Hi all SDR NOOB help!

[thegreatpotato]

Hello all, ive been wanting to buy an SDR for a good wile, now looking in to them im seeing a lot of the ones on Ebay do not say there for US countries. Im trying to find a decent radio for around 10 -20 bucks. can someone help me for choosing one i could use ? Im in the East US in PA. i found one that says it has some kind of addon box you have to solder together yourself. I know how to solder well so the DIY seems cool to me. Would it be worth it to get something like that ?? here is a link to the box

NEW 100KHz-1.7GHz full-band software radio HF FM AM RTL-SDR Receiver kit | eBay


ive found the one people on here are saying is a good SDR the one with the metal case for about 21 bucks on ebay, but it dont list if it works in the USA. I just want to buy something i can actualy use and start messen with this stuff, any help would really be great. Please help a noob !!

 

[slicerwizard]

im seeing a lot of the ones on Ebay do not say there for US countries. Im trying to find a decent radio for around 10 -20 bucks.

SDRs aren't country specific. They work everywhere. You can try that kit, but I wouldn't recommend it. Best advice I can give is to get the first item on this page: Buy RTL-SDR Dongles (RTL2832U) - rtl-sdr.com

The SDR is solid and the long antenna really pulls in the signals.

To get the most out of SDRs, you really should have two, but start with one if you must.

 

[bob550]

I've been using a NooElec SDR dongle for almost a year now. I'm curious to know what advantages two SDR dongles have over one.

 

[slicerwizard]

Trunking. Voice channels don't always lie within 2.4 MHz of the control channel.

 

[Dog]

I've been using a NooElec SDR dongle for almost a year now. I'm curious to know what advantages two SDR dongles have over one.

It depends what you want to listen to. I originally bought 2 myself and quickly realized I needed another one which I bought 2 weeks later. Now I wish I hade 2 more.

 

[RugerSmith]

This sdr is very interesting to me, however I'm quite ignorant on a lot of the details. Why would I need two or even four of these dongles? Can I only monitor the frequencies? Would I need Multiple laptops? How do you tune the frequencies? I assume there is no way to transmit with this setup.

Boy if anyone could help me here a bit I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks

 

[Dog]

This sdr is very interesting to me, however I'm quite ignorant on a lot of the details. Why would I need two or even four of these dongles? Can I only monitor the frequencies? Would I need Multiple laptops? How do you tune the frequencies? I assume there is no way to transmit with this setup.

Boy if anyone could help me here a bit I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks

My example is I use 2 with Unitrunker and DSD+ to listen to a trunked system 24 hours a day. Also on the same old laptop I have 1 dedicated to adsb monitoring 24 hours. I would like to have at least one more to experiment and just search the band with. All that can be done on one computer. If you get to crazy you will probably need USB hubs and extension cables.

As you learn about different things you can do with SDR you will find a niche that you enjoy. You may be fine with one or you may want several. You never know until you start with one (or two)...

 

[RugerSmith]

Thanks Dog for the input.

 

[thegreatpotato]

hello all !

Ok i did end up getting a dongle that was 8 bucks a RTL-SDR -- RTL2832U -- but ok .. so far its an 8 dollar FM radio tuner since thats all i can get for some reason. Ok what am i doing wrong here? I even built a discone antenna and followed all measurements its not perfect but it seems to work, i am pulling in FM radio from quite a few miles away no problems. but ok, Im not far from an airport and im trying to get Local Frequency's but so far have got a lot of nothing but static, no matter what i put the settings on. I do have a few questions though, maybe it is a fault of my own. Like ok im trying to tune in frequency's like this one, its a county Repeater, 855.61250 FMN but ok am i inputting the frequency right ?? im putting it in as 855.612.500, and of course its set to narrow FM (voice) Im also not far from an airport and been trying to tune to the air Frequency's with nothing to report using the same methods. Is there something im missing here? ive searched soooo many sights to see if im doing something wrong and its just tedious repeats of the same information over n over. Any help here would be sooo great. Im using software called SDR Console V3, because SDR sharp always has an error saying my SDR is not connected. i allso have HDSDR but i like the interface of SDR console better.

 

[thegreatpotato]

so far i have been able to make cool star trek noises with mine !! =D

 

[thegreatpotato]

Btw ,, anyone Know why SDR sharp is saying i have no dongle hooked up ????

 

[thegreatpotato]

SDRsharp No Dongle

i read.. that SDR sharp wont read a dongle in a USB 3 port, so i changed to a back port ( usb 2) but it still didnt work =/

 

[Valeriy]

Btw ,, anyone Know why SDR sharp is saying i have no dongle hooked up ????

After installing SDR Sharp in a folder, have you executed in Administrator mode the file install-rtlsdr.bat, and
then zadig.exe?
If not, you have simply forgot to install the drivers of the dongle...
Check also the settings: the device should be "Generic RTL2832U OEM (0)" or something like that, depending on the brand of your dongle.

 

[thegreatpotato]

wow thank you !!

After installing SDR Sharp in a folder, have you executed in Administrator mode the file install-rtlsdr.bat, and
then zadig.exe?
If not, you have simply forgot to install the drivers of the dongle...
Check also the settings: the device should be "Generic RTL2832U OEM (0)" or something like that, depending on the brand of your dongle.

thank you so much for that info !! i had everything done except the "install-rtlsdr.bat" but it wondent install anything in admin, i just ran it as usual and it downloaded and worked !! now SDR sharp works !! thank you very much !! Now if anyone could answer my ..Am i putting in the frequency's correctly question i might be on a roll !! thank you so much deff a +1 in rep to me !

 

[thegreatpotato]

wow thank you Valeriy !!!!!!!!!! since ive done that im picking up all kinds of signals !! thank you so very very much !!!!!! and its all ready leading me to ask a new question, people are saying with 2 SDRs you can do Trunking, and ide like to pick up Project 25 phase ll frequencies. From looking it up it says there Trunked signals..... so does that mean with 2 SDRs you can Decrypt those frequencies??????

 

[thegreatpotato]

anyway to ..

anyway to boost Handheld singnals? Or ar they just to weak to pick up after some distance? sorry im asking to many questions, ive been getting nothing for days and days using my SDR and now it picks up a lot, thanks to Valeriy !! i owe ya a beer bro !!

 

[i-Scan]

Unitrunker

wow thank you Valeriy !!!!!!!!!! since ive done that im picking up all kinds of signals !! thank you so very very much !!!!!! and its all ready leading me to ask a new question, people are saying with 2 SDRs you can do Trunking, and ide like to pick up Project 25 phase ll frequencies. From looking it up it says there Trunked signals..... so does that mean with 2 SDRs you can Decrypt those frequencies??????

Unitrunker can be set to receive trunked signals and decrypts many on even a single dongle. There are limiting factors (E.G. Only one received signal per receiving dongle and Receiver (Signal) frequency must be in the same range as the control frequency for that system.)

With multiple dongles setups, received frequencies can be spread outside the range of the dongle set for control. (I did this for a week or so. My interest was not so high in trunked systems. But with only two dongles, when you have everything right, the thing seen working is truly a wonder to behold. The city shortly transitioned to something new and my interest was not high enough to track with their changes.)

 

[Valeriy]

anyway to boost Handheld singnals? Or ar they just to weak to pick up after some distance? sorry im asking to many questions, ive been getting nothing for days and days using my SDR and now it picks up a lot, thanks to Valeriy !! i owe ya a beer bro !!

Have a look at the Mother of all the SDRs.

rtl-sdr.com - RTL-SDR (RTL2832U) and software defined radio news and projects. Also featuring Airspy, HackRF, FCD, SDRplay and more.

Yes, it is possible to decode several digital modes with DSD+, to follow trunking systems, and many other things...
That site explains all you need to know with guides, tutorials, links to other relevant sites, their own forum, etc.

 

[thegreatpotato]

well after reading more ive decided to buy a 2nd SDR for trunking. Does the SDRs have to be the same models or chipsets ? i found one for 12 bucks that i would get in a few days VS the 30 some days i waited for my first one. Would the two work together ? there both the same chipsets.

USB 2.0 Digital DVB-T SDR+DAB+FM HDTV TV Tuner Receiver Stick RTL2832U+R820T2 US | eBay



USB2.0 Digital DVB-T SDR+DAB+FM HDTV TV Tuner Receiver Stick HE RTL2832U+R820T | eBay



the black one i already own. I know they seem to be the exact same thing but i wanted to make sure from the guys that would know before i order it. Thanks guys !!

Btw, i have a USB Hub and extension to use already.

 

[i-Scan]

Got RTL-SDRs down to two choices...

I think they will work fine together in the Unitrunker software that I used. If I remember correctly, the decryption is all handled for the protocol you are targeting to receive within Unitrunker software. Someone who sent you to the rtl-sdr.com - RTL-SDR (RTL2832U) and software defined radio news and projects. Also featuring Airspy, HackRF, FCD, SDRplay and more. website gave great advice! I think it has instructions to install most of these in his blog or his handbook.

Install the driver for each in the USB position you will use them in and try to put them into the same positions each time. (One you have already is good to go as is.)

These dongles you picked do not seem to have a 1ppm or 0.5 ppm TCXO that keep them each that near to the frequency you set. But still, you can easily calibrate these (I use the Google Chrome Browser with their "Radio Receiver" App which makes that calibration process very easy-it practically does it for you! For more stability, you may want to do that a warm-up period after which they have been running.)

You also have narrowed your choices to only two! Here are two choices I agonized over (Both of these come with TCXO and other improvements; Amazon Prime source has been very good for me; the RTL Blog has since been much improved without much difference if any in price.) And, I used the former of these two...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0129EBDS2?psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/NooElec-RTL-...r=8-6&keywords=nooelec+nesdr+mini+usb+rtl-sdr