Amateur Radio has evolved greatly since the early days of having huge receivers and transmitters. Today we have so many different modes - CW, PSK31, APRS, SSB, etc on many different bands with just a transceiver. We can even do satellites and even low power (QRP) operations with a transmitter as small as a tuna can! The best part is meeting people all over the world who share this great hobby. I am excited to see where it goes from here and the technologies it will bring for the future from the individual who has a "homebrew" project to the commercial radio manufacturers and other companies who provide us the "candy" we love to play with!
FYI my Unikoo one (also RTL2832, arrived two days ago) can tune below 30MHz and just over 2GHz. The tuner chip actually goes down to 0Hz but the sensitivity seems to drop off outside the advertised range (i.e. strong signals only. I can tune into the normal AM radio band at ~1MHz but can't see any signals.)
But on that note, does anyone know where SDR newbies like myself can go to discuss these things? There are a bunch of extremely narrowband transmissions all over the place and I have no idea what they
Software defined radios digitally sample incoming signals. They then process those signals via software algorithms rather than electronic circuitry. Some radios can actually sample huge regions of the radio frequency spectrum (one amateur radio receiver I am aware of can watch a 60 MHz spectrum). They can actually decode many signals at the same time. So, for example, you could be decoding and watching hundreds of CW conversations (morse code) happening across the spectrum at the same time.
All the hardware has to do is digitize the radio spectrum being sampled. All of the remaining processing can be changed by replacing software. Previously, changing the processing of the signals meant replacing or adding electronic circuits.
The algorithms are quite sophisticated. Signals can be isolated for better reception or fairly easily excluded in the case of interference. This has resulted in a tremendous improvement in radio receivers especially in recent years. Neat stuff.
I absolutely agree. And don't forget JT-65, which is an absolutely amazing mode for pulling extremely weak signals out of noise. It's in many ways the ultimate geeky hobby and there are so many ways to be involved. I wish I had gotten started years ago.
I'm glad the ARS de-emphasized Morse code as a gateway to a license. Even the armed forces have abandoned it.
However, it's still fun and useful. It's amazing how horrible the signal can be and still grok the message....just modulation of static-y noise is enough.
nerf-cough-glak-curf ack-snak (dit-dit-dit-dit dit-dit) Hi
Amateur Radio keeps getting better! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Amateur Radio keeps getting better! (Score:4, Insightful)
You didn't mention software-defined radio, where some of the most exciting developments are happening ;-)
Re: (Score:3)
Google "rtl sdr" for info about the $20 USB dongles that can tune anything from 64Mhz to 1.6Ghz.
Re: (Score:1)
FYI my Unikoo one (also RTL2832, arrived two days ago) can tune below 30MHz and just over 2GHz. The tuner chip actually goes down to 0Hz but the sensitivity seems to drop off outside the advertised range (i.e. strong signals only. I can tune into the normal AM radio band at ~1MHz but can't see any signals.)
But on that note, does anyone know where SDR newbies like myself can go to discuss these things? There are a bunch of extremely narrowband transmissions all over the place and I have no idea what they
Re: (Score:2)
Explain please.
Re:Amateur Radio keeps getting better! (Score:4, Informative)
Software defined radios digitally sample incoming signals. They then process those signals via software algorithms rather than electronic circuitry. Some radios can actually sample huge regions of the radio frequency spectrum (one amateur radio receiver I am aware of can watch a 60 MHz spectrum). They can actually decode many signals at the same time. So, for example, you could be decoding and watching hundreds of CW conversations (morse code) happening across the spectrum at the same time.
All the hardware has to do is digitize the radio spectrum being sampled. All of the remaining processing can be changed by replacing software. Previously, changing the processing of the signals meant replacing or adding electronic circuits.
The algorithms are quite sophisticated. Signals can be isolated for better reception or fairly easily excluded in the case of interference. This has resulted in a tremendous improvement in radio receivers especially in recent years. Neat stuff.
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I need to get one of these. I've heard you can program your PC to become a shortwave radio and receive the "new" DRM digital standard.
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Re:Amateur Radio keeps getting better! (Score:5, Interesting)
I absolutely agree. And don't forget JT-65, which is an absolutely amazing mode for pulling extremely weak signals out of noise. It's in many ways the ultimate geeky hobby and there are so many ways to be involved. I wish I had gotten started years ago.
Re: (Score:1)
I'm glad the ARS de-emphasized Morse code as a gateway to a license. Even the armed forces have abandoned it.
However, it's still fun and useful. It's amazing how horrible the signal can be and still grok the message....just modulation of static-y noise is enough.
nerf-cough-glak-curf ack-snak
(dit-dit-dit-dit dit-dit)
Hi