SDR Noob

Status
Not open for further replies.

NEOMANTRIC

Completely Banned for the Greater Good
Banned
Joined
Jul 6, 2014
Messages
56
Location
Peterborough ON
I am interested in trying this, but I have no clue where to begin. The forum is full of topics that are advanced in nature, and basically french to me. If there is anyone willing to explain SDR to me like I'm stupid, I would appreciate it a lot. I am not comfortable doing hard mods, so soft mods would be preferable.

Specifically I am interested in scanning radio frequencies off my laptop, if that is a possibility.
 

moonbounce

Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2002
Messages
1,398
I am interested in trying this, but I have no clue where to begin. The forum is full of topics that are advanced in nature, and basically french to me. If there is anyone willing to explain SDR to me like I'm stupid, I would appreciate it a lot. I am not comfortable doing hard mods, so soft mods would be preferable.

Specifically I am interested in scanning radio frequencies off my laptop, if that is a possibility.

My suggestion would be that if you are planning on using your laptop with SDR Sharp, Frequencies manager and scanner plugin, DSDPlus and a VB Cable that you would have at least an i5 processor and lots of Ram.

If you don't have an i5 or equivalent CPU you might be in for a lot of frustrations, just my two cents worth.

Now if it is going to be used for just analog signal scanning then a dual core processor should suffice ( with lots of ram).

Moonbounce
 

NEOMANTRIC

Completely Banned for the Greater Good
Banned
Joined
Jul 6, 2014
Messages
56
Location
Peterborough ON
Ok, now assuming I have that stuff, what dongle should I get? Can I get them from an electronics store? After I have all that, what are my instructions. Remember, explain it to me like I'm stupid, I don't mind.
 

Flatliner

Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2014
Messages
391
Location
UK
Play with it. Seriously. It's not practical to pre-empt every problem and senario here. Just get an RTL dongle, download and install SDR#, read instructions on installing Zadig, THEN let us know what problems you're having. You'll find us right here when you need us.
 

NEOMANTRIC

Completely Banned for the Greater Good
Banned
Joined
Jul 6, 2014
Messages
56
Location
Peterborough ON
Ok. I thought it was going to be super tough. I had looked at the forum beforehand and didn't think I'd ever have a clue about what was going on. I'll experiment. Thanks
 

Flatliner

Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2014
Messages
391
Location
UK
Just don't install ANY software that comes with a "TV" dongle. Zadig will install drivers to turn it into an SDR.
 

Your_account

Completely Banned for the Greater Good
Banned
Joined
Jul 13, 2013
Messages
1,261
Location
.AT
But first check what kind of frequency you can receive legal.
 

chekoz77

Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2013
Messages
102
Location
South Daytona
There are no mods that are needed as its all ran by software and the receiver is just a USB device that plugs in. Its as simple as plugging in a USB stick, downloading some software/drivers and installing it.

For a 20 dollar investment I am now doing everything from listening to digital apco25 trunked systems to tracking airplanes. Learning curve isn't that bad as there are some great step by step instructionals out there. But for basic analog scanning its simple and you could be up and running in 5-10 minutes.

I am only running an Intel i3 with 8mb ram and never had a hiccup. Even while trunking which takes 4-5 programs running at once, I still do other things like watch youtube vids and such on the same computer. Never had a single issue.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top