This page provides some tips on connecting up and using your own SDR. It only considers reception with SDRs, transmitting requires more care and equipment. Helping to develop one's own capabilities is a key goal of the PARC STEMLab.

SDR hardware comes in many forms and can be acquired at many price points. Low-cost hardware can be purchased at many outlets (Amazon, AliExpress, etc.). Most of these can be connected to PCs by simply plugging them in to a USB interface. Once you have become familiar with what is available and their capabilities you can acquire and run your own SDR lab or listening station. It's actually fairly simple to do.

There are a number of important considerations when planning your SDR installation:

• most importantly, what you are looking to do, e.g., listen to broadcast stations, HF amateur bands, amateur repeaters on VHF or UHF, monitor aircraft with ADS-B air broadcasts, etc.
• the SDR's frequency or band coverage
• the SDR's processing bandwidth
• the interface to your computer (USB, Ethernet, etc.)
• the antenna being used - it should be suitable for the frequency bands you want (HF, VHF, UHF)
• you might also need some filters if you experience local interference, like strong nearby commercial AM or FM broadcast stations overloading your SDR's front-end circuitry
• the SDR software you want to use must support your SDR hardware
• the SDR software needs to provide the analog and digital modes you will be using

Bringing up a simple SDR Listening Station  ⓘ SDR Software installation with the RTL-SDR Blog v3

One of the best places to get both technical and general information about software defined radio and what hardware and software is available is the RTL-SDR Blog website.

• RTL-SDR Blog  🔗 RTL-SDR Blog Home Page