sdr - Software Defined Radio

Overview of use cases and applications for software defined radios (SDR).

This overview is for educational purposes only. Please abide by the applicable laws in your region.

Note: Some use cases are focused on Germany and might not be applicable to other countries (e.g. due to a different utilization of the frequency spectrum).

Links

Wikipedia

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software-defined_radio
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_spectrum
• https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elektromagnetisches_Spektrum
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_spectrum
• https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequenzband

General

• https://www.rtl-sdr.com/about-rtl-sdr/
• https://www.rtl-sdr.com/rtl-sdr-quick-start-guide/ - Installation guide for Windows and Linux
• https://www.rtl-sdr.com/category/applications/
• https://www.rtl-sdr.com/tag/applications-2/
• https://site.ieee.org/wnc/files/2014/04/IEEE_Frady_SDR_Mar_2014.pdf
• https://www.reddit.com/r/RTLSDR/comments/9gp9yp/more_things_to_do_with_an_sdr/
• https://www.rs-online.com/designspark/10-things-you-can-do-with-software-defined-radio
• https://www.ard-digital.de/
• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHSPXEOe6VG78r8HTGHuu8w/videos - ARD Digital erklärt
• https://satellitenempfang.info
• https://fernseherfuchs.com/welches-antennekabel/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_software-defined_radios
• https://www.onesdr.com/
• https://www.onesdr.com/2020/01/15/what-is-software-defined-radio-used-for/
• https://support.nooelec.com/hc/en-us/articles/360005807694-NESDR-SMArt-Series - Device comparison
• http://www.csgnetwork.com/antennaedcalc.html - Antenna length calculator
• https://hackaday.com/2019/03/28/wopr-security-loses-some-of-its-obscurity/
• https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/woprsecure_sdr.png - Device comparison
• https://labs.bishopfox.com/industry-blog/ham-hacks-breaking-into-software-defined-radio - Device comparison
• https://www.qsl.net/w4hn/antennaCalc.htm - Antenna length calculator
• https://pysdr.org/
• https://github.com/pysdr/pysdr
• https://www.rtl-sdr.com/pysdr-a-free-guide-to-sdr-and-dsp-using-python/
• https://fosdem.org/2021/schedule/event/fsr_pysdr_guide_to_sdr_and_dsp_using_python/
• https://www.everythingrf.com/community/what-is-the-difference-between-a-monopole-and-dipole-antenna
• https://discover.hubpages.com/technology/The-Pros-and-Cons-of-Monopole-Antennas
• https://discover.hubpages.com/technology/The-Pros-and-Cons-of-Dipole-Antennas
• https://www.everythingrf.com/community/what-is-a-bias-tee
• https://www.everythingrf.com/community/what-is-dbi
• https://www.everythingrf.com/community/lte-frequency-bands
• https://www.everythingrf.com/community/5g-frequency-bands
• https://www.everythingrf.com/community/5g-nr-new-radio-frequency-bands
• https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27946947 Introduction to open source private LTE and 5G networks
• https://ubuntu.com/blog/introduction-to-open-source-private-lte-and-5g-networks
• https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Main_Page
• https://www.golem.de/news/radio-wie-gut-darf-dab-klingen-2202-162616.html Radio: Wie gut darf DAB+ klingen?
• http://www.websdr.org
• http://kiwisdr.com

Software

• SDRsharp / SDR#: https://airspy.com/download/
• Zadig: https://zadig.akeo.ie/ - Install drivers for the RTL-SDR
• Gqrx: https://github.com/gqrx-sdr/gqrx
• Gqrx: https://gqrx.dk/
• Gqrx: https://wiki.ubuntuusers.de/Gqrx/
• GNU radio: https://github.com/gnuradio/gnuradio
• SDRangel: https://github.com/f4exb/sdrangel
• SDRPlusPlus / SDR++: https://github.com/AlexandreRouma/SDRPlusPlus
• Universal Radio Hacker (URH): https://github.com/jopohl/urh
• HackRF: https://github.com/greatscottgadgets/hackrf
• HackRF Spectrum Analyzer: https://github.com/pavsa/hackrf-spectrum-analyzer
• RedhawkSDR (by NSA): https://github.com/RedhawkSDR/redhawk
• rtl_433: https://github.com/merbanan/rtl_433
• rtlamr: https://github.com/bemasher/rtlamr
• welle.io: https://github.com/AlbrechtL/welle.io
• qt-dab: https://github.com/JvanKatwijk/qt-dab
• QIRX: https://qirx.softsyst.com/
• DVBViewer: https://www.dvbviewer.com/en/index.php and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVBViewer
• Tvheadend: https://tvheadend.org/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tvheadend
• Tvheadend: https://github.com/tvheadend/tvheadend
• Kaffeine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaffeine and https://wiki.ubuntuusers.de/Kaffeine/
• Norasector Turbine: https://github.com/norasector/turbine
• GR Tempest: https://github.com/git-artes/gr-tempest
• SDR Enthusiasts: https://github.com/orgs/sdr-enthusiasts/repositories

Youtube

• Youtube: Getting Started with the RTL-SDR (Software Defined Radio) - ModernHam
• Youtube: The Coolest Radio You've Probably Never Heard Of - Tom the Dilettante
• Youtube: The Beginner's Guide To Software Defined Radio RTL-SDR - Tech Minds
• Youtube: 5 Cool Things You Can Do With An RTL SDR Receiver - Tech Minds
• Youtube: 5 Cool Things You Can Do With An AIRSPY SDR Receiver - Tech Minds
• Youtube: Installing RTL-SDR & SDR Sharp on Win10 Made Easy - TheSmokinApe
• Youtube: How does Software Defined Radio (SDR) work under the Hood? SDR Tutorial #286
• Youtube: 2020 SDR Guide Ep 1 : The Incredible World of Software Defined Radio (RTL-SDR, Airspy, SDRPlay etc.)
• Youtube: SDRsharp für RTL SDR Stick auf Windows 10 installieren - Anleitung deutsch Howto

Reddit

• https://www.reddit.com/r/RTLSDR/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/sdr/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/amateurradio/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/HamRadio/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/rfelectronics/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/amateursatellites/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/ADSB/

Electromagnetic Radiation

• https://www.reddit.com/r/RTLSDR/comments/ow9k9l/electromagnetic_spectrum/
• http://unihedron.com/projects/spectrum/index.php
• http://unihedron.com/projects/spectrum/moreinfo.php
• http://unihedron.com/projects/spectrum/downloads/
• http://unihedron.com/projects/spectrum/downloads/spectrum-20190805.pdf - The Electromagnetic Radiation Spectrum Map

Overview of Use Cases

FM broadcasting

• Radio, terrestrial, analog
• also known as UKW-Radio
• VHF-Band II, 87.5 - 108 MHz
• https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/UKW-Rundfunk
• https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrakurzwelle#Verwendung_des_UKW-Frequenzspektrums
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Band_II
• https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%B6rfunk
• https://radiomap.eu/de/berlin - Actual frequencies
• https://learn.adafruit.com/getting-started-with-rtl-sdr-and-sdr-sharp/sdr-number-fm-radio
• SDRsharp / SDR#

DABplus

• Radio, terrestrial, digital
• also known as DAB+
• VHF-Band III, 174.160 - 229.840 MHz
• https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Audio_Broadcasting
• https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-DAB-Frequenz
• https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/VHF-Band_III
• https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_DAB-Sender_in_Deutschland
• http://www.digitalradio-in-deutschland.de/bayern/ - Actual frequencies
• welle.io (see Software section)
• qt-dab (see Software section)

DVB-T

• Television, terrestrial
• also known as DVB-T / DVB-T2 / DVB-T2 HD
• 470 - 690 MHz
• https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVB-T2
• https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVB-T2_HD
• https://www.ndr.de/der_ndr/empfang_und_technik/dvbtzweidatenblatthhsh100.pdf
• https://tvhelfer.de/dvbt2/de/hh - Actual frequencies
• http://www.dehnmedia.de/?page=sender&subpage=tsender6
• https://www.hauppauge.de/site/products/data_solohd.html
• https://www.hauppauge.de/site/products/data_dualhd.html
• https://www.hauppauge.de/site/products/data_wintv_v10.html
• DVB-T2 supports bandwidths of 1.7, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10 MHz, while DVB-T only supports a bandwidth of 6, 7 and 8 MHz. Source: https://www.lokalkompass.de/duesseldorf/c-ratgeber/unterschied-dvb-t-und-dvb-t2-vom-experten-erklaert_a815969
• DVB-T2 Bandwidth UHF 8 MHz. Source: https://download.hr.de/services/empfang-und-verbreitungswege/dvb-t2-hd/technische-parameter-dvb-t-zwei-100.pdf
• https://www.dvbtstick.de/ratgeber/dvb-t-software
• https://www.enensys.com/technologies/dvb-t2/
• https://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/DVB-T2_USB_Devices

DVB-S

• Television, satellite
• also known as DVB-S / DVB-S2
• Satellite frequency: 10.7 - 11.75 GHz or 11.8 - 12.75 GHz
• LNB: 950 - 2175 MHz (Low-noise block downconverter)
• https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVB-S
• https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rauscharmer_Signalumsetzer
• https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellitenrundfunk
• https://www.hauppauge.de/site/products/data_nova-s2.html
• https://www.hauppauge.de/site/products/data_wintv_v10.html
• https://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/DVB-S_USB_Devices
• https://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/DVB-S2_USB_Devices

Air band

• also known as Flugfunk
• 108 - 137 MHz
• 108 - 117.95 MHz, 50 kHz steps, reserved for navigational aids
• 118 - 136.975 MHz, 25 kHz steps, AM
• 117.975 - 137 MHz
• https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flugfunk
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airband
• https://skyvector.com/airports
• SDRsharp / SDR#

ADS-B

• Aircraft positioning
• also known as Mode S. ADS-B is an extension of the older Mode S protocol.
• 1090 MHz
• https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_Dependent_Surveillance
• https://www.rtl-sdr.com/adsb-aircraft-radar-with-rtl-sdr/
• https://www.rtl-sdr.com/signalseverywhere-ads-b-aircraft-tracking-with-rtl-sdr-dump1090-and-virtual-radar-server/
• https://www.virtualradarserver.co.uk/
• https://github.com/antirez/dump1090
• https://globe.adsbexchange.com/
• https://www.flightradar24.com
• https://www.radarbox.com
• https://flightaware.com/live/
• https://github.com/adsbxchange/adsb-exchange
• ht