Best products from r/RTLSDR

There is some wrong info in previous replies to this thread. The RTL-SDR can RX plenty of satellites, it just requires a proper antenna + and possibly a LNA or hardware filter. There are several satellites in 137 MHz (weather satellites, NOAA, M2). There is also Inmarsat, Iridium and other satellites in L-band (1.5-1.6ghz) that can be found.

To start with, NOAA APT is a good option. The rtl-sdr.com link posted is a great resource.

You can build a QFH, DCA or Turnstile antenna that will work well for them. There is also the V-dipole that has been posted here before that shows good results. Another option which is cheap and easy to build is a "2m tape measure yagi". The only downside of the Yagi is you need to get outside and point it, since it is directional (think like a flash light focusing light in one direction). The other antennas listed above are omni (think of like a light bulb with no cover, emitting light in all directions).

After APT, LRPT from Meteor M2 is a good one to chase. Higher quality pictures and you can use the same antenna from APT.

Next, there are a bunch of Amateur radio satellites that operate in the 2m (~145 MHz) and 70cm (440 MHz) bands. You'll find various telemetry to decode and some have voice or APRS repeaters on them. A QFH, DCA, or Turnstile will work for these, but not as well as a purpose build antenna for 70cm. Checkout the Arrow-II split boom antenna (about $100 bucks). It is like a 2m tape measure yagi, except it also has a set of elements for 70cm. If you get a ham license ($15 bucks and a test), you can talk to people bouncing your signals off these satellites.

Next, moving up to L-band. (1.5ghz - 1.6ghz) you will find Inmarsat and Iridium and GOES satellites (1.7ghz). These require different antennas, LNAs and filters. Outernet has made a patch antenna that works for Inmarsat, and a custom filter/lna board (on amazon). I wouldn't recommend the Outernet patch unless you dont have a lot of space. A good option is a TP-Link 24dbi dish (about $50 on amazon/ebay). These work very well. Or a L-Com 1.9 Ghz antenna.

Here is a pair of the TP-link dishes I have that I use to monitor inmarsat. http://i.imgur.com/2PCk2rC.jpg

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003CFATOW/
http://www.l-com.com/wireless-antenna-hyperlink-brand-19-ghz-22-dbi-parabolic-grid-antenna

The RTL-SDR can have issues getting up near the higher frequency range it supports (1.5ghz-1.7ghz), so it may be problematic. Generally the v3 from rtl-sdr.com fixes this as it has a cooling pad that helps keep the PLL locked.

Beyond frequency locking and maximum supported frequency(24mhz - 1.7ghz for the RTL) issues, the other issue you run into when working on higher frequency satellites, is the limited bandwidth of the RTL-SDR. Inmarsat this is not an issue as most signals are narrow and fit within the 2.4 MS/s sampling rate of the RTLSDR. The max freq issue can be solved with a downconverter, but if the signal is wider than 2.4 MS/s, it wont work and you'll need a better SDR (Airspy, BladeRF, USRP). The higher bit ADCs on the higher end SDRs help as well.

Just for some eye candy, here is a 40 MHz swath of Inmarsat 98W from my 1.2m dish with a USRP - http://i.imgur.com/sic1rgQ.png

Now getting to GOES. There has been folks who have tested the L-com dish linked above with another TP-link slightly extending it with success. I have a 1.2m dish setup for GOES and you can see the write up here about it: http://www.rtl-sdr.com/receiving-goes-lrit-full-disk-images-of-the-earth/

Lucas Teske has a great set of blog posts about his adventure of setting up a GOES station on his blog. He also has created the OSP (Open Satellite Project) software package that will decode the images.

http://www.teske.net.br/lucas/2016/10/goes-satellite-hunt-part-1-antenna-system/

You can also pickup Iridium satellites with a simple modified GPS antenna, LNA, filter. You can find details and many talks on this at the links below:


Iridium Pager Hacking 31c3

Iridium Hacking ... please don't sue us cccamp15

Iridium Update 32c3

Iridium Satellite Hacking - HOPE XI 2016

https://github.com/muccc/iridium-toolkit

https://github.com/muccc/gr-iridium

Next... remember the NOAA APT satellites? They also have a service that is broadcasted, HRPT that operates at 1.7 GHz, and has much higher resolution. There is also many other satellites that broadcast HRPT, will be well supported for many years to come. It's also a wider signal, and a better than rtl-sdr SDR is required (Airspy, BladeRF, USRP). Also needed is a 1-1.2m satellite dish on a tracking AZ/EL mount. I've built a complete from scratch tracking mount for another 1.2m dish I have, and the build log can be found here - http://imgur.com/a/6Lo8M Here is what the signal looks like - http://i.imgur.com/Ub4XYwh.png and here is what the images look like http://i.imgur.com/Cfw9lpH.jpg

There is also TACSATs that operate near 240-300 MHz. You need a crossed yagi antenna (search Trivec on ebay) or a "x-wing" antenna (x-wing can be built with some tape measure materials rather easily, search "diy uhf satcom antenna" ). You will hear Brazilian pirates on these satellites all the time. Here is my Trivec I use to monitor them:

http://i.imgur.com/uklQ8zH.jpg

Mine was sold with an antenna, but there's other inmarsat traffic to poke at after Outernet moves. :)

I like the $49 price point, that's sort of a psychological magic spot. Under $50 for a board that's similar to any of the $30-40-ish embedded boards plus a $20 rtlsdr plus a $5 USB hub all built in? Yeah, that's pretty sweet. Somebody's gonna pair that sucker with a PoE splitter and put it tower-top.

Okay, so here's my logic: Let's assume a single SKU doesn't make sense long-term. You want to get the cost down on the 256MB, Outernet-specific version. So make that one. What's the most sensible configuration for the other(s)? Can just one additional SKU bring broader appeal?

I feel like making the 512MB version with 1090-specific RF parts might be the best route for general-purpose functionality. It still has the bypass path for "everyone else", the ADS-B market seems pretty active, and it would seem to minimize module count and soldering for the largest number of users. I never even looked to see if the bypass path also has bias-tee functionality, but that would be good.

And for those of us who want to build our own filters right into the thing, since we're comfortable with soldering already by definition, we can always scrape off the 1090 parts and reuse the pads. :)

The only folks left out in the cold by that split would be those who want to do L-band stuff but need the big RAM. Which is definitely a few people -- but I think most of 'em already have a Dreamcatcher, probably? Or just do another run of those and set 'em up as a while-supplies-last third SKU. Which may have been what just happened with the clearance sale. They had their chance!

Could (all) the alternate version(s) be offloaded to rtl-sdr.com or someone? So the only one you'd be on the hook for supporting would be the "official" Skylark-specific board, and everything else is for experimenters, here's a schematic, here's the radionerds page, figure the rest out.

They're a pretty decent SDR, but its current hardware config is not setup to receive frequencies below 25 MHz. There are experimental drivers that will let you expand your listening range lower but normally not quite into the AM BC band. I've had pretty good luck with those drivers, much better performance than others report - may have to do with the antenna and gain setup I connect them to.

However for that particular SDR if you want to listen to AM broadcast and LF/VLF etc you will need to perform the direct sampling modification. There are many tutorials with pictures online to step you through that mod.

If you want one that will work out of the box with your desired frequency range in the same price bracket there is the RTL-SDR Blog V3 Dongle. Works great, I had one. Gave it a friend to get him interested in SDR. Wish I had it back LOL.

Make sure any listing you buy this one from indicates "V3" as that has the hardware mod nicely done at the factory.

Here's an amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0129EBDS2/

I was in your position, so I can tell you there's not a lot out there that walks a software person through radio and even less that walks a software person through ham radio. I'll share some key things that helped me:

1. The RTL-SDR book is pretty good. They don't explain a lot, but the projects are OK and give you a direction to work in and show what's possible.
   
   
2. You can get an amateur radio book, but be prepared to have to make some connections yourself. Like, they talk a lot about modes. Amateur radio "modes" are basically what you and I would call protocols: An agreement to transmit and receive using certain conventions. The ham radio sources are almost 100% directed at explaining new ham things to people who are already in the hobby, not explaining things to outsiders--it's really frustrating.
   
   
3. You can understand a lot with some pretty simple mental models. Radio stations (large and small), sometimes they transmit analog sometimes digital, etc. However, if you want to understand settings like "FFT size" or "LNA" and why you can only see a certain amount of bandwidth or if you want to build your own application from scratch, you need to dig into the mathematics of digital signal processing (DSP). My favorite free resources for that are:
   
   a. GreatScottGadgets shortish overview of some basic concepts from an SDR perspective
   
   b. A really neat website that introduces many fundamental DSP concepts
   
   c. A free book that explains DSP in detail step by step
   
   

I'm another one of the /r/askreddit crowd, and have always had a bit of an interest in amateur radio but never wanted to spend the cash to get started. That thread was exactly what I needed to get going!

My NooElec NESDR SMArt bundle arrived Monday afternoon, I had it and SDR# set up in no time and even managed to pick up some air traffic radio during my test run! I came back to the radio multiple times throughout the day never really finding anything else of interest, I was a bit disappointed. Luckily I made one last attempt before bed and found two gentleman having a conversation on 70mm short band!!! It was so exciting, I couldn't believe what I was listening to, with the stock telescoping antenna no less. Man I'm still excited.

The coolest thing about all of this though was that my girlfriend sat next to me while we searched the waves and she was just as interested and as excited as I was. She's agreed to let me put a discone antenna in the attic of our townhouse, and even pick up a HAMitup converter. I'm so happy. :) We're even discussing getting our HAM operator licenses this fall!

So I have some adapter questions about upgrading my setup with this discone, some RG-8 coax, and a HAMitup converter. I know the dongle and upconverter have SMA connections but I have absolutely no idea how to figure out which adapters I would need to connect it all together. Any advice would be very much appreciated, thank you!

Edit: /u/ivebeenfurthereven thanks for sharing that comment man, I've found my new hobby and it's because of your post. Cheers!

Edit 2: The folks at NooElec answered my question on Amazon, they are replying to almost every single question on there, top notch customer service!

Just got my NooElec dongle in the mail today! I'm having some trouble picking up NPR but I'll trying fiddling with my antenna angle. Just a couple of questions:

1. I tried googling which software to use, and SDR# came up an awful lot but for some reason I can't connect to airspy.com, it just times out for me. I found an old build (1.0.0.1361) but can anyone point me to a newer build? (Or better (free) software)?
   
   
2. Is my window pane a Yagi antenna? Kind of random haha, but I found that pressing my antenna to it could really clear up the signal I was getting. I read about Yagi antennae while browsing this sub and I thought it'd be pretty funny if thats actually how my window was working.
   
   Thanks!

I thought about something else that maybe makes a difference for because I have the telescopic antenna outside as well on the back porch with an overhead and I got two sma cords (long enough to reach outside to backporch) really cheap but really good https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DW4F6WB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 excellent wire and cheap if you connect two like me you need to get something like this since this wire is male to male (you might be able to find something male to female with the same type of wire) if not you can use something like this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VL6OCE2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

See above. Are you in the US?

For what your goals, I suggest you read the ARRL license guides. While they follow the syllabus of the question pool, they provide a high-level treatment of the background. It doesn't go into great depth but it covers a lot of tops. They are several hundred pages each. Unfortunately they are a little more expensive than they should be -- they include a CDROM (what year is this?).

The question pools change every four years. So make sure you get the current versions.

For the US there are 3 license classes, 1) technician, 2) general, and 3) extra class.

You might find some of the technician information fairly basic, it's the intro license. But you'll find at least starter radio theory. By the time you are done with Technician and General you'll have a pretty good overview of a lot of radio concepts. SDR and other things will start to make more sense. Depending on your interests, the extra class manual might cover too much detail and esoterica.

• Technician Class - https://www.amazon.com/ARRL-Ham-Radio-License-Manual-ebook/dp/B00OZ12X14/
  
• General Class - https://www.amazon.com/General-Class-License-Manual-Amateur/dp/1625950306
  
• Extra Class - https://www.amazon.com/ARRL-Extra-Class-License-Manual-ebook/dp/B01FTDEJN6/
  
  If you aren't in the US find the material for your country.
  
  There is a lot of stuff freely available online, but almost all of it is just going to teach the question pools and probably take more time to learn what you want to learn

Sup all !
I just ordered a RLT-SDR Blog V3 with antennas (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011HVUEME/)
--
And as a total newb on the hardware, what should I worry from the start? Should I put a metal base on the antenna that comes with it, should I use a indoor TV atenna or make a new one? Is there an easy way to start HF with it with not much hardware to buy? Any tips for a beginner with this model?

Apart from that I will read more about SDR while it arrives here, I don't know what to search from the frequencies yet haha. I use Fedora Linux and will use only *nix software and they look awesome! :D
Any tips welcome, and sure I will read the sidebar of course :) Thanks !

I was with the /r/askreddit crowd.

I ended up getting this one. Same thing but without the antenna. It seemed like better option anyway, everything I read said that you should be building your own antenna or buying a better one anyway. It seems like fun to experiment with different antenna designs too.

If you want general understanding, you could do a whole lot worse than picking up a ham radio license manual. ;-)

For antenna's specifically, for most frequencies of interest you're best off using a 1/2 or 1/4 wave antenna to start. Most of the better RTL-SDR receivers come with an adjustable antenna, which you can make either 1/2 or 1/4 of the wavelength (whichever fits). Use a calcualtor like this one, and just measure the metal part of the antenna from the base to the tip.

When you need more antenna than that for specific uses, you'll have learned enough to make a better decision then.

If you don't have a RTL-SDR yet, I'd get one of these, it's a great piece of kit and has everything you'll need to get going.

I like that kit you recommended. Here's the same kit on Amazon - out of stock, but it has a more direct URL, and lists things better.

The kit looks like a great value, but I can't tell - does that kit have an adapter included with all the the other stuff that will let me plug in my FM antenna (f-type connector)? If not, I have to buy one separate.

Sure!

The first part is a MCX to F connector, since I had a lot of coax with F connectors. Here's the one I have:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CTJN480/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Any coax will work really, but from what I've seen and heard, RG-6 is the best for RTLSDR. You want the coax to be as short as possible. If you need to distance yourself from the antenna, consider using a USB extension cable (shielded if you can afford it) and powered hub for it.

As for the actual antenna, I used this guide to figure out the dimensions:

http://antirez.com/news/46

The author uses a wine cork and some stiff copper wire. I tried doing this with a coat hanger that I had sanded the enamel off, but it was too fragile and fell apart. Instead, I cut a short piece of coax, stripped it back, and put them 180 degrees to each other so they were in a straight line. I then borrowed calipers to measure out 137mm from tip to tip, and cut the wire to size. Then I just taped it to my bike frame to keep it vertical and used dump1090 to interface with the rtlsdr and show the planes in a browser.

Good luck! I can take more photos if you'd like, but there's not much more to see.

Coax is very important you can get corrosion inside the coax that will cause issues with reception. Personally for the frequency your looking to listen to which is around 137 mhz. I would recommend RG6 75 ohm direct burial with gel. I would not go over 60 feet in total length from your sdr to the antenna and strongly recommend using heat shrink tubing and 3m electrical tape on any splices.. First electrical tape it then heat shrink tubing over top to ensure a watertight seal on all connections. Also grounding is very important as well and can assist with reception in some ways. Make sure you ground everything that is supposed to be grounded.

​

Here is an example of RG6 that I personally would use for this project.

https://sewelldirect.com/rg6-with-messenger-750hm-coaxial-cable-500-ft

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It's characteristics at 100 feet are 2.0 db of loss for 137 mhz range. At a 60 foot run of this you should be ok.

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Here is an example of heat shrink tubing i would use.

https://www.electricalhub.com/3m-203710-3-1-heavy-wall-adhesive-lined-mil-spec-heat-shrink-tubing?_vsrefdom=adwords&gclid=CjwKCAjwlejcBRAdEiwAAbj6KVfxhkMXFONVPerGd3J3BEK4-WTGNZg9SgGWIf6c8Sc8NpnzSdv16RoC8bgQAvD_BwE

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Here is that 3m electrical tape i was mentioning above.

https://www.amazon.com/3M-Scotch-Tape/dp/B0772YNDF4

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Now some will say this is overkill and it probably is to a degree however if done correctly you should have a sealed coax line that should last for years provided it doesn't get struck by lightning or water somehow seeps into the coax from other locations along the wire not noticed... Yes i have had that happen around zip tie areas where water got into my 1/2 inch heliax feed line on one of my repeaters.

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Remember the satellites your listening to are probably putting out less then 2 watts on a good day. When you start to calculate terrain location antenna height coax losses along with interference from local transmitters etc you may find yourself chasing circles especially if your area has a lot of FM transmitters. I would put line filters in place between your coax and sdr to help filter out FM and AM broadcast frequencies..

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Trust me this will save you some time especially if you have a Radio station within 30 to 50 miles of your home.

AM Radio frequency block 350 khz to 1900 khz

http://www.nooelec.com/store/sdr/sdr-addons/rf-blocks/flamingo-am.html

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FM Radio frequency block 80 Mhz to 115 Mhz

http://www.nooelec.com/store/sdr/sdr-addons/rf-blocks/flamingo-fm.html

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If you think you might have a radio station example an FM station with in a mile of your home you might need to pick up two FM radio frequency filters this will help double the filtering of the bands.. In radio theory you could stack a bunch of these filters together if needed.

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Now next question usually asked is what order and why would you put these filters in. Here is my thoughts I would start with am filter connected up to the antenna next fm filter then the sdr device. Here is my thoughts as to why.. You are starting out by blocking lower end frequencies 350khz to 1900khz (1.9 mhz) then working your way up to 80 Mhz to 115 Mhz being blocked by this point your sdr should have better reception and hopefully not overwhelmed by high powered broadcast stations. Note some AM stations are running 50 kw of power and some FM stations run 50 kw of power as well so you might have to stack a few filters if you notice an issue with local broadcast stations.

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This is a similar process here as to the recieve issues i experience on my 2 meter and 70 cm repeaters. On our 70 cm repeater i had to end up taking from the duplexer receive side and adding a band pass filter on the receive frequency. This can be common especially if there is alot of RF interference around your area.

1. this book covers pretty much everything you're after https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hobbyists-Guide-RTL-SDR-Software-Defined-ebook/dp/B00KCDF1QI
   free PDFs are also available online https://www.surviveuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/The-Hobbyists-Guide-To-RTL-SDR-Carl-Laufer.pdf
   
   
2. Long wire antenna like that will be ideal for signals in the HF range, below the normal 24MHz limit (either by using the direct sampling mode or, for better signal quality, purchasing an upconverter). The planar disk antenna covers about 150MHz-1.5GHz, although its exact limits are dependent on the diameter of the metal discs you find. You can read more about long wire antennas here http://www.northcountryradio.com/Articles/Long%20Wire%20Antenna.htm
   
   
3. check out /r/amateurradio they'll help you out

Edit: I'm here from the main page as well. Googling around I found this book "The Hobbyist's Guide to the RTL-SDR: Really Cheap Software Defined Radio" on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KCDF1QI/

You can read it for free with a 30-day free trial of Amazon books.

It goes through everything from setup to advanced usage so I'm gonna give it a shot. Hopes it helps other people get started!

you would be better off with one of these. https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Telescopic/dp/B011HVUEME/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500058787&sr=8-1&keywords=rtlsdr

they have a protective metal case which helps with interference.

antenna wise you could build a planar disk antenna, it's pretty simple.
http://www.wa5vjb.com/references/PlanarDiskAntennas.pdf

the stock antenna is OK for FM and will receive a lot more than you expect. but with a good antenna the weak signals will just get stronger and more signals will pop up. but I easily went a few months before I wanted to have something stronger than the stock antenna.

https://www.rtl-sdr.com/ is a great place to start. They also have a book that will cover much of the basics from the different radio's you can get, antennas, filters and a walk through of large amount of projects. If you want to go a bit deeper you should check out the book Field Expedient SDR: Introduction to Software Defined Radio. There are three books to that series.

As for your first SDR Nooelec NESDR Smartee bundle is a great start. Once you have an idea of what other projects you want to work on you can upgrade to something like LimeSDR (or mini) or a hackrf. I would recommend the LimeSDR Mini.

It's really easy and inexpensive ($30 USD), unlike most ALL of my other hobbies. For hardware, you need a PC (Windows Linux or Mac. I only use Windows), a SDR (Software Defined Radio) USB Dongle, an antenna (I'm using a homemade one made of coathangers), and a place to to put the antenna outside where it will have a reasonably clear view of the sky.

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This is the kit that most of us start out with, and will start you getting decent images. It comes with everything you'll need, except the PC.

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RTL-SDR Blog V3 R820T2 RTL2832U 1PPM TCXO HF Bias Tee SMA Software Defined Radio with Dipole Antenna Kit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011HVUEME

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A really good tutorial to start getting the NOAA satellites is here. https://www.rtl-sdr.com/rtl-sdr-tutorial-receiving-noaa-weather-satellite-images/

The Meteor M2 like is in this picture takes a bit more effort, but not extremely hard. Start with the NOAA, then move up if you want.

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There's also a new subreddit called r/amateursatellites specifically for this hobby. Everyone is extremely helpful, so if you need any help or ideas, just ask.

I'm assuming that it needs to be fulfilled by amazon also in order to get the free shipping, otherwise there are much cheaper options. The following should do the trick though: http://www.amazon.com/NooElec-RTL-SDR-RTL2832U-Software-Packages/dp/B008S7AVTC

Otherwise, just pick anything that has an R820T tuner and is 'Sold by X and fulfilled by Amazon'.

Edit: Come to think of it, you'll probably save more money by paying for shipping and getting one of the ones for $8. I have the following and it works well: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C37AZXK

What exactly did you buy? There might be a compatibility issue but if you bought something like this it should be relatively easy and will work on GNU Radio. Making a simple spectrum analyzer require something like 3 blocks and that's it. Here's a good link to get you started Also, if you're new to linux, setting up GNU Radio for RTL_SDR might be a little tough (you should just go easy route and just do the apt-get along with some extra dependency to be able to connect to your RTL_SDR) or might be an over kill depending on what you want to do. What exactly do you want to do? Another method is to use SDR# with things like wine, I forgot how I've done it but it's definitely possible to run SDR# on linux though it was kind of pain in the arse. I'd say if you want to do something kind of complicated, use GNU Radio, if you just want to look up nearby spectrum, use something like SDR#.

Wilson 301111 yagi antenna. Covers 700-960Mhz with 13dbi gain, perfect for many metro area public safety and commercial radio systems. Obviously, sub in whatever antenna works best for you here based on your needs and location and what bands you're looking to cover. I also have a stealthy ADS-B antenna on the roof and a discone in the attic to cover everything else I'm interested in and I'm currently looking to buy/build something to get me better VHF airband coverage.

My HOA probably wouldn't be crazy about me putting a yagi on the side of the house, so I've got it clamped to a photographic light stand and pointed out a window facing the antenna site. I'm also a serious photographer, so I've got bunches just sitting in a closet and it's just about the perfect way I've found to get a good antenna setup indoors.

For this particular antenna, you'll need an N to F adapter, to connect to the splitter...

...In this case, an Electroline EDA-UG2802 unity gain splitter. They also have a 4 port model, but the 8 port is only a few bucks more, so it was a no brainer to get this and just cap off the ports I'm not using and have the expansion room.

Various extras, like RG-6 patch cables, MCX to F pigtails, BNC to F adapters, and whatever else you may need to get it all hooked up.

The scanner is just some RS unit I had lying around that I use to listen to the analog transmissions on a mixed mode EDACS system that I monitor. In theory, Unitrunker should be able to do this with an additional voice receiver dedicated to analog, but in practice it works terribly so scanner it is.

edit: My monitoring station with the whole setup in action. I gave up on pretty cable management years ago.

Run coax to the roof with a bias-t fed low noise amplifier at the antenna providing enough gain to overcome the loss in whichever type of coax you choose. Much simpler and more flexible as you can switch out receivers, filters, etc inside your "shack."

Failing that, I would feed DC to the Pi via a passive PoE arrangement. This limits you to 100mbps, but the Pi isn't much more capable than that anyway. Definitely use 23ga ethernet cable if available (most cheap cat6 is), and use a "wall-wart" style transformer instead of a switcher as these are lower noise. Shooting to feed with 5.3v or so would be ideal.

https://www.amazon.com/Raspberry-micro-USB-injector-splitter-passive/dp/B00T68D7S4

The PoE hat is useful if you have PoE infrastructure already. If not it's relatively expensive and leaves some things to be desired.

i happen to already have this antenna for my TV, but i rarely, if ever, use it. i just bought this dongle and i intend to try using it with it and comparing it to the supplied antennas. i'd like to also build a dual planar because it looks fun. i'm also open to anyone who's really into antennas seeing this, if they'd like me to open up the RCA to check out it's guts, or do some tests with it

Get the first one - https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Telescopic/dp/B011HVUEME/ . You can turn the bias-t on and off and HF capability through software. The HF is not good but it works. An upconverter like the Airspy Spyverter will work better for HF but that dongle will give you a taste of HF. The antenna kit will not pick up HF though. It is only good for VHF/UHF. You'll need about 30ft wire and most people get the Nooelec 9:1 unun. https://www.amazon.com/NooElec-Balun-One-Nine-Applications/dp/B00R09WHT6 . Then go here for guides and tutorials - https://www.rtl-sdr.com/

Ok.. Good to know. I've found this on Amazon, but it appears it doesn't come with an Antenna, and I can't seem to find a kit that contains one at the moment. What would you recommend as a good starter antenna that can pick up a decent range?

Best RTL SDT (receive only) package for the money (this is where you should start if you are just getting into the SDR scene):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011HVUEME/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B011HVUEME&pd_rd_w=1DTrQ&pf_rd_p=8a8f3917-7900-4ce8-ad90-adf0d53c0985&pd_rd_wg=tgM18&pf_rd_r=0PM9Y1TK2D846DA8KW0E&pd_rd_r=4a354acc-8203-11e9-b5fd-65c62fe45754

​

you can do all of this with it: https://www.rtl-sdr.com/big-list-rtl-sdr-supported-software/

​

If you want to transmit as well as receive you will need a more expensive SDR.

Pluto SDR: https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/analog-devices-inc/ADALM-PLUTO/ADALM-PLUTO-ND/6624230

LimeSDR mini: https://www.crowdsupply.com/lime-micro/limesdr-mini

XTRX: https://www.crowdsupply.com/fairwaves/xtrx

And of course all of the Ettus USRP SDRs, I would recommend the Ettus B-200 mini for starters.

This one looks decent from Amazon... these are getting harder and harder to find at good prices.

I got my last one on ebay, pretty sure it was from this seller.

On to the DC Short thing.... Yes. These are DC Shorted/DC Ground dipole elements for the actual "antenna" mainly for matching purposes. No you can't use it directly with an SDR that has the Bias Tee always on, you either need to turn your Bias Tee off, use a DC block, OR put your LNA in there to use the voltage.

I'm using a SMArTee XTR -> SAWBird+ -> Lorch Bandpass -> DC Ground Wifi Dish... it work's fine. The SMArTee XTR specifically has a self resetting fuse that will trip if you short it to protect the SDR, so no worries there.

Seems there is definitely a learning curve to RTLSDR. Reading it reminds me of this video Retro Encabulator

Edit: TL;DR Seems like get this then download one of these and finally have fun.

Thanks! And also thank you for clarifying the black bars. It's unfortunate that it is a glitch in Meteor but I'm glad to hear its not a local error within my setup.

As for the radio I'm running I'm using a standard RTL-SDR dongle I got on amazon.

Something like this?.... Interesting idea. Thanks!

With your current radio, I don't see a practical way.

This can get vhf/uhf and technically HF (430 khz) but with sub par performance. With a upconverter, you can get 430khz nicely, two good ones are the spyverter and Ham it up.

Keep in mind you'll need to make or buy antennas to do either of these things.

There are a few like that one. Every article in here is worth a read if you're interested in that sort of thing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Secret_broadcasting

I believe you'd need a contraption like this in order to pick them up with an SDR: https://smile.amazon.com/NooElec-Ham-Up-v1-3-Upconverter/dp/B009LQT3G6/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1446689941&sr=1-1&keywords=ham+it+up+upconverter&linkCode=sl1&tag=rsv0f-20&linkId=a7c84e914b0bbeeb3f2ee83fa6e5cd73

https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Defined/dp/B0129EBDS2/

This one. Also supports bias-t so you can power an LNA if you want.

I have a pair of NESDR smarts, they work well too. I believe then have finer tuning as well.

It depends on what you want to do with the setup HF, vhf, ect. Personally I would start out with an sdr setup like this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011HVUEME/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_vEt1CbG4069E9
I've bought 8 of these little sdrs over a few years for monitoring the the entire 2m and 70c ham bands and occasionally playing around with weather sats. They are essentially the baofeng of sdrs.
If you're interested in a higher quality sdr I would look into something like an airspy r2 or mini. https://airspy.com/

This is what I would recommend. It includes a metal casing for better heat dissipation, comes with 2 antennas, and has a more common SMA connector.

As far as location goes you mostly have to worry about high power broadcast stations, a strong FM station would be one example. Either way you'll likely have something interesting that you can still listen to.

https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Defined/dp/B0129EBDS2

The "blog dongle" is going to be the best bang for your buck kind of thing. It's well built and stable.

I tried direct sampling, it's subpar at best. If you don't want a ham-it-up, these work great. You can wire the jumper to a switch and toggle between HF and normal, and same for the amp. I threw mine in some metal project boxes. You'll probably want to pickup an extra RTL dongle too. You can find them cheaper, but this is a good one if you have Amazon Prime and don't want to wait for it to ship from China.

Noob here as well. I was pretty frustrated with my dongle and it's stock antenna. I got this https://www.amazon.com/Tram-1410-Discone-Scanner-Antenna/dp/B00QVPGKHU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495759802&sr=8-1&keywords=discone+antenna and I'm satisfied now. Before, it seemed that all I could get was FM radio. Now I listen to hammers when I'm lucky to run across them, aircraft flying overhead, and I'm getting a strong enough signal for my DSD+ to actually half work when listening to emergency services.

Get one with a R820T2, better sensitivity.

https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Telescopic/dp/B011HVUEME/

Listening is a great gateway to ham radio. You will be able to hear local VHF/UHF ham traffic with any rtlsdr. The one I linked includes the direct sampling mod, so you would also be able to hear HF traffic going long distances. More info at /r/amateurradio

I got one of these a couple of months ago and it works great. If you're new to SDR (like I am) I think it's a good deal.

I am using an RTL-SDR Blog R820T2 RTL2832U that requires no upconversion (https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Defined/dp/B0129EBDS2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1497199171&sr=8-2&keywords=rtl-sdr+blog). So, yes, version V3 with q-branch sampling. The AM high-pass filter is also an RTL-SDR Blog product (https://www.amazon.com/Broadcast-Reject-Filter-RTL-SDR-Blog/dp/B01N9SHS7P/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1497199381&sr=1-1&keywords=rtl-sdr+blog+am). The reject filter has a cutoff of 2.6 MHz, so anything below that is severely attenuated. The 9:1 balun was an ebay purchase (http://www.ebay.com/itm/9-1-BALUN-TRANSFORMER-FOR-LONGWIRE-SHORTWAVE-ANTENNA-COMMON-MODE-NOISE-REDUCED-/182614185483?hash=item2a84a7560b:g:JK0AAMXQs6FRTyHa). Sorry for all the links, but they'll do a better job of describing everything. :)

I have been getting really great results with this Nooelec and its provided antennas http://amzn.to/2eNClnn. Then I bought an extra antenna that i just have setup inside my house that works really well http://amzn.to/2w0AfUI

If you want to listen to general stuff and learn what you can do. For your first one I would get something like this.

https://www.amazon.com/NooElec-NESDR-SMArt-Enclosure-R820T2-Based/dp/B01GDN1T4S

Ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NooElec-NESDR-SMArt-RTL-SDR-mit-Alu-Gehause-0-5-PPM-TCXO-SMA-3-Antennen-/152145789261?hash=item236c98814d:g:TmgAAOSwNuxXbKy3

If you have something in mind that you want to do with one there might be one that would be better suited. Like if you want to listen to HF you would need an up converter to hook to that one or something like an SDRPlay. Or if you were interested in ADS-B there is a dongle designed with a amp and filter specifically for 1090 mhz. Etc.

If you want to listen to trunked radio systems I would get two of the ones I linked.

Here is a list of software you can look into. The list is a little old but most of the stuff is still relevant. http://www.rtl-sdr.com/big-list-rtl-sdr-supported-software/

RTL-SDR v3 is like $20-$25. Has a little antenna and seems pretty versatile from what I understand.

It seems like a good starting point. I picked one up not too long ago, then magically shelled out around $400 for other shit.

Sure.The dish is an old unbranded one we got for free, it seems to be a simple offset feed. I could take a wider photo of it, but seems to be nothing special or of note.
The GPS antenna is one I pulled out of an old broken GPS system. It is just the patch antenna, it does not have a low pass filter or amplifier on it at all. (This is not the one, but probably pretty close; https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00R3PFMRG ).
The LNA is one I got off Amazon in the USA. It's probably not that great, but seems to help a lot, looking forward to getting the Sawbird IO ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07K1NMC23 ) today and will make a note of any difference in the signal strength.
It is powered over the line by a bias T, so we use the SmaTee ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06Y1D7P48 ) to provide the 5v it requires.
I did not want that 5v to get into the AirspyMini, so I got one of these splitters;https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003H2HNQWIf you take a look at the product image, you can see that only one leg passes DC, the other leg is blocked.
If you have any more questions, just ask!

Tune to 145.8MHz while the ISS is overhead and you should see a constant signal. If there's nothing there, wait about 2 minutes for the next image to start. Once you have the signal, it can be decoded using something like MMSSTV, MultiScan 3B or even Robot36 for Android. Edit: They're using SSTV mode PD120.

You'll generally get better results with a directional antenna like the one I used but it is possible to receive signals from the ISS with an omnidirectional antenna. The one that comes with the dongles from China isn't all that good, but the telescopic one bundled with the rtl-sdr.com v3 dongle is much better.

The XTR contains the E4000 chip. Most of what I've read says they are not really worth it. I think new users should get the plain nesdr smart. I have 2 and they are indeed great. https://www.amazon.com/NooElec-NESDR-SMArt-Bundle-R820T2-Based/dp/B01GDN1T4S/

I suggest either the RTL-SDR Blog kit or the NooElec NESDR SMArt Bundle. The RTL-SDR V3 has one advantage over the SMArt, which is that it has a bias t.

Both kits include a selection of antenna. Attach the magnetic mount to a piece of metal, and go to town.

OS is Raspian; Documentation can be found all over the place for installing.

Software used for tracking trunks in the Baltimore Co MD, Carroll Co MD, York PA area is called OP25

Method of configuration that I used can be found here (Big shout out to Johns tech blog) This guide is amazing.

https://www.hagensieker.com/wordpress/2018/07/17/op25-for-dummies/

8 Inch monitor can be found here https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FP2F9XY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The antenna used can be found here in which I retrofitted with a camera tripod

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075QCJM6S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

rtl-sdr dongle used can be found here

https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Defined/dp/B0129EBDS2/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=3RE7FZK09J0QX&keywords=rtl-sdr.com&qid=1558445253&s=electronics&sprefix=rtl-sdr%2Celectronics%2C124&sr=1-2-spons&psc=1

​

The case that I am using for this Raspberry Pi B+ can be found here

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07G1LMFRG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The speaker that I wound up using and not in this pic is an Anker Soundcore boost, but I also use headphones when I take this to the office.

All radio system-specific information can be found at radioreference.com.

Getting the true control channel can be challenging sometimes as the db on radio reference is not always correct, at least for my area. Also, trial an error I was able to determine that the offset for my dongles is -1.

You need to get a Grid Antenna like this (I bought the last one :P) and you'll also need an LNA, preferably, this LNA/Filter hybrid from NooElec.

You will also need an N type male to SMA male (depending on the antenna) if you were to get one like mine.

And yes, you do need an LNA for this. Don't be like me, thinking I could do it without one, had to wait another two days for one :P

After that, i'd recommend you get a stand for the antenna to be mounted on, like a modded tripod. I use an old umbrella stand (super bottom heavy) and a wooden stick from a broken broom.

So I bought this Nooelec NESDR Bundle - warning amazon link and it came with a telecoping mast (it looks like one half of the old bunny ears from TVs).

I can kinda sorta pick up airband frequencies, but it's not great. I get maybe 1 out of every 6 or 8 transmissions, although I can see the spike on the waterfall. How much would something like this DIY dipole antenna improve my reception?

Thanks everyone for your insight, this is the LNA I picked up off of Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/HiLetgo-0-1-2000MHz-Wide-Amplifier-Noise/dp/B01N2NJSGV/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494182132&sr=8-1&keywords=low+noise+amplifier

So far I have to say I'm not seeing much improvement with terrestrial signals from it. I was actually comparing local FM stations with it vs just a basic antenna and it actually seems to be 10 DB less with the LNA powered by 4 AA batteries.

I should be seeing stronger FM signals with the LNA plugged in correct?

I barely even care about airplanes and it is so much fun to watch them float around the map! I feel like a super-spy when I see a private jet and look up its (obviously merciful and benevolent) billionaire owner.

FWIW, I'm just using this kit: http://amzn.com/B00C37AZXK It took maybe 20 minutes to get up and running with ADSB# (included with SDR# download) and Virtual Radar Server.

Longer antenna cables are always a better idea than longer USB. To do it right, use an amplifier like this on a short cable right after the antenna, but before a long cable run.

To be clear, like this: Antenna -> short cable to amplifier -> amplifier -> long cable to SDR.

USB cables can be chained together to make really long ones, but you get into timing errors and induced noise if you go longer than 16.5 feet. And then, you're really not sure if what you're hearing is real, or an artifact (induced).

This is from an RTL-SDR.com V3 dongle. And it looks "crisp" because a) METEOR-M2 is a digital signal so you don't see the analog noise you might find in a NOAA satellite image, and b) I've sharpened it in GIMP.

In fact I had to clone out some of the data dropouts (some of them occurring on the satellite side) and clean it up a bit. If you're interested, the original unaltered raw image is here. The two thicker bands at the lower and upper third of the image are the METEOR signal resetting itself, so I cloned/healed all that out.

Pretty cool. What’s the monitor?

Edit: found it

NooElec NESDR SMArt Bundle - Premium RTL-SDR w/ Aluminum Enclosure, 0.5PPM TCXO, SMA Input & 3 Antennas. RTL2832U & R820T2-Based Software Defined Radio. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GDN1T4S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_zMGFzbCS18ZQH. I wish I knew more but do far I have been able to pick up ads-B well with the short antenna and FM radio with the telescoping one.

I simply used the HiLetGo model which is .100 KHz to 2 Ghz. I enclosed it, mounted 2 connectors for the case, and a knob to vary the voltage from 12v to 5v providing adjustable gain depending on the need. I didn’t design the preamp or anything, just made it look a little more professional. Here’s the link for the amplifier. The case was taken from my old cell phone site I dismantled but I’m sure there are other aluminum cases out there.

[this works great. ](http://www.RTL-SDR.com/ Blog R820T2 RTL2832U 1PPM TCXO SMA Software Defined Radio with 2x Telescopic Antennas https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011HVUEME/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_5V8nii1dBta4M) You might need a short USB extension if other ports are in use.

Yes its my site, same callsign (Canada) and everything! :P I just switched to wordpress a couple weeks ago and have been poking and proding it into shape. I just hooked up my PiAware to it so you can see whats in the air nearby (its just scraping piaware port 30003, parsing it and sending json to the webpage).

As for HF receiving, yeah it gets pretty unwieldy quite quickly. I'd suggest looking into PA0RDT-style active antennas like the ones used by U of Twente's websdr, you can buy complete units reasonably cheap on ebay.

I also wouldn't operate an RTLSDR below about 40mhz, they start to suffer quite badly from artifacting the lower you go, get a ham-it-upconverter for that type of thing.

Cannot agree more. The RTL-SDR.com Blog V3 has a kit with really good antennas. Should be available by itself for $11 on Amazon too.


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011HVUEME/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_CZfrDb96GXQR4

Here! Even better if somebody 3D Prints you a v dipole bracket for them.


RTL-SDR Blog R820T2 RTL2832U 1PPM TCXO SMA Software Defined Radio with 2x Telescopic Antennas https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011HVUEME/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_UYb7Cb4PF42HV

All i got was the NESDR Smart, specifically this. Just start by looking at the various FM signals you're receiving then start scrolling around the frequencies that you're getting until you see an odd signal sticking out (like in this post), then try and identify it and hopefully decode it.

I was planning on getting this: https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Telescopic/dp/B011HVUEME/

How do you orient the antenna correctly or do you just make a V shape and point straight up to the sky?

Heavens above says 10 degrees and gives me an azimuth but I am not sure if I need to point it straight up or not

This antenna modified to better receive at 1.7 Ghz (cut a piece of pvc pipe to act as a spacer moving the secondary reflector out a bit), rtl-sdr.com v3 dongle, Sawbird GOES LNA & a Raspberry Pi 3 running goestools.

I've had good experience with this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011HVUEME

26$, gets you an antenna and the SDR (nice one too).

Hey good point. Here's a link to the model. It's a female SMA connector.

Just like this one right? https://www.amazon.com/NooElec-Ham-Up-v1-3-Upconverter/dp/B009LQT3G6

This sounds simpler than soldering!

I've just bought an RTL-SDR off of Amazon and so far, I'm not able to get it to work on my Windows 7 machine. I'm finding a lot of people who are also having this problem. Is this what you encountered from the Amazon one, by any chance?

NooElec NESDR SMArt Bundle - Premium RTL-SDR w/ Aluminum Enclosure, 0.5PPM TCXO, SMA Input & 3 Antennas. RTL2832U & R820T2-Based Software Defined Radio. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GDN1T4S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_2snEzbMVZ3XQV

Please see this dongle!
It is from 24 to 1.766 Mhz, and with Direct Sample Mode you can get from 0 to 1.766 Mhz.

Regards

Sure! I bought this little kit: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GDN1T4S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Like this one?

RTL-SDR Blog R820T2 RTL2832U 1PPM TCXO SMA Software Defined Radio (Dongle Only) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0129EBDS2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_dJcDDb1WRSA5V

Edited to include the right link

I found this book really useful. It's mostly projects from the website and you have to translate some of the instructions from "I did this one time" to "how do I do this now". But it's a great intro into a lot of different project ideas.

I got the airplane tracking thing going and also read my power meter broadcasts (and my neighbors). Found a bunch of medical pagers and police/EMS freqs. Also a bunch of weird things, including a neighbor who apparently watches TV while wearing RF wireless headphones.

I had a very difficult time capturing any frequencies I found listed online. In particular, I didn't find even one Ham thing of any kind. I know the HF freqs are out of reach, but the repeaters etc should be there. Radio silence.

Not really, just watch tv with it. this is the one I have and it works very well.

It seems like the dongle + antenna is sold out, but I have a 15.5" dual-band antenna, that is marked 144/430 Mhz, that I picked up from a garage sale a while back. Will this work with the dongle here?

The one sold by rtl-sdr.com. I bought my dongle/antenna from them as well.

I bought this from Amazon.

This antenna - https://www.amazon.com/Premiertek-Directional-High-Gain-Parabolic-ANT-GRID-24DBI/dp/B005M8KU3W with a 3d printed spacer to tune it to 1.6ghz, a nooelec goes sawbird, rtlsdr.com v3 dongle, and a raspberry pi 3b with goestools.

But this and Google for how tos, etc...

http://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-DVB-T-Stick-RTL2832U-R820T/dp/B00C37AZXK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420686839&sr=8-1&keywords=Rtlsdr

For the first link they mention MCX and that matching transformer mentions F because it plugs into a TV

Did you look at this thing?
https://www.amazon.com/DHT-Electronics-coaxial-assembly-female/dp/B00CTJN480/

I think you meant this one, judging by the url.

/u/maxadmiral /u/LilVinny

This is typically where people start - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011HVUEME

Probably this kit.

I am using my RTL-SDR on raspberry pi B3 with these kind of antenna https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B011HVUEME/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Tools used:

RTLSDR Blog Dongle

Default antenna at full attention, mounted on my bedroom floor on a metal pizza pan.

SDR# For tuning to frequencies.

AcarsDeco2 for decoding the transmissions.

Yup, you got it. There is also an option to just by the dongle if you don't need the antennas too.

edit: https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Defined/dp/B0129EBDS2/

Try this one
I have this SDR for my pi. It's only $20. You may also consider decoding ADS-B transmissions from aircrafts to have your pi show a radar-esque display.

Wait, so this one is enough for L Band HRPT and HRIT?

And for Op, if you live in the right place where you can recieve goes, you could look into it, but it is a big step up in complexity from APT.

This for my SDR and this for my antenna.

https://www.amazon.com/NooElec-NESDR-SMArt-Enclosure-R820T2-Based/dp/B01GDN1T4S/

Yeah

This is the dongel I bought.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0129EBDS2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I need to go form this to coax but I am not sure what this connector is called.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0129EBDS2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Sorry! I probably should have included that

I was about to blindly post the compilation link until I read you mentioned it. Yes, that's what you need to get going. Knowledge!

Here's my get-up-and-go guide:

You'll need a dongle, a PC, SDR# and Zadig drivers and install instructions, and an antenna...yes an "antenna" comes with the package, but you'll find out it's absolutely awful. You can build your own or buy. You'll need coaxial cable, and an adapter to connect the cable to the dongle.

Put the antenna outside, install hardware, software, play.

No problem!

Yes, this is a V dipole, specifically it is this kit from the RTL-SDR website.

The dipole was attached to a flexible mini-tripod (included in kit), then placed on a brush pole at the handle part, which was then stuck in the ground under a tree (as the mulch was easier to do this with).

The laptop/dongle is usually ~1.5 meters/yards away, and I try to position myself away from the where the satellite is during the pass.

No LNA is used, I only use WXtoIMG for decoding, SDR# for DSP, and Orbitron for tracking in order to calculate doppler shift, where a plugin automatically changes the SDR# frequency.

I have been doing this since Saturday last week when I got the kit and set up all the programs. I've been bitten by the APT bug, and receiving/decoding the images is really addictive!

Sure!

Antenna: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Altelix-2-4-GHz-WiFi-24dB-Grid-Antenna-Long-Range-High-Gain-Outdoor-Directional/152930295331

Note: For this antenna, you will need to add about 3.5 cm of spacing on the reflector (Like https://i.imgur.com/ruqJmZ1.jpg) I made a 3D printable model just for this antenna that’s just the right size that you can download here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3540047

LNA (Powered by SDR Bias Tee): https://www.amazon.com/Nooelec-SAWbird-GOES-Barebones-Applications/dp/B07GBFNV1H

SDR: https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Defined/dp/B0129EBDS2 (Note: If this thing gets too hot it will lose signal!)

​

This is plugged into a Raspberry Pi 3+ running goestools (https://github.com/pietern/goestools)

From his description it is either:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011HVUEME/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=sl1&tag=rsv0f-20&linkId=e6b872ce4bf757ba9f71fbd35a53742e

OR

https://www.amazon.com/NooElec-NESDR-SMArt-Enclosure-R820T2-Based/dp/B01GDN1T4S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500228932&sr=8-1&keywords=nooelec

Both are great starter receivers although there are a few small differences between them. Some people start with the really cheap ~$11-12 ones, but frankly they suck. $25 for a proper one isn't much.

I'm one of them. I just went ahead and bought one of these without having the slightest clue what I'm doing. My wife will be highly unimpressed when this thing arrives and I have only a vague idea of what I'm going to use it for.

I am using the RTL-SDR v3 (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011HVUEME/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
And at the moment have been trying to setup GRC to visualize/capture as I don't know enough about the sensor to know that what i'm capturing is actually from the sensor, or from something else.

From my understanding the sensors periodically send temperature data, as well as presence triggers. Though I do not know if it's an immediate packet sent as soon as motion is detected, or just a change in the data on next periodic update. I have tried to correlate room entry (motion) with the sensor triggering, but haven't found anything conclusive on a delay. Sometimes it seems immediate, others it seems like there's a minute to 5 minute delay before the ecobee software shows presence detected.

The ecobee thermostat shows presence in 5min blocks if I review the "follow Me" data for my thermostat. I believe the sensor has a much higher resolution of motion/no motion though.

No no no. Do not get the cheapy $10 ones, get the official RTL-SDR Blog dongle and do it properly. You won't be sorry for spending an extra $15. If you're that hard up for $15, you won't be able to afford either making or buying a reasonable antenna that will get you worthwhile signals anyway.

https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Telescopic/dp/B011HVUEME/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1487281641&sr=8-3&keywords=rtl+sdr

As Ron Swanson said: don't half ass two things, whole ass one thing.