Got my first SDR now what?

[DaddyHam]

I just got my first SDR an Airspy R2 yesterday and am using SDRSharp. The laptop I have has no problem listening with the 10MHz setting.

I have 3 antennas (the two that the us distributor sells) and a Diamond SRH320A triband VHF/UHF antenna from my HT.

Listened last night for hours and there was no activity on the 2 meter, 1.25 meter and 70cm bands. I was able to listen to our local weather radio (but barely). Local FM stations sound pretty good and Airspy picks up the text transmissions from some of these stations nicely.

I'm anxious to listen to some HF but don't yet have an antenna. Everything I do will have to be indoors or temporary outside because of HOA restrictions. I will build a indoor UHF/VHF antenna this weekend.

What do you veterans suggest I start with with my SDR?

Thanks
Eric

 

[ka3jjz]

Well, let's start with a little re-focusing. The Airspy won't do much on HF - it only covers down to 24 Mhz or so - you will need an upconverter (such as the recently-released SpyVerter) to cover that band.

When / If you get set up with this, jump on down to our HF forums on this site for more...Mike

 

[br0adband]

If you're not familiar with all the ins and outs of SDR# at this point, that would be the primary focus I'd say because it's quite a capable application but not the only one. In fact, using a variety of applications with the Airspy would be my recommendation, and if you do end up getting a SpyVerter you should look into SDR-Console aka SDR-Radio which has a ton of stuff for HF that makes it a fantastic piece of software for such monitoring.

With SDR, it's honestly more about the software than the hardware (hence the S standing for Software) - the fact that you mentioned the RDS messages for FM broadcast radio is proof of that: Airspy is pulling in the radio signal like any other tuner would, but it's the SDR software that's then responsible for decoding that signal to pull out and display the RDS information for you.

If you've never used SDR hardware and software before, well, it's a whole new way of doing things for many people, especially those of us with a long history of using physical scanners and other types of receivers not to mention good old Ham radio hardware too. The visual aspects of "listening" nowadays have changed things for the better and will continue to improve with the passage of time.

 

[DaddyHam]

ka3jjz and br0adband

Thanks. I'll order a spyverter and visit the HF forums. I'll install SDR-Radio tonight. Thanks for the help.

 

[ka3jjz]

For Eric and others that might not know about the SpyVerter;

https://www.itead.cc/spyverter.html

Review of the SpyVerter Upconverter - rtl-sdr.com

There is also another review (in Italian) floating around, but not everyone reads Italian (heh)...Mike

 

[dsalomon]

I suggest also reading through the SDR#/Airspy quick start guide page, provided by the folks that make the Airspy and SDR#: Quick start guide | airspy.com. That page does a pretty decent job of explaining how to adjust the various settings that affect hardware reception. Unlike some other SDRs, the Airspy provides more abilities to adjust the signal at various stages of the reception chain. This provides for much better tuning ability re: the signal strength, filtering, etc. However, it also makes the radio more difficult than just plug and play. Many people (including me) appreciate the Airspy's ability to make these adjustments. However, it's also important that the receiving software be able to access and change these settings.

If you're receiving VHF/UHF, you are likely to get the best experience starting with SDR#. Their software is paired to work with the Airspy. It can access everything that's tunable within the Airspy. It also has plugin capability to allow software extensions to be added. Several people have provided some very useful plugins made to operate for VHF/UHF style listening, i.e. scanning, frequency management, etc. SDR# plus a few plugins (see the software download page: Download | airspy.com) make this little receiver more like a scanner that most of us are familiar with. There is other excellent SDR software available, such as SDR-Console that many people think is the gold standard of HF SDR software (and I agree...I use it for HF instead of SDR#, but that's another discussion and you can find a LOT of information about it searching within RR and Google).

Note that there are features within SDR# that can be used ONLY when paired with the Airspy. They have intentionally disabled access to some features for other compatible hardware. It's their company, their hardware and their software. Therefore, it's their right to provide features as they see fit. There has been a LOT of discussion about this disabling for other hardware. Again, search within RR and Google and you will find a lot of information.

73 - David, AG4F

 

[bharvey2]

As the others suggested, monitoring via SDR requires a bit of a learning curve as compared to a handheld or desk style scanner. There are a lot of settings in the software (and it is very capable software) and your proficiency in its use will make or break your enjoyment of the mode. So, bite the bullet and start studying and experimenting.

With regard to your ability to monitor FM and weather stations only, I suspect that you need to increase the gain (via software). I experienced the same issue. Once that was explained to me, I was then able to see much more activity in my waterfall and could monitor some signals of interest.

 

[Voyager]

Listened last night for hours and there was no activity on the 2 meter, 1.25 meter and 70cm bands. I was able to listen to our local weather radio (but barely). Local FM stations sound pretty good and Airspy picks up the text transmissions from some of these stations nicely.

I just skimmed the other replies, but I didn't see anyone ask specifically what settings you are using on the configuration (the gear above the menu items). I would recommend setting the LNA and Mixer on AUTO and start with the IF gain at around 2. You can increase the IF depending on your local noise level. But, that may well be the core issue with a new setup.

 

[DaddyHam]

I think it is my elevation and the need for a better antenna. I am building an antenna over the holiday break. Also I got a spyverter so that I can play in the HF range and AM Radio. Should be a fun break.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.