How to listen to CB Radio with a cheap SDR on your PC 

This video helped me so much, i appreciate it.

Great love these videos, keep em coming

Very interesting item - and thanks for sharing this video ! :)

Super helpful channel. Thanks so much!

I just received the Nooelec RTL-SDR v5 SDR as a gift and your video was very helpful for getting things running quickly until I figure out all of the features. I like the record feature to see how I sound, especially on sideband. Nice to see that I'm right on frequency. Great tool to see where the activity is instead of scanning on my radio. Well done video!

Great video for setup, you can adapt this for any frequency provided you have the antenna to receive.

Thanks for the information.

I monitor the CB AM freqs on the RSPdx once in a while but after 5 minutes of listening to the hash and trash talkers I realize why I quit CB in the first place. SSB 11meters has deteriorated as well, you'll hear far more interesting traffic on the GMRS frequencies than AM CB.

Good video, thank you.

Great video. If you get a 6 or 12 foot USB extension cord, you can attach the radio to the end of the antenna cable and tie them down for a solid connection with a flexible cable to the laptop. Wall mounting opens the way to mounting the dongle to a big passive heatsink and it allows you to rig a nice RF ground to the dongle too.

I love CB

Thanks for the video,New to RTL SDR. I can tune to CB freqs but sound is low tone no highs. Is there a way to adjust like EQ ? Thanks for your timr

Would be great if you could explain the file setup so i could learn how to set up other frequencies.

I have a UHF and an FM antenna on a tripod on my roof. Separate 75 OHM RG6 with a 15 Db amp on each. Do you think I could pick up anything at all if I adapt the RG6 to SMA?

I use a lot of the same connectors in my ANRITSU sweep gear

Whenever I hear the Citizens Band these days I'm reminded of why I got a ham license. It's not perfect, but it's a real improvement. Passing through Chicago and monitoring CH-19 one time years ago convinced me to get licensed, and I never looked back. With their 'pills', their 'birds', and their audio compressors and echo boxes I was driven away immediately.

Pay to set your sdr volume at half way next time you record this, your voice was a good volume but the audio was super loud.

SDR++ is my go-to sdr software. I have pretty much all of them installed, but I feel that SDR++ is easier than the rest to navigate. I have 10 radios going at any given point. Not all are active, but I have them tuned to scanners and pagers. My only real complaint is that its hard to select radios. I would expect clicking the radio on the left would select it. I've submitted this as a feature request to the dev, but they seem to think this isn't a good idea. Very odd.

just take the test and use your talents for ham radio your on the right track

What did you create the JSON file in? I tried editing in Excel the usual way but it doesn't bring back anything useful. I know it can open in notepad or notepad++ but that's just ugly. I'd like to modify it to include some additional frequencies.

I hate what's become of CB. I got one hoping to get some SSB DX action when conditions were good. Well, conditions are good now, and I am treated with hundreds of people all on one channel at the same time, most of which are using amps. People apparently thousands of miles away coming in crystal clear on AM. Nobody could ever possibly hear my pathetic "legal" rig. Then there's the ridiculous lingo, the obnoxious echo mods, Battle Hymn of the Republic roger beeps and the LOCAL "power" users. I love hearing one dude's splatterbox bleed in on all 40 channels at the SAME TIME. I really don't want to fork over the money for a mobile HF rig, but I guess I'm going to have to if I want to stop dealing with the shaved apes on CB... ::end of rant::

I have the same software and the nooelec that you are using. I follow all the instructions you did to the letter and I am not getting anything in the cb band. I live in NE AR, 2 miles from the main highway between Memphis and St. Louis. As the crow flies we are about 30 mi from Memphis. Could it be my antenna that is causing me to not receive anything? I mean.. really. almost nothing on this nooelec. I get 10+ FM stations clear as day in my truck. I get maaaaybe 2 very fain on this nooelec. I have a basic 7 inch telescoping SMA antenna on the nooelec. Could there be USB interference? Maybe I need a usb extender to set this farther away from my computer or up in a window? Really appreciate any advice or hints.

Will an SDR play radio work with the SDR++ software???

These completely cover all frequencies, up to the signal to the neighbor's garage door. Interesting because you can display entire bands and always see what frequency is happening at the moment. For a little more money, you can also, illegally, annoy your neighbors by opening their garage door when it's closed. I operate it on my amateur radio set and often see more than I can filter with my ear at the moment.

How do u save the settings tho? Thx

Just came here to say that I wouldn't call this a cheap SDR. This is a relatively premium SDR being more than the standard RTL-SDR

sdr++ crashes my driver for some reason

Anyone have UK CB channels?

Why would you want to listen to CB when you could listen to so many more things that aren't rude and crazy?

Good vid. Your settings are not optimal. Your noise floor is all over the place. Good video thogh

Do not plus SDRs directly into PC, use a USB extention cable. It will destroy the USB socket with the strain on the solder joints..

doesnt work with chrome

That is too damn complicated

Baba on channel 6 is a pain in the rear. He's not funny with all this outdated hillbilly humour. Gives us a break. Say na na to Baba:)

The information is great but the video is terrible. Just about uses. Just bad contrast and very blurry.

Used mobile CBs cost about $5. DC converter $10 Antenna = the same. Why not just use the real deal? I mean, you can even.... TRANSMIT! Oh, wait, that would involve interacting with other people...

Yup. Pay $43 for an SDR when you can buy brand new CB's for $25. Brilliant.