Tagged: rtl2832u

Review of the SDR UP-100 Upconverter

Akos from the SDR for mariners blog has written a review on the SDR UP-100 upconverter. The SDR UP-100 is a 50 USD upconverter for the RTL-SDR and similar software defined radios which is made by the same person behind the LNA4ALL low noise amplifier. Upconverters allow the RTL-SDR to receive between 0 and 30 MHz, where ham radio, military, marine and many other interesting signals exist.

In the review Akos tests the SDR UP-100 with a 6 meter random wire antenna and an RTL-SDR. His results show that the upconverter works well as expected. In the future he hopes to compare the SDR UP-100 with the Ham-It-Up Upconverter from Nooelec.

SDR UP-100

2-Channel AIS Receiver with RTL-SDR and GNUAIS

Blogger OZ9AEC has written a post on his blog showing how he made a 2-channel AIS receiver using the RTL-SDR, GNU Radio and GNUAis. AIS is a radio protocol used by boats to broadcast their position and speed which is then used to create a type of radar system to help avoid collisions. AIS signals are transmitted periodically on one of two channels. Two channels are used to improve capacity and help avoid interference if two signals from different boats are broadcast at the same time.

Before this, most AIS receiver implementations we’d seen that used the RTL-SDR received only on a single channel. OZ9AEC’s GNU Radio program receives on both channels simultaneously like a commercial AIS receiver does and is thus a better receiver. He eventually plans to get this receiver to run on a Beaglebone.

See his post for instructions and to download the GRC files.

Update: Another AIS decoder known as gr-ais is also capable of 2 channel AIS, and bristromat from Reddit has written a tutorial on setting it up and running it with OpenCPN.

Two channel AIS Block Diagram

RTL-SDR on the Nokia N900

Over on the maemo.org forums, user xes has written a post explaining how to get the RTL-SDR working on the Nokia N900 mobile phone. The Nokia N900 runs a modified version of Linux known as maemo, and so is able to use the RTL-SDR drivers with some modifications. Attached to the post by xes are the N900 compatible RTL-SDR drivers, GNU Radio 3.6.2, GQRX and also MultimonNG.

Nokia N900 running RTL-SDR

In Car ADS-B with a Raspberry Pi and RTL-SDR

Over on YouTube user adsbrus shows us his project which is an in car ADS-B aircraft tracker using a Raspberry Pi mini computer and an RTL-SDR. The system uses an LCD screen mounted where the car radio usually is to show aircraft identifier, altitude, and speed information in text.

ADS-B in CAR (Raspberry PI & USB TV RTL2832U+R820T)

Exploring Unintended Radio Emissions with the RTL-SDR – Talk now available on YouTube

A few weeks back we posted about some slides from the Defcon conference by information security researcher Melissa Elliot which detailed how she used an RTL-SDR to explore the world of unintended radio emissions.

The talk to go with the slides is now available on YouTube

DEF CON 21 - Melissa Elliott - Noise Floor Exploring Unintentional Radio Emissions

Tip to Reduce Radio Interference on the RTL-SDR

A few months back we posted about a tip to reduce RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) on the RTL-SDR. Now Akos from the SDR for mariners blog has tried this tip for himself and written about his experience with it, after getting inspired to by a post in the rtl-sdr.com/forum.

To reduce RFI, the tip recommends disconnecting the shield connection of the USB cable from the ground connection of the RTL-SDR dongle. This overcomes a design flaw in the RTL-SDR which allows the shield of the USB extension cable to act as an antenna, causing unwanted RFI.

What Akos did was to remove the metal part of the USB extension cables connector to prevent any ground connection. This already reduced an interfering signal by 10dB. He also found that wrapping the connection point in foil further reduced the noise. Connecting coax to the ground then coiling it up and putting the RTL-SDR in the center of the coil also appears to significantly reduce RFI.

Update: Akos has also tried using ferrite chokes on the USB cable, and also found they significantly reduce interference.

Check out the full post by Akos for more information here

RFI noise reduction in the RTL-SDR

LNA4All Low Noise Amplifier Review

Over on the SDR for Mariners blog, author Akos has reviewed the LNA4All low noise amplifier. The LNA4All is a 25 euro amplifier designed to improve the performance of the RTL-SDR.

His results show that the LNA works very well. Akos tested the LNA4ALL on multiple frequencies and applications including commercial radio, airband, NOAA weather satellites, AIS and ADSB. As an example of the improvement, his ADSB reception was improved from 83km to 94km. In his review Akos also shows how to provide power to the LNA, and puts the LNA through some simple stress tests.

LNA4ALL Airband Performance

Potential Major Security Flaw on HP Laptop Discovered with RTL-SDR

Over on Reddit, user cronek discovered by using his RTL-SDR that the microphone on his HP EliteBook 8460p laptop computer was continuously and unintentionally transmitting the audio from the built in microphone at 24 MHz in FM modulation. He found that the only requirement needed for the microphone to transmit was that the laptop needed to be turned on – even muting the microphone did nothing to stop the transmission.

Click here to read the original post.

I accidentally stumbled upon a signal in the 24MHz range, appearing to be 4 carriers. I tuned to it and heard silence, then someone came into my office and started talking and I could hear them speak. The signal appeared to be coming from my other laptop (not the one running the SDR) and was pretty weak (my antenna, the crappy one that comes with the dongle, stuck to a metal stapler was right next to the HP laptop).

This is of potential concern as as the US Military is apparently transitioning to this particular laptop. However, this may be an isolated incident, as in the thread cronek explains that other laptops he tested did not display this behavior.

HP Laptop Microphone Leak at 24 MHz