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What kind of interesting things are people picking up with SDR around Ireland?

  • 28-01-2017 9:07pm
    #1
    euser1984
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,977 ✭✭✭


    I'm contemplating whether to bother getting one....I always wanted a scanner and bought one (Maplin - impulse buy and returned because I got nothing in the city (Galway city), with the radio). Just one constant tone, no variation at all.


Comments

  • #2
    thelordgod
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 220 ✭✭thelordgod


    An sdr radio won't be of much benefit to you if you can't use a scanner. There's plenty of vhf/uhf activity around Galway - air/marine/taxis/amateur etc. The problem is finding activity. Firstly the rubber duck antenna on the scanner won't pick up much except for strong local signals - you will need an external antenna on the roof/balcony etc to have a good chance of finding something. The second problem is finding the frequencies as generally transmissions are not constant - it might only be a few seconds every couple of hours. Its quite normal to scan the vhf/uhf bands and find nothing of interest. Once you have the required frequencies programmed into the scanner it's a matter of sitting and waiting till you hear something. An sdr style device is not suitable for a beginner or this type of listening and as well as that you would still need a decent antenna. Get another scanner and focus on particular types of traffic - there is lots of info on the web regarding frequencies etc.


  • #3
    thelordgod
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 220 ✭✭thelordgod


    All the same if you want to try out sdr radio get one of the dvbs tv dongles from eBay etc. You can get one with the 820T2 chipset for around 6 - 7 euros including post. With patched drivers they will work from 17MHz to 1GHz. But don't bother with the puny antenna that comes with them. They plug into your computer and you can use sdr software from the web.


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