RTL-SDR Blog V3 R860 RTL2832U 1PPM TCXO SMA Software Defined Radio (Dongle Only) (Black)

Havent use it on a cpu yet but works perfectly with an Fire tablet just cant charge it at the same time. Have had any problems with the sdr dongle

Bought this one to replace one of the cheaper dongles. It is being used to decode and display weather balloons in US on Sondehub.org. Increased reception almost twice what the old dongle could receive with a much lower noise floor.

Read up on line about Software Defined Radio before purchasing. This is a very good value for entry Software Defined Radio. Less expensive items feature non standard antenna connections. More expensive provide means to transmit as well as receive with wider bands of investigation and broader frequencies, up to 6ghz. Most SDR devices work with the same software. SMA connector, metal enclosure with shielding and advanced means to modify make this a great choice. With this, you will be able to receive many types of radio signals. Software can be arcane but this can include audio as well as digital messages and images from satellites and other devices. To fully explore the capability, expect a pleasant but extensive learning curve but with modest rewards for less effort. Look at the package including antennas from the same vendor. You will need an antenna with this particular unit.

Works great. As advertised. This is the most fantastic device I have used in a very long time. This hardware device enables your computer to see radio signals. Associated software enables you to process (tune) those signals in a variety of ways. To be able to continuously tune 500 KHz to 1.7 GHz is astounding in itself. Throw in a RF Spectrum Analyzer, Audio Spectrum analyzer and assorted filters and it is mind blowing. And the software is free (donations accepted). This is incredible. To do this a few years ago would have cost tens of thousands of dollars. If there were 10 stars I would pick 10 stars. Dont expect a simple thing. Using this device involves unlimited options and radio/science and thus it is not necessarily intuitive :)

Use this item for my live ATC / ADSB Radar feed on YouTube. First purchased three between Jan & Feb of 2019. One died in January of 2021 and one in May. Guess they have a lifespan of roughly two years when used continuously. Just ordered two more. Hope the third one survives until they arrive. Cant complain about the performance, get good range, pity that they get so darn hot. Guess the heat contributes to their early death. UPDATE 13/5/21 - The one that died in May, just decided to plug it in again before throwing it out. ITS ALIVE! Decided to remove the circuit board from the metal casing. Like I said, the thing gets too hot. Perhaps the heat will dissipate easier. Its plugged in and running, will report again if it dies a second time.

A few years ago, I had a previous model of this SDR dongle which wasnt capable of tuning HF without the purchase of additional hardware. The current version does not have this limitation. Just remember to switch to Q Branch Direct Sampling in your favorite SDR software and youll be tuning in HF signals in no time with the proper antenna. So far, Ive just used SDRTouch on my Android phone and received everything from the local FM Rock station to amateur radio VHF/UHF repeaters and broadcast shortwave stations. Ill install the SDRTouch app on my Samsung Galaxy tablet later and then try out SDR# again, after several years, on the Windows computer. I was amazed at how full featured the Android app was while using the RTL-SDR dongle. Being able to use this dongle with an Android app makes it quite portable. The best $30 Ive spent in a very long time!

Pretty Cool, Hook up a wire UHF, VHF HF, Fantastic! its that simple

This hardware works. But its all about the software. After determining SDRsharp crashes immediately even on a new Win7 32 or 64 bit image, I managed to install Cubic on both. I wanted to install it on an old netbook running XP or Win7-32, but it seems theres no decent driver file for 32 bit, and I can only pick up the very strongest FM radio signals. But Cubic on Win7-64 works great -- once you learn your way around it. Its not really a Windows program, its more like a DOS program running in Windows. It controls the volume output -- theres a slider on the far upper right. And you get no volume at all until you click on a picture of an audio stream -- typing in the direct frequency by hitting the spacebar will not start the audio going, you have to do that AFTER you start the audio going. You may have to experiment with different audio sampling rates -- mine works best on 9600. Overall, the program works. But it might drive you crazy getting that to happen. For recording, I recommend Total Recorder, a great Windows program for scheduled recording. I only give it 3 stars because the Nooelec Nesdr Smart gets better reception and I only gave the Noolec Nesdr Smart 4 stars, due to its reception not being as good as a Sangean tabletop radio.

This is my 3rd SDR, first of this design. The case doesnt vent and it gets intensely overheated. If you are savvy you can write your own programs with auto shutdowns for cool off periods. But it cools slowly, no venting, not well heatsink. It will spend more time off than on. If you just let it run, it will cook itself to death. Either ingot a bad unit or this design is garbage.

I can hear ALL the shortwave stations with this I can here on my Satellit 750 Shortwave Radio including SSB (USB/LSB). I do get bleed over and EMI. I hear a close by, strong AM radio station throughout the SDR-RTL spectrum. I understand this and it is NOT a problem as NONE of them are running over any Shortwave Station. I like this rtl-sdr dongle as I can SEE all the broadcasting frequencies in the range I have set on my software (I use CubicSDR). To hear shortwave, dont forget to change your softwares direct sampling settings. MOST rtl-sdr Software (like CubicSDR, HDSDR and GQRX) support direct sampling. It may entail setting a device string, and for the Q-branch, the value should be 2 (or sometimes 3). In GQRX for example, the device string would be rtl=0,direct_samp=2 (without the quotes).