V3 R860 RTL2832U 1PPM TCXO HF Bias Tee SMA Software Defined Radio with Dipole Antenna Kit

I am not new to Radios, I knew what I was getting into. I know that prior to year 2012, A Software Defined Radio (SDR) such as this one reviewed here were certainly not for general public, as they were considerably more expensive. In the last few years however there have been a ton of development activity in the field of Software Defined Radio (SDR), soon after it was discovered that a un-seemingly simple "DVB-T" dongles based on the Realtek RTL2832U can be used as a cheap SDR.Since that Realtek branded chip allowed transferring the raw "I/Q" samples to the host, which was used for DAB/DAB+/FM demodulation based on the Realtek RTL2832U chip now could also be dialed into frequencies well outside their advertised ranges. Thus, what was designed and sold as a simple device for watching "Digital TV" on your computer could now be turned into a full fledged "radio" capable of receiving frequencies anything between 64 MHz to 1700 MHz with free open source software.Fast forward few years more into development, This current RTL-SDR Blog Version [V3] R820T2, RTL2832U with 1PPM Temperature compensated crystal oscillator [TCXO] & HF Bias Tee for providing power to Low noise Amplifier, Software Defined Radio dongle can now tune from "500 kHz" (Medium Wave (MW) & Long Wave (LW) Radio) up-to 1.7 GHz and upwards. The dongle has up to 3.2 MHz of instantaneous scannable bandwidth while "2.4 MHz" being the most stable on most computers.The RTL-SDR project has become the Radio tinkerer's “first step” for someone looking to experiment with radios. It’s cheap, it’s easy, and since the hardware is incapable of transmission, you don’t have to worry about having a HAM radio license to use it. You can however listen to, decode and scan all the frequencies (Works as an excellent frequency scanner) by pairing with capable software on most personal computers. The official software called as "SDR sharp" from "Airspy" is free and there are also several other capable SDR software one can use with the dongle (Like cross platform SDR++) which passionate developers have been making for the community.Installing the software for using RTL-SDR Blog Version [V3] USB dongle while might be relatively simple for tech savvy persons still remains mostly complicated for average user, that certainly needs to be addressed going forward. Especially the manual method of injecting the right USB drivers using a third party "Zadig" software and relying on various add-on libraries and Microsoft .NET 5.0 32-bit redistributable installed to use SDRSharp.Thankfully, there are other several developers who have taken this to next level by having the whole package preconfigured and ready to use using UBUNTU (LINUX based) .. Check out "Dragon OS". DragonOS which is a Debian Linux based operating system that comes with many open source software defined radio programs & additional decoding software pre-installed that takes all that driver installation requirements seen on windows based PCs totally seamless. Also, I found out that same DragonOS can be installed "alongside" windows if needed for a much seamless operation. Or you can just create a non-persistent "liveCD" environment using DragonOS and boot off USB stick to test it out.Bottom-line: The product reviewed here is an excellent value package, reasonably priced and has all the necessary accessories to get you started into Software Defined Radio (SDR) world. In my humble opinion it is worth more than 5 stars..Five stars rating. Happy scanning!

First, This is my 14th SDR. and 2nd time in a few years ive bought this one. Being an FCC Licensed Technician i have a bit (over 30 years) of radio knowledge. Sure, theres cheaper ones, with weak MCX connectors, placstic (ABS) enclosures and tiny mag mount antennas that may or may not actually have working internal connections. GO read the reviews, its not just the people being clueless, they are less than optimally designed and manufactured. And they run 15 to 22 bucks, with one cheap MCX antenna mag mount with a whopping 3 feet of cable.Spend the extra $8 to $12 bucks and you get a TXCO (ill explain) an aluminum housing, and an SMA Antenna connector, and obviously better internals and assembly, at least 4 collapsible antennas, and a flexi tripod stand, suction cup mount and 10 foot or so SMA extension cable. Walk into one of the HAM supply stores and i can assure you that the antenna kit alone will set you back $80.00 minimum... So you've already won purchasing this entire kit for $29.95...1) TCXO, Temperature Compensated Crystal OscillatorSDR's have a known issue with frequency drift. On HF this is apparent when you tune lets say 3.176 LSB and the cheaper SDR's tend to start drifting sometimes a few khz and occasionally mhz off frequency. Many times the annoyance is adjustable via offset, but mostly its unpredicatble. Nothing worse than chasing an HF Morse or Voice QSO up and down the frequency and eventually losing it completely..What these guys have done with the TXCO (In laymens terms) is make a more stable chip, and then test that chip into oblivion, figured out the temperature and drift characteristics and then made a chip with a temperature sensor, and a built in code that changes the voltage to a KNOWN differential value for the chip's temperature - Thus creating a self correcting and considerably more accurate and drift-free unit in their SDR's.. HUGE BENEFIT.2) MCX connectors suck. they are push to fit, not locking. after a while the cheaper MCX SDR's on Amazon eventually break, usually at the MCX antenna connector, or you end up taping the antenna on it. (Guilty-i have 2) SMA Connectors are more robust, and thread down and lock on, they also have significantly less loss and are more stable overall, BUT, the other bonus is SMA is now industry standard on about 98.6% of anything hand held. So finding new and cheap antennas on Amazon or Flea_Bay to test out on ANY band WONT be a problem.3) Aluminum Housing and Thermal management internally. Remember the Drift i mentioned above? One thing SDR's do is get really warm, even hot in many cases. THEY ALL DO. A cheap SDR in an ABS plastic cover is basically a tiny oven for that cheap SDR and its components. causing bit errors, driver issues and significantly lowering the lifespan of that unit. This RTL-SDR Blog unit has a full aluminum USER disassemblable housing, and has had thermal management engineered into it. I do have several of the cheaper SDR's that ive smashed the plastic housings off and have small fans blowing across them and a Raspberry Pi project, they work, poorly. The RTL-SDR Blog units aluminum housing is part of the thermal management, as is the thermally conductive flex block internally installed. on the pcb, Yes it makes a HUGE difference. Stability is huge below 30mhz. and these units absolutely outshine ANY OTHER SUB $100.00 SDR on Amazon. Add the Upconverter, a balun and a cheap G5RV longwire or make your own (with balun) and you will hear the WORLD as good or better than some $1500-$4500.00 HF Transcievers.Lastly, LISTEN TO THESE SELLERS. Follow their instructions by going to the SDR# Page they refer you to, and within maybe 4 or 5 minutes you will be setup and listening to the world from this fantastic kit. Besides listening to the world, you can actually use them for ADS-B and monitor air traffic radar in real time (extremely cool!) get live NOAA Weather radar, check out live International Space Station Images, Watch Television and so much more. The only limitation is the software. and its ALL out there! 100% free!*I was not compensated in any way for this review, im a BIG FAN of quality sellers and these guys are in my top 5 They answer emails and will help you every step of the way. I bought one and the antenna was broken and they answered immediately and overnighted me a whole new kit at no cost to me., MANY Amazon sellers could learn something from these guys about good customer service

The unit arrived today. packed in a small box. There were NO instructions save for a tiny piece of paper with three web sites on it where documentation could be found. Apparently, this saves them lots of paper.If you follow the instructions (which are not very clear to someone who doesn't know how to deal with computers and drivers) it will install easily. It runs from a software console program (downloadable from the website) called SDRSharp (SDR#). It is a full-featured console that has a fairly steep learning curve and a dearth of instructions on how to use some of the features. Being software, you can't really HURT the USB device, because it seems to ignore instructions it doesn't like/understand coming from the software.The supplied antenna system will work adequately on UHF and VHF frequencies (FM Radio, 2M Hams, Aeronautical, etc) but for HF operation (which requires altering some buried settings -- the guide can be read on-site as well) you need to connect an outdoor antenna. If you have a multiple-band ham antenna, then you're set. A long wire (long as you can make it) and a tuner will work well, too.The on-screen tuning requires some mental adjustment as to how it works. Seeing a short-term signal pop up and getting the cursor to it takes fast-acting reflexes. If you're into SWL (Short Wave Listening) this receiver is great, providing you have the antenna for it. HF bands are teeming with AM stations from around the world. At my location (Dayton, OH) WWV on 20/15/10/5 Mhz comes in fine at various times of the day.Only 4-stars as it could really use a decent manual to accompany it