June 18, 2025

TechMinds: Testing the SDR++ Brown Fork with Built-In DSD and Remote KiwiSDR Support

Over on YouTube, Matt from Tech Minds has uploaded a video in which he demonstrates and tests an unofficial fork of the popular SDR++ software called "SDR++ Brown."

SDR++ Brown has some unique features such as the ability to connect to remote KiwiSDR WebSDRs directly within the UI, built-in FT8 and FT4 decoders with PSK reporter, a built-in DSD decoder allowing for DMR, P25 and NXDN to be decoded directly in the software, Hermes Lite 2 support, and various Android UI improvements for small screens.

Matt also notes a few bugs with the software, such as PSK Reporter and Multi-WebSDR waterfall display features being broken.

Over on X, Alexandre Rouma, creator of the original SDR++, has expressed concern about this fork. He notes that this is an unofficial fork that is not up to his standards and that support requests for SDR++ Brown should not be made to him. Instead, support requests should be made directly to the fork owner, Sanny Sanoff.

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June 9, 2025

RadioTransciptor: Real Time Radio Speech to Text Transcriptor using AI

Thank you to user theckid from our forums for submitting news about the release of his latest project called "RadioTranscriptor". RadioTranscriptor can be used for real-time speech-to-text transcription, which is especially useful when you want to log radio communications and create searchable text files. theckid writes:

I just released an open-source Python tool that does real-time radio transcription using OpenAI’s Whisper model. It uses voice activity detection to only transcribe when speech is actually happening — great for monitoring radio chatter or voice nets on HF/VHF/UHF.

It’s designed for use with SDRs (Software Defined Radios) where audio is routed into the script. It performs:

Live microphone or SDR audio monitoring

RMS-based voice activity detection (VAD)

Automatic transcription with Whisper

Timestamped logs saved per session

It’s perfect for:

Ham radio operators

Emergency scanners

Broadcast archiving

Signal analysis enthusiasts

The AI model used is Whisper by OpenAI. The software uses NVIDIA CUDA GPUs when available and defaults back to CPU if none are available.

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June 9, 2025

SDR-Sharp Converter: Convert SDR# Frequency XML Lists to SDR++ Format and Vice Versa

Recently, we've seen news about the release of a new Windows program by "Majic Mushroom" called SDR-Sharp Converter. This simple software converts SDR# XML Frequency Lists to SDR++ format and vice versa. It is helpful if you use both programs and want to maintain identical frequency lists.

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June 7, 2025

Updates To NOAA-18 Decommissioning: NOAA-18 Has Now Shut Down

A few days ago, we posted news that NOAA-18 was to begin decommissioning steps effective immediately due to a recent transmitter failure. Multiple reports have now confirmed that NOAA-18 has indeed shut down as of 1740 UTC 06/06/2025.

The usaradioguy.com blog has further updates for those who are interested. The official notice from NOAA can also be found here. Interestingly, it appears that NOAA-18 will not be de-orbiting as it lacks the required propulsion system to do so. So it will remain in orbit as space debris.

A user using a hobbyist station in Sweden also captured the shutdown remotely during APT image reception, as shown in the image below.

Farewell and thanks for your long service NOAA-18!

The final NOAA-18 APT pass captured by SA2KNG in Sweden, and processed remotely by Thomas:douwes.co.uk

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June 5, 2025

RTL-SDR Blog V3/V4 USB-C Model Released For Sale

We're happy to announce that we have released a new USB-C version of the popular RTL-SDR Blog V3 and V4 dongles on our store at www.rtl-sdr.com/store!

Many members of the RTL-SDR community have been requesting a USB-C version for some time now. The dongle circuitry is identical to your favorite V3 and V4 models, but the USB-A plug has been replaced with a USB-C female plug instead.

The new V4c RTL-SDR Blog V4 with USB-C Plug

Please note that you will need a USB-C cable to use the dongle (not included); however, we always recommend using a USB cable with the dongle anyway to avoid strain on your USB ports and to get the dongle further away from the RF-noisy PC. Also, please note that the dongle is still USB 2.0, as simply changing to a USB-C plug does not change the USB spec.

So far, we have only produced a small batch of these USB-C dongles as a trial to test the market. If they prove popular, we will increase the number of dongles manufactured.

For now, we are only shipping these new units worldwide from our warehouse in China. They can be purchased at www.rtl-sdr.com/store. Amazon USA will be stocked with a few hundred of these dongles within about a month.

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June 5, 2025

Hackaday Supercon 2024: Tracking Down Radio Transmissions

Talks from the Hackaday Supercon 2024 conference have recently been uploaded to YouTube, and one interesting talk by Justin McAllister and Nick Foster is about tracking down radio transmissions.

The talk focuses on using SDR hardware such as the RX888, RTL-SDR, and Airspy devices combined with directional antennas for radio direction finding. Interestingly, they also discuss using ultrasonic microphones to find power line noise from bad transformers or insulators. The talk also focuses on ensuring that your SDRs receive real signals and what noise might look like on the spectrum.

This talk provides a comprehensive guide to identifying and locating radio transmitters. Learn about practical techniques, common tools, and methodologies from decades of combined experience finding, squashing, and mitigating against radio frequency interference.

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June 5, 2025

SkyRoof: New Ham Satellite Tracking and SDR Receiver Software

Recently VE3NEA has released a new Windows program called "SkyRoof". SkyRoof is both a satellite tracking and SDR receiver program. It supports the RTL-SDR as well as Airspy and SDRplay devices.

The software is designed for tracking and receiving ham radio satellites, and it can provide detailed information about all ham satellites, tracking them in real time, and provide pass prediction. It also shows a skymap and SDR waterfall display. The receiver software supports demodulation of SSB/CW/FM, and it automatically compensates for doppler. It can also interface with antenna rotators that support hamlib.

SkyRoof Satellite Tracking and SDR Receiver Software Screenshot

Over on YouTube Johnson's Techworld has also recently uploaded a video showing him testing out Skyroof, which may be of interest to some.

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June 4, 2025

Open-Source 0.1–3 GHz Network Analyzer using ADALM Pluto SDR

Thank you to RTL-SDR.COM reader MAKA for writing in and sharing his project with us, an open-source 0.1 - 3 GHz network analyzer using an ADALM PlutoSDR and a $15 RF bridge. The system allows you to measure S21 (insertion loss/gain) and S11 (return loss) with real-time visual feedback. MAKA writes:

Key features include:

FFT-based FIR filter for precise measurements

Simple S21 and S11 calibration workflows (LOAD & OPEN)

Real-time plots with smoothing and raw-data toggles

Interactive markers for easy dB/frequency annotations

Automatic export of calibration data to .xlsx for offline analysis

Fully open-source

The complete open-source code for the project is available on GitHub at https://github.com/fromconcepttocircuit/pluto-network-analyzer

Over on his YouTube channel, MAKA has also uploaded a video demo and walkthrough.