Listen CB Radio on an SDR with SDR++. Easy Software Defined Radio antenna. RTLSDR

[@faustobarbuto]

I followed your instructions and for the 1st time I listened to a ham radio operators' conversation in the 2-metre band!!! I have no words to express my gratitude to you! They were two operators in my area, one in my city itself and the other one in a nearby town. Thank you very much! I will save your settings for future signal searches. Yet I believe that a blow of luck helped me. I cannot see any other signals in the band right now. 2-metre seems not to be too popular in my area. But I will keep persuading. Also, I think I should buy a better antenna (encouraged by the success). Thanks again! 📻🎧

[@tunedsignal]

SDR is amazing. I am glad I could help... Be sure to stay tuned for the next mission. If you know anyone else who might be interested in SDR.... Share the video with them. Regarding CB Radio... You will need to set Q branch for the RTL-SDR V3 but I do not believe you will on the V4. Ill test and verify that tonight.. What signals will you be tuning next?

[@faustobarbuto]

@@tunedsignal Right now I'm listening to another ham radio transmission in the 2-m band. All of a sudden, signals began to pop up - this time at 147.21 MHz. I think I will spend some more time on the 2-m band. Next endeavour will be... air traffic band, maybe? This one will be a challenge. This city has an international airport with several daily flights, but so far I haven't tuned anything (I tried, believe me). Also, I realized that SDR++ is the right software for me. I have other programs installed (gqrx, CubicSDR, etc), but none of them seem to be so friendly and configurable. I will look for a better antenna, too. I'm looking forward to more of your videos and I will not hesitate in contacting you should any new questions arise.

[@ahumeniy]

Used to do CB radio when I was a kid with a vehicle transceiver used in house. Being able to "see" all the channels at once with a computer looks awesome.

[@tunedsignal]

Indeed! One of the most useful things about Software Defined Radio is being able to see a signal on another frequency visually. Hang on for the next mission... I think you will DEFINITELY appreciate it.... 160MHz incoming

[@RunScared]

My word, this video is fantastic! The world of SDR just went pop for me. Thanks for being awesome.

[@tunedsignal]

Welcome aboard agent. .. SDR is very exciting. I look forward to sharing more details with you. 13.56 MHz

[@kgabris3387]

You forgot to mention that many of those strong signals are illegally using power amplifiers. Legal transmitter output is 4 watts AM and 12: watts SSB. At night time when the noise floor is is much quieter is when SSB shines for CB and ham. The s/n ratio is increased and to hear those weak stations you simply crank the volume. Horizontal polarized antennae also reduce the the noise by increasing the s/n ratio. I believe CB radio will get popular again. It has a unique charm to it that online chat doesn't have. So easy to meet up with friends for coffee building face to face friendships vs.sitting at home all night in your pajamas. SDR is great! Essentially a wide range - all mode receiver for a fraction of the cost of a tabletop shortwave or scanner. Remember every band you monitor ideally requires a tuned antenna as the author of this video has illustrated for us. Enjoy? 73's (salutations)

[@tunedsignal]

Wow! that's interesting... I did not know there was a difference in output power between SSB and AM. Thanks for the reply!!

[@Sp00nxl777]

Thank for this video! I'm very new to all of this. Most of the other videos don't show the exact settings to use. Great job on explaining things. I didn't even know there was an up or a down on the newbie starter kit dipole!

[@tunedsignal]

Hello, I am glad the video was helpful. If you have questions post them here. I have new videos coming, there are some interesting things happening.

[@TRUMP_WAS_RIGHT_ABOUT_EVRYTHNG]

Are you using sdr#? If you're not getting many signals with your sdr RTL go into settings in sdr# I think it's the radio or source menu and click on Q Branch. It's automatically on quadrature, when you switch. To Q branch holy moly it opens up so many more frequencies. I think people use those HAm it up devices to access more frequencies. All I know is when using q branch I get way more signals in Short wave , CB, like hundreds of signals from all over the world. Lots of people yelling about Jesus 😂

[@michaelgardner2332]

Hey there! Just subscribed. I felt that I should mention/ask about the dipole orientation. Im new to SDR but I saw a video a while back ( I can provide a reference if necessary ) where the guy says that the grounded wire is the one with the clear coating on it, and it should be facing the ground. What is mentioned in this video makes more sense to me, as I work on electronics in my spare time ( also Chemistry ) and a lot of the times the grounded wires are bare metal. So I wonder which orientation is correct? Great work @tunedsignal Hope you will be making more videos soon.

[@tunedsignal]

Stay tuned.. I have something for you. The antenna orientation is can matter when you have weak signals... You *could* when elevating the poles vertically alternate them and notice a little difference. Others have mentioned it doesn't matter... I'll have to reach out to an electrical engineer in radio. Thank you for the compliment.

[@MorrWorm8]

Bro, I finally finally found a channel that is worth it’s salt! I will be sharing this everywhere. Definitely ready for the air traffic episode.

[@davidrichter9164]

Anyone using the word "bro" is not worth anything, nevermind salt.

[@MorrWorm8]

@@davidrichter9164 yeah bruh, no one uses “bro” anymore. That was definitely sooo 2 months ago.

[@tunedsignal]

I got you bro, bruh ... brohem...

[@2222-s8x]

Explained perfectly. great video Can't wait to get my hands on one of these sdr

[@tunedsignal]

Thank you. When you get your SDR.. you will have your first mission. The significant skill you will have will be calculating and creating your own antenna. This can be applied to ANY frequency. With a little digging you'll find other variations of the calculation for certain situations. Interesting note. There are frequencies that are easily monitored with an SDR. Know which, how and when are important. Stay tuned for an upcoming video on this subject.

[@vh5785]

This was great! This really helped me configure my 10 and 11 m sdr antenna set up. Sadly, its pretty hard to scan and listen in Alaska. This really inproved my reception. Keep it up!

[@tunedsignal]

It's great to hear of your success Are you receiving distant signals ? Thanks for tuning in. More to come

[@vh5785]

Weird. I got old Bob hope re-runs between channel 16 and 15 on usb. Aiming north. It was cool and nostalgic.

[@tunedsignal]

I wonder if that was some sort of headphone transmitter.. Keep us posted. Would love to know what it was from.

[@TRUMP_WAS_RIGHT_ABOUT_EVRYTHNG]

Get yourself one of these $35 and maybe boost those weak signals you're just missing . Nooelec Lana - Ultra Low-Noise Amplifier (LNA) Module for RF & Software Defined Radio (SDR) with Enclosure & Accessories. Wideband 20MHz-4000MHz Frequency Capability with Bias Tee & USB Power Options

[@tunedsignal]

just seeing this.. Do you have one? Does it work well?

[@martydouglas1802]

dude. My city Rochester. I don't know if your out this way but you are well versed in this stuff. Thanks for all this info. I downloaded the files after the other Sofware left me scratching my head.

[@tunedsignal]

It's been a minute since I've been out your way. Last time I was there I was near Kodak... Are you all set? Hopefully you were able to tune into some signals. The big thing is to start with the defaults, them make small adjustments. A lot of people make a lot of changes and get stuck, not realizing they changed something that wasn't clear would make thing confusing... You got this... If things start to seem to not work... you can backup the SDRPP folder and then delete the config.json file. when you restart SDRPP it will create a new one with the default settings. There are also some other files that save settings... If people need that info .. I can create anther video for the missions.

[@anthonyglaser929]

thanks for posting this video. I'm an sdr noob and this was big help.

[@tunedsignal]

Thanks for the compliment. Glad to be able to bring this mission in SDR to you. Soon enough.. you wont be a noob. You'll see what others have not, can/will not do. Be sure to watch the videos closely... Lots of people miss some... detail. ;) Thanks 161MHz is nigh

[@mjodr]

Wow, awesome video. I was a truck driver years ago so when I tuned into the CB band I was wondering why it was dead silent. Nice antenna setup.

[@tunedsignal]

Thanks! I went out and bough the Lil Will antenna and it was good.. but It really need a good and large magnetic ground plane. When I built the antenna with the balun (which probably should be a 1:1 instead of a 9:1 I was impressed with the difference of the amount of signal I could receive. Once you learn how important the antenna really does matter and you apply it... It really makes a big difference in what you can receive. So yes... you to noticed how silent it was.. Secret... In my tests since that video... You can use the kit dipole and some wire (on both poles) to extend that antenna to the same length and get similar signal strength. Then you don't need to get a balun... ;) Also... you can use two trees and string to elevate the antenna ti avoid the light stands... I wanted a portable anywhere option. Thanks for the compliment!

[@mjodr]

@@tunedsignal I'm looking into baluns right now. Yesterday I "extended" the center conductor of the dipole with ~30 feet of wire literally just alligator clipped to the stock dipole leg in a 45° angle between vertical and horizontal and just laid the wire across the ground. Was able to pick up lots of 40 meter and 80 meter long distance signals and some on other bands. It was cool!!

[@tunedsignal]

@@mjodr yep! If you can elevate that 10 ft you'll get a lot less noise. My alligator clips seem to disappear... I wonder if other people are trying these tips....

[@mjodr]

@@tunedsignal Yeah I'm trying to figure out how to get it in the air. Plus I live in an HOA so I'm doing this indoors lol. It's still fun despite being the worst conditions haha

[@tunedsignal]

@@mjodr I understand the HOA. That's why I made the antenna with light stands that I could raise and lower. Setup takes about 5 minutes. Ya ... You will get a Gigantic jump in signal when you get your antenna outside and away from the house. Even if its only a few feet away.

[@oleverX5]

thank you i like it i got SDR RTL usb today 🔥🔥

[@tunedsignal]

Glad I could help!! Let us know what what you plan to tune into!

[@frequencywatchers]

GOOD VIDEO ! Seriously, Really Good Video For Begginers , You Can Always BUY Things To get Better, But making Them Makes It Such A Good Hobby To Chase, Radio Is So Cool :)

[@NGV-SF5]

Keep it up bro we waiting for the next!!

[@tunedsignal]

Slow coming... But its almost done.. after some changes some contacts some setbacks I have something for everyone. ... One of a kind... complete with nuggets if you know what I mean... 8 months in the making.. (while working on other missions) I have to keep thinking.. I think I can.. I think I can... I think I can.....

[@UDX-21]

I need to get an SDR for my Old Radio Night show. Thanks for the video. I hit the thumbs up

[@tunedsignal]

Thank you! SDRs are great fun and very useful in skilled hands. Tell us more about the Old Radio Night show. 13.56 is near.

[@UDX-21]

@@tunedsignal Old Radio Night Live on 21 S.C. You Tube channel, each Sat. 8 PM EST. I have a different older CB Radio that I show and talk on to locals and DX on CH12 (home) and other channels as needed. Join in the chat area. We will be glad to have you as a special guest, and put your channel on the Shout Out Wheel. 73

[@tunedsignal]

A collaboration sounds intriguing

[@aa3dz]

Great videos! Looking forward to more.

[@tunedsignal]

Thank you for the compliment.. They really let us know we are on the right track. Stay tuned in to see the next mission. Final pieces are coming together.

[@snakezdewiggle6084]

There are websites that have Solar Activity charts with Forecast of upcoming conditions effecting Skip, distance, direction, channels / frequency, etc. Antennas/Antennae. a lot of ppl talking bout EFHW end fed half waves. So instead of the 2 halves of a dipole, just one. I use an inverted V dipole, and a cross between inverted L and wondering long wire. Always fold over the last 3 to 4 inches of the wire, it will lower the noise-floor, and reduce the chances of lightning strikes, not perfect, but does help.

[@tunedsignal]

This is great info. I am familiar with one or two solar activity sites... but would love to know of others. Share your favorite. Also do you have any recommended antenna websites? I'd like to dig into your design. Oh.. More ppl should be into CW. Its literally fly around us. - .- -.. .-

[@1953Greyfox]

Lots of Good info in this video. Thank you

[@tunedsignal]

Awesome. Im glad you were able to gain some insight from this mission... More to come soon! Stay Tuned!

[@michaelnoardo3315]

as i could undestand for the 11m, basically each one of the wires got around 5.3 meters right ? in the end of the day the 1/1 not 1/4 antenna would be the size of the WAVE right ? like to RX 20 meters i would have 2 wires of 10 meters each

[@krisraps]

What A Wonderful Video @ Detailed Explanations And Clear Language, What A GREATT VID ! 599 73

[@tunedsignal]

Thank you. We have another one coming out but .. who would have expected the strong interest in the channel. I hope you subscribe get on the train for upcoming videos. 161MHz is the next stop

[@ON5ALE-Alessio]

Beautiful video. ❤

[@tunedsignal]

Thanks for the compliment and for tuning in! Stayed tuned, another mission will be available. Look up! :)

[@chipmcbride7138]

how does one creat a JSON file? interested in one for the Family Service and GMRS...I have all the freqs...just unsure of how to create an importable file to label them all at once

[@tunedsignal]

Thanks for reaching out. Its not straight forward.. I can tell you that!! You pretty much have to enter them manually in SDR++. There are several parameters for each entry; channel name, bandwidth, frequency and mode. How many frequencies do you want to at to the JSON? Tune into the signal

[@chipmcbride7138]

@@tunedsignal thank you for the response. I will do some research on the JSON file creating....but, I know how to add them manually. Always learning. Thank you for the video

[@tunedsignal]

@@chipmcbride7138 Hey.. I wanted to know the parameters so I could give you pointers. Let me know.... The signal... its... Its right there.

[@chipmcbride7138]

@@tunedsignal no worries. I found a tutorial/guide for creating a file that will work...

[@juancarlosbarroso7728]

How did you attach the wire to the balun?? And also, did you use a preamp for this??

[@tunedsignal]

The balun has two holes for the wires to go in... There is a spring loaded button that you press which open the holes on the end. The spring button when release pulls the contactor to the wire and holds it pretty snugly. Note a 1:1 balun would perform better. Thank for watching... Stay Tunned

[@robertmoody2221]

Thank you so much for the video very helpful .

[@tunedsignal]

Thank you for the compliment. Software defined radio is amazing... More to come... Stay tuned!! We're getting ready to take off!

[@peterpokstefl213]

I'm not young anymore, I wanted to buy a walkie-talkie for twenty years, I didn't do it until today. And I come from Eastern Europe, the former socialist bloc, where we searched for Western radio on medium and long waves. I also missed CB around the year 2000, it's a shame, it doesn't matter... But I've currently bought a lot of devices, after all, radio is actually everything, WiFi, Bluetooth, 5G, 4G, 3G, 2G, actually all wireless communication. It's a great, great hobby..... ☺️

[@bhamptonkc7]

The antenna telescopes so you can tune it, the mag mount couples to the metal to give you a counterpoise

[@tunedsignal]

Yes. I was thinking about getting a good loop antenna.. One of the challenges I have is getting above the noise floor. I am currently testing in a low area. This lower area requires a more elevated antenna. I'm open to any recommendations for a new loop antenna to test . Stay turned... There are some unique missions coming...

[@Panakotta000]

Great Video and informative. I'm new to the whole radio stuff and did some basic stuff with the starter kit like NOAA APT signals, ADS-B and Radiosonde... I also were trying to receive CB unsucessuflly, so maybe this video will help me with such. (I Guess I have to by a balun) Recently I'm trying to build a 70cm Yagi Uda antenna out of some thick wire and a wooden stick to receive some sattellite communication, I was able to get some signals especially from RS-44 and the Tevel sattellites, but most other sattellites I dont get any signal, or just sometimes some bursts... I've also read about digipeaters and packet radio, but so far were unable to receive any packets. I now build my second version with some alluminium pipe and a pvc pipe, and also adding a 2m band yagi uda, I'm hoping for some better signals then. But this antenna should be just as sutable for terrestrial signals right, do you have some ideas/tips on what to look for in this band... as its rather larger compared to the RTL-SDRs tuned band... which makes a "just glimpse at it" approach rather difficult... Anyway, keep up the work! Its a nice cut, you get the information you need, and not much unecessary stuff, right to the point... which is quite different from the videos of other creators, as they seem to have a rather "conservative" approach on presentation... but yours are quite mordern, with sketches, real footage, and a "arc" of "what a beginner would do" to "what you should try next" in a logical sense... without just saying, "well the dipole in the kit is shit, dont do it, instead, buy this hefty antenna" or "you gotta buy all this fancy gear to DIY your anntenna", its grounded and easy to understand for beginners... I'm also always kinda confused about people saying "go buy a proper radio and start talking", 1. no license, no talking, duh... 2. "buy a proper radio" its expensive, and often tailored for a specfic use case, isnt that the nice thing about an SDR, we can pretty much decode anything that happens in radio waves, and the RTL-SDR is very cheap, allowing for beginners that just want to "test the seas" easily come onboard, rather then having to buy expensive gear beforehand to try stuff, and check if they even like it or not >.> Can't wait for more content from you ^^

[@tunedsignal]

Thank you .. You're in the right place. The next thing is if I could get everyone to see the extras that are right here. SDR is a gateway to signal analysis and other skills outside of voice. I have something you will appreciate. Meanwhile, you can try without the balun and use a toroid. That's a ceramic semi-metallic ring that you can wrap the wire around several turns to help change the signal before it gets back to the SDR. It will do ok in a pinch... Without the balun.. Be sure to ground well. The first three videos cover a lot of the important basics. Your next mission... I believe it will inspire you to seek the unknown. After all.. most of the signals out there are not voice....

[@Channel19ukfmstories]

Very informative ❤❤

[@tunedsignal]

10-4 Good Buddy! Stay Tuned for a new mission.. Have you ever noticed the local transmissions around you?

[@raylowe3324]

Great video. You actually don't want to use the 9:1 balun with the dipole. A dipole as is is close to the impedance you want without the balun. In this case, you should use a 1:1 balun instead.

[@tunedsignal]

I have since learned this... It's a bit embarrassing now... But What I have learned since is a 9:1 is good for a long wire with HF. The reason why it worked on was due to signal strength.... That said.. This is why I take a lot of time to make videos... Researching my assertions... Oh... Yes I can spell resonant and know the context of resonance ... Eek.. Sorry for the typo everyone...

[@JohnUsp]

Thanks, very good explanation.

[@tunedsignal]

Thank you. Stay tuned. Ive got something pretty different coming soon! What SDR do you have and what do you listen to? Tip: Grounding is very underrated.

[@Playerpool]

why did you get the v3 model instead of the v4 ?

[@tunedsignal]

I created the video before the V4 was released... I have 4 V3s The V4 is better for lower frequencies, but has little lower signal strength than the V3.

[@Playerpool]

@@tunedsignal i bought the v4 because i wanted to hear the lower frequencies. i already decoded noaa apt signals and got a nice image for a first try.

[@tunedsignal]

There ya go! I need to compare the v4 to some of the gear I have....

[@MrIMacro]

Nice. Could you please make a detailed video on how to make an antenna like yours.

[@tunedsignal]

Sure what additional detail would you like? I have all the footage from the build, but shortened the antenna build part of the video. (I thought people might be bored by it...) But I'm glad to hear you wanted more details!!)

[@MrIMacro]

@@tunedsignal i want to build an antenna rather than buying a new one. So is it just hanging a cat 5 Ethernet cable on a steel rod? And how to connect it to the rtl sdr dongle ?

[@tunedsignal]

@@MrIMacro I understand. I'll create a full build video. The basic steps for the build are as follows. Measure a of length of CAT5 wire for the appropriate lengths that you're trying to tune. Use the antenna calculator to determine how long the wires should be. Be sure to include an additional inch... You will trim later to the proper length after stripping the wire. Strip the cat 5 wire to expose the internal twisted-pair wire. Then untwist one of the pairs. (This takes some time). Once the twisted pairs are untwisted then you should trim it to the correct length for that frequency and strip the insulation off of one end of each wire. You'll be connecting the wires to the SDR with a balun that's indicated in the video. You will also need an adapter to connect between male and female SMA connectors. Check the links in the video description. You'll insert the stripped ends of the wires into the plug holes on the balun. Once this is all set up you're going to need to elevate the connected wires and the balun. You'll need the SMA extension cable for the SMA connector to be able to connect the balun down to your SDR . In my build I've used 3 stands to elevate the wires but you could use two trees and some string to connect the wires. You do not actually need the center light stand to elevate the balun. It can hang freely if you have it taunt. Once connected.. tune in and enjoy. What's great about this field is you can build an antenna for varying frequencies just by using a different calculation with the antenna calculator link in the description. It should be noted that speaker wire would be a lot easier to use because you don't have to go through the untwisting part. But the braided wire in speaker wire is much thicker and won't fit into the balun. Also.. I'd recommend a 1:1 balun if you can find one. Also.. there are baluns with screw posts that may be easier with speaker wire. 😉

[@MrIMacro]

@@tunedsignal Thanks a lot for the fast and detailed response.

[@drakeblackk]

I have a large GPE27 antenna just installed it, not perfectly but i can see that there are activites on channels, but i cant hear anything, and setting the mode to AM instead of usb/lsb, makes it worse. I mean, i cant even hear what they say, but on AM its just noise.

[@tunedsignal]

OK now we're getting somewhere. First... We need to check the settings for audio at the bottom. SDR++ has the ability to listen to multiple channels via sinks. Take a look at my video on tuning into trains for additional details. Let us know what you find out.

[@drakeblackk]

@@tunedsignal I was able to pick up some noises with SDR++ and Sharp too, but not really useable stuff. In theory i didnt changed anything, but i will take a look again Thanks

[@tunedsignal]

Plug in your SDR and connect an an antenna. Start with FM radio That will be 88MHz -107.7MHz Be sure you are entering in the right number of digits so 103.7 MHz will be 000.103.700.000 You'll know you are in the right range if you see FM Broadcast in the FFT (the top middle part of the window with the peaks of the waveforms. If you don't see the labeled blue band AND you are in the right range.. make sure you have USA band plan selected and enabled in the Band Plan group on the left menu) You will need to set your modulation to WFM make sure squelch is NOT checked in fact the only thing you should have checked in the Source group will be IQ correction and in the Radio group select WFM as indicated above and NOTHING else for this test. From there move up to 117-128MHz Switch to AM in Radio... you should be able to hear Air Traffic control and aircraft communication. You can adjust your min and max ranges on the right so you have a nice royal blue.. lower your min value so the area in between the signals (your noise floor) is low-ish. You want to see.. I typically have the lowest part of the noise touching the lower line above the frequency labels below. The max slider increases the height of the peaks. I adjust it so I see a tiny bit of red.. a VERY tiny bit. Those are my preferences for looking at the waterfall... Others Max an min to their liking... bu you definitely need to get the noise disply under control so you can see signal and tune properly) OK OK Wake up!! Sorry for the long post... (ha) Let us know what you hear!

[@drakeblackk]

@@tunedsignal *First of all, i just wanted to say that im from EU, so a couple of things are different, but i have all the EU CB channels and stuff :) So, i tryed ++ again, but i cant hear anything but noise. Only works on phone, but im from PC now. SDRSharp works, i can hear FM, even romanian one now haha😁 A couple of air traffic too, so its working thats for sure. On CB channels i see a couple of powerful red lines, but however i change to AM-FM-USB, i cant hear anything. There are some rare really powerful ones i can hear, usually from the another side of the world, like how CB band travels to us :) But not the others sadly. In theory, someone used FM from around 20-25KM away, but i heard nothing, usually thats a distance where i still supposed to hear that with a long GPE27 antenna like mine. Thanks very much for helping:)

[@tunedsignal]

@@drakeblackk Ironically I was going to mention the odd vs even number for the FM range.. What version of SDR++ and what OS do you have? It is in the top menu bar of the SDR++ window.

[@faustobarbuto]

So far, this RTL-SDR dongle has been the fastest and most effective way of wasting my money in exchange for disappointment. I wonder whether I should shell out an extra $$$ on a better antenna. Or if there really are 2-metre ham radio operators in my area (Curitiba, Brazil). The fact is, I can't hear anything but the regular, commercial FM stations I don't give a damn to. I just tried the little rascal (the dongle) in an open area where radio signals would potentially hit the antenna. No joy. I _knew_ I would be a bit out of luck with regard to the CB, although my city is crossroads to four important highways (truck drivers usually like CB), but no 2-metre (or any other) reception was a killer. Colour me frustrated.

[@tunedsignal]

Let's get you a new tuned signal. Check out 147.000.000. That's 147 MHz a local echolink repeater in your area. I am not sure how far away you are from it nor detail.. but, let's start there. You will want to set SDR++ settings as follows Starting from the top (with default item order) SOURCE Make sure your SDR is detected. When you press refresh you should be able to see your SDR Sample rate can be set to 2.048 MHz Direct Sampling should be disabled Ppm correction 0 Bias T unchecked Offset tuning unchecked RTL AGC checked Tuner AGC checked IQ correction checked Invert IQ unchecked Offset mode set to none Offset 0.0 Decimation none RADIO Modulation set to NFM Bandwidth 15000 Moving further down make sure squelch is unchecked for now I have noise reduction unchecked Low pass unchecked High pass unchecked When you press the play icon the triangle up at the top you should hear static adjust your volume if you don't hear static or people talking To the far right are three sliders Make sure that zoom is at the very bottom of the slider Adjust Max to be just enough to increase the signal so that it is a yellow ish color and maybe a little bit of red Additionally adjust the minimum so that you have some blue but not totally black The settings can be based on preference as they are related to the amount of signal that you receive and noise that you have in your area Hopefully you'll be lucky enough to hear a transmission from someone nearby or through EchoLink let us know what you hear also check out repeaterbook.com for additional frequencies that you can tune into. Let us know how things work and stay tuned for more.

[@faustobarbuto]

@@tunedsignal Many thanks for the detailed instructions! I will definitely let you know about the results. I'm having a domestic problem these days, but I will try your settings as soon as everything stabilizes here. I won't give up (now). I assume you live in the US, where there certainly are a _lot_ more ham radio operators than the ones down here. This is another issue. I believe that ham radio transmissions have gone out of favour in my country. I can tell by the very few transmissions I listen to through a WEB SDR site. It is likely that I'm not capturing any signal because... there is none in my area. What's strange, as my city has ~2 million people. _Someone_ should be airing _something_ .

[@faustobarbuto]

@@tunedsignal PS: I would have tuned any repeater in my area... should one exists. Since I'm particularly interested in 2-meter transmissions, I've scanned this band thoroughly and carefully many times.

[@tunedsignal]

I do live in the US. The main reason I selected that frequency is it connected to Echolink (a network of repeaters worldwide). It will more likely have someone talking as the repeater is connected to the internet and other repeaters. Repeater use is sporadic and other repeaters may be active at different times. You will have to try different times to learn more about other frequencies in use in your area. Thanks for your post and reply. They let me know I'm helping.

[@faustobarbuto]

@@tunedsignal You're definitely helping. In my case, you've been instrumental in the success I achieved so far. I watched several other videos but none helped. But only when you came up with a tailored recipe things began to work for me. I believe that there are no "generic" instructions that work for whichever band one wishes to tune. May I suggest you to record videos with detailed instructions like the one you gave me for each band and transmission type (FM, AM, LSB, and so on). Or am I asking too much? 🙂 I have a fairly good knowledge about what repeaters are and how they work. Incidentally, I have just tuned one. There was no conversation, just a recorded voice message announcing the repeater so that operators could identify it. I caught the message near to its end. It is transmitted periodically, each 10 or 15 minutes. I have also caught some CW (Morse) activity. All this in the 2-m band, obviously.

[@jaypee902]

For those wondering, the downtown area with the waterfall shown at 9:10 is High Falls in Rochester, NY. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pGTbY3ekqd9pe80

[@pedrocx486]

RTL AGC is recommended to be kept off by the manual if you’re controlling the gain manually…

[@tunedsignal]

I did not see that exact detail, but Ill follow up with the SDR++ developer. Are you referring to Tuner AGC? Thanks for the insight.

[@clutch5sp989]

Breaker ONE NINE...you got the clutch NBound 75 we slipp'n & gripp'n grind'n & find'n 10-4

[@tunedsignal]

Hahaha! Welcome to the mission! Tell us what SDR you are working with good buddy.

[@clutch5sp989]

@@tunedsignal Right now, I'm reviewing the options. Almost ordered a $$scanner$$ but came across an SDR usb-shtick to do the same thing I wanted. Very small town here all authorities use FMN (analog?) being very curious to all the drug busts and other dopehead things that go on around here. Setup & programming RTLSDR doesn't look complicated actually may be a fun challenge...10-4

[@tunedsignal]

@@clutch5sp989 It will be fun... Check out the other vids (specifically the one on trains) you probably have train coms to... I heard some crazy stuff a while back. New missions coming .. were just getting started here. Stay tuned good buddy!

[@LordHog]

Great tutorial

[@tunedsignal]

Thank you. Its honestly amazing the support and appreciation I have received. I never expected it. It takes more time than I anticipated to create this information and I hope everyone is getting all the information provided. Next up (a change in plan) 161 Mhz

[@tunedsignal]

Questions and thoughts? Post them here. If you have any tips, let me know.

[@wu3705]

a suggestion. never coil up your coax. not while it is in use anyway. if you coil up your coax you'll get signal loss across the wire. if you coil the coax around a metal object such as wrapping it around a metal antenna mast it will cause even more problems. has to do with induction and what not. I'm not an electronics instructor so I suggest research into this. thanks for the video.

[@tunedsignal]

You know... YOU ARE SOOO RIGHT. I never thought of that. I do know coiling is a way to lower noise so that makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the tip!! Stay Tuned... I have a new mission coming soon. Stay Tuned!

[@tunedsignal]

Note: CB Radio skip is variable and does not function the same continuously. It varies in strength and distance based location and solar activity.

[@cybersean3000]

Your description and use of that device is all wrong.

[@tunedsignal]

Thanks for the insight. Let me know where I went wrong.

[@niniksuryani8294]

Problematick ozoon ,for elefen m band ,to atmofird

[@tunedsignal]

Let me know how I can help. Setup tune receive

[@basketballjones6782]

Use a 1:1 balun. A 9:1 balun is very much the wrong thing to use.

[@tunedsignal]

Hello. You are very correct. I have recently tested with a 1:1 and there is a difference with lower frequencies. At 27 MHz.. the difference was not as apparent.

[@krisraps]

Did You Know : With Old Cat Wire You Can Make MultiResonant Band ANtenna? I Have One Long Wire ANtenna, BIts Something Stupid, I Cant Recall Over My head Now, But Its There,. Get It? :D Naah, It Was Like 30 Meters Long, Its Up In My Attic And My House Middle It Splitts Appart Into Dipole, One Side Goes To The Attic End And Ends There With Coil And Other Side Goes OUT The House And Down To The Fence , I Soldered The Copper Wire To The Fence And Put A Pully On The Whole Wire .. I Can Film It And Show How It Looks AND It Easily Picks Up 20 Meter Band, 40 Meter Band ANd Even 80M Band And All The AM Stations I Can Get Where I Am... In Attic i have THICK THICK Copper Wires, But Outside I Have One Strand Of Copper Wire, Not From Stranded Copper Wires, But A Thick One, But Not As Thick As Inside Of The House For Settle Effect, Btw I Get Florida Many Times At Contests, Like, A Lot of Times I get Florida :)

[@tunedsignal]

I'll look into this .. If you have links let us know

[@johncrouch8988]

Forget the sdr, just buy a radio 📻, get set up and start talking! Not ham! That’s no fun. You find more ham users on 11m through the summer than on their frequencies. They should have to sit a test to go on 11m and pay for a licence. They don’t even know the 10 codes! Duh!😳

[@tunedsignal]

Having a radio is a great way to jump in and listen. I can't disagree. An SDR is a cheap way to step in the cb waters and learn a lot. What radio do you recommend for someone who is new to cb radio on a budget?

[@Gw0wvl]

Music 👎👎👎

[@tunedsignal]

Hello, sorry you didn't like the music. I include music to keep the mood upbeat and engaging. Also with music the videos don't sound like a lecture or news program. Stay tuned! I hope the content was helpful.

[@Shuxrat-ey8lr]

​@@tunedsignalfs

[@tunedsignal]

@@Shuxrat-ey8lr fs?