So I came across this article : Fifty Things you can do with a Software Defined Radio and it inspired me to do more research and I plan on trying it out very soon!
The person behind the article had this to say in the start of his article:
"Last week, I attempted the challenge to try to find 50 things to do with an RTL-SDR device in a week!
It was quite an adventure: I received satellites and radio from the other side of the world, I went on a hunt for a radiosonde, and I invented a method to communicate using the NFC tag in a library book!
I used the RTL-SDR Blog V4 for everything, plus the antenna kit, plus a long piece of wire"
- Article Source: https://blinry.org/50-things-with-sdr/
- Archive.org: https://web.archive.org/web/20240607044616/https://blinry.org/50-things-with-sdr/
- Blog post: https://www.rtl-sdr.com/doing-50-things-with-rtl-sdr-in-one-week/
- Blog post Archived: https://web.archive.org/web/20240406040514/https://www.rtl-sdr.com/doing-50-things-with-rtl-sdr-in-one-week/
Has anyone here at SoylentNews tried one of these devices? What were your results? What do you most enjoy about it?
(Score: 2) by AnonTechie on Friday June 14 2024, @08:34PM (3 children)
I have an NESDR SMART (made by NooElec.com) and I have done a few of the things mentioned in the article. So far, I have used SDSharp Software to decode the signals ... It is interesting and good fun to receive and decode various signals. There is a lot more to explore though !
Albert Einstein - "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
(Score: 2) by corey on Friday June 14 2024, @10:18PM (1 child)
Yeah it is a good article. I’m using my RTL:SDR for aircraft ADS-B reception and contributing to Flightradar24, prior to that i was listening to ATC comms a lot while working. I also have a BladeRF for hardware testing my work designs.
(Score: 2) by corey on Saturday June 15 2024, @07:11AM
I forgot to say, I’m surprised at how much he got through in a week. Getting some of the decoders going from 0 knowledge takes time.
Some of them are really obscure too. I’ve searched around with my SDR and found strange transmissions but never really tried to work out what they were. Usually assume it’s harmonic noise from my nearby electronics.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Saturday June 15 2024, @03:38PM
Its SDRSharp. Like C-Sharp the language. There's a connection there.
Another recommendation for something a little more technical if you want to experiment is SDRAngel.
OpenWebRX gives you a standard web interface to your USB attached SDR. What use is that, you ask? Well you can plug a SDR into a very small computer (probably a pi is enough in 2024?) on your LAN far away from your desktop/laptop/whereever you listen, and if you have a wifi connection good enough to stream audio you can listen to stuff attached to your big antenna without requiring a short direct wire connection (convenience factor).
(Score: 3, Interesting) by epitaxial on Friday June 14 2024, @08:41PM
I live in the northeast and was using one to watch pager traffic when hurricane Sandy hit and was flooding NYC. One memorable message was calling for the evacuation of Bellview hospital because the lower floors were flooded and the generators were failing...
Lots of interesting two way radio traffic as well. Listening to people working train yards and even the longtime holdouts still using high power CB amplifiers. One guy was broadcasting clips from horror movies.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by janrinok on Friday June 14 2024, @09:55PM
I have 3 set up - two at my home and one some distance away - that I use to receive ADSB (aircraft position reports). I feed the reports into FlightRadar24 and for that I get a free business account which allows me to watch air traffic anywhere in the world.
My particular interest at the moment is watching the intelligence collection activity in the Baltic, around Kaliningrad, and all the way down to the Black Sea.
I am not interested in knowing who people are or where they live. My interest starts and stops at our servers.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Snotnose on Friday June 14 2024, @11:02PM
and only $50? Thanks subby!
Old and busted: erectile dysfuntion. New hotness: Ballzheimers
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Saturday June 15 2024, @12:17AM (3 children)
I'm a ham, I haven't done anything with that in years for lack of time, and this article just rekindled the old flame.
Finally a great article that's not about some giant corporation's product and doesn't plug AI. That's a refreshing change.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Saturday June 15 2024, @07:13AM (2 children)
DL5YZ from the 1970s, in Berlin. Allowed my own licence to lapse and haven't bother to renew it - and now I regret it. I have the spare time and disposal income to continue the hobby now.
I am not interested in knowing who people are or where they live. My interest starts and stops at our servers.
(Score: 2) by Tork on Saturday June 15 2024, @07:47AM (1 child)
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 2) by VLM on Saturday June 15 2024, @03:32PM
It's very local; around here the keyboard to keyboard frequency is almost as popular as APRS. Listening is practically free with a cheap SDR and a decent antenna.
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by driverless on Saturday June 15 2024, @08:25AM