CB 27 MHZ Reception On A RPL-SDR V3

[SatHunter]

So this weekend I made my first venture in trying to monitor 26/27 MHZ CB Band On my RTL-SDR V3. It does a good job of picking up interference from local FM broadcast stations but as far as any CB traffic it was totally dead. I tried it with a 26 inch whip antenna that may not be suitable for the task. I also own a Ham IT Up converter that I didn't try yet but I'm not sure if it's use is necessary for these frequencies. I hear a lot of transmissions coming in with moderate to strong signals on my analog and digital radios so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong on SDR#. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[deadite66]

might not be much traffic in your area and/or the antenna isn't good enough.
a month ago i made a 1/2 wave inverted v in the attic and only get around 4 miles reception, though not helped by it being the wrong polarization but its ok for DX.

 

[jwt873]

Probably the antenna.. i'm using a 3 element Yagi at 40 feet. I just took a look. The Citizens Band is jammed right now with stations 'shooting skip'.. Some 20 to 30dB over S9

 

[spongella]

Definitely your antenna, it needs to be longer and outdoors if possible. Expect poor results with the Upconverter too with such a short antenna. I use a 30 foot vertical with excellent results, but you have many choices when it comes to receiving antennas. You can use a simple 30' wire or a loop as examples.

 

[Dirk_SDR]

A Mini Whip, a NCPL Youloop or a SRL (small RX loop) should also do.

 

[W8HDU]

It does a good job of picking up interference from local FM broadcast stations but as far as any CB traffic it was totally dead.

Make sure the SDR is not being overloaded by FM and TV signals. You may need a band stop filter. I have to do that on my SDR. There is an FM running 6 kW about 3/4 of a mile from me, and our TV station is running 40 kW at 183 MHz. Limiting the input, even when not in the bandpass of the receiver, helped me get about 9 dB more strength on those HF/MW signals I wanted.

 

[ronenp]

Dont expect from any Dtivk SDR radio to competite with any normal radio

 

[Dirk_SDR]

Dont expect from any Dtivk SDR radio to competite with any normal radio

There are very good SDR sticks and very bad "normal radios". So hard to compare ...

 

[spongella]

I've had both the RTL-SDR dot com version 3 dongle and the NooElec HamItUp upconverter, they work excellently together. You just need to attach an antenna outside that should be about 30 feet long. Or as I mentioned earlier, a loop antenna.

 

[ExportEh]

As some kind of eluded to, regionality makes a big difference. If you're not near a major highway, it could be really quiet.
I live very fairly rural and have a dedicated CB in the tractor with a Wilson 4 foot antenna. It very quiet these days.

With the SDR and a little whip on the road, in the southern US, it was hoping.