Software Defined Radio (SDR) on Android Device 

Thanks! My approach so far has been to try to create stuff I would want to watch, and I seldom have the patience to watch 30 minutes of something that can be explained in 5 LOL. To each their own though. I do like some vlog channels that are more conversational which I might have a go at if anyone is interested. Maybe I'll call it my ICY GAS vlog...In Case You Give A Sh*t vlog :)

@@TomtheDilettante Question in some smart phones if you plug in headphones or a aerial you can listen to FM radio, does this mean that there could be a SDR built in?

Exactly. Really appreciate the no-nonsense approach.

@@Thunderstormworld Built in radio are mostly just FM and AM. SDR receivers are an all around receiver, in which the demodulation of the signals are done in software, hence software defined radio. Think of it as a radio emulator of some sorts.

@@jimb1580 you guys are doing

Thank you very much!

first time for me ! i suscribe

I think it' because the topics are too different. He has all kind of videos which makes it hard to get attention from a certain group. I liked and subscribed when I saw this video but was disappointed when I check his channel to see he doesn't have too much ham radio videos.

Thanks for your support and kind words. Definitely inspires me to keep my game up. It's been challenging but a lot of fun so far. And seeing folks share experiences, tips and ideas in the comments of these things is awesome to witness. Thanks again!

@@TomtheDilettante IDK whose idea the zoom in, search and install apps within Android, zoom out sequence was but right there I was hooked. Engaging visualization.

@@lexscarlet Good feedback. Thanks! TBH I just kinda made that shit up on the fly in the "editing room". Seemed like a cool idea at the time.

I'd like to see him cover 'marriage'. This outta be interesting. Especially if the husband has a $50K ham radio hobby.

Thanks very much for watching and the kind words! It's been fun! Sharing with and learning from viewers has been a great experience so far.

*You're

Lol!! Yeah, its made some old phones useful again for me too.

I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 that has been blacklisted. I use it as a small Tablet!

You win the comments section for today. There were some really great comments so far, but I can't resist a good pun. They've just groan on me over the years.

Groan that's a bad pun lol.

your stimulus should be here any day now :)

🤦‍♂️

There's always one that wants to Ham it up😃

ha! Thanks so much for the kind words and encouragement! I started this as a COVID hobby / creative outlet just for fun. Didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I have been. My only regret is not having more time to dedicate to the channel and content (damn day job :P). Got a lot more video ideas and I'll endeavor to continue being worthy of such praise. Thanks for watching and have a good one!

Exactly, we’ll put about Tom’s gift. Tom has EXACTLY the delivery that I need to concisely understand such lessons and instructions.

Thank you!

Wow, thanks! I'm sure there are many who are grateful not all humans are like me, but I try to be a pretty good guy LOL. Thank you for watching and I'll endeavor to continue being worthy of such praise.

Hmm. I didn't realize that / hadn't thought of it that way. Thanks a lot!

Thanks for watching and sharing that helpful tip. Unfortunately, the app doesn't auto-detect the type of hardware attached so yes, manually selecting the hardware type is a must to get started. Thanks again and have a good one!

Thank you! Good luck on your exam! It's a fun hobby and like most things it is what you make of it / put into it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have :)

Wow, thanks!

Thanks and very sorry to hear of the loss of your daughter. I would never presume to tell anyone how to live their lives, but I'll share my personal philosophy...honor the lives of those you love or have loved you by enriching your life and the lives of others :) Best of luck and I hope you enjoy this and many other new diversions :)

@@TomtheDilettante That's VERY nice of you Tom & thanks to you for your supportive words very much indeed. Life is tough emotionally for me here. But you are a strong soul and I wish you all the very best in your Vision, Mission & Purpose in sharing your new findings & interests etc. worldwide via YT. Thanks again! Best regards, Hector. (Far North of Scotland, UK).

Be interesting, to set one of these up in an old shortwave radio

Tom can I do this on my android Tablet? Ken

Thank you! I just might :) I won't lie, trying to learn that aspect of content creation has been challenging but also a lot of fun. It's rewarding to see it received well. Thanks again!

Uh oh... upconverting, downconverting, amplifying and more looks like. Good deal.

LOL! Thanks for watching and for chiming in! Man, that's a lot to unpackage but all super cool stuff! Funny you should mention the NanoVNA and TinySA...I literally just got both last week and am trying to learn how and where to use them. So far I tested SWR on my homebrew VHF/UHF dipole using the NanoVNA, and confirmed I'm not going crazy in that some of my cheaper LED light bars put out a TON of RFI throughout the 2m band (been practically jamming my 2m comms when trying to run both). So much content opportunity and so little time. Guess I need to start getting better and content planning and creation :) RU-vid started as a COVID hobby and I've been enjoying it more than I thought I would. The fact that people are actually watching is humbling and pretty cool.

​@@TomtheDilettante You've got skills man and you're not boring to watch nor are the topics. I just received yesterday the second metal case I'll modify to use with the TinySA. First went on the NanoVNA. First case was bought off eBay and was like twice as much as this same one: www.aliexpress.com/item/33051938345.html Exact same and even had the same "Piswords" packaging that I guess had me thinking piswords sort of regarding the price. Yeah, amazing the emissions of stuff now days. Both are handy for sniffing around and spec'ing item out cost effectively. IMSAI Guy and Joe Smith have the best videos I've watched for the NanoVNA and TinySA all pretty much on the wiki referenced by Erik K with both having great groups.io support groups. w2aew has the best presentation for Smith Charts I've found: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TsXd6GktlYQ.html Anyways, I haven't looked at your site metrics... though seems the content and trajectory is on the right path. Reads like you know what you're doing. Time and resources... such is life in essence. Wishing all the best.

Hi, that all sounds really cool but I'm very new to radio enthusiasm. Would you have any ideas as how to detect UHF or VHF radios from a long distance? Here in Australia on long road trips we would love to be able to tell if a big truck fitted with a radio is coming towards us etc. But the problem is we need something that can detect the radio even when it is not transmitting otherwise there's no guarantee we can be warned of the truck coming. Thanks!

@@thegadgetemporiumaustralia8509 Hi. I can't imagine any technology that will alert you to a radio that is not transmitting. If the driver were occasionally transmitting, but not at this specific time, you could - in theory - "DF" (direction find) his positions when transmitting and infer his direction and speed. But that would be pretty complicated - like something US & allied forces use in Humvees in conflict zones. In that scenario to DF you use two or more receivers, simultaneously, with directional antennas and 'triangulate'. For a stationary transmitter (target), the movement of your vehicle effectively allows you to triangulate due to your changing position by taking different samples (direction measurments) at different times. But when both you and the target are moving AND the target is only transmitting occasionally - the problem becomes pretty much unsolvable. Sorry!

@@thegadgetemporiumaustralia8509: Don't think you can detect a radio that is not transmitting at any distance beyond say 100 feet.

Thanks for watching. Currently experimenting with HF with some success and trying to weave together enough useful information for a script. I've heard good things about the SDR Play...nice to hear your experience with them is positive too. Guess I'll have to put that on my wish list :)

@@TomtheDilettante The SDRPlay is worth looking at if you want to upgrade anytime along with excellent software SDRUno (free download). There are plenty of videos here on it and the development team are very good. Back to the RTL SDR which your video is about. I bought mine because it is more portable and has quite a few Android apps for free. As such it can be taken outside without too much hassle. (SDRPlay only has one app on Android so you need a laptop or good notebook etc at the least to run SDRUno). The RTL SDR is a good little SDR for not so much layout and most people have an Android device of some sort these days. Unfortunately my Android device has developed a fault and I'm going to have to get a new one. As such I haven't used RTL on Android much yet. As I said earlier I'm trying HF and I am using HDSDR, SDR Sharp and SDR Console but I am not having much luck yet on HF. I'm looking forward to se how you get on and hopefully learn a bit more. Thanks for your reply and good luck with your HF endeavours. :-)

If HF is your primary range of interest you'll need something like an Airspy HF+ or an SDRplay .. but much more expensive than the RTL-SDR.

@@markashley5074 ... Yes a while ago I would definitely have agreed with you. I have an SDRPlay. (see my comments above) .... quote "" 'm really looking forward to your HF attempts, I am struggling with this. I have done all RTL Blog says for SDR# and I cannot get one station, meanwhile my SDRPlay blasts them out."""" ... end quote ... However, now, please see this link ... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_rcIdT0NRQE.html from Tom above. and my comments today below it. I can get this dongle working OK now but is it as good as my other radios ? I'm afraid my jury is now still out on that ...

Awesome! Glad to hear it. I literally just learned how to do this the day I shot this video thanks to comments from other viewers. When it comes to knowledge, I say "pay it forward" and everyone's a winner :)

This is all new to me but I love the money saving tip though, much appreciated

@@DoktorLorenz A powered USB cable will also help to eliminate coaxial cable loss.

I bought one of them years ago, then found I could use if for an SDR dongle - means I was able to salvage it from the trash bin!

But I want an SDR that can receive frequencies as low as 50 kHz.

@@denelson83 wire antennae on amazon does 0-40, not sure about the dongle

Thank you!

Thanks for watching and the kind words. I appreciate you noticing that as well. It's a conscious choice because like you said, I too don't always need to know every step, but maybe just a part where I'm stuck. When others do that in their videos I'm grateful so I figured I'd emulate it and pay if forward :) And yes, the project list NEVER seems to shrink :P Such is the life of the curious mind :) Have a good one!

Awesome! Thank you!

You're very welcome! Thanks for watching :)

Craaazy thanks

glad you enjoyed it. My SDRs get pretty warm too and yes, it does draw a fair amount of power. I think in ghe future if I'm running on my phone, I'll use a power adapter into a portable battery or something to spare my poor phone :)

Unfortunately, RTL-SDRs cannot do MF or HF, and that is a dealbreaker for me.

Thanks @mark william! It's all good. Haters are gunna hate. In my experience, most haters look for any opportunity to criticize, berate, or belittle others as a means to distract themselves from a miserable existence ;)

Thank you!

Haha. Nice. Always looking for new tricks myself. Keeps the brain young and engaged :-)

Nice on the Xiegu G90! I haven't played with one myself yet, but I hear they make excellent QRP rigs, or even a great shack rig. I hope to have the opportunity to use one someday. Thanks for watching!

I'm on a little longer timeline than you, but I started this way too and now have 2 G90s. Love this stuff. I've got one of the G90s hooked up to HDSDR for an expanded and larger panadapter when working from the house. The other is pretty much dedicated for digital using a raspberry pi 4 with KM4ACK'S build a pi installed.

@@kurtzFPV Can you please tell me how you hooked up your G90 to your pc? HDSDR sounds very interesting!

@@ejbeekeeper4360 It removed my first post with a link to a web address, but you need a sound card with stereo input. Details are shown by a helpful ham at zs1sci dot com. There are also a lot of resources on the G90 group dot io. You do not need the ce19 as shown on the first website and can use a cable that goes directly from the G90s I/q port to the sound card's stereo input. With the right sound card you can see double the amount of bandwidth than on the G90s screen and have full cat control to and from the g90

@@ejbeekeeper4360 If you need any more information or a link to the cable that worked for me, you can find my email address from my callsign page on QRZ. KN4EBW