Turn Your PC into a Shortwave Radio with the RTL-SDR Adapter ! Software Defined Radio (SDR)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 พ.ค. 2024
- Buy one at Amazon : lon.tv/f16t3 (compensated affiliate link) - You can turn your computer into a shortwave radio with a very inexpensive USB dongle. You can pick up a lot of signals including FM radio stations, HAM operators, local fire and police, drive through windows, aircraft, and even satellites in space! See more in this series: lon.tv/sdr and Subscribe for more! lon.tv/s
VIDEO INDEX:
00:00 - Intro
01:33 - Price & Included Hardware
02:58 - Setup Process
03:36 - Tuning FM stations
05:56 - Finding Frequencies to Listen to
07:26 - Browsing Frequencies by specific bands & modulations
08:54 - Aircraft ADS-B Transponders
10:24 - Web SDR - listen to radios all over the world!
12:27 - Conclusion
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Quick note on availability - The kit might be sold out right now at both AliExpress and Amazon. But on Aliexpress they do have the antenna package and dongle available separately. If you go up a level to their main store you can buy each individually. Hopefully it'll be back in stock at Amazon soon.
Hi, they are back on sale at Amazon
Hi, the Rtl sdr is not only a Shortwave radio, it can also receive up to 1.87Ghz and it can receive public FM stations. They are already on Amazon in stock.
My dad was a radio operator in the military and I picked up the hobby at a young age. Had my license since I was 15. Not very active now but might pick it back up. Like you CB radio was our "social media" of the day back before the Internet. So I did both CB and Ham radio. Good times.
The RTL-SDR dongle was indeed my “gateway drug” to ham radio .. for the antenna, you need a “noobelec” Balun One Nine, and 2 50’ lengths of small gauge mag wire, strung outside in opposite directions (up the trees/bushes) .. BTW the SDR# software is known as SDR “sharp” …
I became a ham in 1965, but I've been a shortwave listener even longer. I learned a foreign language via shortwave too. I could chat with others in their language via ham radio. Back in the 70's the stations were so powerful that my radio almost danced off the table. Unfortunately most of that is gone now as people can ask their Google Home to play the BBC World Service, etc. That dongle is a wonderful device, Lon. I'm sure it is a new item for many of your subscribers.
Ha, you beat me by 2 years. My cousin and i were shortwave listeners in 65. I was 10 then, but we challenged each other and I was finally able to get my ham license in 67.
@@charlespatt Having a father and older brother licensed encouraged me to become part of this. I got my Novice license at 15.
My nephew became a ham too. He and I were at a hamfest when he was in his early 20's and he noted he was the youngest ham there. Not one teenager there.
It can be contagious!
Yes I used to listen to broadcast shortwave, in the early '70s I certainly missed the number stations, and the other clandestine radio broadcasts. I tried for my novelist class about 1965, just couldn't copy enough words. But definitely love listening to shortwave broadcast
Dave, you learned a foreign language by listening & talking on ham radio?! Wow! My hat's off to you! >>AI4RV
Two weaknesses with this one that I noticed: 1. Lots of mirrored signals all over the bands. 2. Very small dynamic range.
But for the ridiculously low price you can't really complain.
Those are so cool! I'm a ham and also used to listen to shortwave and TV audio as a kid.
Lon, I am so happy to see that you have discovered this aspect of SDR. For so long I have been subscribed to channels like Tom's Radio Room Show and 741 which have exposed the incredible performance these items can give. The fact that you have discovered these items and put them on your show makes me very happy to be a subscriber to your channel.
I designed circuits using the RDA5809 SDR integrated circuit back when that came out. Amazing how much better the chips have become.
Very nicely done. (And this comes from someone who's been a radio hobbyist for over 50 years.)
prob one of the coolest episodes
I bought one of these a few months ago, its a great little toy !!!! Definitely worth the 50 bucks!!! I can now hear all my local cops and fire dept!!!
You can also use that to listen to the shortwave bands with that SDR. There is a place in the software where you need to make a change to settings and then it lets it receive the lower shortwave frequencies ( and ham bands) . It worked better than I thought it would at receiving down in those shortwave bands. When you put your antenna outside you will want to use something different than those telescoping whips because they will rust and aren't weather proof . easy to make a dipole out of wire that will work well. Have fun !
What a superb piece of equipment.
I like to use the 433_rtl software using Linux. Picking up your neighbor's outside weather station is fun. You can get local weather by just picking up their signal.
Awesome
I find radio fascinating. I may jump into this hobby.
That website reminds me of a fun website/app I use from time to time called Radio Garden
It will randomly connect you to a radio stream all around the globe.
(I have no affiliation with this app, just think it’s fun)
Great video, I will be picking this up
I bought it, I spent the time installing and learning the software to get the best of this device, a week later I ended buying a real portable SW radio receiver.
I gave it to a friend that is also radio amateur, a month later he did the same with a friend of him.
which one did you buy?
@@LearnAtMyExpense I bough the Tecsun PL990
SDR's are great, I got mine right before lockdown and the George Floyd unrest. Its a very deep hobby and there is a whole world of things that can be picked up. Two things of note: Yes for the most part you can't get in trouble receiving, however there are some laws about mobile police scanners. The other is that a lager antenna is not always better, its based on wave length.
That's what antenna matchers are for. You can match the antenna to your set. I have been doing this for years.
@@countryside8122 That's not exactly correct, but, hey, if it works...!?!
(Antenna matching doesn't match the wavelength, only the impedance.)
Great run-through.....thanks, Lon!
excellent intro to something I'm interested in.
powerful software and so easy to use too
I use my SDR w/a Raspberry Pi 2 to upload plane data (ADS-B) to FlightRadar24. Rather interesting seeing how many I can track at a time.
That's cool! I'll have to try that.
It's pretty easy to get your Ham technicians license (the lowest level in the US), and pick up a cheap handheld radio to get started. Many Ham clubs do a one day class with the testing, some will even give you the HT radio as well for less than $100 all in. Other clubs are doing remote testing now since Covid started which makes it pretty easy to do for anyone.
just purchased the kit through your Amazon link, it was just cheap enough to be an impulse buy
You can also use it to receive low earth orbit weather satellite images on 162mhz, broadcasts from ISS, etc.
its very versital
Yes. Scanners can pick up the ISS broadcast. We ham operators have actually talked to them
Thanks Lon for tuning in and showing our “Big Sound On The Sound” as an example of RDS!!
It's a small world isn't it!
I recently set up a permanent installation with a raspberry pi and modified 2.4GHz antenna to receive GOES-16 Imagery 24/7. Everything installed outside on a pole powering the Pi with buried POE and in a waterproof box
Looking forward to more videos about your RF adventures.
Thanks for this great info! Can’t wait to try it.
Its great that SDR and more 'technical' radio listening is becoming more mainstream.
SDRs are cool...Theres also a good e-book focused on the RTL-SDR on Amazon as well =)
Very interesting indeed. I will have to get one of these to use with my laptop. I wonder if the SDR can decode FM HD digital broadcasts plus the digital subchannels?
Thanks im inspired to try this ! As I like you have a CB Radio background it my teens years ,was lots of fun with friends :)
Parabéns meu amigo seus vídeos são ótimos e de grande utilidade
Nice introduction vid.
This video was awesome. Thank you!
I have been a shortwave listener as well as a public service scanner listener for a long time. I have a couple of different SDR's and have tried a couple of different pieces of software as well. A couple of thoughts. If you decide to try this choose one piece of software (yours is a good choice) and stick with it. If you get frustrated and start trying other software you will get very confused because they are each very different. Also, while these are capable of receiving the frequencies used by police, fire and EMTs so many public service agencies have begun using systems that cannot be received on these devices that there is very little in some areas that can be heard. I have listened to the public services agencies here in Fairfield County in Connecticut for the better part of fifty years but recently so many have either started using systems that most scanners can't receive or, worse yet in my opinion, have begun using encryption to prevent anyone from listening. Almost all of the police and fire agencies in this area are now encrypted. Even our town highway department is using a form of transmission that I can't receive on a scanner that cost $500.00 a few years ago. Very disappointing but the use of encryption by an agency that we are paying for is another whole conversation!
Is there decryption software or hardware you can use to enable your gear to listen in on these now private communications? Or are there options for emulating the same hardware they are broadcasting on that enables it to be encrypted? In essence letting you decipher it all?
Encryption is a good thing to protect the police.
@@TELEVISIONARCHIVES I don’t think so. All of their communications should be above board and recorded by multiple sources. That way they can be used in a court of law instead of being able to hide their corruption and actions carried forward from a “god” complex. We pay taxes for them so they cannot expect secrecy and convenient rugs to sweep their dirty laundry under.
@@jkeelsnc The radio traffic isn't controlled by the police officer. It's recorded at the dispatch centers. And if a Police Officer is going to be doing something illegal do you think he will be talking about it over the radio?
Much like a camera is a gateway to lenses if you want to see a broad range of stuff, these things are a gateway to antennas if you want to hear a range of stuff. The old radio's had a band selector, and you can soon be building antennas for your SDR to replace it. The coverage capable from these devices requires the smallest bit of wire to the longest bit of wire. The twin antenna socket can receive circular signals as well as act as a dipole. My latest SDR accepts three antennas that are selectable in the software. Plugged into a Raspberry pi in the loft it can be close to the antennas in the apex of the roof, and all controllable via the home Lan network. I have an antenna for UK DAB radio, a QFH for circular signals, and a dipole for general coverage. They make folk rush into the room asking what's the noise all about.
Wow, Lon! Very cool!
SDR sharp (actual name) is a fair program but there are better in some regards on linux for sure. I suggest testing them.
this is so great to know. I am diving into a hobby radio telescope project. So, which windows 10 SDR free software would be a good choice to get started to see the hydrogen 21cm line? thanks.
Those RTL chips are cool, but not great for general shortwave... I heartily recommend SDRPlay's RSP devices. A little more expensive but more appropriate for the shortwave bands.
I’m returning to a hobby that i was introduced to by my late parents both of whom really wanted me to enjoy something they had both loved throughout their lives (i was born in 1969 and immediately adopted by my grandparents who were born in the early 1920’s). I was lucky enough to be gifted a radio before i was five years old and soon as i received it i became an instant fan. Way before my tenth birthday i got my first CB radio and by my teenage years i was completely immersed into the hobby with one of the best setups in my local area.. sadly that’s where i left it but i did dip my toe back in from time to time. Now at age 54,happily married with five children and seven grandchildren it’s time to take a deep dive back into my first hobby and I’m extremely gratefully technology has advanced to the point where all i need is a laptop ✅ and this fantastic little device..i do have an small cheap SDR radio already on its way that will be like a portable textbook for me to play and get used to all things SDR. It’s fantastic to see someone who’s completely new the hobby start where i will with this great little bit of kit
It'll all started here! Now I'm a licensed General! you can see my full playlist here: lon.tv/sdr
@@LonSeidman Thx 👍
ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station):
145.800 MHz NFM
I don't think they're doing anything exciting right now, but they have events every so often, like transmitting SSTV images that can be picked up with the RTL-SDR. It's primarily for kids, but still fun to pick up if you haven't tried it yet.
I use a software program called gpredict for satellite prediction, then use it to track with Doppler Shift as a satellite, such as the ISS passes over. There is quite often communications via the onboard repeater for the times the astronauts or cosmonauts are using, frequently for school schedule communications.
Yes. We've talked to the Astronauts on Ham Radio. Also you can listen on the UHF Channel.
I've also as of yet need to decode one of the SSTV images when they choose to operate with this mode
The Raspberry Pi includes a free software called CubicSDR that works very well with the RTL-SDR dongle.
Thank you for the video. Why would you buy gear since you can do the same online with a free service? What's the plus or minus.
Thanks for your videos. Get your HAM radio license, a DMR handheld radio and talk to people anywhere in the world
Brandmeister 31360 tristate is a fun place to go -ws3ric
Great video. I'm a new subscriber now.
Good job!
Are you also able to communicate with others, like on a walkie talkie, or is it just a "listener?"
Also, do you have to be online to use this, or could it be used in the woods where no internet is available?
Very cool. This looks like fun. I’ve worked on most types of radio communications from HF, VHF repeater system, digital microwave and satellite communications. I’m retired from working at a gateway earth station. I guess I can’t stay away. It is interesting to see the area in Connecticut you had highlighted, I grew there and left over 40 years ago.
Wow what town? I’ve lived here for most of my life. Great area!
@@LonSeidman I lived on the Lebanon side of Amston Lake till I was 12 then we moved to Hope Valley in Hebron. After 4 years in the Navy I came back and worked at both EB and P&WA. I did well at both but I was trained in electronics in the Navy so working at those places wasn’t for me. I moved here in 1979 and did work in electronics my whole work career here.
The addiction begins...
Wait until you discover GOES satellites. :D More kit to buy, but so neat..
will this be possible to do from nigeria, I have good wifi connection and I have always been fascinated with cool stuff like this
some years ago i used an RTL dongle from an DVB-T usb-stick (with a RTL2832U chip) for listening to ATC radio using SDR#. No i am trying to set it up all again, but i cant receive ATC radio (now using the current AIRSPY SDR# software). However, i can receive radio broadcasting (FM). any hint what i am doing wrong? thanks
I got one & can't get the software to start properly either under Windows or Linux. The forum says to manually compile it, but that's too much work. I'll hang on to it. I'm sure some day it will run.
Maybe a suggestion for a future video would be to turn on Direct Sampling in SDR Sharp to receive Shortwave Radio? It works well below 15kHz with a long wire and a balun attached (above 15kHz requires a bandpass filter or an upconverter). Particularly for Europeans as the BBC restarted SW broadcasts to Ukraine and Russia to evade Internet censorship and allow inexpensive reception of news and information. I can receive that service in the UK.
i use the rtl-sdr V3 with the dipole antenna, and i'm having a really, really hard time getting anything other than FM radio...
i tried listening to shortwave, don't see much of anything. tried the russian buzzer freq. nothing.
tried medium wave... and still nothing.
the spectrum has some trasmissions but they're just continus beeps or just one tone...
Thanks from a old cb'er.
Does it pick up p25 or dmr digital modes and decode them?
Would love to get started but, this item is unavailable with not knowing when or if it will. Any other way of getting this?
Getting this to work in Windows is a cake walk. I got mine to work in both Windows 10 and CentOS 8 Linux from the command shell level in both. The reasons for this are 3 fold. First, I want to scan multiple channels and the command shell level software, rtl_sdr provided by Osmocomm allows this. Second, although I have a powerful laptop, I prefer not to utilize the cpu more than I need to and I want to adjust the audio passband for ham radio 2 meter, commercial VHF/UHF, weather and air band in the normal 300 Hz to 3500 Hz. Osmocomm also scans 100 channels per second. Third I need to stream the audio using as little network bandwidth as possible and I can stream the audio to my iPhone at home or driving around in the car over the Internet. I utilize a fraction of the bandwidth I would use wit SDRSharp. It works great for me.
how to use sdr for dvb tv ?
Thanks
Does anyone know if there is a way to stream a radio station on Plex? I use Plex for all my media needs, except radio.
nice vid..please help.. i cant hear anything in wide fm..when i select it ,, it mutes..it works only in NFM.. thanks in advance
Get your ticket, Lon!
That's freakin' cool.
Can it pick up FM- HD radio signals?
Can you listen to trains with it
Will it work on Apple 2011 laptops?
Can you tune in on train frequencies?
Your "RTL-SDR" also work with "Android" via OTG but the app doesn't have as many feature on the "PC" software but still cool to pick FM on your phone.
What model phone? I often don't find OTG in phone specs, never sure who has what and what aspects of the USB spec they decide they want to implement.
An SDR is basically an ADC that digitizes all rf frequencies using a near GHz sample rate. Tuning is then a SOFTWARE filter.
where can i find this windows software? Problems trying to find it.
I was looking on eBay I saw this and I was wondering if anybody has tried this and what their thoughts are thanks in advance "DARK KNIGHT" DUAL TCXO RTL-SDR RADIO (2x) RTL2832U+R820T2-TCXO (0.5ppm)
What are your computer specifications to make it work? Do you need a strong one ?
No I've run this on some pretty low-end hardware. But you might want to use SDR++ instead as it's a little faster on lower end PCs.
Coolest Thing I Found While Browsing The Radiowaves Was The Frequency of 982.002Mhz, I Didnt Know WHat It Is And Did A research And It Turned Out To Be A Effing Proxima Centauri Wich Is ANOTHER SUN, A FREAKING ANOTHER STELLAR SUN!
There Are MANY Of These Frequencies, You Just Need To Tune The Antenna And All The Setup To get It And Man, You Can DISCOVER NEW Wave Patterns And Discorver A Totaly New Thing That NOONE ON THIS PLANET HAVE EVER FIGURED OUT, That Is The CoolestThing You Could Probably Do With Such A Device.
Awesome ! :O)
Will this work with a Mac ?
I wouldn’t recommend sticking with an RTL dongle for HF use for very long - for a variety of reasons. But they’ll certainly give you the bug.
As of Sunday, March 13, 2022 Amazon says "Currently Unavailable" 😞 :-(
I want a sweater like yours. Same color.
cool,i wonderif this covers german radio wave range and if i legal here
Noob question, can I use RTL-SDR to pickup LSB and USB signals I get on webdsr from China and Russia from here in Japan? Is that what people mean by "shortwave"?
Yes you can receive both!
in the city I'll have a hard time getting distant signals because of local interference? @@LonSeidman
I just ordered a cheap one on ebay from China.
I hope to use it to listen to marine vhf.
Is this available for a MAC
Can you get a better stereo from music stations than an FM receiver?
It sounds about the same to me - but I am sure there are better and more expensive tuners out there (along with noise reduction hardware) that can make it sound better than this.
can this pick up HD FM ????
Does this work with a Chromebook?
If it runs on Linux, perhaps this would be good to use on a RaspberryPi Zero?
Download DragonOS for the Pi and also for a PC...it is a FULL BLOWN Ubuntu (Lubuntu) with SDR software galore ready to go.
Lon, I have been a licensed amateur for 28 years. If there is anything I can do to help you out with amateur radio, feel free to message me.
Do you have to be connected to the internet? Can you use this when you can't get an internet connection ?
No Internet connection necessary for most of it!
how could single side band SSB be sent with software defined radio SDR?
Sent? That is a receiver he reviewed. They do have sdr tranceivers, but they cost a lot more and you need a licence to use them.
I installed the Airspy software. I ran the bat file. Then I tried the zadig. Then I ran the program. The program says there is no device? I have deleted and uninstalled files. I can't it to work? Any ideas
It is a long time ago that i used zadig, but if i remember correctly, you must place a mark in "show devices" (assuming you are logged in as an administrator). If you did place a mark and you still don't see it, then i don't know (assuming you did plug in the dongle).
This would be good if you could use it on an android device as then it is a handheld unit.
When I visit the Websdr you recommended, malwarebytes blocks a Trojan that continuously tries to load on my pc. Ik8xooddns Thought I’d let ya know. Probably not a safe site to visit
TH-cam keeps deleting my post so I had improvise on the wordings. What a joke youtube
This is not available on AliExpress nor Amazon Uk, disappointing as I wanted to get one
Saw today that this has come back on both sites, Amazon UK 2x the cost of Ali Express !
Short Wave Radio is making a comeback with the Ukraine events.😎👍
Hey, why didn't you test digital radio reception? It's more interesting, like DRM, HD Radio, DAB+, and so on.
I did it in part 2! th-cam.com/video/JQZC52z0hIw/w-d-xo.html
Does it support packet radio too?
Yes I just got that figured out last night will do a follow-up soon.
Can it pick up this Shortwave station? Shortwave 7.490 WBCQ
With the right antenna / location and conditions? yes. I pick up a lot of shortwave stations on the 40 meter band