Direct Sampling Mode with No Hardware Modifcations

Update: There is now a newer driver that allows HF tuning without hardware mods via a different mechanism. The new mod seems to work better than this one. Read about it at https://www.rtl-sdr.com/new-experimental-r820t-rtl-sdr-driver-tunes-13-mhz-lower/.

Over on the Reddit RTL-SDR forums user Jengal has posted a modified RTLSDR.dll dll file for SDR# which allows the direct sampling mode to be used on the R820T without the need for any hardware modifications. The modified dll is compiled from keenerds experimental branch of the RTL-SDR driver, which uses code for the no hardware mod written by tejeez. The no hardware direct sampling code was inspired by Anonofish’s discovery where he found that the E4000 based RTL-SDR could tune to AM radio without the need for the direct sampling mod (though this appears to be now patched in the newer rtlsdr drivers).

The direct sampling mod is a hardware modification to the RTL-SDR which allows it to receive HF frequencies between 0-14.4 MHz without the need for an upconverter. It works by connecting an antenna directly to the RTL2832U chip, thus bypassing the tuner. Teejez’s modification tells the RTL-SDR to bypass the tuner in software, allowing antennas to be connected to the normal antenna port. HF reception with the experimental driver is very poor in comparison to the direct sampling hardware mod or an upconverter, but even so Jengal was able to receive AM Radio, an SSB ham radio signal and an HF weather report with a simple longwire antenna.

To use the modified dll, simply download it from this link, rename it to rtlsdr.dll, and replace the original rtlsdr.dll in the SDR# folder. Then connect an HF antenna to the normal antenna port and in SDR# tune to a frequency between 0-14.4 MHz. Next turn ON the RTL AGC option in the configure menu. Jengal replaced the function of the RTL AGC option with the direct sampling mod. He found that best reception occurred when he set the gain to 48 dB.

No Hardware Mod Direct Sampling in SDR# Receiving AM Radio
No Hardware Mod Direct Sampling in SDR# Receiving AM Radio
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Joseph Dunn

your direct sampling download does not work.

Lenne

No possible mod for E4000 and other tuner ?

Lenne

I like more information about the mechanism
of direct sampling (wit and without mod)

Datateknikk studios

Hi, i am using linux “UBUNTU” and want to listen to TETRA here in Norway, what software can i use here? I have installed “osmocom” need a better program, and with GUI

SW

After re-naming & replacing the rtlsdr.dll file in the SDR# folder, the program errored indicating “no device selected”.

Nico

This mod works pretty well with the R820T2. The lowest frequencie I could hear was 5920 kHz. With a better antenna the reception should be much better. Now I just used a 6 m wire hooked up vertically on my roof.

willie odom

ok how do you get it to work i replace the dll, and it say no radio no bandwidth….. what am i missing…..

martinet

Bjr, suite à l’ achat de: (dongle:clé usb 2.0 dvb-t stick)
(converter hf sdr ham it up 1.2)
je ne parviens pas à avoir avec SDRsharp toutes les fréquences , qu’en wfm mais avec une modulation haché . Pourriez vous me donner si possible le pourquoi et comment pour résoudre le problème
je tiens à vous précisez que je n’ai sur mon pc que 512 ram et suis sous windows xp pro .
Dans l’ attente d’ une réponse de votre part , recevez mes salutations .
Jacques.M

gogothekwik

yes i think that arrownd 7 mhz also 6 mhz 3 mhz work fine but bad mw is for sure

F-Tom

dll works but – for ok rx you need a good antenna
Tested on full size dipol for 1.8MHz (2x40m @20m hight with feeder line)
Preselection and impedance tuning via MFJ “T Tuner” – acting as high pass filter.
Compared to a HAM TRX Kenwood TS480 I estimate:
-20dB on 7MHz
-30dB on 3.5MHz
all signals >S8 on the Kenwood could be well received
1.8MHz is really deaf
MW 1.2-1,5MHz BC stations could be received ok
So nice start for SDR on shortwave – try it!
I am wondering if low sensitivity comes from the mismatch of the input circuit of the tuner chip – so maybe some tweaks could give improvement here.
regards
thomas

Pascal

Nota :
Bien entendu , il ne faut pas oublier de renommer ce fichier en rtlsdr.dll avant de le recopier dans le repertoire du RTLSHARP DTS pour l’usage du RT820 en extension de bande …

Pascal

Pour ne pas a avoir a trop chercher , le bon dll semble etre celui-ci …
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/43061070/rtlsdr_NOHARDWAREMOD_VC.dll

Pascal

Bonjour , Tres heureux de l’achat de cette cle SDR chez Passion Radio Shop car elle permet une reception large a partir de 25 Mhz jusqu’a 1700 Mhz . ce stick DVB-T fonctionne parfaitement bien dans toute la bande et sa sensibilte est tres correcte pour a faible cout a l’achat . C’est pour moi un complement ideal de mes autres cle en tuner E4000 comme la Terratec Cinergy . De mon cote , j’ai aussi teste la modification HF en entree directe I/Q sur A/D par un simple strap en fil ou encore par un un transformateur d’impedance en store ferrire : les resultats sont mediocres , voir meme mauvais … je vous deconseille ces 2 modifications . Bien entendu , le mieux est d’utiliser un convertisseur HF de NooElec . Neanmoins , il y a une solution intermediaire par l’emploi d’un DLL modifie du fichier “rtlsdr.dll” qui permet , a ma grande surprise , une bonne reception de la HF a partir de 9 Mhz , … voir en general a partir de 12 Mhz sans ouvrir le boitier , ni faire une quelconque modification . J’ai note que la cle chauffe fortement et beaucoup plus que mes cles Terratec ( ce qui peut provoquer une derive plus importante du quartz de reference en l’absence q’un circuit TCXO pour la stabilisation de la frequence d’ecoute ) . Ici , j’ai deux repertoires sur mon pc , quasi identiques du programme DTS rtl-sharp V1325, dont l’un pour la cle en E4000 et l’autre pour la cle en RT820 avec le remplacant du fameux fichier dll par sa version experimantale du patch en extension de bande . bonne ecoute et meilleurs 73’s a tous de Pascal F1MIJ

GEE

Any luck with the RTL2832U & R820T yet? More of these are available then the E4000 chipset. I have a bunch of the R820Ts here. I tried the DLL out and it seems to make no difference. I stuck my 40m Delta Loop on it and nothing. I did see the noise floor lift and a bunch of AM intermod that’s about it. Nothing tunable.

VE3TMT

May not be useful for SW reception but would work great as a monitor for my HF transceiver. My FT990 has no TX monitor function. This application could be used to monitor TX.

Patrick

The dll is not good, has no sensitivity, prefer an upconverter:

http://www.ct1ffu.com/site/?option=com_content&view=article&id=178&Itemid=104

Patrick
Tomáz Méndez

También he probado y es muy mala recepción. También trató con filtros..

Sensibilidad es casi cero!

Las señales son pequeñas, débiles y no recebenada de estaciones de aficionados

El uso de un toroide directa en rtl2832 pone mejor.

  Sin embargo, el convertidor elevador es el campeón.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmleOxov7eQ

Tomáz Méndez

En el video yo uso una antena vertical Cushcraft R9 covers 6,10,12,15,17,20,30,40,80 Meters

Tomáz Méndez

upconverter de Tony CT1FFU

Datateknikk studios

Would be fine if all write in ENGLISH so other can understand what you are typing or asking, this is a ENGLISH group

Bismark

I tested the reception with RTL-2832U E4000 + Upconverter. Below are some images of reception GG52QK (São José City (SC) – Brazil:

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Jonei

From the comments, I’ve learned about the SV1AFN Design Lab’s DC-55MHz upconverter for an RTL-SDR receiver. It features selectable bypass, selectable LNA featuring about 20 dB of gain from parallel Mini-Circuits Gali-74+ amplifiers, and a design with excellent filtration on the input and local oscillators to reduce harmonics and interference, it should be a very good performing upconverter-amplifier. It’s a kit with SMD parts pre-soldered; you wind a few transformers and connectors or you can purchase it assembled.

sv1afn

With these choices, there are plenty of options for getting HF signals into the VHF ranges for use with the RTLSDR. It’s not difficult to modify these plans for even higher fidelity and accuracy, such as by increasing filtering on the power lines, building a shielded enclosure, improved antenna systems, and more.

I’ve been using my v3.1 Converter from Wimo for a few months, and have been very happy with its performance so far – there’s little noise and leakage, and I use it to pull in shortwave broadcasts from all over the world including the BBC, China, Cuba, Japan, Russia and more from my home in Seattle with only an 80″ long wire and a string of adapters – I highly recommend that model, or any of the models in this family, for great performance. I’m looking forward to trying out some of these other ones.

Jonei

If you’re looking for a more rugged commercial solution, High Sierra Microwave has an upconverter (FCD-1-55-UC) with a 133MHz LO frequency and BNC terminals with an integral amplifier. I’m a fan of converters whose LO frequency shifts the entire HF range above the FM broadcast band in general and the shielded enclosure will definitely cut down on noise. Looks like it’s suitable for mounting outside at your antenna’s feed point, and it also looks like you’re going to pay for those features. I’d love to evaluate one of these if I could get my hands on one.

Jonei

Marty KN0CK has developed an incredible upconverter which fits inside the tuner dongle’s enclosure using all 0402 SMD parts. It’s a complete stack, including the RTLSDR tuner and hand-assembled integral filter and pre-amplifier using the Mini-Circuits MAR-8+ amplifier. Very powerful, great at picking out weak signals, and requires no external hardware or cabling everywhere – just hook up an antenna and go. Available for $75 US plus shipping (U.S. and International shipping available), this is a addition to your ham shack. Buy it over at Easy-Kits. Easy-Kits site is currently down. If you’d like to purchase one, contact KF7LZE through this site; look for a Buy button soon. Sorry!

Jonei

CT1FFU v5 HF converter is a brand new iteration of the long-standing design which was originally one of the first released. This model features an improved smaller PCB size, improved filtering and am improved ring mixer, and phantom power to eliminate a power cable when attached to certain compatible RTLSDR receivers. The LO is still 65.520MHz or 106.250MHz which might interfere with an FM Broadcast band in some countries, such as the U.S., but there is some filtering incorporated to eliminate that. The price is reduced to 55 Euro shipped worldwide with tracking.

Jonei

If you’d like your RTLSDR to be able to access very long wavelength bands, you’re going to need an upconverter. There are quite a few choices for an HF converter / up-converter are now available which use a mixer and crystal oscillator to shift incoming signals into the tuner’s frequency range. These range from pre-built boards, partially built kits, and plans depending on your skill level and interest. An assembled board or a partially assembled kit will set you back about $50-100; if you’re savvy you can probably make it for $10-20 in parts – if you don’t mind winding your own coils. Your mileage may vary.

If you have a plan, kit, or finished product you’d like to share – or if you know of one I’ve missed – send me an e-mail or leave a comment here!
http://blog.kf7lze.net/2012/09/14/round-up-of-rtlsdr-upconverter-choices/

Ricardo Fernandes

I got a good reception in with the dll using:
A-a good low pass filter;
B-a good dipole antenna

without the filter, the reception was very poor.
see print
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B2S9nnff5mL2LWhmcGFieVU2U2M&usp=sharing

Ricardo Fernandes

three videos using the low pass filter +dll + dipole antenna for 40m

http://youtu.be/n52WIWz0LrI

http://youtu.be/NOlDE0uypRw

http://youtu.be/JpEtA5jyLIM

Ricardo

The dll worked well until 7.400mhz
above that received nothing.
but I was very happy with what I got
I was lucky to have an old low pass filter

Ricardo

my windows is seven and 64bits
my antena is dipole for 7.100mhz
my low pass filter is fpb30 electril from Brazil
my rtl is r820t
my software is sharp

Dave Mouat

it is the best sdr receiver

Jonei

I tried all the ways you spoke but it does not work

Jonei

upcoverter is the one that really works

Jonei

broken link, you talk but does not show, is true?
If you want to use a professional thing upconverter;
Romanian amateur Alexandru YO2LDK built a simple HF upconverter circuit using an NE602. This has an amplifier, limiter, regulated supply and 100MHz frequency like several of the ones pictured, but the circuit itself looks quite different. The amplifier stage is ahead of the limiter, which looks like this one is offering a constant gain versus the adjustable gain some of the others have offered. It looks like this one has more tunable components, which means a little more work to dial it in. I didn’t see any photos of the completed product.

Eric

I found the bad outcome. little sensitivity!!

Eric
adam

What antenna did you use Admin? HF?

screaming72

It is not so good for the R820T tuner. Nothing but static.

Zeke

820T. 2048 sample, quadrature, 48dB gain. Sig gen on my desk, figured I’d check this .dll out.

0-450KHz is deaf. very low gain ramping up slowly through 1MHz. 1-4MHz low and slow ramp in gain. 4-8MHz low but fair gain and fair flatness. Slow ramp down in gain till deep deaf null at 9.487MHz. picks back up and stay relatively flat and low gain through 14MHz. Nifty hack. Thanks!

anonymous

I get DLL and put #SDR all work good from 3MHz to 9 MHz after go down .

east ayrshire radio society

Interesting mod, signal gain is rather low with hf antenna direct to antenna port on the usb dongle. Had a quick test with 10dB preamp bodged inline with HF antenna and it does the job rather nicely! Now I just have to tidy the mess on the bench and squeeze the the preamp and filter into yet another ‘tobacco tin’ 🙂 Good Work Matey!!

anonymous

If you look here it is credited as “tejeez’s no-mod direct sampling ” https://github.com/keenerd/rtl-sdr/commit/b36ea08cc7241113f3b01196f521d305c5e04bac not keenard’s though it still might of been inspired by Anonofish. When teejeez discussed it on the irc chat it seemed like it was either a tweaked or a better way of doing it. Keenard did say on the chat after merging the patch that he needs to run tests as it has not been optimized for best parameters, but I guess real life has kept him busy as that was a couple months ago.