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Top 5 uses for SDR Radio

Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News' started by KD5W, Jul 2, 2021.

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  1. K4MID

    K4MID Ham Member QRZ Page

    You aren’t translating correctly unfortunately. I will try to answer what I think you are asking, sorry if I guessed wrong. You can listen to digital modes with an RTL-SDR, even P-25 trunked or TETRA. The limitations are really only on the software you use.
    Hope that answered you and helped.
     
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  2. WB8LBZ/SK2023

    WB8LBZ/SK2023 Ham Member QRZ Page

    Point your browser to https://www.rtl-sdr.com/ for hours of reading on hardware and software. That is just the start, the author only had 5 items, there are sooooo many more.

    73, Larry WB8LBZ
    El Paso, TX
     
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  3. K6CLS

    K6CLS Ham Member QRZ Page

    Yes, you should do that.

    Many of the artists I see do home recording and CD pressing, no other people involved. Anyway it's not my job to pay them directly, the artists do that.

    What instrument do you play? Have you recorded anything lately? Studio equipment used to be very expensive, but it is not these days. Easy to have a top flight studio at home.

    Edit:. Sorry for the topic drift, folks.
     
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  4. JF1IRQ

    JF1IRQ Ham Member QRZ Page

    You can listen in digital mode.

    73 JF1IRQ
     
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  5. OE3JTB

    OE3JTB Ham Member QRZ Page

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  6. M0ODV

    M0ODV Ham Member QRZ Page

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  7. K4MID

    K4MID Ham Member QRZ Page

    Yeah I’m curious about this too. I run NET Control all the time and would never run an SDR too. Unless I’m missing something that I can’t compute I’m curious why others would. My antenna hooked into my rig is exponentially larger and better at receive than anything that’s ever been connected to my SDR dongle so I really can’t think of a valid reason to do so. As such I’m very curious as to what it is I’m missing and haven’t thought of.
     
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  8. WB8LBZ/SK2023

    WB8LBZ/SK2023 Ham Member QRZ Page

    There are SDRs accessible on the internet that are located is opportune locations to fill in the net control's weak spots. A local ham used a SDR in Utah for hearing the NCS on 40 Meter daytime net. Since propagation is not always in your favor, having a receiver in another part of the country or different continent can help you hear a station that is weak to your local antenna.

    73, Larry WB8LBZ
    El Paso, TX
     
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  9. AG5ND

    AG5ND Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    That makes sense.
     
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  10. K5JSG

    K5JSG QRZ Lifetime Member #520 Platinum Subscriber Life Member QRZ Page

    Great video. I want to try the WXtoIMG software now! :)

    Biggest reason for me for having an SDR, a PANADAPTER!!!!! Using the FT-991A and the MFJ-1708-SDR to protect the SDR from my TX (Don't blow up the receiver's front end) I have a panadapter, where what I click on, on screen changes the 991a settings (CW, LWB, USB etc.) along with the frequency while using software like Ham Radio Deluxe.

    For me, I use:
    1. Ham Radio HF transceiver (I happen to use the Yaesu FT-991a)
    2. MFJ-1708-SDR
    3. Com Port Emulator Software (such as COM0COM or Virtual Serial Port Emulator) [allows sharing the same comport for software to use the rig]
    4. OmniRig (Allows sharing the new virtual ports from #3 to tell where the rig is. It allows the SDR software and Ham Radio Deluxe, or other software, to control the rig. It assigns the comports if you will.)
    5. SDR software such as SRDPlay. (uses one of the com ports)
    6. Ham Radio Deluxe (HRD) or any other software that you wish to use. (uses the other com port)
    This setup allows me to see the signals on the band, click on a screen, and the radio changes to that frequency. Click on another button and it changes to CW or U/LSB. I don't have to go through menus or button clicks on the rig to do it. It's nice.

    The only draw back is that sometimes the rig hears signal that the SDR doesn't display because the signal is so weak. I'm sure with some settings I could get it to see these signals, but why bother with extra "noise" on the screen between signals. I call this "noise" static, or the background being really bright where it makes the signals hard to see. Anyhow, with filters on the rig, I can pull these weaker signals out of the mud to where I can hear them. Moral of this is... It still pays to rotate the dial in search of signals.
     
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  11. KY4GD

    KY4GD Ham Member QRZ Page

    You can easily run SDRTouch or MagicSDR with an OTG cable on many Android devices, and it actually works pretty well. The RTLSDR draws power from the phone or tablet. There is also a halfway decent SA app.

    You can also use the free HackRF One app that is in the store to do basic replay attacks in the field, if you don't have a Portapack.

    SDRTrunk has been ported to the Pi, but it is said to perform very poorly, so I would assume we won't be doing trunking on phones any time soon.
     
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  12. W0LEV

    W0LEV Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    I would add:
    1) Radio Astronomy
    2) Spectrum Analyzer (AirSpy only)
    3) Sleuthing RFI

    Dave - WØLEV
     
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  13. KY4GD

    KY4GD Ham Member QRZ Page

    Also reading smart meters with RTLAMR (for home automation, not snooping), and *tons* of things involving RTL_433 (alerting you through Alexa when your tire air pressure is low, etc)
     
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  14. K7HV

    K7HV XML Subscriber QRZ Page

     
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  15. K8ZT

    K8ZT XML Subscriber QRZ Page

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