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

A few years ago, I had a previous model of this SDR dongle which wasnt capable of tuning HF without the purchase of additional hardware. The current version does not have this limitation. Just remember to switch to Q Branch Direct Sampling in your favorite SDR software and youll be tuning in HF signals in no time with the proper antenna. So far, Ive just used SDRTouch on my Android phone and received everything from the local FM Rock station to amateur radio VHF/UHF repeaters and broadcast shortwave stations. Ill install the SDRTouch app on my Samsung Galaxy tablet later and then try out SDR# again, after several years, on the Windows computer. I was amazed at how full featured the Android app was while using the RTL-SDR dongle. Being able to use this dongle with an Android app makes it quite portable. The best $30 Ive spent in a very long time!

some trouble with software on win7 runs perfect on win 10 coupled it with 70 feet lm400 coax on a tram 1411 discone scanner antenna and it is nothing short of incredible, like the best ham radio ever for 20 bux WOW! if this isnt working well for you consider buying top notch coax and antenna because im sure anything less you will be disappointed yes but by time you antenna this up properly in my case 75 ft up a tower with lma200 coax and that top shelf discone you looking at nearly 450$ for a 25$ radio, high freq coax is EXPENSIVE! dont forget that inline amp that cost more than radio as well so all tolled 500$ for a 25$ radio AINT the best 20 bux i ever spent,is it worth it? YES

Product as represented.

This flavor does not include any antennas, so if that is important to you make sure you order one that includes it. Works as expected. Im currently running this on a Raspberry Pi as an APRS iGate. This does get warm, hence the metal enclosure on it. I had an antenna to use with this, but still needed to purchase an adapter cable to get this to mate up to the antenna. This was my first adventure into an SDR, so I have to say overall I am happy with it. I bought this, built something with it, and it worked, so I have mark that as a successful first attempt.

Im using this SDR at 10 MHz (ham band digital modes receiver), and with an external antialiasing filter / preamp it works quite well. As expected, without the filter the 28.8 MHz sample clock gives us some textbook aliased images above 14.4 MHz. Im also using this SDR at 162 MHz (marine AIS) and it does well. I am also using a filter / preamp to improve the strong-signal rejection and desired-signal sensitivity. The frequency accuracy and stability are quite reasonable. Ive got about five of these running now and they all work well. There are better-performing SDRs for 4X the price (or more), but the bang for the buck on this one is hard to beat.

It took me about 10 minutes of fiddling to get the software and driver (that was the difficult part) installed. This little device, about the size of a 9-volt battery or a cigarette lighter receives radio signals over a broad range of frequencies very, very well. I can receive signals on this as good as I can on a ham radio that costs around twenty or so times as much. You need some type of external antenna for really good reception. I hooked it to a ham radio antenna I have here and had no problem hearing stateside and foreign stations clearly. The user interface is a bit clunky, in my opinion, but not too hard to operate. What I dislike is probably because I am used to using radios with knobs and buttons, rather than clicking on arrows. Definitely a useful product for people interested in listening to radio signals, from Ham stations to police and even FM broadcast stations.

There are many SDR units that work from about 30MHz to cover FM broadcast, TV and more. There are quite a few that are said to work at lower frequencies, but dont. After a simple change of settings, it receives AM broadcast just fine.

install the app via sudo apt install gqrx-sdr then just run it. pick the usb device as shown in the dialog box, here. there are many other apps but this was an easy one to get running. also gnu-radio and so on. Im interested in decoding HD fm radio and there is a plugin or app on github for that. later.. update: got it working with nrsc5 to decode HD radio for free ;) simply run the nrsc5 program with the frequency in mhz and the program (0 or 1, usually) inside the HD sideband: eg, nrsc5 88.5 0. last image shows the console output when you run it on an hd radio channel that is active.

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

This opens up doors to the world. Instead of purchasing an expensive transceiver/receiver this allows you access to all the different types of radio bands out there (propagation and interference permitting). It works well with trunked scanner frequencies and analog transmission. I can hook up all different types of antennas to it that have a SMA connector or adapter. It is fun seeing how far I can hear radio from on the shortwave bands and listen to ham radio transmission on both HF and 2m bands. It is a great tool to use to get acquainted with radio before getting ones ham radio license or just have fun DXing on the listeners end of things. Very glad this tech is out there.