The Hobbyist's Guide to the RTL-SDR: Really Cheap Software Defined Radio

This is a great place to start learning about sdr. It has tons of information and projects, but nothing too in depth. I find myself skipping around a lot, based on what seems interesting. You might out grow this pretty quick once you start specializing, but I think it will always have a place on my shelf because its a great starting place for most projects the sdr can handle.

The book is well written and guides you through the many uses of SDR. It even shows you were to go on the SDR blog website to download the RTL2832U drivers and SDR# program for free from AirSpy. Just note though the author assumes you are somewhat handy with electronics and a computer. Good reference.

Although I've not yet implemented any of the information in the book, it seems to be clear enough and full of information, including links to get the software needed for each kind of usage. Why not five stars then? Because the field of SDR is growing and changing so fast that no print document can stay current. I got the downloadable version and there's supposed to be a way to contact the publisher to get the latest update, but it seemed to me there could be a way to assure that the one I bought was the latest--I'm not sure and haven't gone to the trouble to contact the update source.

The book was well packaged and is a must have for SDR newbees.

I think this book should be called “The Missing RTL-SDR Manual.” It explained everything I needed to know in order to make my SDR dongle work, and this was especially important because the dongle came with absolutely no instructions. After covering the basics with detailed but simple written directions, screenshots, and a troubleshooting section (which I needed), the book goes into more advanced topics such as receiving digital communications from airplanes, tracking aircraft, displaying live images from NOAA weather satellites, using the Orbitron satellite tracker program, receiving images from the Meteor-M N2 polar orbiting Russian weather satellite, receiving and decoding weather balloon radiosondes, etc., etc. There is an antenna guide, an audio piping guide, a general frequency guide, a section for radio astronomy enthusiasts... The list goes on and on. If there were a Pulitzer Prize for easy-to-understand, useful, and complete instruction manuals covering a wide range of topics for beginners, I think this remarkable book would win it. The author, Carl Laufer, is to be commended for his truly excellent work!—Joe Benson

Complete information on RTL-SDR. Contains all information needed on getting an RTL-SDR working. Very detailed. Highly recommended. If you’re installing RTL-SDR get this book

Not really a beginner’s book but not too technical either. A very useful book to use as a guide to find information that will let you go as deeply into SDR as you want.

Having been a radio and computer hobbyist for decades, I have just one excuse for not getting involved with software defined radio until just now: I never came across this book until just now. Carl Laufer has created a phenomenal compendium of relevant and useful information about SDR that would otherwise take days, if not weeks, of Web surfing to uncover. Reading this was like discovering a new planet. Too many wonderful topics to describe here, but a brief scan of the TOC should give you a good idea of the vast wealth of information contained within.This book is worth every penny you pay for it.

This takes a novice through the whole set up. It is well illustrated. Of all the books on the subject this is the best.

Boek bied mogelijkheden en uitleg voor werking RTL SDR doch weinig info RPI en deel achterhaald voor software

A very good starter guide to Begin with SDR

Excelente información sobre SDR en todos los campos de aplicación

The content is really good. I just really dislike the fonts, the formatting and editing. Its just not really book quality but feels more like reading one of those xeroxed highschool readers. Its not a pleasure to read because of it. They should hire a pro editor/distributor