Thank you for this great instructional description of SDR, Paul. It is an extremely valuable resource in a subject area that can be pretty thin! When I go to your SDR website I just a blank screen (no error), however. Thank you!!
I just checked at the resource link arachnoid.com/software_defined_radios_II -- everything seems all right. Please say which browser on which platform? Also, does the basic website (arachnoid.com/) display correctly? And thanks for your kind words!
This video seems well organized, clear, and thorough. Thank you. Though if there's anything of importance that's confusing or left out for noobs I'd probably miss it because I already know too much about RF, (if that's possible.) I built my first tube transceiver kit in '63 at age 13. I don't talk much on the radio. I experiment. BTW, I often use the SSB trick to copy weak AM signals. Sometimes it makes a great difference, sometimes none at all depending on the reason for the hard to copy signal. I live in Boulder, CO only 60 or so miles from the WWV xmitter site, but at that distance, and me being set back a bit behind the foothills I'm at a bad distance in a very bad location to receive any but the WWVB signal. Thus my use of SSB to copy WWV on 5 MHz. It seems silly that I have a hard time copying WWV when the rest of the USA has little problem, especially since I actually sometimes do work for NIST. I'm going to do a little building project and give a high Q mag-loop with a tuned pre-amp and a narrow-band filter a try and see how I do. Again, thanks for the video.
Thanks for an interesting video! A fascinating thing I’ve seen people do on RUclips with SDRs is receiving image data from weather satellites, never done it myself but always wanted to try.
Yes, I considered adding this, but I realized people would need a special, somewhat expensive circularly polarized antenna, so I decided against. But it's entirely feasible. Thanks for writing!
A very nice review. I am at least two or three decades behind you in age, but I am of the same type - I love building things with my hands, whether it is cars, planes (yes planes), radios or computers. As for Linux vs Windows, I think they both have a place. I use Linux for technical work, and windows for casual stuff like watching movies. What bothers me is a new generation of engineers and computer scientists who only know Windows.
Yes, complete agreement about Windows, in particular because Microsoft is aggressively pushing ads onto the platform and doing all they can to prevent their removal. Thanks for writing!
Thanks for this great video. Loved watching it. My first steps as a ham in SDR was by buying a flexradio the flex 1500. And loved it very much. The only downfall was that flexradio stopped supporting it, so one day in the future windows update will break the system. That is the main reason why my next radio must be open source and why I indefinitely switched to Linux. Running an Ubuntu based distro and starting again in SDR. One comment about your video. There is another advantage of FM in favor of AM. In AM, since the Amplitude is chancing you can get LFI (Low frequency Interference). That is that an audio amplifier can behave as a simple crystal detector and you be audible over a speaker system our an old gramophone. Since FM has a more our less stable power output it is more friendly in overpopulated areas as in my country The Netherlands. Just want to say love your video and have subscribed to your channel. 73 de PA5MC ... -.-
Yes, I knew about the amplitude advantage of FM, but I decided not to try to explain it. :) I was worried about leaving too many viewers behind in the more technical sections. As things stand, there's quite a lot of heavy lifting compared to most RUclips videos, but I wanted people to get a peek behind the curtain, so to speak. Thanks for writing and ...-.- !
Thank you again, Paul. I tell my kids about a guy I heard of, who went opposite of everyone else and made a world of it. I drive a low-option stick car, do all my own repairs, got my ham license in 2015 and my first RTL-SDR a few years ago. And I love Linux and HATE Windows like poison. I'm eager to try an SDR program that isn't Windows-based. Always look forward to your videos!
Very good & interesting video, many thanks! On my channel there are a few first try SDR setups for SW. 10 May 2024. I (1955) also had, in the very past (1960's-1970's) a very limited budget when I wanted to do this hobby, radio.
This is one of the best videos of its kind that I've seen. Great job, not so much the SDR part, but the general radio part, which of course is important to understanding the purpose and function of SDR. Thank you for a great resource for up and coming SDR and radio enthusiasts. .
Please call it "rtl-sdr blog v4", rtl-sdr is the hardware driver, and "v4" alone is meaningless. The page selling them is "rtl-sdr blog". Internally it have upconverter(similar to ham-it-up) for HF, and tuner/down-converter with filtering to isolate stuff to a analog low frequency(single digit MHz) signal. As in it's a full analog radio frontend going to a analog to digital converter. The rest is ADC+digital down-convert that can be looked up online for the specially interested.
I think eventually these devices will evolve past requiring two distinct phases to cover the frequency range they do. But at the moment this device produces a more efficient match with typical antennas than other similar devices. It's easily distinguished in side-by-side tests. Thanks for writing!
This link seems to show how to set up an rtl-sdr on a Mac: ports.macports.org/port/rtl-sdr/ I don't have a Mac so I can't be sure, but it seems to be true. I hope this helps.
Thank you for this great instructional description of SDR, Paul. It is an extremely valuable resource in a subject area that can be pretty thin! When I go to your SDR website I just a blank screen (no error), however. Thank you!!
I just checked at the resource link arachnoid.com/software_defined_radios_II -- everything seems all right. Please say which browser on which platform? Also, does the basic website (arachnoid.com/) display correctly? And thanks for your kind words!
Thank you for your involvement ! great job .
You're most welcome -- thanks for watching and commenting.
This video seems well organized, clear, and thorough. Thank you. Though if there's anything of importance that's confusing or left out for noobs I'd probably miss it because I already know too much about RF, (if that's possible.) I built my first tube transceiver kit in '63 at age 13. I don't talk much on the radio. I experiment. BTW, I often use the SSB trick to copy weak AM signals. Sometimes it makes a great difference, sometimes none at all depending on the reason for the hard to copy signal. I live in Boulder, CO only 60 or so miles from the WWV xmitter site, but at that distance, and me being set back a bit behind the foothills I'm at a bad distance in a very bad location to receive any but the WWVB signal. Thus my use of SSB to copy WWV on 5 MHz. It seems silly that I have a hard time copying WWV when the rest of the USA has little problem, especially since I actually sometimes do work for NIST. I'm going to do a little building project and give a high Q mag-loop with a tuned pre-amp and a narrow-band filter a try and see how I do. Again, thanks for the video.
Interesting projects -- thanks for writing!
Thanks for an interesting video!
A fascinating thing I’ve seen people do on RUclips with SDRs is receiving image data from weather satellites, never done it myself but always wanted to try.
Yes, I considered adding this, but I realized people would need a special, somewhat expensive circularly polarized antenna, so I decided against. But it's entirely feasible. Thanks for writing!
A very nice review. I am at least two or three decades behind you in age, but I am of the same type - I love building things with my hands, whether it is cars, planes (yes planes), radios or computers. As for Linux vs Windows, I think they both have a place. I use Linux for technical work, and windows for casual stuff like watching movies. What bothers me is a new generation of engineers and computer scientists who only know Windows.
Yes, complete agreement about Windows, in particular because Microsoft is aggressively pushing ads onto the platform and doing all they can to prevent their removal.
Thanks for writing!
Thanks for this great video. Loved watching it.
My first steps as a ham in SDR was by buying a flexradio the flex 1500. And loved it very much. The only downfall was that flexradio stopped supporting it, so one day in the future windows update will break the system.
That is the main reason why my next radio must be open source and why I indefinitely switched to Linux. Running an Ubuntu based distro and starting again in SDR.
One comment about your video. There is another advantage of FM in favor of AM.
In AM, since the Amplitude is chancing you can get LFI (Low frequency Interference). That is that an audio amplifier can behave as a simple crystal detector and you be audible over a speaker system our an old gramophone. Since FM has a more our less stable power output it is more friendly in overpopulated areas as in my country The Netherlands.
Just want to say love your video and have subscribed to your channel.
73 de PA5MC ... -.-
Yes, I knew about the amplitude advantage of FM, but I decided not to try to explain it. :) I was worried about leaving too many viewers behind in the more technical sections. As things stand, there's quite a lot of heavy lifting compared to most RUclips videos, but I wanted people to get a peek behind the curtain, so to speak.
Thanks for writing and ...-.- !
Thank you Paul, great video 👌
You're most welcome, thanks for writing!
Thank you again, Paul. I tell my kids about a guy I heard of, who went opposite of everyone else and made a world of it. I drive a low-option stick car, do all my own repairs, got my ham license in 2015 and my first RTL-SDR a few years ago. And I love Linux and HATE Windows like poison. I'm eager to try an SDR program that isn't Windows-based. Always look forward to your videos!
Thank you! I think stick shifts' days are numbered, unfortunately. Thanks for watching and writing!
@@lutusp Not in the UK! Though I suppose EVs may change that. Thanks for the video.
I really like the way you explain that radio need the internet to work, but in fact it is the inverse. Been saying it for years.
Thanks -- like you I've been trying to persuade people that there's more to life than browsing. :)
I appreciate your support and thanks for writing!
Very good & interesting video, many thanks! On my channel there are a few first try SDR setups for SW. 10 May 2024. I (1955) also had, in the very past (1960's-1970's) a very limited budget when I wanted to do this hobby, radio.
Thanks!
This is one of the best videos of its kind that I've seen. Great job, not so much the SDR part, but the general radio part, which of course is important to understanding the purpose and function of SDR. Thank you for a great resource for up and coming SDR and radio enthusiasts. .
You are most welcome, and thanks for writing!
So much information in there. Thanks to you for the work put in and thanks to the algorithm for recommending this to me, i guess.
You're most welcome, and thanks for writing, especially about the algorithm, which I find mysterious and inscrutable. :)
Nice!!!!!
Thanks for writing and watching!
Please call it "rtl-sdr blog v4", rtl-sdr is the hardware driver, and "v4" alone is meaningless. The page selling them is "rtl-sdr blog".
Internally it have upconverter(similar to ham-it-up) for HF, and tuner/down-converter with filtering to isolate stuff to a analog low frequency(single digit MHz) signal.
As in it's a full analog radio frontend going to a analog to digital converter.
The rest is ADC+digital down-convert that can be looked up online for the specially interested.
I think eventually these devices will evolve past requiring two distinct phases to cover the frequency range they do. But at the moment this device produces a more efficient match with typical antennas than other similar devices. It's easily distinguished in side-by-side tests.
Thanks for writing!
thanks. greetings from Chile. i can use this device in a Macbook M1? i need a adapter to usb - usb-c?
This link seems to show how to set up an rtl-sdr on a Mac: ports.macports.org/port/rtl-sdr/
I don't have a Mac so I can't be sure, but it seems to be true. I hope this helps.
Good video. You have a voice that is relaxing to listen to.
> You have a voice that is relaxing to listen to.
Thank you! I wish more people needed to be relaxed. :)
@@lutusp When a calm voice won't do, try medication...lol.