Trunking with the Latest DSD+ 1.08t Fast Lane Version
DSD+ stands for Digital Speech Decoder Plus and is a software program that can allow you to decode digital voice signals such as P25 and MotoTRBO/DMR. DSD+ is under continual development, and in their...
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Modifying an RTL-SDR by adding a Diplexer to receive HF and VHF/UHF
The lowest frequency that a standard RTL-SDR dongle can receive is about 24 MHz. However, by applying a hardware hack called the direct sampling mod, it is possible to use the RTL-SDR to listen to the...
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New SDR# Plugin: File Player
A new plugin for SDR# has been released by Vasilli over on rtl-sdr.ru. The new plugin is called File Player and replaces the default SDR# IQ file source player (page is in Russian, use Google translate...
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RTL-SDR as a Hardware Random Number Generator with rtl_entropy
Over on his blog, Aaron Toponce has posted a tutorial that shows how to use the RTL-SDR app rtl_entropy. This app uses the RTL-SDR to create random numbers from the atmospheric noise that it receives...
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Retesting Nobu’s 14 MHz Low Pass Filter on a Direct Sampling Modified RTL-SDR
Back in May we did a review of Japanese RTL-SDR experimenter Nobu’s products, which were his HF Upconverter, Galvanic Isolator and 14 MHz Low Pass Filter. The low pass filter was designed to be used...
View ArticleBuilding a 520 kHz High Pass Filter for the RTL-SDR
Over on YouTube user kugellagers has uploaded a video showing how he designs and builds a 520 kHz high pass filter for his RTL-SDR dongle + upconverter. In the video he explains how to design the...
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Using the RTL-SDR as a Transmitter
Back in July of last year we posted about a video from oh2ftg where he showed how he was able to get his RTL-SDR to act as a crude transmitter by using the RTL-SDR’s leaky oscillator. Now another...
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RTL-SDR Bias Tee Hack
Over on his blog Elias has uploaded a post that shows how he modified his RTL-SDR dongle to provide remote DC power through a bias tee. A bias tee allows you to inject DC voltage into the coax cable to...
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Several PDF Files Related to RTL-SDR’s and HF/MW Reception
Recently RTL-SDR.com reader Dr. Phil wrote in to let us know about some PDF notes that he has created about the RTL-SDR dongle. There is some good information in his documents and the notes mainly...
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Cooling the RTL-SDR for Improved Sensitivity
Over on his blog, Nobu an RTL-SDR experimenter has made a post about cooling RTL-SDR dongles (post is in Japanese use Google translate if needed). Nobu writes that another RTL-SDR experimenter, Toshi,...
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Two New SDR# Plugins for Passive Radar and IF Signal Averaging
Recently Dr. Daniel Kaminski wrote into RTL-SDR.com to let us know about two very interesting new SDR# plugins that he has developed to use with the RTL-SDR dongle. The first plugin is called “Passive...
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New RTL-SDR software: rtl_ais
Over on cruisersforum.com we’ve seen news of a user who has worked to combine rtl_fm and aisdecoder into a single command line program called rtl_ais. AIS stands for Automatic Identification System,...
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Measuring the input impedance of the RTL2832U direct sampling input pins
The direct sampling mod allows you to listen to the HF frequencies between 0 – 14 MHz on an RTL-SDR by simply connecting an antenna directly to the ADC pins on the RTL2832U chip. Until recently the...
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Optimizing Reception of VLF frequencies on an RTL-SDR Dongle
Over on his web site, Martin (G8JNJ) has uploaded a new article discussing how to optimize reception of VLF (<10 kHz) signals on a direct sampling modified RTL-SDR. He writes that the main problem...
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Detecting meteor radio echoes using the RTL-SDR USB dongle
At the recent 2015 Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers (SARA) Conference Ciprian Sufitchi (N2YO) presented a paper titled “Detecting meteor radio echoes using the RTL/SDR USB dongle” (pdf). His paper...
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International Space Station set to Transmit SSTV this Weekend (July 18 – 19)
To commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz mission the International Space Station (ISS) is set to transmit 12 Slow Scan TV (SSTV) images this weekend. The images are set to transmit...
View ArticleUni-SDR Link: Control SDR Console V2 with Unitrunker
A new program called Uni-SDR Link has just been released. This software allows Unitrunker to control SDR-Console V2. Unitrunker is software that allows you to follow trunked voice conversations, and...
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RTL-gopow: New heat map tool
Rtl_power is a tool that allows you to create wide band signal strength heat maps over a long length of time. It works by very quickly hopping across the spectrum, capturing the RTL-SDR bandwidth of...
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New Raspberry PI Remote RTL-SDR GUI Software: MNM4SDR
Recently RTL-SDR.com reader Slaven Krilic wrote in to use to announce his project called MNM4SDR which stands for Monitoring Network Manager for RTL-SDR. The software allows you to set up a remote...
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BA5SBA Direct Sampling Kit English Build Instructions
The BA5SBA direct sampling kit is a kitset PCB that combines with a standard (included) RTL-SDR dongle in order to enable the direct sampling mod. The direct sampling mod is a hardware modification...
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