Cheap Fun with the RTL-SDR

[fgentges at mindspring.com]

I picked up an RTL-SDR at the Timonium hamfest for $20 and found it was 
most useful.  It was originally made to tune European TV and seems to 
have been made in the millions.  As good AMRADers we enjoy using them 
differently from the original design.

Essentially it tunes from 60-1700 MHz when plugged into my notebook 
computer on which I run the software SDR#.  On further search there is a 
bunch of data out there.  I did a Google search on

Realtek SDR RTL-SDR Receiver schematic

Here is some useful info on the dongles I came up with:

http://superkuh.com/rtlsdr.html

http://sdr.osmocom.org/trac/wiki/rtl-sdr

http://makearadio.com/visitors/nick-sdr3.php

http://www.ab9il.net/software-defined-radio/rtl2832-sdr.html
Talks about USB noise spoiling SDR performance


Search on eBay for rtl-sdr and you can find them for $10.16 with free 
shipping.  I bought one under the title:

ON SALE! Practical RTL-SDR FM+DAB DVB-T Dongle Stick RTL2832+ R820T 
SPC-0155 
<http://www.ebay.com/itm/ON-SALE-Practical-RTL-SDR-FM-DAB-DVB-T-Dongle-Stick-RTL2832-R820T-SPC-0155-/330838022705?pt=US_Video_Capture_TV_Tuner_Cards&hash=item4d077b9a31>

This is indeed cheap fun.

Frank K0BRA
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