Awesome, simply awesome, and yep, having bladeRF will make things ever more awesome overall. The one downside right now with the stereotypical RTL sticks is the limited bandwidth in terms of the spectrum visibility - 2.4 MHz isn't quite enough to do what I would like to do which is do something very similar to what Scott has just demoed with that image above which is "take it all in" and then process/record/listen as desired.
Here in the Las Vegas area the predominant system is our S.N.A.C.C. system (Motorola Type II SmartZone) which comprises over a dozen agencies, 223+ talkgroups, 3300+ users/RIDs, and a lot more to come when they shift to a 700 MHz P25 Phase II situation in the next 1-2 years on a slow complicated roll-out. They do all that with over 20 frequencies spread across a full 10 MHz window from 851 to 861 (I think their highest in use frequency is about 860.9375 per the FCC license(s)) so yeah, having a lot more usable bandwidth is required to take it all in.
I have a strong interest in the Airspy which is almost ready to be launched per a post made by Youssef (think it's him, using the sdrsharp nickname in the SDR# Yahoo Group) that they're almost ready to go but they wanted to judge the final pricing of the units per the amount of interest - I'm guessing (like others) that it should be in the neighborhood of $99 to $150 or so, and if it is indeed around that ballpark I'm damned sure going to do my best to get one. The fact that it's based on the already tried and true Rafael R820T tuner (coupled with a new controller to increase the visible spectrum to 10 MHz) is going to be awesome while still being relatively inexpensive compared to the higher end devices like the bladeRF, HackRF, and the really high end stuff from Ettus, etc.
I mean, make no mistake, I'd love to have a bladeRF or HackRF definitely, it's just beyond me in terms of pricing (and I don't have a USB 3.0 port on this here laptop of mine, but I'm sure I could get one using an ExpressCard but that just adds to the expense overall).
Anyway, congrats on that current setup, Scott, it's awesome as noted. When you get that bladeRF finally up and functional it'll be like going from an dirty little apartment with a view of the building next door as your view on the world to having a penthouse with a 180 degree horizon to horizon panorama...
By the way, could you attach or post the full size image above, if you still have it? I can see the image, sure, but I wanted to get a native resolution shot to make out some of the finer details. I've spent a little time with SDR-Radio and found it interesting - and yes the first real thing I noticed off the bat when I got a frequency tuned was the improved (dare I say "better") sounding audio over what SDR# provides - I'm not knocking SDR# because I still think it's awesome overall (great word, awesome, really) but after playing around with SDR-Radio even for a few hours that improved audio quality was like "Wow, that sounds great right outta the box..." more or less.
Would be interested in a little more detail about how that setup is... well... "set up" actually. I honestly had no idea SDR-Radio was capable of doing what you're apparently doing which is pulling data from a single RTL stick or, are you using multiple sticks at one time? I don't have any particular trunked systems here that fit inside a 2.4 MHz spectrum but I do have a few NXDN systems that would do that, and those are a hassle to monitor properly because there's no way to decode the NXDN control channel(s) yet that I'm aware of. I watch the spectrum and waterfall and can plainly see a transmission start, see it end, then another one begins (the same conversation, of course) on a different frequency, then that transmission ends, another frequency continues, etc. It's like having a bunch of water faucets and a child is running from one to another turning it on, then off, then another one on, then off, etc.
It's hella fun though, right?
But seriously, I really would be more interested in some finer details of how you're managing things and just how many RTL sticks are at work in that particular setup pictured above, thanks.
Awesome...
EDIT:
After further looking at that image I think I was misunderstanding the setup more than likely; I don't think all that's being done with just one RTL tuner, obviously... so, spill the beans, man, I'm interested.
EDIT2:
I'll be damned, it IS possible with just one stick to monitor more than one frequency at a time... AWESOME!!! Obligatory screenshot of my own, one RTL stick, 3 VFOs (1 on a data burst channel, 1 on another data burst channel, and 1 on an EMS MDT data channel, at least I know these are all in the 1 MHz spectrum I'm using presently and they're consistently active). This is just for testing of course, as listening to 3 voice channels at once, even I'd have issues with that I suppose, but it's nice knowing I can
record them all at the same time.
See, this is precisely the feeling that Jodi Foster's character has when she takes that wormhole trip and comes upon that magnificent spacial event in the movie version of "Contact" - wonder, awe, indescribable... "I had no idea, I had no idea... I had no idea..." and honestly I didn't even consider the possibility of doing what I'm doing right now (with extremely low CPU usage too on this older Core 2 Duo laptop of mine - could probably do the full 6 VFOs if I chose to do so and get by). Damn, this is amazing, truly.
Did I say this is awesome and just opened up yet another entirely new world for my monitoring window (as long as it fits inside 2.4 MHz, that is) - but then again I do have 2 RTL sticks... Hrmmm...
EDIT3:
Last one, I swear, 'cause I'm hijacking this thing and I don't mean to. I just set up 6 VFOs in a 2 MHz spectrum and it works great, CPU usage holds steady about 50-55% consistently so yeah, it's possible but if I were to add the second RTL stick then I'd be in trouble.
6 "digital-capable" receivers in a single package that can monitor things no scanner at any price can do for only $9.75 + shipping and handling
and some spectacular software... who would have thought it possible?