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

This has opened up a whole realm of tinkering- be it learning the software, radio theory, radio laws and antenna science. And then it gets pretty overwhelming trying to understand all the things you will be googling.

Hey, if you dont know how to use a SDR, I highly suggest to look up a guide on how to start receiving with a SDR. I think its a pretty good unit, and as the title says, its way better than the NooElec one that is in the picture. Now all the reviews that say its a terrible device, those are 95% of the time just user error. Ive been using SDR stuff on and off for about 3 years, and there is a little bit of setup required, as with everything. Now Ive been farting around with the NooElec one, but I decided to get a little bit of a step up. This has HF reception, just not very good in comparison to a proper transceiver. Its a good idea to get a proper antenna if you want to do some serious HF stuff. An alternate idea is to grab a balun, and a roll of speaker wire and split it so you have 2 wires then put it up as a dipole. And, you can even hook it to your rain gutters if they are metal, and use that as a receiving antenna. Cheap, but effective. Some people receive weather satellites with these, ive had some luck with the NooElec unit but this one just blows it out of the water. Ive used it to pick up images from NOAA weather satellites, and it does an incredible job of that, and my setup utilizes a LNA that can be powered by the built in Bias-T. If it gets too hot for your liking, you can ziptie a heatsink with a thermal pad to the back of it and cool down the RTL-SDR. I made sure to take a high res pic so you can look closely at the differences between the two SDRs.

Works great. As advertised. This is the most fantastic device I have used in a very long time. This hardware device enables your computer to see radio signals. Associated software enables you to process (tune) those signals in a variety of ways. To be able to continuously tune 500 KHz to 1.7 GHz is astounding in itself. Throw in a RF Spectrum Analyzer, Audio Spectrum analyzer and assorted filters and it is mind blowing. And the software is free (donations accepted). This is incredible. To do this a few years ago would have cost tens of thousands of dollars. If there were 10 stars I would pick 10 stars. Dont expect a simple thing. Using this device involves unlimited options and radio/science and thus it is not necessarily intuitive :)

The SDR if loaded with features and worked flawlessly with my windows 8. You will need a good antenna for get the most out of this and expect a learning curve to move beyond the very basic features. Lots of info available on the web. Very satisfied.

This is like a singing pig, it isnt very good but the amazing thing is it can sing at all. I am reviewing the HF side of this, on VHF and above it seems as good as any of the cheap dongles. For HF it works in direct sample mode, but not that well. I did get my moneys worth, so no complaints, but we all have to know a $20 or so HF receiver is not going to be very good. I will probably move this to VHF and above duty soon.

Product as represented.

The rtl-sdr blog made device beats the clones. Idk what else to say.

I had previously bought one of the cheep RTL-SDR receivers for $20 when they came out just to try it out. For the price of this, it is a very good deal. I received it, unplugged my old and plugged in this one and it worked perfectly. I love the work they have done on the front end of this receiver, it makes a big difference on reception, also all around changes that make this RTL-SDR a very good improvement over my first one. I recommend this receiver for anyone wanting to get into, or see what RTL-SDR is all about. For the money, its the best deal I have found.

It is not worth taking a chance buying a clone. This is the real deal Works well. The site does an ok job getting you started but on YT there are plenty of resources to follow to install the correct software and NET framework. It is getting the framework and drivers that requires some effort and time. It is not plug and play but a great product if you are interested in shortwave and Ham bands.

It was simple to install physically. The software was a bit complicated and required extra steps, but the instructions were very clear and easy to understand. Ive been having fun using it to listen and see the radio spectrum.