2021 SDR Guide Ep 12 : SDR Theatre fail with my AirSpy R2 and RTL-SDR dipole kit

[@ALSNewsNow]

As somebody who's been a professional stage manager at several venues for over a decade (but also a scanner), thanks for not posting the actual audio of comm chatter or hot mics. You could literally ruin careers, or cause huge "personnel" issues. I know that our calls and comments were sometimes downright naughty at many of our shows. I will add that *most* of the newer high end (tour and install) Shure mics and ClearCom (headsets) have moved to digital encryption....for exactly this reason

[@FrugalRadio]

Yes, I've heard plenty of 'naughty' comments over the years. Actually makes attending shows more entertaining ;-) But yeah, I think it is important to respect privacy and not broadcast it all over the web!

[@hamrad88]

Another awesome video by you. I don't recall if you have done a video on just what can be found out there as far as Utility station on the SW and VHF/UHF bands. That would be a great video. Thanks and Happy New Year.

[@FrugalRadio]

Thanks @hamrad88! Yeah, perhaps next spring or summer I'll do something like that.

[@EverydayJ1786]

Very interesting video ! I've never thought about listening on those frequencies ! Happy new year !

[@FrugalRadio]

And to you sir!

[@danedewaard8215]

Very interesting! I never thought about intercepting the crew and actors at a theater! Thanks for the video! I hope your Christmas was merry and wish you the best for the New Year!!!

[@FrugalRadio]

Thank you Dan. Best wishes to you too!

[@RadioRake]

Enjoyed this very much, haven't tried it myself but am now tempted. I have done similar things when on a ship cruise although it will be a long time before that happens again. Thanks Rob!

[@FrugalRadio]

Yes, cruises would be a fun place to pick up radio mics. So would places like Disney...

[@chris_dixon]

Great video. Always amusing to hear the #fails, we’ve all been there. A very happy Christmas and new year to you.

[@FrugalRadio]

Thank you Chris!

[@olivierconet7995]

Super interesting and well documented. Thanks !

[@FrugalRadio]

You're welcome!

[@MatthewJohnCrittenden]

Happy New Year to you too! That will be the closest I get to a theatre for a while too thanks to the current tyranny here in Queensland :D At least I can get SOME entertainment with my SDR!

[@FrugalRadio]

Interestingly the theatre shut down a few days later and didn't perform the remaining Christmas shows. But like you say, we have SDRs to keep us entertained! Stay well!

[@0.0-v7z]

I did this at churches you can hear them singing without the music lol

[@FrugalRadio]

Great! I was going to try parking up near a local church during their Christmas production, but they didn't run it this year!

[@Wayne-Pr]

Great video as always Rob. Another interesting place to find your self is near say a busy airport there are heaps of low power simplex & duplex both Analouge & digital to be heard from all types of people tjat work at an airport. I say near because with the environment today not sure I'd be gain to try it in an actual airport not sure how long you would last unless you were very covert about it. Wishing you & your family a very happy & safe new year from Melbourne Australia. Look forward to your future videos as always. Rgs Wayne.

[@FrugalRadio]

Oh, I have some fun airport monitoring stories! Good to hear from you Wayne.

[@RardSFX]

Great video, I've happened to have an sdr with me on a few film sets and it always got me wondering if journalists ever try this to get gossip on actors and upcoming movies. I often see wire mesh holding soundproofing insulation to the walls in stages and wondered if this is an attempt at blocking RF. At those high frequencies I guess you'd need a pretty good directional antenna to pick anything up from outside the studio.

[@FrugalRadio]

I never been close to a film studio, so it would definitely be interesting to see what was in use there. I think they might use more overhead / boom mics than wireless for film work. I have received RF at TV studios though. Primarily presenter cordless mics. During live slots you'll often pick up IFBs as well. These channels are very interesting as you are effectively listening to the production team giving cues and directions to presenters. Occasionally at outdoor broadcast events you'll pick up the Director calling shots and issuing instructions to camera operators. It's all good fun!

[@RardSFX]

@@FrugalRadio they do use boom mics but i can absolutely confirm that any actor with dialogue will also be miced/miked..I've almost exclusively seen sennheiser body packs. In the UK I've found them around 620-680mhz. Also production often have an audio monitor channel so the director etc can hear a live mix and playback from the video assist, I've found this on ~216mhz. I'm afraid I don't know what an IFB is, can you explain?

[@FrugalRadio]

Very interesting Gerard, and great to know! Thanks for taking the time to share. IFB = Interruptible FoldBack. It is generally a feed of production audio being sent to a presenter's earpiece. The director / producer can speak over the audio to pass instructions, timings and so on to the presenter. Often found in UHF 455-456 MHz region. Generally quite low power as well.

[@paulstringer7083]

What is the beat SDR to get for monitoring VHF & UHF Divital plus 4 digital radio & TV Audio?

[@FrugalRadio]

Honestly, I'm not sure when it comes to digital radio & TV. I have only monitored digital radio once I think, but have never tried digital TV. That said, SDRs were originally designed for that very purpose. Many of the generic ones are branded as digital radio & TV receivers. As for which is best for that purpose, I'm not entirely sure!

[@ralphthebrick]

would a Hack RF with Portapack have worked in this situation ? Very informative as always.

[@FrugalRadio]

Absolutely. This would have been an excellent use case for a Hack RF in a Portapack!

[@TitusandTesla]

Wow your videos are amazing. So awesome to learn such great information.

[@FrugalRadio]

Thank you. I appreciate the positive feedback.

[@dipendraraikut]

Next time please 😃😃😃 be prepared and visit as I would be interested in finding more about the low power repeaters they use. Anyways informative content...

[@FrugalRadio]

He ha, I'll see what I can do. They've all shut down again locally, so might be a while until things open up.

[@buyidaho]

Great video, over 20 years ago, I worked in the casinos in Nevada, and used to listen to the wireless mics and instruments in the parking lot with my portable scanner just above the 174mhz range. Used to also listen to the fast food drive thru. Was wondering if you ever tried to listen in on any of the fast food joints. I have my first rtl-sdr v3 dongle coming next week, they finally have them back in stocks on Amazon. Been watching your videos in preparation. Have all the drivers and software installed on my computer and phone. Been listening to web sdrs for a couple of years now

[@FrugalRadio]

I'm sure you'll have a ton of fun with your v3. What you can accomplish with them is nothing short of amazing. Add to the drive thru radios, a lot of those seem to be FHSS in the 900 MHz band, or digital modulation on DECT / Wi-Fi / 5GHz frequencies. As a result I have never been able to monitor them here in Canada despite several attempts in the last 10 years.

[@KarlWitsman]

Kudos to your effort and I hope that you eventually warmed up.

[@FrugalRadio]

Ha ha, yeah I did, cheers. Although outside temperature was 10 degrees cooler than that last night, at -35! Back up to -24 today.

[@lambdaprog]

Happy New Year! I always wanted to do this!

[@FrugalRadio]

Happy New Year to you too @prog

[@wooferhound7571]

Most professional wireless mics transmit the audio on 2 frequencies simultaneously. This is called True Diversity. The wireless Receiver will always switch to the strongest signal providing another level of redundancy.

[@FrugalRadio]

Kind of. They only transmit on 1 frequency at a time. True diversity means having 2 independent receivers. The electronics switch to the receiver that has the strongest signal at any given time. This really helps take care of issues like multipath distortion, or blockages in the signal path.

[@thewind-ne8rh]

good video my friend , and a Happy New Year to you and yours

[@FrugalRadio]

Thanks. Same to you!

[@eonrucm]

I really enjoyed your video, it brought back memories of people calling the police on me when I use to do similar things. Well done and all the best for the New Year!

[@FrugalRadio]

Oh, that sounds like an interesting story!

[@eonrucm]

@@FrugalRadio No not really, had it a few times, man on his own listening to emergency services, he would have to be a lookout for his criminal friends. Since I started using SDR's a man on his own with a laptop must be looking at inappropriate content. Had people come up take photos of me and make a scene calling the Police. It's amazing when I produce my Amateur Radio or Ham license and see the confused look on the Police officers face as they don't know what the official document means and call for advice. It happens some people are very narrow minded.

[@FrugalRadio]

Gosh, that does sound rather narrow-minded indeed. I'm sorry to hear it has gone that way. People are strange! I think I've aroused less suspicion with a laptop, but I have had the RCMP called on me in the past. Thankfully I heard the dispatch call, so o just packed up and left before they arrived.

[@eonrucm]

@@FrugalRadio I'm not surprised, our emergency services are fully APCO25 Encrypted. Even the local government entity bus service is running encryption as required by the privacy act to protect children.

[@FrugalRadio]

Funny thing is that it was the local airport security who called the police. The security were enc, but the police weren't at that time. Now they all are 😒

[@fernandoblazin]

can you make more of these types of videos at different types of locations, i was thinking being an uber driver would be good because you get to move around alot which would be good for wardriving and sdr goodness

[@FrugalRadio]

I can certainly try. What other kind of venues do you think would be interesting? Yeah, doing Uber wardriving would be entertaining & informative!

[@buyidaho]

I agree this was a great video, would love to see more types of videos like this. But hopefully there is warmer weather for you in the future. I used to enjoy listening to the fast food places, especially the private conversations the workers had among themselves, as they talked about the customers.

[@FrugalRadio]

There is something fun about eavesdropping ;-)