RTL-SDR Blog V3 R860 RTL2832U 1PPM TCXO SMA Software Defined Radio (Dongle Only) (Black)

Read up on line about Software Defined Radio before purchasing. This is a very good value for entry Software Defined Radio. Less expensive items feature non standard antenna connections. More expensive provide means to transmit as well as receive with wider bands of investigation and broader frequencies, up to 6ghz. Most SDR devices work with the same software. SMA connector, metal enclosure with shielding and advanced means to modify make this a great choice. With this, you will be able to receive many types of radio signals. Software can be arcane but this can include audio as well as digital messages and images from satellites and other devices. To fully explore the capability, expect a pleasant but extensive learning curve but with modest rewards for less effort. Look at the package including antennas from the same vendor. You will need an antenna with this particular unit.

Ive only used this for a couple hours now, but man was this easy to set up and awesome to use. It is very fun to visually see and navigate through the radio signals. It took me less than 10 minutes using their quick start guide on rtl-sdr.com/qsg I gained confidence before purchasing this device from all the positive reviews of course and mainly their website. The website is easy to navigate and I was overjoyed to see how detailed the troubleshooting guide was, so if I ran into any problems I could very likely find a solution. It is nice to see such a detailed troubleshooting page with pretty much any possible problem that could happen with this device. Anytime I jump into a DIY project im afraid I will have to use google for 3-4 hours to find a solution. I only ran into one problem during set up with the software and that was on the step that said to run the batch file in the extracted folder of the SDR# software. Probably because I am on a Domain computer with security settings that prevent batch files from running. Well in that same step on their quick start guide they had a link to manually install the drivers instead which only took a minute to do. I followed the rest of the steps. Plugged in the RTL-SDR with my ICOM female SMA antenna from my HAM radio and sure enough it came alive instantly. I was amazed at how easy it was to set up. I turned up the gain in the software and I could start finding random HAMs in my area and various repeaters. I couldnt find any HF signals probably due to my antenna. Their website suggests getting a planar disk antenna or a discone antenna for listening on nearly any frequency between 25Mhz and 1300Mhz. My HAM rubber duckie antenna with this picked up a lot of signals from local FM radio, 136Mhz-900Mhz. This is definitely an awesome buy for the price of $17. I just bought a Uniden BC125AT handheld radio scanner for $110 earlier this week. It is a handy device since it is portable, but it has only a small portion of the frequency range compared to SDR. For $110 it isnt worth it for what it does so I am definitely returning it after playing with this thing. Im excited to experiment more with it to find other neat uses for SDR. I highly recommend getting a USB extension cable for this device so you can have enough cable to work with. I happened to have a 10ft USB Amazon extension cable I bought a couple months ago that works perfectly for this. Since I am using this with a rubber duckie antenna it is about a foot long sticking out of the computer. Not an ideal location for this since it wouldnt fit well behind the computer and I would likely break it if it was sticking out the front of the computer. It would even be good for a laptop since all laptop USB ports stick straight out the side. A USB extension cable allows you to place the device and antenna in a much better location. My last recommendation for full use of this is a discone antenna as the company suggests or something better than a simple rubber duckie or whip antenna. This thing is too cool to only use it with a rubber duckie. Just buy it!

Have bought other SDR and DVB/DAB dongles and so far this is the best one. Gets hot with use. Would like to have better contact with a heat sink or some holes to circulate air in the dongle to keep it cooler. Very accurate ppm, worst dongle I have is -2.2 ppm off frequency. Definitely worth the buy if you want to use this at home as a hobby or need to get into the scene at a reasonable price.

It heats up a lot, its like cooking an egg, and its deaf. For now, Im investigating. But I thought it was better than what was described. I wouldnt buy it again

What is not to like...it is cheap, works as it should, and it is the best value when it comes to low-priced software defined radios. In my shack I have older multi mode transceivers, pre-SDR. Currently I use 2 RTLs protected by a MFJ 1708b TR switch. I use SDR Console software to give me a decent view of the band Im operating on as well as received signals I may be interested in contacting. It is NOT a substitute for sophisticated transceivers such as a FlexRadio or an Apache, but this configuration works fine for me. In fact, this setup has spoiled me so much, I am not in any hurry to upgrade to a modern SDR transceiver. A SDR is only as good as the software you use. Luckily there are many choices such as SDR Console (my favorite), HDSDR, SDR Sharp, and SDR Uno. Im starting to like Uno but it has more features than I need but it is interesting. I think I may buy a few more just to give as Christmas presents. Go ahead and buy one, you cant go wrong!

This is the real deal. Not a fake or clone.

Very good build wuality.