Software Defined Radio
For $30 you can get a USB dongle that will let you pick up all kinds of signals. ATC talk, plane location ADS-B data, standard AM/FM and shortwave stations, CB, all the power/water meters in your area, even pager traffic.
Check out /r/RTLSDR Half that subreddit is people picking up NOAA satellites, which is cool, but I'd start with the simpler stuff. Just pick up a local FM station and go from there.
Their radios can't tune to FM. I'm not broadcasting on the channel the store uses for communication, I'm broadcasting on an FM radio channel. My radio will switch over to my coworkers' frequency if there's any chatter on that channel, then switch back to the (unused, in this area) FM radio channel I've got my audiobooks playing on.
I use this SDR. My handset has a scanning feature that could theoretically have done the job, but this allows me to survey a much broader spectrum much more quickly.
Thank you, I just ordered a SDR from Amazon this morning and should arrive later today.
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/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_0VWFK5QQK1105SZ9F8TF
Any suggestions on filters and additional antennas you'd recommend?
Considering I think I got Haysville (but it's re-broadcast as I understand it) and I'm kinda NE off of an rtl-sdr.com one, I think this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011HVUEME/ is what I have. Maybe an earlier version?
2 of those and you should be good. (There are others, with the same chip+tuner, but I haven't used them.)
I would look into SDRs and radio and work to get your amateur radio license. Getting licensed is a good way to learn a lot about basic circuits and a good way to pick up some scholarships along the way.
I would start with a RTL-SDR. A full kit is about a $40 investment. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011HVUEME/ref=as\_li\_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B011HVUEME&linkCode=as2&tag=rsv0f-20&linkId=b3bd3c48a6a7e921144609cb59359f0e
Buy an RTL-SDR and download SDR++. That setup won’t transmit though. If you’re in the US, buy the ARRL technician license manual and read about what you’re getting into to be allowed to transmit. r/amateurradio is a good place to ask when you have questions. I say this not to discourage, but to warn—as others have said, most of the radio spectrum is licensed out to various people/organizations/functions.
They are a little bit of work to setup right. I suggest visiting r/RTLSDR for more info on how they work.
That being said, this kit on Amazon seems to be a good little starter setup for around 40 dollars.
> Does that use the built in radio?
Nope. You usually start with a an SDR dongle/antenna that plugs into a USB port like this:
https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Defined/dp/B011HVUEME/
And then there's tons of open source tuner/scanner/experimental software to learn with. It's a pretty big topic, and there's a large and usually pretty friendly community to learn from.
So I had a similar issue at my work, I couldn’t scan all channels and so I found the frequencies and programmed a baofeng to be my listening radio at my desk.
I used an SDR and kerchunked my work radio near the software and determined the frequency from the waterfall.
The SDR I used was the RTL-SDR V3($40)
RTL-SDR Blog V3 R820T2 RTL2832U... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011HVUEME?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
I’m also able to use this to listen to HF stations.
If you’re in a classified area you need to remember that those baofengs are not Class 1 Div 2 and would therefore require a firewatch to operate in the classified area.
Just get an SDR and you can listen to a ton of things all over the spectrum and you'll be able to watch the spectrum as well.
Ok, thanks again. would this be a good SDR receiver? Also, why are there different levels of the test? I know that they are for different frequencies but why?
Ok, thanks again. would this be a good SDR receiver?re-Defined/dp/B011HVUEME/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3KDQIXDNHVPF3&keywords=sdr+receiver&qid=1645920735&sprefix=sdr+receivers%2Caps%2C228&sr=8-3
If you're really desperate you could get a cheap SDR like this, connect it to a laptop and move the antenna around the car looking for where the 312.590 MHz reply signal is strongest. That assumes that the key fob is "hearing" the 125 kHz interrogation signal from the car, but it might be worth a try.
I'm not the original poster but I would assume a software defined radio like this https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Defined/dp/B011HVUEME/ref=pd_lpo_1?pd_rd_i=B011HVUEME&psc=1 I dont use one for 433mhz but I do use it to capture the usage signal put out by my power meter to monitor full house electrical usage. My meter is on the 915mhz range but RTL-SDR will work for 433 also.
I guess it's mostly a hobby, although they say shortwave radio could be one of the last remaining forms of communication between humans... someday. There's just something cool about stringing a wire 100 feet into the woods, getting up at 2am and sitting in the dark and flipping toggle switches on something that was designed and built almost 80 years ago. Plus it has big glowing dials, which makes it even more fun. Some stations it picks up are from 10,000 miles away.
I'm going all in on Internet radio too here real soon, but in a different way. Should be fun!!
I've looked into the breaker box method and that's a no-go for me. My box is built into the wall of a finished bedroom and there is no room in the box for the connectors. I live in a condo if that give you any ideas.
As for the RTLSDR, that's an idea. I'll check my meter. Looks like there is a nice kit on Amazon (link) that people have got to work with Linux and Home Assistant. People say it also works with the smart water and gas meters as well which would be a bonus.
I use these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011HVUEME/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_WVKCGTQJWHA2VJQX2SJ7?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 (under $40)
I use my own antennas (I’m a ham) but you don’t have to. The included antennas with this kit work just fine indoors.
Was thinking of buying this from amazon for about $46 USD (Australian so prices might be a bit whacky). Are they 'legit'? Very new to this radio stuff (this would be my first purchase for anything radio related). I want to use this and an rtl spectrum analyser program to help me figure out if I have interference that prevents some of my devices from working intermittently. Am I going down the right path here?
Price is in AUD in my link.
https://www.amazon.com.au/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Telescopic/dp/B011HVUEME/
You don't even need to have a ham license. Just get an RTL-SDR dongle with an antenna, and a smartphone app to decode SSTV by literally just having your phone next to a speaker.
Careful though, as this setup is a gateway drug into more radio stuff.
lim h->You need to learn. And you’re open to secondhand, but I still rock the second prestige of her on his IG with what she’s one of these and used it to store long spools of thread, linen probably not it though. Word does everything else then asks you if you live in the US that uBreakiFix is the official RTL-SDR blog Amazon page https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B011HVUEME/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_imm_596MQ12Y3XZ7DG89R5RP
The first 30 years of my life at parties in NYC but LA has so much work.
You mention enjoying the outdoors, you could get a cheap SDR like this one and use it to receive live images of Earth down from satellites as they pass over. An SDR is generally good for listening to a lot of different stuff so there's a lot you can do there that doesn't involve conversation.
It's the folding dipole antenna that comes with the complete package offered on amazon, though not fully extended. As for the low noise floor, I just adjusted the gain on SDR# like a responsible adult.
An RTL-SDR is probably the least fiddly way of doing what you ask.
Plus, you'd gain the benefits of having an SDR and they are pretty cool to play around with.
https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Defined/dp/B011HVUEME
That's a very basic model but it gets you in the door
Correct. Amazon has the official kit that has a NOAA capable antenna with it. I think you need a matching balun with a more appropriate antenna to receive HF/shortwave radio.
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
It's not perfect, it won't do over 1.2Ghz iirc, but for $30 it's totally worth it to get started. Having a sdr, just for reception, is a super powerful tool. I've used mine for all kinds of things. It's not a scientific instrument and I can't use it that well anyway but I like the peace of mind in verifying compliance. Edit: forgot the link www.amazon.com/dp/B011HVUEME
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.
For maritime, there are 3 main services you want to be aware of. First is AIS, which is a digital mode that tracks ship positions. 2. Marine VHF, which is used for ship-to-ship traffic or ship-to-shore, using a FM modulation. 3. Marine SSB (HF), which is used for oceangoing vessels to talk to shore stations.
#1 and #2 can be done with any rtlsdr. #3 requires one with the direct sampling mod, such as this one.
This should provide some terms to get you googling. Good luck.
[later post than the one below/above]
another amateur radio different than you has advised me too to have a look at RTL-SDR USB dongles
I will then maybe definitely buy one (there are out of stock now and will be back on march 15th).
I will hope my laptop will have enough battery for the day when I will need to use the USB radio dongle.
Thanks again
Tampa here. This won't be so helpful for Hurricane Matthew, but why not get an SDR dongle? I'm currently listening to the local SARNET repeater using the RTL-SDR v3 dongle ($25, currently out of stock). You can load GQRX (or a host of other programs) to listen to local 2m/70cm repeaters (or even HF with the right antenna).
If locating the SDR's antenna is a problem (ie: working from a basement), you could instead set-up the dongle at home and access it remotely via WebSDR or some other program.
Unlike previous versions, will cover down to ~400kh natively, no upconverter needed. The antennas that come with it are garbage though, but you could build a long wire and balun with stuff you may already have around the house.
rtl_sdr software with one of these
http://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Telescopic/dp/B011HVUEME/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1462501770&sr=1-1&keywords=rtl-sdr it creates a file, you do with that file as you please.
I can pick up meter readings for half of my town.
Yeah, and if you want to know what it's sending, get you an RTL-SDR software radio dongle, then compile and run rtlamr on your software development laptop.
Spend $30 and get one of these USB dongles + antenna and listen to all sorts of radio transmissions, from local police, fire, and scanner trasmissions, to FM and AM radio, to shortwave and HAM radio from around the world.
Speaking of shortwave and HAM. you can listen to all of that using a virtual radio on the web. This will connect you to folks who are sharing their software radios with the world. You can tune in and listen to any band they are able to receive. Go here: http://www.websdr.org/
(you probably got this notification twice, I accidentally removed my previous comment and I have no clue how lol)
First off, let me say that having no previous experience won't be an issue.
How you get started depends entirely on what you want to do. Most of the folks on this subreddit, as you've probably noticed, share pictures they pulled from weather satellites. These are American and Russian satellites in low Earth orbit that broadcast their "camera feed" on an open frequency (it's not really a camera and it's not really a feed, but you get the idea), so all you essentially have to do is tune in to the broadcast the exact same way you tune into an FM radio station. However, while most radios are limited to a frequency range between around 98 and 108 FM, these satellites broadcast around 137 FM (137 MHz).
Coincidentally, these satellites use the same modulation (FM) as common radio stations, but because they are outside the standard FM tuner range, you need a more "specialized" receiver.
The most common receiver is a Software-defined Radio (SDR). These are cheap USB dongles, very similar in appearance to USB WIFI adapters, they have a USB connector at one end and an SMA coaxial connector at the other end.
However, unlike WIFI dongles that are limited to a certain frequency range around 2400 MHz, SDRs (at least the cheap ones) can tune anywhere between 27 and 1700 MHz. This means that once you connect an SDR to your computer, you can basically listen in to most radio traffic around you. Ham radios, air traffic control, police/emergency/military radios, satellite downlinks, broadcast FM, weather stations...
If you want to learn more about SDRs, I'm sure a simple Google search will give you more info than I could, you can also check out r/RTLSDR to see what people do with it besides satellite reception.
Low-bandwidth satellite transmissions happen mostly around 137, 145 and 445 MHz. These are weather satellites that transmit images, amateur radio satellites that relay voice/morse messages between ham radio operators, and generally any satellite that downlinks data. Even the International Space Station sometimes holds events when it beams down images or when you can hear astronauts talking with Earth.
For the actual hardware you need; as I mentioned, an SDR is basically the go-to option for things like this. While you could probably find a hardware scanner on eBay for a smaller price, you'd be heavily limiting yourself. SDRs range in price a lot, but you can get a very decent one for around 30 USD.
There are two very popular "starter" SDRs, the RTL-SDR v3 and the Nooelec NESDR SMArt. They can both be bought in a kit form that comes with antennas to get you started. I happen to have experience with both, and can tell you that it doesn't really matter in the long-term which one you opt for, but if you want to receive satellites "out of the box", go with the RTL-SDR. That kit comes with a "rabbit-ear" antenna that is the gold standard for basic weather satellite reception (I'm pretty sure many of the pictures on this sub were received on that exact $30 setup). You can always order the standalone Nooelec kit or just buy the adapters from eBay if you decide to get deeper into the hobby.
Once you have the SDR and the antenna, all you need to do is set up your device by installing some free software and drivers. Because the radio is "software defined", it relies completely on the performance of your CPU. This can get a bit restrictive if you want to do crazy high-bandwidth stuff, but from personal experience I could receive and decode weather satellites on a single-core Atom from 2007 so you probably don't have to worry about that.
I suggest checking out these two videos from the Thought Emporium.
PART 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjClTnZ4Xh4
PART 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3ftfGag7D8
These explain the process pretty well. They do use a "HackRF" as the receiver, which is a bit more expensive SDR, but the RTL-SDR or the Nooelec receivers I linked would work just fine in its place. Mind you, these videos barely scratch the surface of what you can do with an SDR, and they also don't really go in-depth on the antenna selection, placement, and such. You're always welcome to ask on this sub, though.
Very cool! I also set up whole home energy monitoring over the holiday break. It's cool to be able to see what your appliances, etc. are actually using. It looks like your home lab is bigger than mine (no surprise, mine is tiny), I'm averaging ~500W whole home with the lab running. The UPS says just the home lab is averaging ~180W.
I spent $27 total on mine. I'm using an RTL-SDR to read the transmissions from my smart meter. I use rtlamr to decode the transmission which pipes into a small custom python script to put the data into an influxdb instance. Grafana does the graphing. All of it is running on my homelab. The spikes are my girlfriend using the dryer.
I'm doing this with a simple wireless thermometer. If the weather station uses the same frequency and protocols you might be able to do the same. Take a look at https://github.com/merbanan/rtl_433 . Google for tutorials. You'll need a Software Defined Radio (SDR) receiver, but those are cheap. I use this one: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B011HVUEME/ .
Good luck.
You might wanna look into an SDR, a >$30 device you can get on amazon and can listen on your computer from 500 kHz to 1.7 GHz. tons of projects you can do with them like tracking aircraft and downloading weather info from NOAA satellites.. i use one to listen to my local police and highway patrol, Cal-Fire has been a big one this year to listen too... i also use it over my network as a garage radio listening to local FM stations, really handy tools to have. and you can listen to most the ham bands with it.
​
i started off hooking mine up to a TV antenna just like the one you have in your attic and it worked well. i did end up making a di-pole with to get more all around coverage as that TV antenna is really directional.
According to the guides I've seen, and Amazon recommendations (and yes, I agree that's a tenuous slope to start down), the main kit folks are buying is this one (no referral):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011HVUEME
Agree that just like in Step 1, there is a certain amount of figuring out what hardware you have and need. I was loathe to recommend a particular offering since most of these change over time, and I honestly only have experience with this one package (so far).
I am open to suggestions on how to write "Step 0" :-)
my guess is that you got that from amazon?
https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Telescopic/dp/B011HVUEME
This is what I have
https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Defined/dp/B011HVUEME
And SDR# which I found easy to get into
No, they're not adjustable. You'd either need a 49.860MHz transmitter, or a transmitter capable of shifting its transmission frequency, like a Software Defined Radio (SDR).
Honestly, if you're interested in learning about RF stuff, a simple USB SDR like the RTL-SDR is a great little investment, although it won't actually transmit anything, you need a more full-featured SDR for that, like the HackRF.
The antenna is an extendable folding dipole antenna. This is the one I bought from Amazon. It's not the best, but it works!
If you want to listen then you do not need a license (as indicated by rock_vbrg). I assume you already have a computer (what college student doesn't), so I would start with one of these: https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Telescopic/dp/B011HVUEME/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1536752080&sr=8-3&keywords=rtl+sdr+dongle you can listen to the air traffic plus a whole lot more. It also gives you the option to do a little more advanced stuff without having to re-invest in hardware. Check out making it into an ADSB tracker : https://www.rtl-sdr.com/adsb-aircraft-radar-with-rtl-sdr/
You can run it with a windows machine using SDR# which has a lot of plug ins for different digital signals. Or you can use GQRX as your front end on a linux machine. There are Rasp-Pi options to run it as well, it is is a little swiss army knife for receiving radio. Browse through the archives at https://www.rtl-sdr.com/ to see if anything interests you. And look at all of the available software for these little things here: https://www.rtl-sdr.com/big-list-rtl-sdr-supported-software/
Then if you want to take that next step and get involved, get your license (which i highly recommend). Hope this helps.
BT/AR
KC5CG
https://www.broadcastify.com/listen/ctid/1144
say's mostly encrypted
still I would start with
1 Nooelec NESDR Smart v4 Bundle
or
4 A radioreference subscription
there is allot to listen to aside from NOPD, public transit, railroad, air traffic
First read should be
following that guide to get your sdr working with SDR# on your windows 10 PC
Software to start would be
nooelec smart v4's are nice because they will plug into usb ports side by side, a usb hub would be best, stops accidentally bumping them and gets them away from pc radio interference.
usb hub connected to pc, sdr dongle connected to usb hub, antenna connected to sdr dongle.
That is the official RTL-SDR blog Amazon page
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B011HVUEME/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_imm_596MQ12Y3XZ7DG89R5RP
The first link was the unit by itself and my link is the kit. This is the one I have.
Yeah! The higher you go, the more you can receive, and transmit as a general rule of thumb. Just a heads up that Grundig is receive only.
It is kind of difficult to listen to Shortwave(HF) in an apartment complex though using tuned loop antenna, you can get pretty good results.
Another route to consider if you have a PC with anything newer than a Core2Duo in it is Software Defined Radio's. They are super nifty. You can receive the local trunked radio system as its currently P25, phase 1 with something like an Airspy, HackRF, or SDRPlay.
The hackrf for instance can be bought on ebay(knockoff) for about 80 bucks and tunes from 1MHz-6 GHz, any modulation within the 20 MHz it can tune in. They also have Airspy for about ~50-60. Monitoring UHF/VHF in the area can be done with something as simple as RTLSDR but this option does not cover HF, and only has 2 MHz bandwidth, you will need two of these if you wanna listen to SRRCS, but if you don't care one RTLSDR will work fine for all the Ham/Weather sats/and non trunked agencies(Like CHP/CalFire).
To give you an idea for the cost of my appartment setup, here is what I am using when home:
HP8300 USDT (Running MacOS)
-->Uniden BC 760 XLT - Got this one broken on CL, for about 5 bucks - fixed it. Streams audio over vpn to remote web browser(CHP/Ham bands)
-->RTLSDR - Running Dump1090, This one feeds to FlightAware. I got a knockoff for about 9 bucks
For transmissions I have a baofeng that sits at the desk.
the Scanner and SDR are connected to a 4.5 foot, 18ga wire in my window, and backed up by a UPS. Everything was broken/used/knockoff so I spent about ~160 bucks getting it up and running.
Many routes to take depending on what you wanna do and budget.
A decade ago, this would've been a job for a $3500 spectrum analyzer. Today, you can do it with a $35 RTL-SDR receiver. The 315 and 433 MHz bands are nicely within its range, and its lack of sensitivity can be a virtue for hunting strong interference like this.
The basic $35 kit is gonna work just fine for what you're doing, you don't need any of the filters or adapters in the more expensive offerings. (Realistically the even-more-basic $22 kit would work fine too, but in the event that you decide this is an interesting hobby to explore further, it's a much worse foundation to start from. Up to you.)
Hie thee over to /r/rtlsdr and hit up the wiki for software. Whatever OS you're running, you want something with a spectrum analyzer or "waterfall graph".
Set it to something like 313-317MHz so you can see a little on either side of the signal of interest. Turn on automatic gain control, then turn it back off (it'll get you in the ballpark). Adjust the sensitivity (gain controls) until the signal on the graph is neither at the top nor the bottom of the displayable strength range.
Then, hold the antenna against (or just in front of) your chest, and slowly turn in a circle, using your body to block the signal as you watch the display. Where it's weakest, the signal is behind you. Lather, rinse, repeat!
There's a good chance that the interference is coming from an appliance or computer or whatever, so another thing you can try, while waiting for that to ship, is ask each neighbor to turn off their main circuit breaker for a minute. Yeah yeah, they'll need to reset the clock on the microwave, but cycling all the breakers is healthy to keep 'em from sticking anyway. If things suddenly work when one particular house is off, unplug individual devices until you narrow it down.
I'm going to second the person who said raspberry pi and suggest throwing in a RTLSDR.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011HVUEME/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_hodZFbH9YRST0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
I bought this from Amazon.
With about $25 it is super easy to chill at home and sniff and decrypt the traffic of hospital pagers. It's kind of insane they still get a pass to use this technology with how restrictive HIPAA can be in regards to how technology is used in those organizations. All the attacker needs is an RTL-SDR and some open source software. You can buy them on Amazon cheap and they even come with long-range antennas most the time.
Hospital pagers are "encrypted" in transit, but not really. The ciphers they use are easy to detect and reverse. With something like multimon-ng, you just set your input to the RTL-SDR, tune to the right frequency, and sit back and listen.
Obviously there are tons of totally legal, and super fun, things you can do with an SDR also. Regular radio, weather stations, satellite imagery, police scanners, etc. But radio is one of those final frontier type deals for hackers, so much chatter out there asking to be abused.
I'll link a $35 sdr kit. Gimme a bit
Edit: it's actually $27 on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Telescopic/dp/B011HVUEME/
Just get the rtl-sdr.com one if you are just starting. Do NOT bother with the cheap random ones. Get this one first and you will be happy.
https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Defined/dp/B011HVUEME/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=RTL-SDR+Blog&qid=1601409164&sr=8-3
If you don't mind spending more, one of these will get you from 0Mhz to 2Ghz with 10Mhz of bandwidth viewing at once.
https://www.sdrplay.com/products/
Some copypasta here from the previous thread.
Something that could be a bit interesting to try and incorporate into the project is monitoring radio frequencies and see if there might be any kind of spike that correlates to visible movement. The reason why I'm thinking this is that I am a General Class HAM license and I like to play around with stuff like that. Radio waves are nothing more really than energy. I play around with these cheap $25 rtlsdr dongles, which allows you monitor a range of frequencies on a waterfall display. Unfortunately where I keep my equipment in the basement is not the best location because my desk is only a few feet from the ac/heater. Every time it kicks on I see a little spike on the waterfall display. See where I'm going where this?
It stands to reason that if a ship traveled lightyears to get here it would require a shit ton of power. Especially if it's putting off enough light to see in the sky.
I have no if it would work, and would definitely need some time to figure out, but it might work.
https://www.reddit.com/r/RTLSDR
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C01wLvwjLIs - Getting Started with the RTL-SDR (Software Defined Radio)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHbrVad86xw - Electromagnetic Interference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRkZnuna_is - SDR RTL-2832U INTERFERENCE AND INTERMODULATIONS.
SDR Radio Options:
https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Defined/dp/B011HVUEME/ - RTL Blog SDR Dongle Bundle $35 (Recieve only)
https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Defined/dp/B0129EBDS2 - Same as above but just the dongle $25 (Recieve only)
https://www.amazon.com/Lime-Microsystems-LimeSDR-Mini/dp/B08BK8YNZ2 - LimeSDR Dongle - $180 (Can receive and transmit)
https://www.amazon.com/NooElec-NESDR-Smart-HF-Bundle/dp/B0747PX3NZ - NooElectric SDR Dongle bundle - $100 (Personally I wouldn't choose this, since you can get everything that this offers with less equipment than the SDR Blog Dongle for $35, and offers nothing over the first) (Recieve only)
https://www.amazon.com/NooElec-Software-Defined-Antenna-Adapter/dp/B01K1CCHR0 - HackRF One Software Defined Radio (SDR), ANT500 & SMA Antenna Adapter Bundle (Can receive and transmit, popular with hackers so there's also a lot of support and a lot of capabilities) -$350
If your a real cheap bastard then you can just plug a wire into a GPIO port 4 on the Raspberry Pi /Pi Zero- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXedC5dQyNk (I have not used this, because I have a few transmitters, but you also get what you pay for)
If you want to spend $50 and get two, you can build your own DIY passive radar system. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N58Z5-KNsI
With a cheap DIY antenna made from PVC and a cut-up tape measure for the radials and a $35 dollar handheld Baofeng radio with a max output of 5 watts will allow you to talk the ISS or other HAM operators using amateur radio satellites. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIJ-iigVpP0 (Ok the radio in this video has a max output of 8 watts - but 5 is all you really need)
something else that you may want to compare the location of the object to known satellite positions is a program called Orbitron - http://www.stoff.pl/
You can also track aircraft with the same hardware using ADSB which is basically a signal that all commercial & private aircraft are supposed to transmit with Alt, heading, etc data. The military can use it or not depending on their needs. So you can also rule out aircraft as a possibility. - This is totally different than radar since you are receiving data that is being broadcast from the aircraft.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pJyCHh_cpE ADS-B Receiver With RTL SDR | Tracking Aircraft In Real-time!
Try amazon smile to donate to charity automatically at no cost to you!
https://smile.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Defined/dp/B011HVUEME/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=RTL-SDR+Blog&qid=1601409164&sr=8-3
^^^I'm ^^^a ^^^bot ^^^and ^^^this ^^^action ^^^was ^^^preformed ^^^automatically.
Please use clean amazon links in order to prevent your message from being caught in the spam filter.
I'm using the 1.5m antenna that came with the RTL-SDR Blog package.
This worked well for me - RTL-SDR Blog V3 R860 RTL2832U
RTL-SDR, just need a laptop. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011HVUEME
You are asking wrong questions but that's ok because that is how we learn.
Airband has no channels like marine or public safety or CB radios do.
Channels are like a speed dial on an old phone. A channel so and so has a such and such frequency programmed into it. On some radios, notably CB and marine, channel so and so is the same frequency for everyone. Dial in CB channel 19 and you are talking to truckers. Dial in channel 16 on a marine radio and you are talking to coast guard. Public safety radios are different for every agency. Their channels are programmed with whatever frequencies they are authorized to use. Channel 1 is different for cops in your city vs mine.
All that said, airband has no such thing at all. It's like your car radio. Pilots dial in a frequency directly. Airband is between 118 MHz and 137 MHz. Any $100 scanner can pick up those frequencies. Just make sure it has AM demodulation. An FM receiver would pick it up but it would sound distorted. (Yeah AM and FM aren't different frequencies they are different ways of modulating voice onto a radio carrier wave.)
If you feel adventurous you can pick up an SDR on Amazon:
....and download the software to make it work. HD-SDR and SDR# are most popular.
I've been getting into Software Defined Radio (SDR) lately and it's been a lot of fun. The barrier to entry is only ~$40 and you can pick up 500 kHz to 1.7 GHz frequencies.
>Great for many applications including general radio, air traffic control, public safety radio, ADSB, ACARS, trunked radio, P25 digital voice, POCSAG, weather balloons, APRS, NOAA APT weather satellites, radio astronomy, meteor scatter monitoring, DAB, classroom learning, or for use as a low cost panadapter with a traditional ham radio.
Please do not use url shorteners. Reddit flags all comments or posts with them as spam.
Please use clean amazon links to prevent your message from being caught in the spam filter. Thank you.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011HVUEME/
Please message the mods to comment on this message or action.
Actually the console, to save battery, only stays connected to WiFi while it is being used or if it is plugged in. The console collects statistics from the osprey every 16 seconds. It is much more reliable - and much more information - for the weewx to talk to the console over the same network, rather than trying to collect the data that is being sent from the osprey every 16 seconds. Also, if you wanted to talk to the Osprey, you would need to also buy a receiver such as this;
RTL-SDR Blog V3 R820T2 RTL2832U... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011HVUEME?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Also I changed my RPI to running off an SSD which makes it MUCH faster, and the RPI is connected to the web via hardwired Ethernet so that connection is bulletproof...
You have to use an app on your phone called awnet to get the console on your wifi network, and then you can have it automatically send data 4 places:
AmbientWeather.net, Wunderground, Weather loud and customized
you use customized as the connection to talk to your weewx instance - settings on the customized screen being:
Enable Protocol Type Same As: Ambient Server IP / Hostname: <exact internal ip of your weewx instance - ONLY, NOTHING ELSE> Path: data/report Port: <something nonstandard you set on the weewx instance, such as 8080> Upload Interval: 16
Don't bother trying the headache of the RTL-SDR, it's much less reliable than connecting through to your console, which has more enriched data, and be sure to use a hardwired ethernet connection rather than Wi-Fi which is also slower and less reliable.
Even when already set up, you should from time to time run the awnet app on your phone, when you launch it, it'll tell you if you have an update to the firmware in your console or osprey. (When running awnet to double-check the name of the above 4 places for sending data - it told me I had a firmware update!)
I'd strongly suggest you make sure what you are getting is actually the WS-2902C, not A or B - as those are discontinued....
Good luck, keep in touch - let me know how it goes...
So, It's got RTL-SDR dongles hooked up, these come with decent antennas but I made my own antennas tuned to the frequencies I'm interested in (I'm also a ham radio op.)
Right now, I just forward Remote Desktop audio to listen in, but in the past I set up an icecast server and used this software to pipe the audio around. The software I use for scanning is Unitrunker v2 -- you have to sign up to the group to download because it's still in testing, but it works great and is sufficiently reliable for my uses. In theory I could VPN in and open RDP and listen in from anywhere, yes!
Bonus: I also get raw data from my neighbors' weather station using rtl_433
Look at it on any sort of spectrum analyzer you can find / have access to. Maybe this thing could be a gateway into SDR for you, I don't know. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011HVUEME - These things have apparently come up in price quite a bit since I last checked.
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/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_HBXE0MN7QDQFDTGBF1GP
This is the one I bought. I've been using SDR# to listen.
all good, nothing wrong with getting a lil radio education. Grab a software defined radio like this one RTL SDR and you can really get to exploring the vhf and uhf bands
Side note, I would suggest this model too: https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Defined/dp/B011HVUEME
You can build a Software Defined Radio based on a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W which will get you all frequencies from 500Khz up to 1.5Ghz plus 2.4Ghz 802.11 and Bluetooth 4.x. For around $200 you can get SDR hardware that supports frequencies up to 7Ghz and as low as 100Khz. All except the very longest range HAM stuff would work well with this setup, and weather frequencies are also really solid with this setup.
I use one of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011HVUEME/
I have been quite happy with it.
Item | Current | Lowest | Reviews |
---|---|---|---|
RTL-SDR Blog V3 R820T2 RTL2832U 1PPM TCXO HF Bias… | $39.95 | $39.95 | 4.5/5.0 |
^Item&nbsp;Info | Bot&nbsp;Info | Trigger
SDR =software defined radio
This dongle is what I got. Works very well. https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Defined/dp/B011HVUEME/. There's others out there, but rtl-sdr seems to be the common entry level one.
They got a blog with all kinds of projects https://www.rtl-sdr.com/
Also r/rtlsdr e/amatureradio
This is the dongle I’m using: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011HVUEME/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_Yym3YEh6Ghuqk
This is the software I’m using to send the meter values to MQTT: https://github.com/TonyApuzzo/amridm2mqtt.git
Here’s a useful blog post tutorial: https://brentsaltzman.com/bring-your-smart-meter-into-home-assistant-energy-management/
I don't know enough about it to say for sure but a lot of hadheld radios are UHF/VHF only.
A great way to listen to shortwave stuff is through web SDR sites and USB SDRs that you can use with your own computer. They let you listen to all kinds of cool stuff on all bands.
Here is the radio receiver: RTL-SDR Blog V3 R820T2 RTL2832U... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011HVUEME?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
They must have them in stock at a local warehouse because they delivered it the same day I ordered it. I just got Amazon Prime after several years on hiatus, so I may be easily impressed.
Public service all use Project 25 (P25) trunked radios. So to listen I used SDRTrunk: https://github.com/DSheirer/sdrtrunk
Then I programmed in the control station and labeled the talk groups using RadioReference: https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=3508
I would suggest using YouTube to get specific instructions for setting everything up.
Any advice on how long to pull these antennas out to get phase 2 freq reception? goes from 500kHz to 1.7GHz
I'm using the dongle from rtl-sdr.com is testing in my house it had the best receive capability, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011HVUEME/ the price has gone up quite a bit since the last time I picked on up, it used to be around $23. The ones from NooElec seem to perform ALMOST as good, and the price is a little better, although they come with fewer accessories https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01B4L48QU/
I’m a noob also. Only started this about a week ago, and never really messed with this technology before. There is a lot of resources and information available online.
Here’s a list of articles from RTL-STR.com that I used
RTL-SDR TUTORIAL: RECEIVING NOAA WEATHER SATELLITE IMAGES
SIMPLE NOAA/METEOR WEATHER SATELLITE ANTENNA: A 137 MHZ V-DIPOLE
SETTING UP A GOES WEATHER SATELLITE ANTENNA SYSTEM
And here’s a write up about the antenna.
If watching YouTube video is more your pace, Tech Minds has some great tutorials on the subject. Here’s their antenna build and software setup tutorials.
If you want to do this on the cheap and easy, theirs a kit with all the hardware you’ll need. Its about $40 US and works great. amazon link
Start here: https://www.rtl-sdr.com/ Their /Store/Starter Kit https://www.amazon.com.au/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Telescopic/dp/B011HVUEME/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WU51WJOF48RU&dchild=1&keywords=rtl-sdr+blog+v3+rtl2832&qid=1624798338&sprefix=rtl-sdr%2Caps%2C236&sr=8-1
(ouch, that price, is a good starter kit. Beware of cheap counterfeit units)
rtl sdr on amazon, like 37 bucks with the antenna kit.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011HVUEME/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_TWBZX0BTX0JHRY7S2MQE
they have a great website too, with guides. https://www.rtl-sdr.com/rtl-sdr-quick-start-guide/
I use the antenna that came with the dongle in this kit, by the RTL-SDR blog. I set the antenna horizontally with the ends of the antenna pointing north. Antenna length was 53cm and they were 120 degrees apart.
My laptop uses Ubuntu Linux as an operating system, so my software setup is probably a bit different than most. I used the following:
Gpredict for tracking the position of satellites.
Gqrx as a receiver and for recording the signal.
Audacity to resample the recording so that it can be converted to an image.
apt-decoder to convert the resampled recording to a PNG image.
I picked up this and started scanning different frequencies in my area. Pretty interesting stuff.
For the RTLSDR, the kit was $25 before it ran out of stock
https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Defined/dp/B011HVUEME
​
But, I broke the SMA wiring so I spent $77... for a new Tram Browning NMO rubber boot and a 1091 antenna...with a PL-259 to SMA adapter
​
Boot
Antenna (Kit)
https://www.amazon.com/1091-BNC-Scanner-Antenna-BNC-Male-Connector/dp/B01DY8FTR8
​
PL259 to SMA
https://www.amazon.com/SMA-UHF-Connectors-Nickel-Plated-Converter/dp/B01MQNJVMT
Please do not use url shorteners. Reddit flags all comments or posts with them as spam.
Please use clean amazon links to prevent your message from being caught in the spam filter. Thank you.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011HVUEME/
Please message the mods to comment on this message or action.
The standard rtl-sdr.com v3 kit has everything you need to receive APT signals from NOAA satellites. The longer pair of antennas can be adjusted into a v-dipole configuration that's adequate for APT signal reception. It's easy to decode if you want to see the actual imagery, and has a distinct sound if you just want to hear a signal coming from a satellite.
You can check out r/RTLSDR
Most of us are using software-defined radio and some sort of homebrew antenna/witchcraft to get these images.
Rtl-sdr.com has a whole bunch of cool tutorials. If you're starting off, the NOAA weather satellites are probably the easiest for image acquisition. https://www.rtl-sdr.com/rtl-sdr-tutorial-receiving-noaa-weather-satellite-images/
Below is a "basic kit" that will get you started. You get a pretty good bandwidth with these, but if you're looking for ultra low-frequency radio astronomy stuff you'll need something different. Others here might be able to help point you in that direction. But with this you'll at least be able to pick up most of the higher frequency (relatively speaking) parts of the spectrum, including most transmitting satellites.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011HVUEME/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_JQNYD29Y8SA76GPX2N9N
My dad actually has a PhD in astrophysics with a focus on radio astronomy...so any "theoretical level" questions he could probably help. Not so much on the technical stuff because he's more used to using multi-million dollar research-grade equipment. Lol.
Here's an official RTL-SDR with all needed accessories. Dead cheap, well supported and pretty reliable. https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B011HVUEME
Pretty much, you put one on the center line of the coax, and one on the shielding (ground) portion. They are meant to be 120 degrees apart, and 53.4 cm long each. There is a pretty good instruction for making one properly here. They are quite easy and work quite well.
For this however, we just tossed something together quickly, they were straight instead of in a V, but they worked okay.
I have an antenna kit that came with my dongle, and 3d printed a bracket to hold it at the correct angle, however I had forgotten my dongle and the adapter for my cables (SMA) are different from the connection on my father in laws dongle so we couldn't use my antenna.
If you are looking at getting into pulling NOAA or other satellites or even planes, the kit for the RTL-SDR blog on is quite nice and comes with all you need to pull images. It's out of stock on Amazon, however available from their website.
I was able to pull a better image last year using my kit than I got this year. It's a lot of fun to get into pulling NOAA images. There are instructions on the RTL-SDR blog and google for doing some pretty cool things with the dongles.
Hopefully this helps a bit, if you need any help getting things set up, feel free to ask or make a post here, people are pretty helpful.
Please use clean amazon links to avoid the spam filter. Thanks.
Hey, no problem. Truth be told I've only been in the hobby for a few days and this was my third attempt at capturing NOAA images.
From my understanding, a dipole does not work best but it is "good enough" for capturing NOAA images. I used the adjustable Dipole that was included in this RTLSDR kit but I'm sure you could just use some old TV rabbit ears too. Each telescoping antenna was adjusted to about 54.5cm and then I pointed the part where the two antennas meet northward and spread the antennas 120 degrees apart and mount 44cm off the ground. You would think that mounting it higher would be better, but because the signals we're dealing with have very long wavelengths (218cm) then if you mount it at the wrong location the reflections of the signals off the ground could cause interference that makes you lose the signal occasionally. I read between 44 and 60cm above the ground or a reflector dish is best for a good signal and that's what I did with the NOAA 18 capture.
I'm planning to build a turnstile antenna in the near future since depending on how you mount the antenna you can have interference that screws with the image, hence the NOAA 15 image you see in my capture.
GOES is a whole other animal. You'll need a satellite dish of some sort for that since they are WAY farther out in space than the NOAA satellites.
Also, I hate to break it to you but the lines on your capture were added by wxtoimg and were not received from the satellite. It does this by looking at the wav file's creation and modified times to determine where the satellite should be and drawing lines accordingly, you could change the creation and modified times with PowerShell or manually change the satellite and then they would be drawn in completely different areas. NOAA images are transmitted as black and white with some bars on the right or left, any extra effects you see are added after the fact by interpreting that image in different ways. So your image was just pure static, BUT if you saw the signal you've at least proven you can find the satellite. Try again another night, when these pictures were taken the beeping of the NOAA 18 was VERY clear, there was no mistaking it or struggling to hear it under static.
An SDR Dongle like this (RTL-SDR v3) along with a computer should do the trick and depending on the model and age you may be able to listen in on it.
Play around with http://kiwisdr.com/public/ and various receivers both near and far from your location. Do any of them receive it?
I took a look around the MW band and didn't hear anything like that, so either it's not happening right now, or it's very local to you.
There's got to be a cheap transistor radio in a thrift store, make a few phone calls and see if you can do a contactless handoff. Getting a portable receiver will help you locate it.
If you want to get more into exploring the radio spectrum in general, consider that an RTL-SDR with the direct-sampling mod can receive the MW AM broadcast band, in addition to a gazillion other things.
Great since you'll be going the sdr way check this antenna:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1pfRCvi1P4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0MD51FqPPY&t=16s
​
I have one I from ebay and it works great with the https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Defined/dp/B011HVUEME
Check this websdr (http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/) they use one of these antennas and if you can set it up very high the better.
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
I’m assuming u mean something like this?
Sounds quite interesting, I’ll check it out, thanks!
Something that could be a bit interesting to try and incorporate into the project is monitoring radio frequencies and see if there might be any kind of spike that correlates to visible movement. The reason why I'm thinking this is that I am a General Class HAM license and I like to play around with stuff like that. Radio waves are nothing more really than energy. I play around with these cheap $25 rtlsdr dongles, which allows you monitor a range of frequencies on a waterfall display. Unfortunately where I keep my equipment in the basement is not the best location because my desk is only a few feet from the ac/heater. Every time it kicks on I see a little spike on the waterfall display. See where I'm going where this?
It stands to reason that if a ship traveled lightyears to get here it would require a shit ton of power. Especially if it's putting off enough light to see in the sky.
I have no if it would work, and would definitely need some time to figure out, but it might work.
https://www.reddit.com/r/RTLSDR
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C01wLvwjLIs - Getting Started with the RTL-SDR (Software Defined Radio)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHbrVad86xw - Electromagnetic Interference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRkZnuna_is - SDR RTL-2832U INTERFERENCE AND INTERMODULATIONS.
SDR Radio Options:
https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Defined/dp/B011HVUEME/ - RTL Blog SDR Dongle Bundle $35 (Recieve only)
https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Defined/dp/B0129EBDS2 - Same as above but just the dongle $25 (Recieve only)
https://www.amazon.com/Lime-Microsystems-LimeSDR-Mini/dp/B08BK8YNZ2 - LimeSDR Dongle - $180 (Can receive and transmit)
https://www.amazon.com/NooElec-NESDR-Smart-HF-Bundle/dp/B0747PX3NZ - NooElectric SDR Dongle bundle - $100 (Personally I wouldn't choose this, since you can get everything that this offers with less equipment than the SDR Blog Dongle for $35, and offers nothing over the first) (Recieve only)
https://www.amazon.com/NooElec-Software-Defined-Antenna-Adapter/dp/B01K1CCHR0 - HackRF One Software Defined Radio (SDR), ANT500 & SMA Antenna Adapter Bundle (Can receive and transmit, popular with hackers so there's also a lot of support and a lot of capabilities) -$350
If your a real cheap bastard then you can just plug a wire into a GPIO port 4 on the Raspberry Pi /Pi Zero- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXedC5dQyNk (I have not used this, because I have a few transmitters, but you also get what you pay for)
If you want to spend $50 and get two, you can build your own DIY passive radar system. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N58Z5-KNsI
With a cheap DIY antenna made from PVC and a cut-up tape measure for the radials and a $35 dollar handheld Baofeng radio with a max output of 5 watts will allow you to talk the ISS or other HAM operators using amateur radio satellites. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIJ-iigVpP0 (Ok the radio in this video has a max output of 8 watts - but 5 is all you really need)
something else that you may want to compare the location of the object to known satellite positions is a program called Orbitron - http://www.stoff.pl/
You can also track aircraft with the same hardware using ADSB which is basically a signal that all commercial & private aircraft are supposed to transmit with Alt, heading, etc data. The military can use it or not depending on their needs. So you can also rule out aircraft as a possibility. - This is totally different than radar since you are receiving data that is being broadcast from the aircraft.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pJyCHh_cpE ADS-B Receiver With RTL SDR | Tracking Aircraft In Real-time!
Sure thing. I use this SDR:
https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Defined/dp/B011HVUEME/
I then am running RTL-SDR and RTL 433 along with the SDR on a Raspberry Pi to intercept the 433MHz signals and resend them to my MQTT server.
RTL 433 isn't limited to just this device; it can get messages from motion sensors, weather stations, other manufacturers ... even some car keys.
RTL 433: https://github.com/merbanan/rtl_433 (see the list of supported devices if you're wondering what else you can pick up)
RTL-SDR: https://github.com/osmocom/rtl-sdr/
MQTT-Explorer is quite helpful to listen to what's passing through the MQTT server, and figure out what different messages actually mean.
I use this setup to pick up sensor data and then the MQTT server sends it to an MQTT broker I have set up in OpenHab.
You can get a rtl-sdr and just plug it into a computer, raspberry pi, or Android phone nearby and have it recording.
Thank you! That's a good clue.
I know essentially nothing about software-defined radio. Would you say this is a good choice for this project? https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Defined/dp/B011HVUEME/
Get them an rtl sdr like this one! Great way to visualize the radio spectrum around them on the cheap. It even does hf using direct sampling with no modifications needed
YOU THINK 25 - 512 MHz IS COOL? TRY 500 kHz - 1766 MHz FOR ONLY $35!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011HVUEME/
Here's the amazon link for what I have. Also I'm not picking up any AM broadcast stations, but FM works fine.
Here's a photo of the AM band on SDR#: https://i.imgur.com/DvsA3wD.jpeg
I know that others have answered you already, but I'm going to point out something that others haven't.
IF you happen to have a PC or Laptop around that's not being used much, you can task it into being your weather station. I'm using a Windows 8 laptop from 2013. Then all you would need is an RTL-SDR and antenna. You can get a complete kit at the link below for $35 shipped (if you are in the USA).
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011HVUEME/
This will enable you to receive the 3 currently operating NOAA satellites operating APT and the Russian Meteor M2 operating on LRPT. If you want higher resolution images, I believe that you're probably going to need a dish and possibly a means of making the dish track the satellite. I only do APT & LRPT, so I can't help you there.
Although an LNA (Low Noise Amplifier) isn't necessary, it can certainly improve the quality of your reception, and therefore images. I use a Nooelec Sawbird +NOAA unit. They currently run between $35 - $43, depending on if you want it enclosed or the barebones kit.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TWPR871/
Depending upon your location, you might want to move the antenna away from your house to minimize RFI (Radio Frequency Interference, like from your TV or other appliances). I got a lot better images once I moved my antenna about 10 meters / 30 feet from the house. I'm using 50 feet of RG58 to reach out there from my laptop.
Using a variety of free software applications, my station runs 24/7/365. It then automatically uploads the images to my Amazon Photos account (free for Prime members), so that I can access them from my phone.
Software used:
SDR# (SDR Sharp) with DDE Tracking and Meteor Demodulator. $0
WxtoImg - For APT - $0
M2_LRPT_Decoder - For M2 $0
MeteorGIS - For M2 $0
Smooth Meteor (occasional use for M2) $0
The satellites have two channels, infrared and near infrared at night or infrared and visible during the day. There's software enhancements that use telemetry data to get false color or weather overlays from the data the satellite gave you.
You can see some example images uploaded automatically 6 times per day (depending on satellite trajectory) on my Twitter which you can find here.
I started with this guide which should give you the basic idea but some software stuff is outdated. I have all the right versions of software on my computer so please tell me if you'd like for me to send them to you. I'd love to help someone else get into this.
While any piece of wire can theoretically hear them it's best to use one of the three types of antennas on the guide I linked earlier. I'm personally using a V Dipole that I made myself and it's mounted a meter above the ground to use the Earth as its reflector. The RTL-SDR v3 has a kit that comes with a telescopic dipole kit that can be configured as a V Dipole and that's what I would recommend using to get the hang of it. You can find the kit on Amazon here. I would definitely recommend replacing it later though and you will need a tripod or pole to stick it to. The kit is only $10 more than the SDR itself but if you know you're going to want to make your own V Dipole you can spend that on a terminal block and about 48in of thicker copper wire, you'll obviously need some coax too but RG 6 for TV works fine. I would really recommend getting the hang of the software side with the kit if you're not experienced with antenna building.
Again, if you have any questions or need help please PM me. I primarily use Discord but you can also get to me through my Twitter and if you don't have either Reddit would be fine.
You can do it with the Raspberry Pi and the RTL-SDR kit (~$29 on amazon)
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
To get started you'll need:
Once you have the pieces, you'll need to:
This is the guide that I followed to get my 345MHz sensors into Home Assistant. It requires a software defined radio (SDR) and a bit of comfort on the commandline.
Feel free to DM if you go this route and need some assistance.
You can also use a Pi with an RTL-SDR USB dongle to receive AIS using OpenCPN. A good dongle is $27 on Amazon. There are also many tutorials for setting it up. One is here:
https://www.rtl-sdr.com/setting-up-a-raspberry-pi-based-ais-receiver-with-an-rtl-sdr/
One way satellite internet can be had with a $26 usb device and some free software. An organization https://www.outernet.is is broadcasting data currently, acting as a sort of library.
Nice! So something like this would allow direct sampling? https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Telescopic/dp/B011HVUEME
I recommend this one: https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Telescopic/dp/B011HVUEME/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011HVUEME/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I2YQVWK31DLXSC&colid=1OB2ROK621F5E
you cannot transmit from these
I've been having some fun with /r/RTLSDR too. It's amazing how far a crummy little antenna can get you. https://i.imgur.com/6uZtGv8.jpg
35$ for the SDR and the whip antenna, ~20$ for a bag of SMA to big 'ol radio connectors.
https://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Telescopic/dp/B011HVUEME
That one and this one are two of the best.
If you search around, they can be found for as little at $10.
Welcome back; same situation here.
I recommend immediately researching an RTL SDR like this one and possibly an upconverter like maybe this one; with this combination and your computer, you could make an amazing scanner with coverage from VLF to 1.7Ghz.
I can also recommend websdr.org as super fun for scanner fans, and free.
I am a bot whose sole purpose is to improve the timeliness and accuracy of responses in this subreddit.
It appears you forgot to include your location in the title or body of your post. Please update the body of your original post to include this information.
Do NOT delete this post - Instead, simply edit the post with the requested information.
Author: /u/watcherdata
Title: Hospitals are sending out patient data, and one big one is mad that they were told about it
Original Post:
> I discovered some time ago that hospitals throughout my region of the US are sending messages to physician pagers that include the name, age, sex, diagnosis, room number, and attending physician. These can be seen by anyone with a simple RTL SDR device, and a couple of free programs. > > This seems like a massive HIPAA violation. So I contacted the main hospital sending out most of the information, and they were extremely grateful. I got a call within a day from a high level chairman, he explained their steps to remediate, that their auditors and penetration testers missed it, and that they would have it fixed within a week. Sure enough, they started using a patient number and no identifiable information in the pages. A couple of other hospitals have fixed their systems too, after I started contacting them via Twitter. > > Early on in this process, I contacted my local newspaper. They reached out to the hospital in question, and were met with a "very hostile" response. They immediately deflected from any HIPAA violations and explained that I (the source) am in violation of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986. > > This was enough to scare me off completely. I've nuked all log files from my systems and stopped collecting data. The reporters want to know how I would like to proceed. Originally, I was going to get full credit for the find in their article. But now, I at least need to be anonymous, and am thinking about asking them not to run the story at all. > > Should I be scared of repercussions here? Also, it's worth noting that I've reported it to the state level board - following the proper channels for HIPAA complaints. That was months ago. It's unfortunate that a large healthcare organization can get away with pumping out thousands of patients' personal information every day, and when someone asks them to stop, their first response is to shoot the messenger. > > Thank you for reading. I'm open to any advice you have to offer.
LocationBot 4.0 | GitHub (Coming Soon) | Statistics | Report Issues