V3 R860 RTL2832U 1PPM TCXO HF Bias Tee SMA Software Defined Radio with Dipole Antenna Kit

I am not new to Radios, I knew what I was getting into. I know that prior to year 2012, A Software Defined Radio (SDR) such as this one reviewed here were certainly not for general public, as they were considerably more expensive. In the last few years however there have been a ton of development activity in the field of Software Defined Radio (SDR), soon after it was discovered that a un-seemingly simple "DVB-T" dongles based on the Realtek RTL2832U can be used as a cheap SDR.Since that Realtek branded chip allowed transferring the raw "I/Q" samples to the host, which was used for DAB/DAB+/FM demodulation based on the Realtek RTL2832U chip now could also be dialed into frequencies well outside their advertised ranges. Thus, what was designed and sold as a simple device for watching "Digital TV" on your computer could now be turned into a full fledged "radio" capable of receiving frequencies anything between 64 MHz to 1700 MHz with free open source software.Fast forward few years more into development, This current RTL-SDR Blog Version [V3] R820T2, RTL2832U with 1PPM Temperature compensated crystal oscillator [TCXO] & HF Bias Tee for providing power to Low noise Amplifier, Software Defined Radio dongle can now tune from "500 kHz" (Medium Wave (MW) & Long Wave (LW) Radio) up-to 1.7 GHz and upwards. The dongle has up to 3.2 MHz of instantaneous scannable bandwidth while "2.4 MHz" being the most stable on most computers.The RTL-SDR project has become the Radio tinkerer's “first step” for someone looking to experiment with radios. It’s cheap, it’s easy, and since the hardware is incapable of transmission, you don’t have to worry about having a HAM radio license to use it. You can however listen to, decode and scan all the frequencies (Works as an excellent frequency scanner) by pairing with capable software on most personal computers. The official software called as "SDR sharp" from "Airspy" is free and there are also several other capable SDR software one can use with the dongle (Like cross platform SDR++) which passionate developers have been making for the community.Installing the software for using RTL-SDR Blog Version [V3] USB dongle while might be relatively simple for tech savvy persons still remains mostly complicated for average user, that certainly needs to be addressed going forward. Especially the manual method of injecting the right USB drivers using a third party "Zadig" software and relying on various add-on libraries and Microsoft .NET 5.0 32-bit redistributable installed to use SDRSharp.Thankfully, there are other several developers who have taken this to next level by having the whole package preconfigured and ready to use using UBUNTU (LINUX based) .. Check out "Dragon OS". DragonOS which is a Debian Linux based operating system that comes with many open source software defined radio programs & additional decoding software pre-installed that takes all that driver installation requirements seen on windows based PCs totally seamless. Also, I found out that same DragonOS can be installed "alongside" windows if needed for a much seamless operation. Or you can just create a non-persistent "liveCD" environment using DragonOS and boot off USB stick to test it out.Bottom-line: The product reviewed here is an excellent value package, reasonably priced and has all the necessary accessories to get you started into Software Defined Radio (SDR) world. In my humble opinion it is worth more than 5 stars..Five stars rating. Happy scanning!

I already own an RTL-SDR, one of the first versions, but this one is better for a few reasons.First off, it covers a wider chunk of spectrum. The originals covered from 24 to 1850 MHz. This one extends down to 500kHz, giving the entire shortwave spectrum and the AM broadcast bands. Second off, it upgrades from a free-running crystal to a temperature compensated crystal. These are more precise; it's within 1 part per million, while the others are probably within 25 and drift around more if their temperature changes. What that means in practice is that when you enter a frequency to listen to, you're going to be much closer to the frequency with this one than with the first generation. At 1000 MHz, you'll be within 1000 Hz with this one, so you'll hear and understand the modulation; with the first style you can be 25 kHz off; if it's narrowband modulation, you won't even hear it.A really useful part of this well-thought out kit is the telescoping (changeable length) antennas it comes with. With no fussing and fighting, you can shorten or lengthen the antennas to receive everything from around the FM band up to its frequency limit. They're too short for a shortwave antenna, but just add more wire to the ends of the telescoping antennas. The old rule of thumb for beginning shortwave listeners to "put up as long a piece of wire as you can get, put it outside and put it as high as you can put it" is absolutely true.If you're looking at this review, you're probably familiar with the world of these little radios. They're based on a TV receiver chip and give you a good starter kit to get into hundreds of radio specialties. None of them equal the performance of a professional level receiver, but they're amazingly useful little radios to have around. And the high quality receivers are going to hundreds of dollars and even thousands, not this kind of price. For most of the problems that these are prone to (overload from a local FM radio station or other broadcaster is the big one), there are patches and workarounds. In any radio, being able to listen to a weak signal close in frequency to a strong signal is what separates the great receivers from the not so good ones. At the risk of sounding pompous, let me say, I'm not just a lifelong radio hobbyist, I used to design those professional receivers for a living.For a few bucks more than the bare bones radios you can get from other folks, this one is a step up and well worth the out of pocket expense. Once you get the radio, there's a world of software to experiment with and much of it is open source. You'll learn more of that at the RTL-SDR blog website itself.

The unit arrived today. packed in a small box. There were NO instructions save for a tiny piece of paper with three web sites on it where documentation could be found. Apparently, this saves them lots of paper.If you follow the instructions (which are not very clear to someone who doesn't know how to deal with computers and drivers) it will install easily. It runs from a software console program (downloadable from the website) called SDRSharp (SDR#). It is a full-featured console that has a fairly steep learning curve and a dearth of instructions on how to use some of the features. Being software, you can't really HURT the USB device, because it seems to ignore instructions it doesn't like/understand coming from the software.The supplied antenna system will work adequately on UHF and VHF frequencies (FM Radio, 2M Hams, Aeronautical, etc) but for HF operation (which requires altering some buried settings -- the guide can be read on-site as well) you need to connect an outdoor antenna. If you have a multiple-band ham antenna, then you're set. A long wire (long as you can make it) and a tuner will work well, too.The on-screen tuning requires some mental adjustment as to how it works. Seeing a short-term signal pop up and getting the cursor to it takes fast-acting reflexes. If you're into SWL (Short Wave Listening) this receiver is great, providing you have the antenna for it. HF bands are teeming with AM stations from around the world. At my location (Dayton, OH) WWV on 20/15/10/5 Mhz comes in fine at various times of the day.Only 4-stars as it could really use a decent manual to accompany it