Ham and SDR use at the same time

[cazanon]

I'm not sure if this is the correct section, forgive me if it is not. I'm taking my test to procure my licence on the fourth of February, and was wondering If there is a way to set up my SDR in a manner that will receive the same or near the same signals as my radio but not get damaged when I transmit. Think of it as a panadapter to a point but the main goal is the visual representation of the band at any given moment. An antenna switch would obviously not be optimal as then I could not see while I transmit but would imagine I would very quickly damage the SDR even if I use a separate antenna in close proximity to the main rig.

 

[ka3jjz]

It sounds like you are thinking of separate units (receive and transmit). While there are several apps where this might be useful - contesting comes to mind - when you are just starting off, you might want to stick with a single unit for now to get your feet wet. And there are MANY SDRs that are directed to hams. Take a look at this article in our wiki (links are always blue) that has links to just some of them...

SDRs for Amateur Radio Use - The RadioReference Wiki

Mike

 

[cazanon]

Thank you for the link, I will be sure to take a look at it. I more want to be able to use my RTL-SDR while using the radios IE if i'm on 147.1950 monitoring I can see someone is transmitting on another frequency. Obviously this would be very advantageous for making initial contacts but also being able to monitor multiple repeaters for if someone is trying to make contact with me.

 

[ab5r]

Hi. Good luck on you forthcoming test.

Your message has a lot of unknowns in it. Yes, depending on the bandwidth you have set for the SDR, you may be able to see adjacent spikes for signals. However, you will NEVER know if someone is attempting to contact you unless you are monitoring THAT specific frequency.

Also, if you attempt to transmit on you radio (HF, VHF or UHF) you MUST disable the SDR or have a RF sensing device to disable it while transmitting.

73

 

[majoco]

Depending on your transceiver, you may be able to extract the IF and see it on your SDR. I tried it on my Kenwood R2000 receiver, making a connection to the first IF at around 70MHz and I could certainly see a spectrum but I couldn't actually work out what frequency it was displaying! Bringing the 'spike' into the centre of the display removed the audio from the R2000 and I still couldn't hear anything on the SDR! Never mind, it was an interesting experiment.

 

[popnokick]

Operating a receiver in the vicinity of a transmitter simultaneously will blank out the receiver so you'll receive nothing. It's called "desense" and SDRs are not immune to this law of physics. It's the same problem faced by repeater designers. So how do they solve it? Start reading about duplexers, cavity filters, and circulators... and the instruments you'll need to tune and adjust them, Oh.... and get out your wallet...

 

[cazanon]

Thank you to you all. I assumed it wasn't gonna be a simple solution but thought I'd ask. I appreciate the input and the speedy response.