2020 SDR Guide - Episode 5 : Software Primer

This video gives an overview of some of the software receivers available for Software Defined Radios.
SDRSharp (SDR#), SDRUno, SDR Consolve v3, and HDSDR get a quick demo each, and you get a chance to see some of the SDRs in action in the Frugal Radio shack :-)
Upcoming episodes will give a little more detail about monitoring and decoding specific services with an SDR.
Thanks for watching the Frugal Radio (FR) channel!

[@wyarboro]

Best overview I’ve seen so far on SDR!!! Thank you!!

[@FrugalRadio]

Thanks Chris!

[@acestudioscouk-Ace-G0ACE]

Well conveyed information, nicely produced and delivered. Good work, thanks.

[@FrugalRadio]

Thank you for the feedback. Much appreciated.

[@robertallen3133]

Fantastic video

[@danedewaard8215]

Nice overview!!! I'm using HDSDR with my V3 as I believe it is the only one that supports Win XP (using my old desktop). I like HDSDR a lot, but haven't tried any others yet. Looking forward Episode 6!

[@FrugalRadio]

Great to hear from an HDSDR user. Being able to use older hardware for monitoring for the relatively inexpensive investment of an RTL-SDR just adds so much enjoyment to the hobby! Thanks for your comments 🙂

[@jtc51]

You always do great videos and interesting content. Keep it up. I also hope in the future you could tell us a bit about the antennas you use. I think this would be very helpful. John

[@FrugalRadio]

Hi John, yes that's a good idea to show the antenna setup. Right now I have 15 receivers powered by 1 antenna (using multicouplers), and a couple of others linked directly to radios. I guess you'll see in a future episode!

[@Ofsaintsandsinners]

Hi, Thanks. Another helpful session. Regards, William

[@FrugalRadio]

You're welcome William!

[@MnACreations]

Thank you for the information!

[@FrugalRadio]

You're welcome Mike!

[@hubertkrawczyk1762]

Waiting for decoding episode!

[@FrugalRadio]

Coming soon!

[@Rollmanrevolution]

@FrugalRadio -- AGAIN, so pleased your channel exists --- You have given me the "CLIFF-NOTES" catch up on so much VALUABLE CONTENT that would of taken many many hours of trial and error -- to figure out. YOUR EASY "STEP BY STEP" approach to Software Defined Radio motivated me to purchase a dongle last week. **I DO HAVE ONE QUESTION: Would you recommend a "dedicated computer"(Desktop or laptop) to use for these "RTL-STR v4" dongles while in use? Meaning would a "Cheap Chromebook or Laptop" be sufficient to run the various programs (SDRSharp, UNITrunker, etc...)?? **

[@FrugalRadio]

Not much software will run on a Chromebook. Some will work on Linux (if you enable it within your Chromebook, or use a dedicated Linux computer). Windows has the most software available.

[@davidbee3704]

Very informative, thank you.

[@FrugalRadio]

Glad it was helpful. More coming soon!

[@davidbee3704]

@@FrugalRadio Looking forward to it. I found it in interesting that you can use different types of software. I hope you cover trunking systems in later videos and how one monitors trunking systems for DMR and Tetra. Love your work 👍

[@FrugalRadio]

That's the plan David! I have some footage already 'in the can' for trunk system monitoring 🙂

[@davidbee3704]

@@FrugalRadio Can't wait 🙂 We appreciate all your good work and effort 👍

[@FrugalRadio]

Thanks David!

[@paulnortham]

Loving it. That's one heck of a set-up! I knew you'd have a Linux machine somewhere (although I'd not heard of DragonOS) - are the others on older versions of Windows? I'm getting my SDR tomorrow for my birthday, so very excited to try some of these out for the first time. I wonder if the Windows ones will work on WINE in Linux? I'll just have to find out! Looking forward to the next video.

[@cruiseshipdreamer7003]

Try and get a Raspberry Pi 4 and set it up for SDR.

[@FrugalRadio]

Hi Paul. The Windows laptops are all older machines, from around 2013 to 2015. They are running Win 7 which is best for the hardware they are on. They all have old mechanical hard drives etc. The Linux machine is the same age, but I wanted to play around with some of the command line receivers / decoders. There are a number of distros that are specialised for SDR. Enjoy your birthday gift. I'm sure you'll get many happy hours of entertainment!

[@FrugalRadio]

I have used a couple of Pi 3s over the years, and am looking forward to getting another set up for decoding with an SDR.

[@sleepydog223]

Frugal Radio: I’m interested in your opinion of various distributions of Linux.

[@FrugalRadio]

Thanks for the message @Sleepy Dog. I've been experimenting with 1 distro that is under heavy development and being regularly updated. Check out Dragon OS Focal. Based on Ubuntu. Skywave Linux is also quite good, but I am not very familiar with the window manager and funky key bindings, so I always return to Dragon OS.

[@kevincartwright4028]

Great tutorials for a total noob here! Didnt know you could do so much! what software/antennas would you recommend to track high altitude balloon experiments? Just bought nooelec sdr smart v4 bundle and know h.a.b use 433-434mhz as its licence free. Can sdr# receive data such as gps, altitude, temp reading from a transmitting balloon or would i need other software you think?

[@FrugalRadio]

Yes, SDR can certainly receive data from weather balloons, although you will need some extra software to decode the data. @Tech Minds actually did a video on how to set up and receive the transmissions. Check out kzbin.info/www/bejne/foO8iJKCorqDhMU!

[@kevincartwright4028]

@@FrugalRadio thanks frugal for linking me up! Great tutorials keep them coming 👍😎

[@FrugalRadio]

No worries!

[@humaxf1]

Great video to start the morning with. I use a v3 dongle with sdr# and zello to listen while out and about. I'd be very interested to see how you configure the aux tuner(s)/multi zello channel(s) Thank you

[@FrugalRadio]

The plugin I use on that machine is called Aux VFO. With 5 VB Cables set up, I can directly run 5 Zello channels. However, one of the Zello channels is taken from a scanner audio output. I'll probably do a video on that at some stage.

[@humaxf1]

@@FrugalRadio A tutorial would be much appreciated. A single dongle is sufficient for multiple aux vfo(s)? I've had difficulty running multiple instances of zello in the past. As far as virtual cables go, I have the free VB cable plus the donate-ware A & B cable. Do you use VAC on top of VB?

[@FrugalRadio]

Hi @humaxf1. Yes, a single SDR works with multiple VFOs, that's one of the major benefits of SDR. However the VFOs can only be tuned within the bandwidth of the SDR. So an RTL-SDR based device has about 2 MHz of bandwidth. You could tune several VFOs from 118-120 MHz, but you would be unable to add one outside that range. I'm using a higher bandwidth (8 MHz) SDR to cover 118-124.1 MHz. As for your question regarding virtual cables, I am using VB Cable free, plus the A&B + C&D packs for a total of 5 outputs from the SDR. Running multiple instances of Zello is certainly possible, but requires careful following of the instructions on their site. I think you can run 6 or 8 instances.

[@humaxf1]

@@FrugalRadio Understood about the 2MHz bandwidth limit with a basis dongle - which SDR do you use for 8 MHz BW?. I see the C&D cables now, handy to know. I guess I'll have to study multiple zello instances again... Thanks for all the information.

[@FrugalRadio]

I am currently running an AirSpy R2 for the higher bandwidth. Am going to experiment with an SDRPlay RSP1A as well.

[@sm3shg]

How do you route the traffic from SDR Sharp to Zello? Do you need any inteface or is it just done with SW?

[@FrugalRadio]

Software. I use the free VB Cable application. vb-audio.com/Cable/

[@brazoon1]

SDRSharp works well for me but this makes me want to explore the other options.

[@FrugalRadio]

There are certainly many software options too choose from. Enjoy exploring!

[@erlendse]

For RTL-SDR-R820T2; you may want to check the latest (v3.x) of QIRX. They have had great progress at estimating input power into the tuner (r820t2). You get a scale based on absolute power instead of ADC full-scale, thus you know actual signal strength. Other well known reciever doing that would be sdrplay with sdruno (scale in dbm) at a higher cost.

[@FrugalRadio]

Thanks for the info!

[@erlendse]

@@FrugalRadio I hope I am clear about what feature I am refering to? You can also change the sideband of the tuner itself, it may help in images/noise mitigations. It's not generally known that the hardware have that function!

[@FrugalRadio]

Yes, you are talking about features I have never needed/ used on the Airspy. It is always good to learn more about its capabilities.

[@erlendse]

@@FrugalRadio I think you may be mixing up my comment on two different videos. Here: QIRX allows a bit more control, give it a try. It may help where you are checking weak signals near very strong signals. (rtl-sdr) QIRX also allows you to get absolute meassurements instead of all relative even with AGC on. (rtl-sdr) The video about signal distrobution: My comment is about using airspy as SDR & buffer/"splitter" to get one more connection to the antenna. It really looks like you could have a use for that. (airspy) I can share pictures of the mod, sharing links in the comments is ok? I have asked them for a loop-trough output on the rtl-sdr blog dongles, but I have no clue about progress or if it will happend.

[@FrugalRadio]

Ah, I think I did mix up the comments. Sorry about that! I have the QIRX download, but haven't played around with it yet.

[@nickaxe771]

Hi...if I get myself an RTL-sdr dongle.....will I be able to down load and use SDRUNO with it. I cant tell if a purchase is req.....just trying to find out what I need. Love your videos by the way. Nick 2E0LPL

[@FrugalRadio]

SDR Uno is freely downloadable. It is primarily designed for use with SDRPlay devices, but can be made to work with regular RTL-SDR devices as well. www.sdrplay.com/you-can-use-sdruno-with-an-rtl-sdr-dongle-new-video-guide/

[@nickaxe771]

@@FrugalRadio Thankyou so much....

[@jeffchapman605]

Hello, Is there some way to get SDR# to stop crashing? Maybe I should say, some easy way without spending hours sifting through forums and blogs and the endless stream of guessing which goes on in those places? For example: I start it up, navigate to a frequency, listen a bit, hit the stop button and it dies.

[@FrugalRadio]

Unfortunately this has been a very common problem for many SDR# users. It might be worth checking the new versions - there have been several updates recently. It may also be worth keeping a non-crashing older copy on your computer. That's what I do!

[@jeffchapman605]

@@FrugalRadio Thanks for the quick response. One of the things I don't like about Windows is troubleshooting things like this are so hit or miss. One more question: On Airspy download, they have "Software Defined Radio Package' as the first selection then there's "Community Package with Plugins". I get the impression that the first is the official distro and the later is actually a slightly older version loaded up with a bunch of plugins. That sound correct. Thank you too for taking the time to put these videos together. I know it's no small task but your effort is appreciated and you seem to provide just the right amount of detail.

[@FrugalRadio]

Appreciate your comments Jeff. The Community Package is being updated frequently right now. If you join the developers mailing list you'll be able to keep abreast of the latest changes. Just today the developer sent out emails regarding updates to the Community Package. It seems it is somewhat supported officially.

[@jeffchapman605]

@@FrugalRadio Hello again. Looks like I will stick to 1732 a bit as that's the last one I found which doesn't crash. Are you referring to "gnss-sdr-developers list" on Sourceforge?

[@FrugalRadio]

Hi Jeff. 1732 was a stake version, and the one I use most as well! The group I was referring to was groups.io/g/airspy

[@sleezylink9136]

I’ve tried 3 different antennas and my SDR will not pick any signals at all 😞

[@FrugalRadio]

Did you ensure you turned up the gain? Some software sets the gain to 0 on first start up.

[@Hunator]

Hi first of all thank you for making useful beginner guide to SDR. Would you also include SW for Linux command line? I'm looking for a way how to make recorder of Air band transmissions for my local airport (for case of mishap investigations and quality control). Something capable of making audio streams (either local and network) ideally with playback feature to allow playback missed call sign. I'm planning to use RPi 3 or 4B as platform. I would also like to combine it with ADS-B and OGN/flarm receiver to make virtual radar of near by traffic. Do you have any suggestions? I've been looking on RTL-SDR for audio and OGN part and Flight Aware Pro stick for ADS-B part. Do I need separate dongles for each parts, or can I reliable use just one RTL-SDR for all of them? I'm interested in frequencies of 120 MHz, 848 MHz and 1090 MHz, with VHF air band receiver antenna in close proximity of transmitter antenna (possible cross talk).

[@FrugalRadio]

Hi. You are welcome for the videos! I'm sure there are several software packages that you could easily run on a command line to record airband, however this isn't something I have ever tried. I know of a packaged called RTL-SDR Airband which is highly configurable (github.com/szpajder/RTLSDR-Airband/wiki). You would find some more software in some of the Linux Distros geared to SDRs. I have recently started experimenting with DragonOS. Many of the packages could be run on a Pi I'm sure. As for using an RTL-SDR, you would be limited to around 2 MHz bandwidth. If your airband frequencies all fell within that, you could record them simultaneously with just one device. Otherwise you might want to consider devices with greater bandwidth. In terms of adding ADS-B, you would need separate dongles for that. I have used a FlightAware Pro stick for many years, and have never had issues with it. The further you can have your receive antennas from the transmitter, the better. If you decide to use a Pi, it can be remotely run. Perhaps if it could be installed on another building you would save yourself some trouble. Depends on how close the antenna would be to any transmitting devices, and the power of the transmitter. You may also be interested in the following article that was posted on the RTL_SDR blog. www.rtl-sdr.com/using-a-kerberossdr-to-monitor-air-traffic-control-voice-ads-b-acars-vdl2-simultaneously-on-a-raspberry-pi-3b/ Frugal Radio :-)

[@Hunator]

​@@FrugalRadio Thank you for a reply and for pointing me RTLSDR-Airband it might be the thing I'm looking for. I've also looked at KerberosSDR and variant of using it for direction finding (DF) seems also interesting (providing QDM/QDR could be useful). Only down side seems to be a price. What I've found it costs roughly 10x more than RTL-SDR dongle. So if I would like to do DF, I would get KerberosSDR, if not then I would probably stick with 1 or 2 RTL-SDR dongles and FlightAware Pro stick plus with external 1090MHz filter. Thanks again and keep up a good work. :-)

[@justincase3880]

SDR# keeps crashing whenever I try to change the the config (gear icon) .. yes I stop the radio...

[@FrugalRadio]

First thing I would check are your plugins, if you added any to SDR#. Another option would be to try reinstalling SDR#, or installing a different version (i.e. the one without the community plugins, or an older version). I would also be tempted to reinstall the RTL drivers using the batch file and run Zadig again if the above don't solve the problem. It's also worth trying a different USB port, and after that a different PC if you have one available.

[@TRUMP_WAS_RIGHT_ABOUT_EVRYTHNG]

Had the same dang issue. Now using SDR v3 not sharp

[@FrugalRadio]

Make sure you give the newer version of SDR# a try as well. There have been several new releases since this video was published.

[@justincase3880]

Unplugging the SDR dongle before stopping/exiting the program prevents crashing ...