audrey's rtl-sdr fun
(study abroad adventures)

Day 1

I got my dongle today! I set up SDR# (the software to go with the dongle) and played around with it a bit -- realized that it's essentially a very nice software spectrum analyzer! Tried to get some signals only to find out that the dongle antenna is weak as shiiii. I didn't want to spend another $20-30 bucks and wait another week to get one, so I decided to see what I could DIY with what I could scavenger for free around campus.

I researched DIY antennas; coming across the iconic cantenna and spidertenna. Unfortunately, these were both too much work for my lazy ass (for now). Instead, after googling dipole vs monopole vs loop antennas for a good 30 min, I grabbed some speaker wire from the electronics storeroom, cut two pieces down to dipole antenna length for a 100MHz signal (0.25 * [3e8/100e6]), stripped the ends of each, and poked on end into the centre hole on the dongle SMA connector with some solidcore wire to help, and wrapped the other end around the SMA connector outer shield.

With this setup, I was able to pick up some local radio stations in the 95-105 MHz range! very exciting B-).

I also discovered I don't need the ground connection (the speaker wrapped around the SMA outer shield). Maybe because radio FM signals are so strong?