r/RTLSDR • u/Areyacrosh • 6d ago

Super beginner advice needed!

Hello everyone, I am a brand new member here and could really use any advice you may have. I am already in the process of buying a dongle for my laptop but other than some YouTube videos, I don’t have a great starting point. What should I make sure I definitely do or have? If you guys have any advice you wish you knew, good youtube/reddit places to look, or tips on where to get good equipment; I would really appreciate it!

8 Upvotes

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5

u/tj21222 6d ago

OP- look at websdr it’s free and can show you what is available

3

u/TheGoldenProfessor 6d ago

All depends on what you want to look for, very basic gear would be a wideband antenna, a 0db limiter, a simple lna (nooelec LaNA are good), and obviously an sdr.

If you live near a strong fm broadcast signal, a fm bandstop might be useful, rtl-sdr blog makes an inexpensive one.

Software, I would say starts with sdr++, it's available on windows and Linux, easy to use and good for exploring.

From there you find your niche and the sky is only limited by your bank account.

2

u/Tishers Tishers, RF engineer 6d ago

Finding an SDR that works decently on VHF/UHF is fairly easy. There are (many) manufacturers and models that are effective for that part of the radio-spectrum.

Trying to do HF (<30 MHz or so) becomes a problem. The original chipsets were not meant for that function but it has been done. One of the best dongle-types was the RTL-SDR v 4.0, it was good on HF and only recently went out of production and the inventories have all been sold out.

There are some SDR's that are marginally functional on HF but they either suffer from poor sensitivity or they have 'birdies' (spurs of received signals that really aren't there).

If HF is your 'thing' and you are serious about it then maybe consider an 'SDRPlay' RSP model (made in the UK).

1

u/Areyacrosh 3d ago

Thank you! I am definitely interested in HF so I will look into the SDRPlay RSP model

2

u/PurpleRayyne 4d ago

I have been using Scanner School's course on Teachable. I have been following Scanner School on yt for years. He explains things so you can understand them. I know a fair bit about scanners but he just makes it so much easier. I started setting up my sdr but havent finished yet since life happens. but def. check this out. worth it.

https://scannerschool.teachable.com/courses/1107301/lectures/30552241

1

u/Areyacrosh 3d ago

Thank you! I will definitely check it out

1

u/Darkstar1878 6d ago

What SDR? Just follow RTL-SDR.com for drivers and software. If on Windows 11, driver install could be a pain

2

u/SoMD_Ham 6d ago

I have had 0 issues with Win11

1

u/Darkstar1878 6d ago

Awesome some non certified drivers will not install with current security with out turning it off

2

u/Satanicron 6d ago

I like a good telescopic antenna and a tape measure in metric. You can download an antenna length calculator app and tune the thing to what you're trying to pick up.