How many rtl sdr dongles do I need
- Thread starter lcat06
- Start date
I think seven is the right number.
Depends on exactly what you want to do, what dongle you have, how much you want to scan at once, and how much you want to spend. There are options.
One SDRPlay should suffice to bring in the Jefferson County simulcast since its frequency map encompasses well under a 10MHz spread, you'll need two RTL-SDR dongles to bring it in completely. You just won't be able to monitor air band at the same time as said simulcast.
I am supplementing @Whiskey3JMC post;
The newest SDRTrunk version can set a frequency range per hardware tuner. The previous versions of SDRTrunk only showed min/max of a sdr's tuning range but SDRTrunk can't do a search scan. It is better to just obtain a scanner for air band listening. Dedicate the sdr's for trunking systems. Airnav voice 118MHz-135MHz. A scanner can search that in a matter of a few seconds. SDRuno is faster in its scanner plug-in. You have homework to do to figure out the path you want to take.
The homework:
SDRPlay devices all have the same sample rates. 10msps is maximum. RTL-SDR is stable up to 2.4msps. RTL-SDR can do 3msps but its not good. Do you want to have 2 rtl-sdr's or do you want 1 SDRPlay RSPxx? Remember that the more hardware you add then thats more usb cables or a hub. Alot of messy cables in this hobby.
Also consider the ADC bit depth resolutions. RTL-SDR is 8 bit. All SDRPlay devices are 14 bit. More bit depth means better reception of weaker signals and cleaner decodes. I find my RSP1a and RSP1b has done well over the RTL-SDR.
It's your wallet. Do as you wish. You get what you pay for.
The newest SDRTrunk version can set a frequency range per hardware tuner. The previous versions of SDRTrunk only showed min/max of a sdr's tuning range but SDRTrunk can't do a search scan. It is better to just obtain a scanner for air band listening. Dedicate the sdr's for trunking systems. Airnav voice 118MHz-135MHz. A scanner can search that in a matter of a few seconds. SDRuno is faster in its scanner plug-in. You have homework to do to figure out the path you want to take.
The homework:
SDRPlay devices all have the same sample rates. 10msps is maximum. RTL-SDR is stable up to 2.4msps. RTL-SDR can do 3msps but its not good. Do you want to have 2 rtl-sdr's or do you want 1 SDRPlay RSPxx? Remember that the more hardware you add then thats more usb cables or a hub. Alot of messy cables in this hobby.
Also consider the ADC bit depth resolutions. RTL-SDR is 8 bit. All SDRPlay devices are 14 bit. More bit depth means better reception of weaker signals and cleaner decodes. I find my RSP1a and RSP1b has done well over the RTL-SDR.
It's your wallet. Do as you wish. You get what you pay for.
If you strap several together, make sure you add a cooling fan. The little dudes get hot.
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