Buy RTL-SDR Dongles (RTL2832U)
Where to Buy RTL-SDR RTL2832U DVB-T Tuner Dongles
At RTL-SDR.com we sell significantly improved premium RTL-SDR dongles but keep our profits low and offer free shipping in order to maintain low retail pricing. We strongly believe that our V3 and V4 dongles are currently the best 'bang for your buck' RTL-SDR dongles available on the market. Please see the V3 features pdf datasheet here for full information on the improvements made, and our V3 or V4 user guide for information on using special features of our dongle. (V4 datasheet and guide coming soon!) If you are new to RTL-SDR check out our about page first. Briefly, our dongles come with the following improvements:
- <1 PPM temperature compensated oscillator (TCXO) – Accurate tuning and almost zero temperature drift (2 PPM max. initial offset, 0.5-1 PPM temperature drift)
- SMA female antenna port – Generic dongles use the less common MCX or PAL antenna ports. SMA is more common, so more adapters and antennas are available for it. It is also more durable and has lower RF insertion losses.
- 4.5V USB powered bias tee - This allows the RTL-SDR to power low noise amplifiers (like the LNA4ALL, HABAMP, RTL-SDR Blog ADS-B LNA) and active antennas through the coax cable. Can be enabled in software (see V3 / V4 users guide).
- HF Direct Sampling Mode (V3) or HF Upconversion (V4) - Listen to 500 kHz - 28.8 MHz with direct sampling on the V3 model, or upconversion of the V4 model. There is a built-in 25 MHz low pass filter, but additional HF filters may be required for optimal performance (e.g. to attenuate strong MW AM).
- Aluminium case and passive cooling - These units come stock with an aluminium case and passive cooling via a silicon thermal pad. This stops reception failing due to heat when used above ~1.5 GHz.
- (V4 Models) - Improved front-end filtering. The V4 model is less prone to being saturated by strong broadcast stations.
- Improved Antennas - We provide an excellent dipole antenna starter kit for newbies. Use the included mounts and extension cable to mount the dipole in good position for optimal reception. Receives terrestrial and VHF satellite signals.
- Various additional improvements compared to other RTL-SDRs – R820T2 tuner, higher quality passive components, a choke on the USB line to reduce USB noise, a much improved PCB design for significantly less internal spurs and noise, various break-out pads, improved ESD protection, additional bypass capacitors and ferrite power line chokes, improved front end matching circuit, a modified power design for improved long term reliability, modified PLL circuit for better stability at 1.5 GHz and above, and a better LDO.
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| US Shipping | Worldwide Shipping (EU Excluded) | EU Shipping |
| Purchase on Amazon and receive FREE domestic shipping for orders over $25 and free two-day shipping for Prime subscribers! Or use our international cart for FREE shipping from China. | FREE economy-registered air mail from China! Paid express shipping from China is also available. Please double-check your address and enter it using English characters only (except for mainland China customers please use Chinese characters). | EU customers we apologize however due to high VAT compliance costs from July 1st 2021 we cannot ship directly to you from our webstore anymore. Please order directly from our eBay or Aliexpress stores where VAT will be automatically collected and remitted by the marketplace. Alternatively, see local resellers below. Thank you. |
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International Shipping Options Free Economy Post: Ships from our warehouse in China. Takes anywhere from 1-8 weeks to most countries (usually 2-4 weeks, but near Christmas months or in some rare cases 6-8 weeks). Please see the shipping notes below for information about potential delays. Express Mail: Shipped with DHL/UPS/EMS/Aramex/FedEx. Fast delivery times to most countries, typically 1-2 weeks.  Payment Options We currently support PayPal, Credit Cards, and digital currencies such as Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin. Apple Pay is also supported via Stripe.  Local Resellers We now have resellers selling a selection of our products who are based locally in the [UK], [Germany], [Germany 2], [Italy], [Italy 2], [India], [Spain], [Brazil], [France], [Ukraine], [Poland], [Poland 2], [Sweden], [Sweden 2], [Netherlands], [Netherlands 2], [Belgium], [Switzerland], [Serbia], [South Africa], [Australia], [Australia 2] & [New Zealand] who can provide fast local tax free shipping. There is also sometimes stock from resellers on [Amazon EU]. Please note that these are independent resellers who may only carry a selection of our stock, and can charge independent prices.  Current International Shipping Notes Russia/Belarus: Due to war sanctions we are no longer able to ship these products to Russia or Belarus. EU Customers: Please order from our official Aliexpress or eBay stores using the icons next to the Add to Cart button. Due to new VAT TAX laws from 1 July 2021 we can no longer support EU customer orders directly from our website without incurring excessive compliance costs. You must order from a marketplace like eBay or Aliexpress which supports VAT collection. Thank you. EXPRESS MAIL: We are currently shipping most DHL/UPS orders with FEDEX due to improved delivery times. Packages typically ship out the next day, but tracking uploads may be delayed until the end of the week. Counterfeit Warning No one in particular owns the "RTL-SDR" concept, so anyone can sell their own RTL-SDR dongles. On this site and on various marketplaces we sell our own custom modified and improved RTL-SDRs under our brand "RTL-SDR Blog" and "RTL-SDR.COM". On marketplace sites like eBay/Aliexpress etc scammers may be falsely selling their own dongles under our brand names. The dongles with blue or green cases or square rectangular silver cases with four screws, or those advertised as "Pro" are not ours. Those dongles use poorer quality components, are designed cheaply, and may not have all the V3 features. We cannot provide support for counterfeits and these do not help support the running of the blog and the design of new products. The best place to purchase RTL-SDR Blog V3 or V4 dongles is directly from our store on this page, or the local resellers listed above. Affiliate Link Disclosure We use eBay and Amazon affiliate links which gain us a small commission per sale. Affiliate links are used with our own products and some third party recommended products displayed in the store below. |
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Includes 1x RTL-SDR Blog brand R828D RTL2832U 1PPM TCXO SMA V4 Dongle, 1x Dipole Antenna Base with 60cm RG174, 2x 23cm to 1m telescopic antenna, 2x 5cm to 13cm telescopic antenna, 1x 3 meter RG174 extension cable, 1x Flexible Tripod Mount, 1x Suction Cup Mount.
The best value RTL-SDR on the market! Several improvements over generic brands including use of the R828D tuner, triplexed input filter, notch filter, improved component tolerances, a 1 PPM temperature compensated oscillator (TCXO), SMA F connector, aluminium case with passive cooling, bias tee circuit, improved power supply, and a built in HF upconverter.
Comes with our portable dipole antenna kit. Great for beginners as it allows for terrestrial and satellite reception. Easy to mount outdoors and designed for portable and temporary outside usage. Please do not use outside during poor weather conditions.
NOTE: This is the newer V4 design, and it requires updating to the latest drivers to work. Before purchasing, please ensure that you understand that not all applications work with the V4 yet! Compatibility with most popular software is now okay, but some niche programs are still lagging with support. Please consult the V4 users guide for more information.
Please see the RTL-SDR Blog V4 Release post for more information.
Amazon USA warehouse in stock.
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Includes 1x RTL-SDR Blog brand R828D RTL2832U 1PPM TCXO SMA V4 Dongle.
The best value RTL-SDR on the market! Several improvements over generic brands including use of the R828D tuner, triplexed input filter, notch filter, improved component tolerances, a 1 PPM temperature compensated oscillator (TCXO), SMA F connector, aluminium case with passive cooling, bias tee circuit, improved power supply, and built in HF upconverter.
NOTE: This is the newer V4 design, and it requires updating to the latest drivers to work. Before purchasing, please ensure that you understand that not all applications work with the V4 yet! Compatibility with most popular software is now okay, but some niche programs are still lagging with support. Please consult the V4 users guide for more information.
Please see the RTL-SDR Blog V4 Release post for more information.
Amazon USA warehouse in stock.
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Includes 1x RTL-SDR Blog brand R860 (R820T2) RTL2832U 1PPM TCXO SMA V3 Dongle, 1x Dipole Antenna Base with 60cm RG174, 2x 23cm to 1m telescopic antenna, 2x 5cm to 13cm telescopic antenna, 1x 3 meter RG174 extension cable, 1x Flexible Tripod Mount, 1x Suction Cup Mount.
The best value RTL-SDR on the market! Several improvements over generic TV tuner brands including use of the R860 (R820T2) tuner, a 1 PPM temperature compensated oscillator (TCXO), SMA F connector, aluminum case with passive cooling, software switchable bias tee circuit, additional ESD protection, lower overall noise and built in direct sampling for basic HF reception.
Comes with our portable dipole antenna kit. Great for beginners as it allows for terrestrial and satellite reception. Easy to mount outdoors and designed for portable and temporary outside usage. Please do not use outside during poor weather conditions.
We are now shipping the new black enclosure design with the dongle plus antenna set!
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Chinese worldwide warehouse in stock.
Includes 1x RTL-SDR Blog brand R860 (R820T2) RTL2832U 1PPM TCXO SMA V3 Dongle.
The best value RTL-SDR on the market! Several improvements over generic TV tuner brands including use of the R860 (R820T2) tuner, a 1 PPM temperature compensated oscillator (TCXO), SMA F connector, aluminum case with passive cooling, software switchable bias tee circuit, additional ESD protection, lower overall noise and built in direct sampling for basic HF reception.
Amazon USA local warehouse in stock.
Chinese worldwide warehouse in stock.
KrakenSDR - 5 Channel Coherent RTL-SDR. Automatic coherent calibration. Rugged Enclosure. Low noise design. Improved software!
KrakenSDR can be used for applications that require coherence such as radio direction finding (RDF). For RDF we provide a free software stack, including a companion Android app that can be used for live mapping and triangulation of direction finding bearings.
Please see our CrowdSupply page for more information about this product.
Discovery Dish can be used to receive L-band weather satellites like GOES, GK-2A, FengYun, NOAA/Meteor HRPT, METOP, and more!
Other feeds include a hydrogen line feed for radio astronomy and an Inmarsat feed.
Please see our CrowdSupply page for more information about this product.
Includes 1x YouLoop balun "Tee", 1x Coax Inverter Connector, 2x 1 meter semi-rigid coax loop cables, 1x 2m semi-rigid coax feedline.
This is a super portable passive HF/VHF loop antenna designed for super low NF/MDS receivers like the Airspy HF+ Discovery. It also works to some extent with the RTL-SDR V3 in direct sampling mode if you enable RTL AGC. But for radios without super low MDS specs, the signals can be boosted on by using any external low cost HF amplifier, or even our wideband LNA. The receiving range is 10 kHz to 30 MHz on HF, and up to 300 MHz on VHF.
Note: This antenna is designed for portable use and is not weatherproof. Permanent mounting can be achieved with weather proofing tape.
Please see the product release post for more information, or the description on the Airspy website.
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Includes 1x Active RHCP L-Band Patch Antenna (Covering 1525 - 1660 MHz) in Weather Proof Enclosure, 1x 2 meter RG174 extension cable, 1x Flexible Tripod Mount, 1x Suction Cup Mount.
This is version two of our active (amplified + filtered) high performance RHCP patch antenna designed for receiving L-Band satellites such as Inmarsat, Iridium and GPS. Easily mountable outside on a window, surface, stick, tree branch etc. Comes with easy to use mounting solutions and extension coax, and is enclosed in a fully weather proof plastic cover.
Requires 3.3 - 5v 20mA bias tee power. The RTL-SDR V3 provides 4.5v so is suitable.
Please see the Release Post for more information about the product. Note that antenna now ships with gray coloring - not black.
Amazon USA warehouse in stock.
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Includes 1x Dipole Antenna Base with 60cm RG174, 2x 23cm to 1m telescopic antenna, 2x 5cm to 13cm telescopic antenna, 1x 3 meter RG174 extension cable, 1x Flexible Tripod Mount, 1x Suction Cup Mount.
Our new portable Dipole antenna set with mounting kit. Allows you to more easily get the antenna up high and outside where reception will improve significantly. Dipole base mounts onto a standard 1/4" camera screw, so can be mounted on to a variety of already available mounts. Included is a flexible tripod and suction cup mount.
Designed for portable and temporary outside usage. Please do not use outside during poor weather conditions.
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Includes 1x QO-100 Bullseye TCXO LNB
This is a TCXO stabilized LNB for the QO-100 geostationary amateur satellite and other Ku-band satellites. Manufactured by Othernet. Standard LNBs used for QO-100 require modifications to be made to the circuit as the crystal needs to be replaced with a TCXO in order to avoid frequency drift. The Bullseye LNB comes with a highly stable TCXO which has less than 10 kHz offset even in outdoor conditions.
The Bullseye LNB is the world's most precise and stable DTH/consumer Ku-band down converter. Even a VSAT LNBF costing hundreds of dollars more is no match for the performance of the Bullseye 10K LNB. Each unit is calibrated at the factory to within 1 kHz of absolute precision against a GPS-locked spectrum analyzer. Under outdoor conditions, the stability of the LNB is well within 10 kHz of offset. As a bonus feature, the Bullseye 10K provides access to its internal 25 MHz TCXO through the secondary (red) F-connector. This reference output can be used to directly monitor the performance of the TCXO over time.
NOTE: Requires a 12-19V bias tee power injector, the V3/V4's 4.5V bias tee is NOT for this LNB. 11.5 - 14V enables vertical polarization and 16 - 19V enables horizontal polarization.
Chinese worldwide warehouse in stock.
Includes 1x RTL-SDR Blog Broadcast FM Band-Stop Filter and 1x SMA male to SMA male adapter.
Blocks the broadcast FM band between 88 - 108 MHz with over 50dB of attenuation. Insertion loss is less than 0.5 dB between 0 - 1 GHz, and mostly less than 1.5 dB between 1 - 3 GHz. A broadcast FM block filter can help if you have very strong broadcasts in your area that are overloading the SDR dongle. Also known as "FM Trap". Note, designed for RX use only, although several customer tests have confirmed that up to 5W can be put through this filter without issues (but please note that TX damage is not covered by warranty).
See the product release page, for more information and tests.
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Includes 1x RTL-SDR Blog Broadcast AM High Pass Filter and 1x SMA male to SMA male adapter.
Designed to block the broadcast AM band between 500 kHz - 1.7 MHz with over 50 dB of attenuation. The 3 dB roll-off point is between 2.5 - 2.6 MHz. Works great with the direct sampling mode on our V3 dongles. This is a high pass filter and not a notch, so VLF will not work. Note, for RX use only.
See the product release page, for more information and tests.
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Chinese worldwide warehouse in stock.
Includes 1x RTL-SDR Blog ADS-B Triple Filtered LNA (Bias Tee Powered) and 1x SMA male to SMA male adapter.
This is a high performance filter and LNA combination for 1090 MHz ADS-B reception with 27dB of gain, a noise figure of around 1dB and over 60dB's of out of band attenuation. Designed to be used with bias tee power from our RTL-SDR Blog V3 dongles with the LNA mounted as close to the antenna as possible. It is triple filtered with a low loss high pass filter on the front end, and two 1090 MHz SAW filters placed in between and after the high performance low noise figure two stage MGA-13116 LNA. The triple filter design should help avoid dongle or LNA overload in noisy/strong signal environments.
Please note again: Requires 3 - 5v, 150mA bias tee power. The RTL-SDR V3 provides 4.5v so is suitable.
See the product release page, for more information and tests.
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Chinese worldwide out of stock.
Includes 1x RTL-SDR Blog Wideband LNA (Bias Tee Powered) and 1x SMA male to SMA male adapter.
This is a general purpose SPF5189Z based wideband LNA. Works from 50 MHz to 4 GHz with a noise figure of less than 1dB. Requires bias tee power, but there is an internal header which can be used to switch to external power, although for external power wires you'll need to drill a hole into the enclosure. If you're looking to improve ADS-B performance we recommend our Triple Filtered ADS-B LNA shown above.
Please note again: Requires 3 - 5v, 90mA bias tee power. The RTL-SDR V3 provides 4.5v so is suitable.
Please see the product release page for more information.
Amazon USA warehouse in stock.
Chinese worldwide warehouse in stock.
Includes 1x SMAÂ Pigtail adapter set (6 adapters)
Set of six SMA pigtail adapters with 20cm of RG316 cabling. Contains five SMA to female (Type N, UHF, BNC, PAL, Type F) adapters and one bonus SMA male to SMA male adapter which is often used to connect to devices like upconverters.
Amazon USA warehouse local in stock.
Chinese worldwide warehouse out of stock.
Includes 1x SMA straight adapter set (6 adapters)
Set of six straight adapters with. Contains five SMA to female (Type N, UHF, BNC, PAL, Type F) adapters and one bonus SMA male to SMA male adapter which is often used to connect to devices like upconverters. Less loss than the pigtail adapters.
Amazon USA warehouse in stock.
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Includes 1x Semi-Rigid RG402 SMA Antenna Adapter Set (10 adapters)
Includes 10 RF RG402 adapter cables. SMA Male to SMA, BNC, Type N, Type F, UHF Male + Female adapters. RG402 is a semi-rigid cable. Maintains shape after bending. Please do not bend too close to the connector to avoid breakage. Great for tidy cable management in enclosures!
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Includes 1x black aluminum metal enclosure with two labelled side panels, 1x black semi-hard shell carry case, 1x thermal pad to keep the RSP1A cool and mechanically stable inside the enclosure, 1x accessory set including enclosure screws, GND lug bolt set and 3M anti-slip rubber feet.
This is a premium black metal upgrade enclosure for the SDRplay RSP1A, or RSP1. Helps block RF interference and protects the RSP inside the sturdy enclosure.
Please note this DOES NOT include the SDRplay RSP1A.
Amazon USA local out of stock.
Chinese worldwide warehouse out of stock.
Amazon USA warehouse out of stock.Â
Chinese worldwide warehouse in stock.
A comprehensive guide to the RTL2832U RTL-SDR software defined radio by the authors of the RTL-SDR Blog. This book is about tips and tutorials that show you how to get the most out of your RTL-SDR dongle.
The paperback includes the eBook via the Kindle matchbook program. Amazon Prime customers can borrow the book for FREE. Also available for purchase from Amazon sites in UK, DE, FR, IT, ES, JP, IN, CA, BR and MX.
[expand title = "Shipping Information / Policy (Click to Expand)"]
If you suspect a lost postal item please contact your local postal agency first and inquire there. Usually they have more information than we have. If they confirm it as lost or not received after a long time then please let us know at [email protected] and we can open an investigation on this side as well. Usually we must wait at least 6 weeks from the date posted before we can open a lost parcel investigation.
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USA For US customers we highly recommend purchasing our products from Amazon. Amazon will provide you with fast local shipping and shipping is free for orders over $35. If you are a Prime subscriber you also get free 2 day shipping. US customers may also purchase from our international checkout and choose free shipping from China and we will send via priority air mail (ePacket EMS). |
International (All countries outside the USA except sanctioned countries like Iran and NK) Please enter your address using English characters only! Please note that we have an approximate 1-2 day working day processing time before international parcels get shipped (even express orders). Note that we cannot ship to internationally sanctioned countries such as Iran and NK. These orders will be cancelled. International orders bought on our cart will be shipped from our warehouse in China. Shipping is free. Shipping can take anywhere from 1 - 8 weeks, but typically it is between 2 - 4 weeks. It will normally reach the higher end of the scale during the peak season which is the months surrounding December. Please note that delivery time is also highly dependent on the efficiency of the postal and customs agencies within your country, and please understand that this processing time is totally out of our hands. Countries such as South Africa, Italy, Canada, Brazil, and middle eastern countries are known to sometimes have extremely slow postal and customs agencies. If you need faster shipping please select an express option. Please note that we cannot cancel an international shipment that has shipped out. This is not allowed by the postal services. International buyers are reminded that as with any international parcel you are fully responsible for any duties or customs clearance fees required by your country, and that you take full responsibility for the legality of importing. If you have questions about the declared value and customs fees please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. Please watch the tracking information and contact your postal agency if there are any significant delays. If your parcel does not arrive within 4 weeks (6 weeks during December/Christmas period and for known slow countries) and the tracking looks stuck, then please contact us at [email protected] and we will open a postal investigation and resend or refund your item. Express air courier shipping is also available but this costs much more and we only recommend this for larger shipments, or for countries that don't support priority air mail. With this option we will normally use FEDEX, but for some countries may use an alternative. Depending on your country your package should arrive within 2-8 business days with express shipping (plus a 1-3 working day processing time). If you wish to use this option then please select your country from the shipping options in the cart. Note that most express couriers will not deliver to a PO BOX and they may charge additional fees for duty/customs processing. Also please note that there is often a slightly longer initial processing time with express couriers, as they are often slow to provide us with the tracking information. You can expect the tracking info to be provided 2-5 working days after your order. Note that depending on the weight, cost and destination country of your order we may upgrade your shipment to a faster shipping method for free. We will normally only do this for larger orders. How do I track my shipment? Please use the tracking link in the second order completed email that you will receive from us. Please note that tracking updates may initially take a few days to start working after receiving the shipped status. |
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[expand title = "Product Support (Click to Expand)"]
If you have a general question about RTL-SDRs or SDRs we ask you to please ask in our forums.
If you need technical support please first ensure that you have been through our Quickstart guide and troubleshooting section further down on it, as well as our V3 users guide. Common questions like how to use the HF mode are explained on the V3 users guide.
If you have a question about shipping of an item please first read the shipping policy (above) and see if it answers your question. If it is a request for tracking details please first check your old/deleted/spam mails for the tracking email which is provided by PayPal. You should have two mails from PayPal. The first showing ‘in process’, and the second 1-2 working days after showing the tracking details.
If you suspect a lost postal item please contact your local postal agency first and inquire there. Usually they have more information than we have. If they confirm it as lost or not received after a long time then please let us know and we can open an investigation on this side as well. Usually we must wait at least 6 weeks from the date posted before we can open a lost parcel investigation.
For everything else such as lost postal items, warranty claims and support inquiries that aren’t covered by the quickstart or troubleshooting guide then please contact us at [email protected]. We aim to always reply within 1-2 business days.
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[expand title = "Warranty Information (Click to Expand)"]
We will provide a two year warranty on any manufacturing defects. Please note that if you do any modifications to the PCB (e.g. soldering on it) then any warranty will be voided, so please ensure your dongle is working before trying these.
If you suspect a manufacturing fault please first ensure that you have been through our Quickstart guide and troubleshooting section further down on it, as well as our V3 users guide. Common questions like how to use the HF mode are explained on the V3 users guide.
If you've been through the troubleshooting guide and still suspect a fault please contact us through Amazon if you bought there, or email us at [email protected] if you bought from our cart. Be sure to include your order number and name. Please include details of the fault and a picture of the fault if it is physical damage. If the unit is faulty we will issue either a full refund or send a new unit out depending on your preference.
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[expand title = "Wholesale Information (Click to Expand)"]
We can provide bulk rates for order of over 10 units. If you want to buy 10+ units please contact us directly at [email protected] for a wholesale quote.
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Recommended accessories from other sellers
Note that some of the links below are affiliate links which help support the costs involved with the running of this blog. However, all the products listed are what we actually do recommend regardless.
Antennas
Probably the most important part of a radio system is the antenna. There is no one size fits all antenna, every different design will have a trade off. For instance, wide band antennas can receive more frequencies, but will have less gain at any one particular frequency. If you want to receive everything then get a wide band antenna. If you want to receive one frequency with optimal reception, find a tuned narrow band antenna.
Discones are wideband antennas. This makes them ideal for the RTL-SDR as using a Discone will allow you to receive at almost any frequency with decent performance.
Amazon
eBay 
A 1090 MHz ADS-B antenna from FlightAware. Is weather proofed and has 5 dB of gain. Uses an N-type antenna connector. See our review post for more information.
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Upconverters
The lowest frequency an RTL-SDR can comfortably tune to is about 24 MHz. An upconverter allows you to use your RTL-SDR on HF frequencies which are between 0 - 30 MHz. They work by shifting frequencies between 0 - 30 MHz "up" by a fixed amount into a frequency range that is receivable by the RTL-SDR.
Currently we recommend the SpyVerter as the upconverter of choice. Although it was designed to be used with the Airspy, it works perfectly with the RTL-SDR. It uses a 120 MHz oscillator, has excellent filtering and can be powered via USB cable or via the bias-tee on our RTL-SDR Blog dongles. The SpyVerter uses an innovative new architecture that reduces overloading, has better SNR than other options and can operate all the way down to DC.
With the above performance and features, the included metal case and adapters and at a similar or even lower price compared to other upconverters we think this one is the best value. See our review post for more information.
Direct
An alternative to the SpyVerter is the upconverter designed by SV1AFN.
It based on the ADE-1 mixer chip, uses a 200 MHz oscillator, has good filtering and works almost down to DC.
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Another recommended option is the Ham-It-Up Upconverter.
This one like the SV1AFN is also based on the ADE-1 mixer, but uses 125 MHz oscillator and is based on an open source design. There is also a metal case available on Amazon and eBay. However, currently we would recommend the SpyVerter or SV1AFN over this option.
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RF Filters
RF filters connect between your antenna and RTL-SDR dongle. They help to significantly reduce out of band interference and noise which is very helpful when trying to improve signal strength.
FlightAware sell a very affordable ADS-B band pass filter. Many users have reported significantly improved reception when they started using this filter. This is probably the best filter to get if you are interested in ADS-B. See our review post for more information.
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We also highly recommend the ADS-B HABAmp for receiving ADS-B signals. This is a filter + LNA combination that works very well and will significantly improve ADS-B performance.
We've tested these ourselves with the activatable bias tee in our units and found them to definitely work very well.
Direct
This product is great for if you are using an upconverter together with your RTL-SDR, or other SDR. Contains seven band pass filters that range from 1.6 - 2.5 MHz, 2.5 - 4.7 MHz, 4.7 - 7.5 MHz, 7.5 - 14.5 MHz, 14.5 - 21.5 MHz, 21.5 - 33 MHz and 33 - 56 MHz.
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Low Noise Amplifiers
If you have long runs of coax cable then a low noise amplifier (LNA) can help to significantly improve your reception. Coax cable is lossy and the longer it is the more your received signal is attenuated. By adding an LNA near the antenna this loss can be reduced.
The LNA4ALL is a very affordable wide band low noise amplifier that is very commonly used with the RTL-SDR. Has the ability to be powered externally from any voltage between 6V - 9V, or with a simple modification with 3V - 5V in bias tee mode.
We have tested the LNA4ALL in bias tee mode with the activatable bias tee in our units and found it to work well.
Direct
There are also several low noise amplifier circuits that can be found very cheaply for sale on eBay and most will do a good job. Unfortunately most don't provide a bias tee option like the LNA4ALL or HABamp does. Currently we recommend LNA's based on the SPF5189Z chip as they have wideband good performance, and are cheaply produced.
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Other Accessories
Ideally you want to get the RTL-SDR dongle as close to the antenna as possible. Normal USB cables have a length limit of about 5m before they stop working, but with an active USB cable this can be extended up to 10 to 15 meters.
We recommend these Monoprice cables as they have been reported to work successfully with the RTL-SDR dongle.
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We recommend using RG6 coaxial cable for most links between your antenna and RTL-SDR. RG6 is low loss cable and it is also very cheap because it is used commercially with satellite TV installations.
RG6 is 75 Ohm cable. Note that the mismatch between 50 and 75 Ohm impedances is completely negligible for RX applications.
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Noise and interference can sometimes be induced in the USB cable itself which can show up in the RF spectrum. To stop this noise use clip on ferrite cores on the USB cable. These cores help to suppress unwanted currents in the USB shield.
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A USB on-the-go (OTG) cable is required to use the RTL-SDR on Android phones with software like SDR Touch and Wavesink. We recommend trying to find cables that come with power plugs so that you can use it with a power pack. Using an RTL-SDR can increase CPU usage which can quickly drain a mobiles battery.
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If you are using a long wire or random wire antenna with a HF modded RTL-SDR or an upconverter you should use a 9:1 impedance transformer to get good SWR.
There are also several other alternatives available on eBay that use a larger iron core.
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A wideband noise source can be used together with an RTL-SDR dongle to perform measurements on filters and to measure the SWR of an antenna.
See our tutorial here for more information.
eBayÂ
Recommended alternative SDRs
Airspy SDRs have high performance RX capabilities with mid tier pricing. Their units really shine when used in tough RF environments, such as in RF environments with strong and weak signals together. The Airspy is an excellent upgrade from an RTL-SDR dongle.Â
See our review post for a comprehensive comparison between the Airspy, SDRplay RSP and HackRF.
Direct
Another good mid range SDR is the SDRplay RSP line of receivers. These SDRs are great value for the price and can receive HF frequencies without an upconverter. Previous iterations were behind the Airspy in terms of overall performance, but the RSP1A and newer models are on par.
See our review post for a comprehensive comparison between the Airspy, SDRplay RSP1 and HackRF.
Direct
The HackRF One is a relatively low cost TX/RX capable SDR. It is designed for radio experimenters and it has a very wide band frequency range from 1 MHz to 6 GHz, and a wide bandwidth of up to 20 MHz and an 8-Bit ADC. It is probably the most versatile SDR that exists at the moment, but in a compromise it does not have the best quality RX or TX performance. Thus it is perfect for experiments like reverse engineering and testing RF devices, but it is not intended to be used as a commercial radio or ham radio.
Amazon
Please can someone provide close up of the pcb with the bias tee modification completed.
I take it that this is a link at RF1 on the pcb, is this a reference for “re-setable fuse 1” and a smd component would be required or is this mod done with just a wire link ?
Also notice there is a protection fuse on the pcb near inductor L13.
This post shows the required connection https://www.rtl-sdr.com/new-products-rtl-sdr-with-1ppm-tcxo-sma-f-connector-r820t2-bias-tee-improved-tolerances-direct-sampling-break-out-pads-now-available-in-our-store/
Hi,
I bought R820T2 RTL-SDR dongle recently. I have tested it on Linux system by GQRX and various other utilities.
The dongle is able to receive FM radio for example. But I get [R82XX] PLL not locked messages.
The same time my old E4000 dongle works without such messages.
It looks like the osmosdr utilities/driver cannot read the PLL lock indicator of the R820T2 chip correctly .
Or my dongle is broken?
PLL not locked is a common message that can be safely ignored. It means the tuner could not tune exactly to the specified frequency, but it will usually tune to a neighbouring frequency that can be locked.
I just purchased the latest RTL-SDR Blog revision NSY 2015/12 from Amazon. I’m experienced with RF design and was curious about these dongles and liked the bias tee implementation. I won’t revisit the cosmetic issues, mechanics, or circuit layout, but there’s definitely an issue involving the TCXO.
It creates a spectrum of powerful n-th harmonics from 28.8 MHz all the way up to +1.7GHz. I’ve used comb generators that don’t work this well. This increases the noise floor by ~20dB. So useful spectrum analysis is really limited to a 35dB dynamic range. I found a 50th harmonic broad spectrum of the clock
admin.44GHz and what looks like a mirror at 960MHz that is HUGE. The modulation aspects might be USB leakage related. Running Kalibrate kept giving me strange results or none on a GSM tower less than 2 miles away, so I spent a few tedious hours snooping with SDR# and then verifying with RTL Panorama. E-field probing the PCB verified a very hot oscillator so I may play with some localized shielding and other tricks since moving around anything smaller than 805’s isn’t any fun, especially without a good schematic. The TCXO’s WTL International PN is “S5 28.8” and can’t find its specific data sheet (custom?) but there are similar 28.8MHz products in their catalog.
What you’re seeing at 960 and 1440 Mhz is actually harmonics from the USB on your PC, you’ll probably see the same at 480 MHz as well. Spurs are a problem, but the TCXO doesn’t create more spurs than a regular RTL-SDR dongle with a normal oscillator.
Yes, I agree the USB is likely causing some intermodulation at the clock harmonics. However, all the rigid spurs are very real, very big, steady, everywhere, and deflates my enthusiasm for the Spectrum Analyzer aspect or monitoring frequencies near those clock harmonics. If regular dongles using standard crystals are also this poor, then it’s moot. Yet I have not seen end-to-end spectral displays of other users like this either.
Note that crystals and clock oscillators are two different entities and NEVER drop-in replacements. If an oscillator is not treated differently in layout or matching elements things can easily go bad. Drive, loading, and layout are very different. I’ve mitigated dozens of non compliant products from “drop-in clock flops”. If I have some time to chase it down and can fix it, I will post my results. -Best Regards-
Funny you mentioned this since I noticed exactly the same thing with mine (I own two). These harmonics start immediately at 28.8 MHz and go right up there. Never witnessed anything like that with my regular rtl-sdr, except for the USB induced harmonics. For my use it’s acceptable but understand that for spectrum analysis will suck big time.
Bob I… Here’s a link to an image of the latest RTL SDR dongle showing the pads for power injection
?dl=0
I got mine only yesterday morning and I modified by installing a miniature latching on/off button for the power injection and replacing the short legged LED with a long legged device so it peeps out the same end to show me when power is on. Later on, last night, I notice that the printed text on the surface had nearly disappeared. It was not subjected to any solvents or chemicals etc. just heat generated inside the SDR itself. Use of a better paint/ink should be considered.
?dl=0
Terry
Mods… Could you please edit my post above to replace the links with these….
?dl=0
?dl=0
Thank You đŸ™‚
Done, and very interesting mods. I’m aware of the ink rubbing off issue. The problem is that the ink is heat transferred on, but when the dongle gets hot it can easy be rubbed off just by touching it. Still investigating solutions.
Bonjour,
Concernant la peinture du case aluminium,
La qualité est meilleure?
Merci d’avance pour la rĂ©ponse.
Any pics or directions available of the two pads that have to be soldered to provide 4.5v through the SMA connector to power a Spyverter without using the USB connector???
See the overview post https://www.rtl-sdr.com/new-products-rtl-sdr-with-1ppm-tcxo-sma-f-connector-r820t2-bias-tee-improved-tolerances-direct-sampling-break-out-pads-now-available-in-our-store. Scroll down to the bias tee part. Basically just cut a short wire and bridge those two pads.
I purchased an active GPS antenna that I hope to use with the unit after I mod the bias tee. My question is,however, can we leave this bias tee enabled forever or are there drawbacks? I ultimately would prefer to not have to remove the solder once it is enabled (even when using non-active antennas), unless it is recommended. Any information on this would be appreciated as I am hesitant to perform the mod otherwise.
The major drawback is that with the bias tee connected you can no longer use passive antennas that use a DC shorted design (i.e. antennas that have the design such that the center coax wire and shield are connected together). Examples of shorted antennas are J-poles and QFH antennas.
Thank you tremendously. First time seeing this. Are there any other downsides, or is that all?
There might also be some increased noise pickup at some frequencies from the bias tee circuit too.
Approximately how much time does it take for a delivery outside US- to Europe ? Thanks !
Hi Martin, please check our Shipping Information policy on this page (just under the book sale link). Basically it’s very hard to predict how long a parcel will take. Some countries in the EU will receive it in 1-2 weeks. Other can take up to 4-5 weeks. It is highly dependant on many factors such as global postal load (eg around xmas and NYE delivery is very very slow), your countries customs agencies efficiency and your local post efficiency. On average delivery is around 15-20 days.
I want to thank the owner of this shop, clear and fast work, I recommend everyone to buy here. Today I received the dongle in the aluminum case, excellent item at a very reasonable price. Measured temperature frequency drift per hour – 0,053 ppm – great result, it’s better than I measured with big Chinese TCXO 0.5 ppm (0,078 ppm per hour). Works well heat radiation on the case, the case is very hot. Like stylish look, I can’t help myself, happy like a kid with a new toy.
Any progress on the aluminum cases for these dongles?
Still on track for the end of this year or early next year. The CAD designs are done and the extrusion mould is being worked on now.
You guys are the best!
It’s kind of a shame that all the design work is already done. I just read the newly-posted article regarding passive cooling, and it would be nice to have a heat sink integrated with the aluminum case. In fact, the entire bottom of the case could probably serve as a heat sink, and the cases could come with a strip of thermal padding to make it super easy to mount the PCB inside.
Oh well, maybe for Version 2.0!
Actually we’ve already been looking into methods of passive cooling with the case and a thermal pad is one of the things we are considering, and it’s probably the most likely solution at the moment. It would simply attach to the bottom of the PCB and make contact with the metal case inner wall. It would be nice to have some actual metal sticking up and touching the hot points, but with extrusion moulding only simple linear designs are possible.
I should say we have no guarantees on having any passive cooling implemented though, but we are definitely looking into it, and if not now then definitely for v2.
Is the “RTL-SDR Blog R820T2 RTL2832U 1PPM TCXO SMA Software Defined Radio with 2x Telescopic Antennas” still on track to being in stock by weeks end at Amazon?
The stock arrived at the Amazon warehouse today (about a week later than we expected). Hopefully it will be put on the shelves by tomorrow, but it’s hard to give an accurate timeline as sometimes they’re slow and sometimes they’re fast.
We have SR10 grounding system of MeteoModem. Can we use RTL-SDR dongle to receive Graw’s radiosonde on it?
Check if its supported by SondeMonitor at https://www.coaa.co.uk/sondemonitor.htm, and then see our tutorial at https://www.rtl-sdr.com/receiving-weather-balloon-data-with-rtl-sdr/.
I tried to buy on amazon only the dongle it says it can not send in Sardinia
International orders can be made from this page, by using the international cart (button labelled “Wordwide” and “Add to cart”)
Try this one….
http://www.banggood.com/DVB-T-USB-2_0-Mini-Digital-TV-SDR-FM-And-DAB-Radio-Tuner-Receiver-p-973949.html?p=MS19202840422201510L
Just a quick word on support: When I received mine, it was broken. I sent an email to Carl with proof of the problem, and he instantly sent me a new one. I received the replacement today, and now the fun begins đŸ™‚
Thanks for the quick replacement!
-Paul.
L.s.,
I am an editor for Hoek van Holland Magazine. I want to buy two sets of the: RTL-SDR Blog R820T2 RTL2832U 1PPM TCXO SMA Software Defined Radio with 2x Telescopic Antennas for a review.
Can you please send me an email once the sets are available for the Netherlands again?
Cheers!
Edo Dijkgraaf
Thanks for the interest!
We’re just in the process of repackaging the units with antennas because the international postal system was much rougher than we anticipated. We found that they tend to crush parcels a lot, which pushed some of the antenna base screws down into the base (easily repaired with a screwdriver, but definitely not in the state that we want customers to receive them).
We should be back to selling them normally by the end of this week, or early next week.
I will check your website next week.
Okay, you kept your word, so I kept mine. I ordered 2 sets right away.
I somehow managed to screw up the driver for the R280T trying to fix my Folio keyboard on my Winbook. Now it shows up as Bulk Interface 0 and Bulk Interface 1. Is there anyway to get it back to R280T?
Are you seeing that in Zadig? In Zadig the RTL-SDR should show up as Bulk in, Interface (Interface 0), or something like RTL2832. Just use Zadig to reinstall the WinUSB drivers on that interface 0 to get it working.
Hey guys, I just bought your improved rtl-sdr dongle and it works great, but the only antenna I have is the telescopic antenna it came with, I also have a small unused radio dish. I tried to receive NOAA 19 with limited success. To actually receive a signal I needed to hold on the the antenna cable which reduced the static and allowed me to receive it for a small period of time. I cannot buy a different antenna at this time.
What can I do to so I don’t have to hold the wire to get reception?
The telescopic whip antennas aren’t really designed for receiving satellites. Telescopic whip antennas can receive terrestrial signals well, but not ones from space. For NOAA you should build a QFH or turnstile antenna.
That said you might be able to squeeze a bit more from the telescopic antennas by extending them to the correct length for 137 MHz (about 0.52 m), placing the antenna on a metal sheet like a cookie tin lid, and making an “ugly balun”. Coil up a few turns of the coax around a pencil (or preferable a ferrite rod) near the antenna base. That should reduce the noise a little.
Thanks for the quick reply, but the telescopic antenna that came with it has a fairly high noise floor on almost any frequency unless I hold on to the cable itself, by this I mean there are tons of strong signals that were wide, solid lines (Not FM) and then I held the antenna cable they go away for the most part and weaker signals show up like NOAA 19 and it improves the signal so much that it was static and then the signal was almost clear as day and I could actually receive NOAA 19 for a while and it gave me a clear image (I can post a picture if you want and I was at max gain, as that is what I needed to pick the signal up NOAA 19)
Also when you say place it on a metal sheet do you mean the base or the antenna itself, and when you say near the antenna base do you mean the cable around the base, and is there a specific number of coils I should make?
Sorry for the stupid questions, and thanks for the reply.
Sorry for the late reply. Yeah I mean put the base of the antenna on top of a metal sheet. Whip antennas like these are designed to be placed on top of a metal surface. There’s a magnet on the base for this purpose that will hold it there. I think that when you hold onto the cable you might be helping by acting as the ground, so adding a real ground plane should help as well.
For the coil I mean to get say a pen and maybe make 3-4 turns of the cable around then pen, then tape it to keep it secure. Make the turns close to the base. If you have a ferrite rod then do it around this rod. It shouldn’t be needed, but in some cases this can help.
Thanks for the reply I will try it out.
When will http://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Telescopic/dp/B00QFCNNV0/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1419803086&sr=1-3 be coming back into stock? My antenna snapped in half so i was going to buy a new one
Just got back in stock with an even better RTL-SDR unit! See the top of this page for the details.
How is this new one better?
Please see this post for information on the improvements: https://www.rtl-sdr.com/new-products-rtl-sdr-with-1ppm-tcxo-sma-f-connector-r820t2-bias-tee-improved-tolerances-direct-sampling-break-out-pads-now-available-in-our-store/
Why don’t you replace the antenna? They’re cheap and plentiful. BTW, the R820T2 dongles perform worse in tests (especially in the experimental mode) than the old R820T ones and it would appear that in the advertised models the 1ppm claimed TCXO is actually a passive (no power) 20ppm smd crystal – it’s to do with the design of the R820T2 tuner.
What tests have you seen or performed that show the R820T2 is worse? All the results i’ve seen from other experimenters and our own tests have shown that the R820T2 is a little better than the R820T. Just search for R820T2 on this blog.
Also these new units (not the old model linked by Jacob) really do have a real powered 1 PPM TCXO, it is not passive. There is a power trace for these units going into the TCXO to power it.
I have not tested the model you are trying to sell, but I will ask the Chinese manufacturer for a few samples. The R820T2 tuner is designed with the ultra amateur people in mind who cannot be bothered to even get a good antenna for their setup. Any one of my R820T dongles has shown better stability than the new R820T2 ones and all the new so called TCXO dongles have so far been sold with a 20ppm SMD passive resonator. That said, would it be possible to get a link to some pictures to support your claim? I’d like to see that power trace and perhaps you could also tell us what TCXO is used in the design?
The main difference between the R820T and the R820T2 is the wider filters (whose width should have no effect on the 3.2 MHz RTL-SDR), but a side effect of the different filters appears to be slightly better RX.
Not sure what you mean by the “ultra amateur people?”, the R820T2 is also used in the Airspy, a high performance SDR.
Frequency stability has little to do with the tuner itself, it is all dependant on the oscillator. Close up of the power trace here https://www.rtl-sdr.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/power_trace.jpg. 3.3V is tapped from one end of C2. The TCXO has no brand, but it is almost identical to the one used in the previous ThumbNet models which are also 1PPM temp drift, 2PPM initial offset.
Please let me help you identify your quartz – http://www.s383778432.websitehome.co.uk/upload/1.JPG and regarding the power trace I shall contact the manufacturer to confirm everything. (The reel was obtained from the dongle manufacturer)
Thank you for your kind offer, but for what it does I have decided that I may buy your Airspy only when you’ve lowered your price a tad. Until then I’ll be happy to either use the Chinese dongles or make my own SDRs.
No its not that one, those look like passive XOs. We source our own TCXO’s from a separate supplier, they are 1PPM and powered like all TCXO’S need to be.
Just to confirm we aren’t the designers of the Airspy, they are made by someone else.
By your own words you do not know what the brand of the quartz is. I helped you identify it as that is what the Chinese use. The rest is your blurb trying to save your sales.
It’s definitely not that XO in the image you posted. I 100% guarantee that the oscillator we use in the new units is a powered 3.3V 1PPM temp drift, 2PPM initial offset TCXO.
There is no brand, the TCXO is custom manufactured by our crystal supplier who have their own network of factory partners to choose from. 28.8 MHz TCXO’s are not very common, so they need to be custom ordered in the thousands. The closest thing to a brand is the supplier name, but I won’t reveal the supplier as that is trade secret (and I think you might be an RTL-SDR retailer too? since you talk of contacting the factory), but there are many similar XO suppliers to choose from in China.
Not sure why it is so hard to believe in a RTL-SDR with TCXO? Anyone can confirm the 1PPM drift by watching the drift on a signal over time. Other vendors have had TCXO RTL-SDR’s out for some time too, including ThumbNet, Nooelec and custom hand modded ones by someone in Japan.
EDIT: Screenshot of the relevant parts of the datasheet https://www.rtl-sdr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/tcxo_ss.png
EDIT 2: Photo of the TCXO temperature drift test data from our prototypes https://www.rtl-sdr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/tcxo_test_data.jpg
Blurb. I’ve had the NooElec dongle here straight from China (NooElec written in silkscreen on the PCB) – came with the 20ppm crystal as pictured in my link above.
How can you tell everyone there is no brand? Someone manufactures those crystals after all and you don’t know who it is. Well, I got a reel full of those so called TCXOs from the same manufacturer you are talking about and they are not 1ppm.
I’ve had enough of all of you ripping people off by saying things that are not true about those products, ie. your claims about home modifying the PCBs, etc. The dongles are manufactured in China, all the printing is done in China and every board is modified in China.
I have no problem disclosing who makes them, do you?
Replying to your last comment here because the comment thread went too deep. The “brand” is the supplier name, but they just order the crystals from one of their factory partners.
Yes all the dongles are made in China, most by Newsky, the factory we and other vendors use. They have their own standard oscillators that they use on their standard units (the 20PPM SMD ones your talking about, and the 100PPM+ CAN package ones) – we used the SMD ones on our old models as they drifted a lot less than the through hole XO’s. But for these new ones we’ve gone ahead and ordered 1PPM TCXO’s from a crystal supplier, given them to Newsky, told them the required PCB changes needed to give them power, and then had them manufactured. To be clear, ours are not hand modified.
There really are hand modified ones for sale though, by Nobu in Japan (he sells them on Amazon.jp), and there was also a US company doing similar hand mods who sold on eBay before.
EDIT: To comment below, yes NS may be traders, but they are the biggest gateway to the factories of these units.
EDIT 2: What the?! The base URL of the site this commenter linked in the picture he posted in an earlier comment (http://www.s383778432.websitehome.co.uk/upload/1.JPG) redirects to a business that sells RTL-SDRs in the UK. We know this business as one that was actually selling and mislabelling the passive 20PPM XO dongles as TCXO’s before on eBay…http://www.ebay.com/itm/121574210111. I don’t like putting other sellers down as they provide a valuable service with local shipping, and will often promote them in posts if they provide a superior product, but really what on earth is going on here?
My last 5 cents – Newsky are a trading company and they do not make anything.
What is going on here is he is deliberately baiting you to keep replying to the reply thread, to keep up the traffic to this “image”, which then he changes into a redirect to his own business website.
He gains traffic, tries to put doubt in the consumers’ minds about your product, and he hopes this translates into sales for his own product.
It’s a very old advertising gimmick.
Found a good price free shipping $8.33 they wont last for long.
http://www.gearbest.com/tv-box-mini-pc/pp_188367.html?currency=USD&gclid=Cj0KEQjw58ytBRDMg-HVn4LuqasBEiQAhPkhukIzd38WsytwUZbrfWqd0YqDPCNCxsWKUQMUTcUD5-MaAtFE8P8HAQ
There is a discount HackRF called the HackRF Blue. Could you please list it here?
https://shop.hackrfblue.com/?product=mc-245
Hi there. Am quite new with SDR and this site is awesome. Congratz!
I really wanted to work something out with a new Radio I bought, so I ask: What is the recommended equipment to work with AM, FM and SW transmissions?
Best regards
This is just for RTL-based SDRs, not a “new radio I bought”…….you dumb ass!
Ask an honest question and get a rude and unhelpful response from some radio-geek. Nice!
When will the amazon USB sticks with antennas be back in stock? Is there a source for the antennas separately?
Hi and thanks for the interest. Due to the long Chinese New Year holidays we weren’t able to get our stock manufactured in time, and there are still big back logs that the factories are dealing with. We expect to be back in stock around early April, hopefully late March. Also, there’s no separate source for our telescopic antennas as we get them custom made for us. Sorry for any inconvenience!
Bought an Amazon dongle but there was ZERO documentation. Installed and ran SDR# but either I am doing something wrong or the HF is dead. Goes to 24mhz then gets quiet. Have a decent HF dipole Slinky that works great on my ICOM PCR100, but I want the better software control and support as my PCR100 is hard to find software for.
Any ideas?!?
Most dongles won’t come with documentation, but all the set up info needed can be found on our quickstart guide. The R820T/2 RTL-SDR has a range of about 24 MHz – 1.7 GHz, so HF reception below 24 MHz is not possible. But it is possible to run experimental HF drivers (see the software menu at the top), do a hardware mod or buy an upconverter.
I’m thinking about buying an SDR dongle, does this seem legit: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/RTL2832U-R820T-Support-SDR-Super-Digital-TV-Tuner-Receiver-antenna-For-PC-Laptop/32246148997.html
It’s a lot cheaper than the $20 price mentioned in the guide, so I thought I’d better check if this pricepoint is realistic.
Yes you can get them that cheap, but remember they will take around 2-4 weeks to arrive vs a few days if buying from a local seller. Also the cheap ones won’t have any improvements made to them.
Okay, I think I’ll go for the cheap one, was going to order some stuff from aliexpress tonight anyway. I’m buying it for experimentation/fooling around, if I end up liking this stuff I’ll probably buy the R820T2 version, a quick google told me there’s a shop about 500M from my dad’s work that sells them. Also, I’m in the Netherlands, so buying them from your store won’t be an option probably. Thanks for the info/fraud check!
As far as AliExpress, you may, or may not, get counterfeit product. I have ordered 3 items from them. 2 of the 3 were obvious counterfeits, with pretty bad silkscreening of the “real” manufacturers name. I’m talking about ordering a Neo Hybrid case for my phone, and getting a Neo HYB RID instead, lol. You get what you pay for though. Their dongle is probably “ok”, but I’d spend the extra to get one with the upgraded components if you get bitten hard enough by the sdr bug. Quality components will give you a much quieter noise floor.
For a beginner, what antenna do you recommend to buy for R820T/R820T2 RTL-SDR?
I would wait for the RTL SDR blog brand sets with the telescopic antenna to come in. The admin said they would be in by the end of this week but i don’t see them in stock…
http://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Telescopic/dp/B00MWGV16M/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1416172394&sr=8-5&keywords=RTL+dongle
http://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-Blog-RTL2832U-Software-Telescopic/dp/B00QFCNNV0/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1419803086&sr=1-3
Sorry DHL made a mistake with the shipment causing it to be delayed a little. The stock is on the move now and should be in very soon.
When are you guys going to have the SDR dongle sets with the telescopic antenna in stock? I saw the message saying they will be in a few days but its been weeks. Thanks!
There have been a few delays due to the holidays, but if everything goes to plan with the shipping from China, we should be in stock again by the end of this week. We’ll make a promotional post on the front page when they’re ready for sale.
Thanks for the info and response!
What is the difference between you “own brand of R820T RT2832U dongles” and the Nooelec one?
Not much other than ours come with the 2x telescopic antennas which is good for beginners who don’t have any antennas to use. On the other hand Nooelecs’ have phone support and they also sell more expensive models with the R820T2 chip which has slightly better sensitivity. They also ship outside the USA which we can’t do at the moment.
We’re restocking ours in a few weeks and ours will also have the R820T2 chip and some other small improvements applied to them.
thanks, what will be your price to the market?
It will be close to $20.
Should I buy Nooelecs R820T2 or wait for yours?
Really it’s up to you đŸ™‚ We probably won’t be in stock until after Christmas so if you can wait that long, i’d wait for ours.
What are the “other small improvements” your device has?
We’re trialing an SMT oscillator which should mean less PPM offset (not a TCXO though) and the coax on the antenna base will have full braid coax, so the stock antenna will work much better.
Hi,
I’ve tried to buy the R820T RTL-SDR in Amazon following your links, but it’s not possible for Spanish customers. I’ve find in the Amazon Spanish site and I found several vendors. While all of them have prices around 15-20 EUR, one from NooElec costs 308 EUR !!!. Where is the difference? I thought that almost these dongles where equal. All of them are RTL2832U+R820T.
Thanks!
Our branded ones are currently only available in the USA due to Amazon restrictions. All dongles are almost all the same, the Nooelec ones have slightly better component tolerances and better support, but not worth 308 EUR, they must have made a pricing mistake there. Go for any reasonably priced R820T.
Thanks a lot!
Hi! I am close to buy my first SDR hardware but I have not decided yet between NooElec RTL-SDR kit (with Ham It Upconverter) and the DX Patrol Ultra Wide Receiver. My last due dilligence to finally decide is about tuning of ISDB Digital TV (the standard for most of Latinamerica).
Usually RTL2832U R820T is offered like DVB-T tuner (standard for Europe) but there is no mention for ISDB TV nor ATSC (North America standard for digital television). In the white paper of Rafael Micro R820T (http://www.rafaelmicro.com/downloads/R820T.pdf) one can read that this chipset is also for ISBD and ATSC but my confusion comes from the advertisement of this dongle which is always as DVB-T shown on its plastic case, the antenna and the tiny remote control…
Some days ago I did ask to DX Patrol manufacturer about if its dongle could tune ISBD TV and he said me that “by changing the software, you change the type of (SDR) receiver. You can still receive TV with it, but you will have a drivers conflict. You would need use different PC or so, but would be possible”. Unfortunately his answer was no so clear for a SDR beginner like me :s
By the same way a sales representative at NooElec told me that she believes “the R820T has to be configured to receive ISDB and a slightly different circuit board is required. As such, I do not believe you can use these for ISDB”.
What advice can all you folks give to me about this conflict :p ?
Thank you all in advance!
Leopoldo
EDIT: I’m not 100% sure on this, but I think the RTL-SDR R820T based dongles are compatible with ISDB-T, assuming you install the correct drivers for TV watching.
The DX patrol guy was just warning you that you cannot have the SDR drivers and the TV drivers installed at the same time.
Hi again admin!
Such driver’s conflict may be the reason why some SDR hobbyst recommend not to install the software that comes in the CD package if I will not use this device for TV purposes? In my case is very obvious that I won’t because DVB-T is not the standard in Latinamerica (but ISDB), so the CD and the remote control is useless for me.
Regarding the white paper of Rafael Micro R820T which mention that this chip features for DVB, ISDB and ATSC standards, so it appears to be a driver design issue as you (admin) mentioned. But certainly it is very rare that northamericans, latinamericans or japanesse SDR enthusiasts didn’t have created any drivers to take advantage of ISDB/ATSC USB TV dongles… (?) Why the DVB-T dongle is so advertised and associated to SDR?
Hi again admin!
Such driver’s conflict may be the reason why some SDR hobbyst recommend not to install the software that comes in the CD package if I will not use this device for TV purposes? In my case is very obvious that I won’t because DVB-T is not the standard in Latinamerica (but ISDB), so the CD and the remote control is useless for me.
Regarding the white paper of Rafael Micro R820T which mention that this chip features for DVB, ISDB and ATSC standards, so it appears to be a driver design issue as you (admin) mentioned. But certainly it is very rare that northamericans, latinamericans or japanesse SDR enthusiasts didn’t have created any drivers to take advantage of ISDB/ATSC USB TV dongles… (?) Why the DVB-T dongle is so advertised and associated to SDR?
Yes the conflicts are why you can only use one driver at a time.
The RTL2832U chips SDR capabilities are kind of an accident which hasn’t been able to be replicated in ATSC dongles as they do not use the RTL2832U.
DVBT and ISDB are pretty similar which leads to believe that the DVB-T dongles are the same as the ISDB ones, but Nooelec might be right that there are small differences in the circuitry which could cause it to not work on ISDB.
will this new tuner work… and what about the ant. plug.. here it is small ?? is there a converter for this too ??
I make acrylic metallic enclosure for HAM IT UP upconverter card.
We ship worldwide and sell on EBAY and AMAZON sites.
Hai Admin… i want to buy a SDR. I have some doubts about it
1,All DVB SDR same? ( multiple RTL SDR on ebay&Amazon)
2, What is different R820T&E4000?
Thanks
dani
Nooelec has now a nano usb stick and they say that he is better than the normal USB stick
Did any one compare ?
Tnx for info
René
There is now a Nano stick awailable at Nooelec.
They say even that he is better than the normal stick.
Has anyone compared . .
I already have a Funcube Dongle Pro Plus. Is this unit compatable for this application?
Has anyone tested the following dongles on SDR# yet:
– Dany U-2000
– Astrum TV Tuner (USB dongle)
Has anyone testet the Astrum TV Tuner USB dongle or the Dany U-2000 TV Tuner USB dongle with SDR# yet ?
I have bought a E4000 Terratec t stick+ and Ham it up converter from Nooelec. My PC Windows 8, i7
After I realised it is not compatible for Windows 8. Now I don’t know what can do with this device.
Just Install Kali linux (free with almost all sdr tools preinstalled) at VMWare Player 6.x (free).
Look at my comment under the topic of GSM decoding with the single script for Kali.
I am running with Windows 8 64 bit, works flawlessly
I have just bought a dongle and have the software installed.but can not find the stick name in the field next to Play.
Have find in the AUDIO tag the Input that shows MME ,s two with a REALTek name but can not reciev ant radio station can you advice me Cheers Rolf
Hi, please check out the Quick start guide on this page. https://www.rtl-sdr.com/rtl-sdr-quick-start-guide/
It sounds like you’ve downloaded a version of SDR# without RTL-SDR support.
The plugin “Auto Tuner” does not exist in the file “Release-latest.zip” how to download Plugin of this site.
Where can I find this “Auto Tuner” ?
Help me
Sergio
Hi, I just tested that download and it’s there, but a little hidden. You need to scroll down on the left menu, and click the [+] next to the Auto Tuner button.
RTL-SDR can get spectrum upto 2200 MHZ ?and How many tolerance of rtl-sdr ?I want get spectrum of range 2110 -2170 Mhz of a RF generator,Can i do ?Thanks!
Only the E4000 RTL-SDR can go up to 2200 MHz maximum, so make sure you get one with the E4000 tuner chipset. RTL-SDR has 3.2 MHz maximum bandwidth, so you won’t get the entire spectrum all at once. The oscillator PPM tolerance is usually somewhere between 10-100 PPM error.
Thank you ! I can question more .Have type other of rtl-sdt that bandwidth about 100Mhz ? If with bandwidth 3.2Mhz and range measure frequency is 2110-2170 Mhz software can indentify start and end frequency that needn’t display spectrum all on screen ?Thanks!
All RTL-SDR’s have 3.2 MHz max bandwidth. Sorry, I don’t quite understand the final question, but you can tune to any frequency between 2110-2170 MHz and look at 3.2 MHz of the spectrum.
Hi!
When you say to look at 3.2 MHz of spectrum you mean that at maximun zoom out of spectrum you will only see signals between two frequencies B – A = 3.2MHz ? (at maximum zoom out). For example: at the websdr.org, the server of JO32KF (http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/) allow me to see from 0kHz to 29,160kHz —> this imply that the bandwith of his SDR receiver is almost 30Mhz (or 29.16MHz)?
Hi!
When you say to look at 3.2 MHz of spectrum you mean that at maximun zoom out of spectrum you will only see signals between two frequencies B – A = 3.2MHz ? (at maximum zoom out). For example: at the websdr.org, the server of JO32KF (http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/) allow me to see from 0kHz to 29,160kHz —> this imply that the bandwith of his SDR receiver is almost 30Mhz (or 29.16MHz)?
Yes that’s right.
what about the Rafael Micro R828D ? it’s supposed to support dvb-c , which is 8MHz
In the DVB mode, the tuner demodulates the signal, and in the IQ mode, it passes the samples to USB. The maximum sample rate is 3.2M as noted above. But the highest stable sample rate is approx 2.8M.
And FC0013? Importation taxes here is over 70% and I cannot buy nothing from the internet
The FC0013 works but it only has a frequency range of 22 – 1100 MHz, so it is less cost effective.