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

NEVER WORKED

it does everything I need it to. frees up a two way radio that I typically use to monitor freqs. The high the freq you listen tot he hotter it gets. small CPU fan works well to solve that. not a complaint just a fact of life with electronics.

It’s a good product. It does what it says.

This is exactly as described. I have two of the common silver ones and one is off by 500 PPM, the other by a bit more than that. However, this NESDR is spot-on on the tuning, as promised, and the signal from it is clear and strong. Very pleased with the purchase. I have used it under Windows 10 (use the zadig.exe utility from SDRSharp to set the correct drivers) and Ive used it on Raspbian Linux on a Raspberry Pi 3a+ to run trunk-recorder and liquidsoap streaming the local P25 trunked radio traffic to Broadcastify as a source. I can only get one dongle to work at a time on the Raspberry Pi before the USB bus is saturated (my assumption), but it locks up when I plug in a second silver website branded RTL-SDR along with this one (even after assigning unique serial numbers to each). Luckily everything fits within a 2.4 Mhz band, so I only need one, but Im limited to three simultaneous recordings, when there are five data channels in my system. So I would like to run two dongles and separate the tasks, but thats not possible with my setup. I will try a Raspberry Pi 4, and maybe some other mini computer options in the future. But for now its working. Well built, I havent had any cooling issues, but I have a fan cooled case for the Rasberry Pi and set the dongle next to the case where there is airflow (its on a short usb extension cord). I also have a cheap 800mhz SMA antenna, nothing fancy. Its 15 feet cord length and I placed it in the attic by drilling a hole in the ceiling. I get great reception and clear audio from the scanner.

Bought two from Amazon. One arrived fine and works fantastic. Much better temperature stability than any others Ive had. That part I love! The other was DOA, and Amazon quickly sent me a replacement. But when I plugged it into my laptop it fried not only itself, but the laptop too, which is now junk. Good thing it was an old laptop. I have a feeling my experience is not normal, so Ill rate it 3 stars. If I could somehow get two working at the same time, Id certainly rate it higher. The one I have Id give a five, easy. Its really good. Im sorely tempted to order another one and hope for better luck. But, well, who knows...

Performs perfect for running DSD-Trunk listening to Motorola trunked radio.

This RTL is alot better than the first evolution. It does get slightly warm during hours of use but does not drift in the least.

Really great SDR for the price. If youre familiar with this type of SDR, youll know its pretty much an accident that these things work perfectly for this application. I really like NooElecs enclosure. Its very sturdy and holds up great. The chip quality is fantastic as well, and I have not had any frequency drift or tuning issues. One really important tip that I highly recommend: Keep it cool. It runs pretty hot. Not hot enough to really decrease its lifespan, but I measured it at around 110 degrees F when set at maximum gain. This temperature increase does add a lot of noise, so if you can keep it cool, you can save yourself a lot of trouble trying to find weaker signals. If you dont need it to be portable, say youre using it with a desktop, find something metal and use some CPU thermal compound to stick it to it. It does the job perfectly, and the temps lowered to around 90 degrees at peak. I stuck it to the steel case of a battery backup I have my computer hooked up to. I just put a drop of thermal compound between the enclosure and the metal of the battery backups case. Then I taped it on with some strong masking tape so it wouldnt come off. Works like a charm.

I love these little things Ive got 3 types now ..now Ive got a new one for my carc PC head unit..the programs are a bit tricky but worth the learn..and with a proper antenna I get stations/frequencies like and old school unit

Using 5 of these to broadcast p25 phase 2 traffic using OP25. Works like a charm.