Nooelec RTL-SDR v5 SDR - NESDR Smart HF/VHF/UHF (100kHz-1.75GHz) Software Defined Radio. Premium RTLSDR w/ 0.5PPM TCXO, SMA Input & Aluminum Enclosure. RTL2832U & R820T2 (R860)-Based Radio

This worked right out of the box on my Windows 10 laptop. I followed the provided instructions for installing the driver, then installed the rtl_sdr package and tested. Im using it in the 915 mhz band to get data from my utility/electric meter and other small/local sensors. The nice aluminum housing dissipates the heat well. It only gets mildly warm when used continuously at 915 mhz. As others have noted, the typical laptop and computer monitor make a lot of radio noise. Its important to use a USB extension cable to get the radio and antenna at least a few feet away from the laptop and monitor. When too close, its hard to find a signal within all the noise. I tested with rtl_sdr, sdr# (also called sdrsharp), rtlamr, and rtl433 -- all on a Windows 10 laptop. Everything worked well.

Its very fun to scan through all the frequencies to see whats out there. Its a very good entry point into the world of SDRs! The only negative I see is that the dongle seems to get very warm after about 20 minutes of use, but doesnt seem to actually overheat or get much warmer once its up to temperature. This may be by design, but I wouldnt leave it plugged in overnight or anything.

Expect any little movement or vibration to affect USB connection and require you to restart the software. Other than that, It receives well and I have finally found some software I like.

as described, neat little receiver has many applications

The is a very good RTL-SDR. Works great. Much nicer( lower noise floor) than my old original E4000 dongle. Works great with the experiments in the book SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIO Using MATLAB and the RTL-SDR

Set up was easy. Works as it should.

We are using multiples of these in a Linux environment in the 160 MHz and 1.0 GHz frequency bands. The NESDR exhibits good sensitivity and adjacent band overload performance. For the price its unbeatable.

test ryry

I thought this would be my entrance into the world of SDR, but it overheated easily. It would be operational for about 10 minutes or less before overheating and refusing to work. I was using Ubuntu and a Chromebook. My second occasion working with it, it just went kaput. I dreamed of setting it up in a cloth ice pack to reduce the heat, but alas, it never worked again on the Chromebook! So, I tried installing a different driver and attempted a Windows-based SDR platform on my desktop unit and... nothing. Its a paperweight now.

I havent had much luck making this work on my Linux Mint 20 computer. It did work on the Linux Mint 19.3 64-Bit MATE installation I was using on an IBM computer. Should be just a matter of finding updated drivers. Linux Mint is a derivative of Ubuntu, and instructions refer to an earlier version of Ubuntu Linux.