Hands On: Cheap Software Defined Radio

With a U.S. dongle intended for picking up European digital television broadcasts, a TV antenna, and some free software, it’s possible to decode a huge v…
Video Rating: 5 / 5

/23 Comments/by
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23 replies
  3. Christoph Lückler
    Christoph Lückler says:

    Billigen KW-Empfänger, der auch noch portabel ist? ….. Vl. ein
    interessantes Projekt für den einen oder anderen Newcomer ….

    Ich habe mir einen Dongle über Amazon bestellt und berichte euch dann über
    mein Ergebnis ;-)

    Reply
  8. Eugen Afanasjev
    Eugen Afanasjev says:

    This is illegal in a number of countries. Not that you’d get in real
    trouble, but as per outdated laws you need a radio operator’s license…

    Reply
  11. FinRadioDX
    FinRadioDX says:

    I’ve forgotten this RTL-SDR thing, must order one now! Great video
    spectrummag, greetings from Finland, de OH8EFI

    Reply
  12. RyanBurke
    RyanBurke says:

    I live in a rough area and here the police sirens all the time. I wouldn’t
    mind listening in and seeing what they’re responding to.

    Reply
  13. StephenCassIEEE
    StephenCassIEEE says:

    For details on the hardware/software stack, the linked article in the About
    section has full details. Legality is also briefly discussed there: roughly
    speaking, in the U.S. it’s legal to receive most frequencies, but a license
    is required to transmit (although not universally, e.g. for C.B. radios).
    In many other countries, it is also illegal to receive any frequency that
    you don’t have a license for.

    Reply
  14. alphasxsignal
    alphasxsignal says:

    I have one but can’t seem to get the drives to work with it from the SDR
    webpage that came up with this software. IM not sure if I have tried the
    software interface you are using and if it uses the same drivers?

    Reply
  16. SoCalFreelance
    SoCalFreelance says:

    Thanks to the power of the Internet you can tap into other peoples radio
    receivers and listen in on Police, Fire, EMS. Bunch of websites & free
    phone apps offer this.

    Reply
  17. Eugen Afanasjev
    Eugen Afanasjev says:

    It is different in every country, 2 examples where receiving is prohibited:
    – Japan: you need license to receive, transmit, own and operate any radio
    other than a public announcement/entertainment radio: (law is outdated, so
    nobody gets in jail for such actions, but the law itself is still there) –
    Russia: you need license to intercept all frequencies: you are not allowed
    to listen to police and FSB frequencies. If you will be caught while doing
    that, you’ll be sentenced for espionage.

    Reply
  21. erik61801
    erik61801 says:

    what the model number because my dongle only on goes from 24mhz to about
    1.4ghz i got the wack tuner chipset

    Reply

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