Software Defined Radios (SDRs)

[CommoFreq]

Having posted about making your equipment more portable with a "Go Box", and following up with "Digital Modes 101", this opens the door to a new topic which includes both. It's called a "Software Defined Radio", or SDR for short. So, what the hell is an SDR?

Since a picture is worth 1,000 words, I'll just show you a picture of a scanner:

Pictured above is the FUNCube Dongle Pro. It's effectively the same thing as a Uniden Bear Cat scanner, but on steroids. Simply install the driver on the computer, hook it up to an antenna, and plug it into your USB port. There's a wealth of free software available, including my favorite which I mentioned in "Digital Modes 101", FLDIGI. To give you an idea, this bad boy has a receive range of 150KHz (basically "0") to 1900MHz, with no gaps in between. And, it fits in your pocket.

Of course, this one is just a scanner. There are radios which behave the same way, and have the ability to transmit. Of course, they're a wee bit bigger:

So. If you're looking for a good scanner or a radio that is really portable, an SDR might fit the bill.

 

[Clyde]

Having posted about making your equipment more portable with a "Go Box", and following up with "Digital Modes 101", this opens the door to a new topic which includes both. It's called a "Software Defined Radio", or SDR for short. So, what the hell is an SDR?

Since a picture is worth 1,000 words, I'll just show you a picture of a scanner:

Pictured above is the FUNCube Dongle Pro. It's effectively the same thing as a Uniden Bear Cat scanner, but on steroids. Simply install the driver on the computer, hook it up to an antenna, and plug it into your USB port. There's a wealth of free software available, including my favorite which I mentioned in "Digital Modes 101", FLDIGI. To give you an idea, this bad boy has a receive range of 150KHz (basically "0") to 1900MHz, with no gaps in between. And, it fits in your pocket.

Of course, this one is just a scanner. There are radios which behave the same way, and have the ability to transmit. Of course, they're a wee bit bigger:

So. If you're looking for a good scanner or a radio that is really portable, an SDR might fit the bill.

I have seen these on Amazon and are fairly inexpensive.... assuming I am looking at the right item.
Are the frequencies used by cell phone blocked on these?

 

[CommoFreq]

Depends on which one you go with. Generally, yes.

 

[Clyde]

Having posted about making your equipment more portable with a "Go Box", and following up with "Digital Modes 101", this opens the door to a new topic which includes both. It's called a "Software Defined Radio", or SDR for short. So, what the hell is an SDR?

Since a picture is worth 1,000 words, I'll just show you a picture of a scanner:

Pictured above is the FUNCube Dongle Pro. It's effectively the same thing as a Uniden Bear Cat scanner, but on steroids. Simply install the driver on the computer, hook it up to an antenna, and plug it into your USB port. There's a wealth of free software available, including my favorite which I mentioned in "Digital Modes 101", FLDIGI. To give you an idea, this bad boy has a receive range of 150KHz (basically "0") to 1900MHz, with no gaps in between. And, it fits in your pocket.

Of course, this one is just a scanner. There are radios which behave the same way, and have the ability to transmit. Of course, they're a wee bit bigger:

So. If you're looking for a good scanner or a radio that is really portable, an SDR might fit the bill.

Have you heard about the new "SDR" that all you need is to hook up a mic and headphones to your computer, and you now have a "radio"

 

[CommoFreq]

No, but that sounds really interesting. . . gotta link?