Three Minute Thursday - Shortwave/HF with RTL SDR

[@Sagart999]

K5AKG here. After watching your first video on SDR, I dived in. Waiting on Amazon right now. Thanks. You and HRCC are to-the-point and easy to watch.

[@TomtheDilettante]

Thanks for watching and for the kind words! 73!

[@lezzman]

Your SDR videos have brought me to the verge of tears. Wayyyyy back in the dark ages (2013) I shelled out AU$800 for my Uniden Trunktracker IV Digital scanner. Now comes along this $40 dongle that puts my scanner to shame! Ah, well. Back to my ultra-modern computer running Windows 3.11 😝

[@tallyjbud]

So many answers I've been searching for, in 3 minutes!! Thank you from a nube..

[@kasualskeptik2584]

Awesome video... Story: When I was 12 (a long time ago), I took my portable radio (with HF band) camping, and my older brother showed me how to improve the signal with a 100ft extension cord tied to a tree. I just jammed a bit of small wire into the end of the extension and wrapped the other end around my radio's whip antenna.. (Of course make sure it's not plugged in at home...!! ) Wow, what a difference that made, and I could pull in so many foreign stations, until he told me to turn it off and get some sleep ;-) Make sure you disconnect your Long-wire antenna when the weather starts to look stormy, as the antenna can pickup static in the air and fry you delicate RTL dongle. Also, if there's a lightening strike nearby, that power may travel up the Long-wire, into your shack... Adding lightening protection is a good idea, if you plan to leave it up permanently.. Also setting the direction of your Long-wire perpendicular to the signal you want will also improve the gain... As Dave VE7HUN says, adding a BALUN (a 9:1 transformer you can make yourself), will also give you gain... (VE2DHT)

[@ekimp252]

When I was about 12, my lineman cousin ran a piece of wire up a tree outside my bedroom window for me. Hooked to an old Sony shortwave I was able to pick up stations all over the world.

[@kasualskeptik2584]

@@ekimp252 Those were the glory days of shortwave radio, and we were fortunate to have grown up during those times..

[@KarstenJohansson]

When I was a kid, I had a smallish radio that had a couple of SW bands. I used to spend hours at night finding "stuff" like the atomic clocks, spy number stations, very distant radio stations, etc. But my antenna were just the ones built in. So I guess you can still find a lot with just that. But I did discover touching the antenna to my bed frame made things super clear lol. Fun times. I think I might have to get an SDR!

[@TomtheDilettante]

LOL! I can totally see touching the antenna to the bed frame working, followed by eyebrow raising wonder at what just happened. Sounds like a fun part of childhood!

[@mpatrickthomas]

Thanks!

[@nohrtillman8734]

Bummed when I saw you highlight the “V3” was required for HF activity. I had packed mine back up after only getting commercial FM radio. Pulled mine back out of the box, and it turns out I have a V3! Yay! I also have a crap load of fiber optic bury line left for scrap when my 1G internet was installed. Finding this video just now, I think you have given me an Easter weekend project. 🙂

[@mjodr]

OMG, I just realized I have an awesome run of unterminated fiber optic tracer line in the ground. I need to hook up to it ASAP!

[@skykingimagery899]

Short and sweet. The Antenna is everything.

[@robertklinger2000]

Always enjoyable Tom! Keep them coming! Very cool with the SDR!

[@IntoTheWild70]

I took some bundled solid copper wire (similar to cat5) and strung it outside the window to my roof peak. I slit the shielding then cut each wire to 36, 25, 18.5, 14.5 and 12ft respectively. This covered 40m band to 15 respectively. Then 10.5, 9, 5, 2, 1.2. This covered 12m to 1m bands. Each strand acts as a tuned antenna for that particular wavelength. And because the wires are bundled it holds them all together.. Let me tell you it's great!

[@TomtheDilettante]

Very cool. Did you have to fan them out or just kept them bundled?

[@IntoTheWild70]

@@TomtheDilettante together in the original rubber shield. Just little cuts in shield to snip that particular color.

[@dronepilotflyby9481]

@@IntoTheWild70 That is a really cool idea.

[@dronepilotflyby9481]

Being new to this I have a question about how all the strands connected back to the SDR. Were all of the ends soldered together to the SMA cable or did each strand connect to an input of a switchbox so only one strand at a time was active?

[@IntoTheWild70]

@@dronepilotflyby9481 it was explained to me that due to the wavelengths it was ok to have 12 to 25 on the same connection. Was suggested you put a switch on the box for the 36 and above. I forget the specific wavelength #s off hand. But basically they will overlap and cause signal loss around the 25ft mark.

[@lithinm1998]

The increase in quality of reception with just that wire is insane! Great work! 73 VU3EVY

[@mwjii]

Holy crap that was pretty good, nice easy antenna

[@sentul5558]

Excellent short video. Concise and to the point. I have come to the conclusion that it is not just the antenna but also the location. Where I live (not so far from Jakarta) I get loads of RF interference from overhead power lines, some out of phase along with phone and battery charges and WiFi chargers, etc all intefererring on HF. A while ago we had a power cut at 10pm local and WOW ! ..... I could pick up radio HAMS in Germany, Portugal and Corsica some 8000 miles away.. I did not have time to set up an RTL or my SDR Play but at that time used my Tecsun PL 365 which has excellent LSB and USB, they were talking to each other and stations in UAE and South Korea .... everything was excellent reception.. (I use a DIY Home Brew Magnetic loop with Variable Capacitor) .... As soon as the power was restored I lost all reception... So I have a serious RF Interference problem here for sure. Given that, thanks to your video above (and a few others showing how to set up SDR# and HDSDR I have this little dongle performing quite well, (Given the RF interference I am getting here). Many thanks once again ....Excellent little video, no problem being short ..it is the content that matters. 🙂 (edited for typo)

[@jaym1301]

I wonder if that's my problem in the Philippines? I've been using my SDRPlay RSP1A with an active loop antenna to try to receive messages from airplanes on HFDL frequencies but mainly just get them from nearby aircraft in SE Asia. When power was out after typhoon Rai/Odette I was picking up WWV and WWVH quite well, also the BBC World Service at night on my Tecsun PL-310ET with the wire from a little reel antenna (Tecsun AN-05) connected to the radio's whip antenna. Now that electricity's back I only hear noise on the same frequencies. The electrical cabling's very bad here anyway and even worse after the typhoon.

[@sentul5558]

@@jaym1301 Very likely, I think . I lived in RP for 4 years or so from around 2000 to 2004 and the mains wiring and supply there was the same as here in RI. I wasn't using radio there so much but if you add that to the household RF generated by chargers and WiFi we now have HF really gets interfered with and you will be pretty much in the same boat as me ....so to speak.....I can easily get the BBC from Kranji and other stations etc on HF along with loads of other AM stations along with CNI and CRI blasting away but the Radio Ham and other SSB and CW signals totally get messed up. Try waiting for a "brown out" at night ( used to happen often when I was there :-) ) .. and see what you can get ... Try the HAM ban on 20m .. 14 Mhz ... you should gets some signals at night there in RP

[@sentul5558]

PS ... Try making yourself a magnetic loop ... That is what I use here for HF ... Easy to make if you can pick an old radio Variable Capacitor up. You'll need a capacitor that goes from 40pf to 700pf or so and a loop 2 to 4 m in length of wire. I made my first one from 3m copper piping in a circular loop and connected it to the variable capacitor with one connection from the capacitor to the radio antenna .... Loads of info on here on them and easy if you are ony Rx .. Worth a try, I think. IMPORTANT ....PS again ... you do not need the pick up coil most and expensive VC ( most show on here) if only for receive ... you can connect an old radio tuning capacitor direct to the loop. Google Magnetic Loop Antenna ...

[@tooshieg2059]

"Let's get right to the chase!" Love that.

[@johnthomas3897]

So happy I found this video! Short, Simple and tons of great information. New subscriber for sure.

[@M81_WOODLAND]

I've been goofing around with my RTL SDR and CubicSDR on my Macbook. I haven't been able to recieve jack squat for SW bands. Now I think I know why, probably need a MUCH longer antenna and change the sampling rate like you said. Thanks for making this video.

[@edwardsbarbara25]

Very interesting to me. Love the just get it done with what I have attitude

[@nextellcup8]

that’s one of the reasons i subscribed to this channel. 👍👍

[@charleswoods2996]

He strikes me as someone that could've been a software designer/salesman with a salary and commission/Navy Seal Sniper. His appearance and voice and demeanor seems like; "I'll kick your ass, and make you feel as though you should've paid me to kick your ass!"

[@braydonmartin4951]

Great video Tom. I tried my rtl sdr with a spare cb antenna I had clamped to my gutter. I turned the included extension into an adapter with some random hardware, and bam, I had 10 m/cb freq’s on sdr. It’s not the greatest, but it’ll do what I need it to do. I may try the “long wire antenna” you showed in your video too.

[@BernieT2122]

Gutters are hit or miss. Some hams LOVE the gutters, other don't have as much luck.

[@ve7hun]

Great post, Tom! Using an SDR to chase DX on HF is one of the great pleasures of life as far as I am concerned. Way more fun than spinning a dial, which I did for 20-odd years. And you are so right that it doesn't take much. If you get a small 9:1 impedance transformer (unun) for your wire outside you should see even better results. Keep it up! de VE7HUN

[@rolandkeith5322]

A top video on the RTL SDR

[@prof.hectorholbrook4692]

Excellent information for me to use as a novice. Thanks.

[@TomtheDilettante]

thanks! glad it was helpful!

[@MountainMan7.62x39]

Bro, that was a great video. Thanks.

[@stanleyarokianathan]

I like it very much. Short and precise.

[@mrchaparro8168]

I like the updates you give us. Yes still want to see more updates

[@buzzsah]

I may have stated on another vid that I bought the SDRplay 2 and for the money, I think the little USB like you have is just as good.

[@dw.7655]

Very good Tom, keep it up. Got mine installed and learning how to use it, Thanks, Dave

[@k5edd128]

Smiling! Thanks for the video, been thinking about getting one for a while but haven't pulled the trigger on one yet. 73

[@goldni4429]

Great video!

[@moviestudioland]

very useful. thank you. I just bought an rtl-sdr for HF!

[@nextellcup8]

hey Tom , i made a very simple dipole, from the 1:9 balun i went 16 feet one way , 16 the other way. ive picked up New zealand and im in Alberta Canada . Iv picked up other countries too but that was the furthest one yet . its amazing what you can listen to very cheaply. Im ordering my basic ham study book soon. Any chance you could do a video showing basic gear to get a new ham up and running? every ham youtube channel i’ve seen have a ton of stuff . it’s something that’s kinda put me off in the past thinking man i don’t wanna spend that kinda money to see if im going to enjoy the hobby. i think a video like that may help others thinking of getting into it . Just a thought. Thanks Tom 👌👌

[@MrJackal43]

“Furthest one yet….” Ahhh, isn’t that as far as you can go, other than like the Moon or Mars? 😝

[@jgaffney6]

Thanks Tom very informative keep em rolling

[@bobwong8268]

👍👍👍👍👍 Thank You Very Much. Exactly what I needed to know about receiving HF signal: shorter antenae might work but longer ones btw 2m to 25m is better. Wonder if my window frame could become part of the antenae? Thanks again!

[@joshkirkby8103]

So I really like how you make things easily understandable but still for the life of me I can’t fully wrap my head around radio stuff. I would really like to know more but all the technical jargon goes over my head and even when I learn it I find that I have no clue what I can and can’t do and what radio would be best for me. Do you have any recommendations for a place to look or just advice on a good radio setup for a beginner who primarily would want it for practical purposes like info during disasters or communicating while shooting/camping/quad rides etc.

[@BryanDaniel42]

check out the Ham Radio Crash Course channel.

[@nohrtillman8734]

Well, no shortwave yet, but your long wire video did inspire me to give the RTL- SDR another go. Loaded HDSDR this time and have success with local FM, APRS (144.390) WX (162.550) and a couple 70cm Amateur repeaters. Zero AM broadcasts, so more yet to learn. All part of the fun, right?!!

[@bodazaphfa]

Great video!!!!

[@ecospider5]

Now that’s cool. Makes me want to get my ham license.

[@Saber341]

I tried this with the dipole that came with my RTL-SDR and was disappointed that I wasn't having similar success. Later on I tried connecting the long wire to the other element of the dipole and it made a HUGE difference. Not sure why... Perhaps someone can explain the science behind it. Hoping to see more RTL-SDR and HF vids from you!!

[@RecoilRabid]

One side of that dipole that comes with it is connected to the center conductors while the other is connected to the sheathing. If you take off the small rectangular piece opposite the side of the cable connection you’ll see it. He even covers it in his original RTL SDR video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nmXbaJZ9drGUeZo

[@RecoilRabid]

One side of that dipole that comes with it is connected to the center conductors while the other is connected to the sheathing. If you take off the small rectangular piece opposite the side of the cable connection you’ll see it. The side that probably performs the best is the side that is connected to the center conductors. He even covers it in his original RTL SDR video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nmXbaJZ9drGUeZo

[@mjodr]

@@RecoilRabid Thanks for the clarification. That was one of the first things I did when orienting the dipole. I made sure the center was up. Now I know if I extend just the center I should do better on HF!

[@robinsattahip2376]

Thank you

[@MrJackal43]

Very cool man!

[@mjodr]

When you alligator clipped that long wire onto the stock antenna, did you have the bottom of the dipole extended also? Can't see in the video.

[@dawtrek1656]

Very nice!

[@TitusandTesla]

Can you make a video on how to Chan get the serial number when running two rtl sdr? Thank you

[@maxclark11]

What about the V4 dongle, any better

[@DD-lr6ne]

This is great. I have a long wire 166' and I can't hear anything....ever. I am so frustrated!!!!!!!!!!

[@johnfnielsen5068]

Can these be used to receive trunked EMS, FIRE, and Police channels???

[@philipstimpson3241]

Do I need to purchase sharp software

[@mpatrickthomas]

On HF 10 mhz to 30 is daytime and below 30 after sundown.Also I saw on SSB in America everything must be USB.I always had luck even picking up HF fax from Japan here in Missouri with just a 50 to 100 ft long wire made of speaker wire thrown up in a tree and clipped on to the antenna on receiver.I have been listening to shortwave since 1990 and SSB digital freqs for 25 years.Have owned cheap shortwaves ranging from 20.00 all the way up to 900.00 sets.If there is absolutely no way to put outside,make a giant loop antenna in your place.Just tack the speaker wire to the 4 corners of your wall and it makes an excellent high power,low noise antenna.I could easily pick up Andrews Air Force Base again,from Mid Missouri.

[@dado9383]

did everything exactly but it didnt work :/

[@francescopiccone3769]

Very Nice ...thanks

[@austinthornley1272]

Do you attach the clip to just one leg of the telosping antenna? Does it matter which side you clip it to?

[@TomtheDilettante]

The telescoping antenna just threads onto the SDR dongle with a single connector. I had just attached the alligator clip with the long wire to the end of the whip. I may not be understanding your question right as there was no "side" per se to choose from. Sorry if I failed to answer your question. Otherwise, I hope that helped.

[@k_meowington]

Hi, does this software work on mac? If no, could you recommend a good software like this for mac ? Thanks

[@ryantrumble4582]

do you need to ground the setup?

[@chilskater]

can ww see ur antenna again?u use supplied antenna and use aligator klip from the long wire to supplied antenna?u pulled whole length of the supplied antenna?

[@CalebKennizzite]

Improvise…Adapt…Overcome!

[@debojitacharjee]

How the RTL 820T2 receives shortwave radio station frequencies if it has a frequency of 20 Mhz to 2Ghz? I want to receive stations of MW as well, is that possible?

[@jimmooter]

Right now I use a long wire inside my Apartment for my shortwave radio,will that work?

[@winstallation]

It should work, yes

[@williamwiese9963]

Great video sir!! Just bought the same kit lots of options for tuning. Can you make different videos on settings for the Rtl-sdr and antennas running sdr sharp? Keep up the great work, subbing to your. Channel

[@rlmartin58]

can that sampling setting be changed in the android app

[@georgessamara5592]

I have exactly what you have and i can see the signals and activities but I don't hear voices. (I can on my hand held). so there are activities.

[@rlmartin58]

check the modulation am or fm ect it may be set to off that the problem i was having

[@pilotboy]

does the wire thing work on the dipole included? 73

[@graphguy]

Crap that is amazing the wire was able to do... uh but what an antenna but wires? Do you get NOAA? I get noaa on all my radios but can't get it on my new dongle. So far I can only get FM music stations

[@TomtheDilettante]

If you're getting local FM stations, you're not far from NOAA frequencies. Check around the following frequencies for the various NOAA channels if you haven't already: 162.425 MHz, 162.450 MHz, 162.475 MHz, 162.500 MHz, 162.525 MHz, and 162.550 MHz.

[@alangiles4616]

I like this - practical and concise. I'd prefer it without the music myself.

[@sunk583]

you can listen online thru internet

[@TomtheDilettante]

yes, this is true. And there's quite a few cool sites to do so that I've enjoyed. What appeals to me about this device is you can listen independent of civil infrastructure. No need for internet, wifi, cell signal, etc...

[@gerardolebron8838]

Put the link for the 16 gauge yellow cable

[@TomtheDilettante]

honestly, this was just some 16ga wire I had laying around in the shop. Stuff I typically pick up from an auto store or a home improvement store as needed. For receiving, any wire should do..doesn't need to be 16ga. Would suggest starting with something between 20ga - 14ga if for no other reason than ease of use.

[@jacquesredmond]

A challenge for you. Can you display ALL frequency bands simultaneously... one monitor or multiple... is it possible? (Without having an RTL-SDR for each band.)

[@TomtheDilettante]

Good question. It's my understanding that the answer to this question is "no" due to hardware limitations. The maximum bandwidth is ~2.5 MHz dictated by the supported sampling rate. Would be cool though, but alas I believe with this device we're limited to viewing discrete chunks of the radio spectrum. Hope that helps! Source: www.rtl-sdr.com/about-rtl-sdr/

[@spockbetter]

three minute thursday?? THIS WAS FOUR MINUTES AND TWENTY TWO SECONDS!!!

[@gerardolebron8838]

The wire across your yard.. Mind blown

[@TomtheDilettante]

LOL. I didn't expect it to make THAT big a difference, but it really did for shortwave receiving. The dongle's capabilities are limited in its own right, but simply changing the antenna this way was night and day from my experience.

[@W4TRI_Ronny]

WWV All the time....ALL the TIME!

[@tribulationcoming]

Thanks from a radio nut. N5QDN/

[@prestonclark9563]

Like the simplicity of your video not over anyone head

[@TomtheDilettante]

Thanks! That's what I was going for :)

[@ericmoeller3634]

spoiler alert i have one and it dose work really well

[@randysmitchell4810]

Think even lower - like below 20Hz - submarines transmit down there.

[@MidlifeRenaissanceMan]

You’ll need a multi turn tuned loop antenna to work down there. There’s a historic Swedish station that broadcasts CW on 18KHz every so often

[@hj45lp]

Not 20Hz, but 15-40 kHz. In that band there are numerous naval transmitters around the world, whose signals can be picked up by submarines “towing” a long wire antenna. Signals in those frequencies travel very long distances in what is called the Earth-ionosphere waveguide. As a side effect, space scientists use these signals to study the lower ionosphere and space weather.

[@MidlifeRenaissanceMan]

@@hj45lp I would just be happy if I didn’t have S7 noise at my QTH....and that’s on a good day. Going back to the magnetic loop development

[@wesleyoliveira6570]

UwU

[@kevindown1592]

Speaking of shortwave radio, the BBC has been broadcasting its news on shortwave for 90 years. Back when the sun never set on the British Empire expatriates used to get their news solely from this source. My father’s family used to listen to it in Japan. It’s a fun thing to listen to if you do setup an antenna to receive the signal. The service originated as Morse Code which I believe has been discontinued. That was a fun way to practice listening to prepare for a ham license that required Morse Code. I’ve included an article on it’s anniversary back in 2012. www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17155441

[@elwinmehlbrech6135]

So, other than cost, what is the difference between the SDR Short Wave/HF RTL package and this one: ColibriNANO SDR-based Receiver www.gigaparts.com/colibrinano-sdr-based-receiver.html

[@jaym1301]

The RTL-SDR Blog v3 dongle's ADC (analog to digital converter) is 8 bit so it has less dynamic range and doesn't receive weaker signals as well. But for less money you could get the excellent SDRPlay SDR1A or the Airspy HF+ Discovery for $129 or $169 respectively, both of which offer a higher ADC bitrate and have lots and lots of internal filters and much better specifications than the Colibrinano dongle. The RSP1A is good for 1KHz up to 2GHz so you can even receive satellite transmissions with the proper antenna while still giving great performance on HF, while the Airspy is engineered to give you the very best bang for your buck for HF (shortwave) and below reception with users stating that its performance is as good as a communications receiver costing ten times as much.