One of our favorite sites for interesting & timely SWL information

 

If you have even the slightest interest in short wave listening, SDR or amateur radio, you really should check out this blog. The editor and primary contributor on the SWLing Post is Thomas Witherspoon (K4SWL / M0CYI). He has been a passionate supporter of shortwave radio and international broadcasting most of his life. He also has stories from various contributors from around the world.

As they describe themselves: "The SWLing Post is a community of shortwave radio and amateur radio enthusiasts sharing shortwave radio reviews, news, broadcasting, pirate radio, numbers stations, interviews, and much more". 

We have been long time followers and highly recommend the site for interesting, quality information. Check it out today at: https://swling.com/blog/

Listening to Digital Voice communications

I recently have had several inquiries from folks interested in listening to digital voice modes. So this week I came across this interesting article that does a pretty good job of answering some of those questions. The article explains the equipment required to continue listening to many digital Amateur and public service radio transmissions. It covers most of the digital voice modes and the basic functionality of each mode. Though written from the perspective of a Canadian Ham/SWL, it is very applicable to what is happening around the world.

from Scanner Digest #72 (Summer 2015)
CANADA Report - John Leonardelli - VE3IPS

ve3ips@gmail.com

Buzz Buzz Bzzzzrrrp - The Short Guide to Digital Radio

The world of scanning is changing as we move from an

analog world to a digital one. Each digital mode has

different characteristics in how the analog voice is

converted to and decoded from digital. Linking methods

vary across each mode and inter-operability is lacking

between them. Many local amateur radio club nets that

offered interesting listening are now moving to the digital

modes. However, many ARES/RACES groups continue to

offer analog and digital mode nets to test out the

communication readiness.

Help with SDR# software

I have heard many people asking questions recently about using SDR # software with RTL-SDR dongles and other Software Defined Radios. I personally have struggled with finding guidance on how to optimize the many parameters in the SDR# software.

Well I found a link to a great blog posting that does a nice job explaining many settings in SDR#. Find that blog post here: http://tylerwatt12.com/tips-for-using-sdr/

Using SDR# is pretty cool once you understand the settings and get them adjusted properly. So don't give up on SDR# or your dongle without trying some of the tips in this article.

Good Luck and 73!

A link to our previous SDR post with helpful links: http://www.upstateham.com/2013/10/software-defined-radio-sdr-info.html

Software Defined Radio (SDR) info

Software-defined radio (SDR) is a radio communication system where components that have been typically implemented in hardware (e.g. mixers, filters, amplifiers, modulators/demodulators, detectors, etc.) are instead implemented by means of software on a personal computer or embedded system. While the concept of SDR is not new, the rapidly evolving capabilities of digital electronics render practical many processes which used to be only theoretically possible.

Here are a few SDR radio information links. I will add more as I find them or other people recommend them:

Wikipedia link to SDR : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software-defined_radio

SDR Radio roundup listing of Radios: http://www.rtl-sdr.com/roundup-software-defined-radios/

Listen to some SDR radios around the world: http://websdr.org/

A blog about RTL-SDR (RTL2832U) and cheap software defined radio: http://www.rtl-sdr.com/

Ham Radio Science - some good SDR info: http://www.hamradioscience.com/

SDR Transceiver.com is a brief overview of several SDR transceivers on the market:
http://www.sdrtransceiver.com/


SDR software links:

THE BIG LIST OF RTL-SDR SUPPORTED SOFTWARE: http://www.rtl-sdr.com/big-list-rtl-sdr-supported-software/

SDR # (sharp) - SDR software that works well with the RTL-SDR dongle: http://sdrsharp.com/

HDSDR - SDR software: http://www.hdsdr.de/

Nooelec software (downloads tab) help page SDR # Auto loader (works very well!):
http://www.nooelec.com/store/sdr/nesdr-mini-rtl2832-r820t.html#.Ue3NqW3Bw7

SDR-Radio.com SDR Console software and general SDR information:  http://www.sdr-radio.com/

(last updated 4/25/14)