderick]

I've got an RTL-SDR on order and am planning to set it up to my local police & fire dispatch, and possibly some commercial frequencies as well if they fall within the bandwidth available (if not, I'll end up adding more device(s) later). My plan is to use an old Macbook Air, as I can pull one off the scrap pile at work.

That gives me the option of running MacOS, Windows, or Linux. Any thoughts on which is likely to both create the fewest headaches with software and hardware compatibility and run the most efficiently? I'm guessing the answers are "Windows" and "Linux", respectively, and am hoping to make decision now that doesn't have me wiping and starting over a month from now.

 

[belvdr]

Depends on the software you choose to use. In my opinion, there's not a single best option for everyone.

SDRTrunk works on all three. I'd try one and see how you like it.

 

[AB5ID]

How busy are the agencies you want to listen to? @boatbod OP25 works fantastic for Linux but if you want to record every transmission on a busy system, and you have the horsepower, SDR Trunk or Trunk Recorder might be a better option.

 

[kbroderick]

Depends on the software you choose to use. In my opinion, there's not a single best option for everyone.

SDRTrunk works on all three. I'd try one and see how you like it.

Fair enough. I was leaning towards SDRTrunk as it seems to support more than what I'll need.

How busy are the agencies you want to listen to? @boatbod OP25 works fantastic for Linux but if you want to record every transmission on a busy system, and you have the horsepower, SDR Trunk or Trunk Recorder might be a better option.

Initially, I'm most interested in county-wide dispatch for a county of about 60k. So by most standards, probably not super busy aside from the occasional full-moon Saturday night. It's a traditional VHF system, so I don't know if that affects decoding overhead.

I may decide to add the state trunked system, or I might monitor the local FM simulcast, but that is a much busier channel.