Radio Preppers

General Category => Radio Reviews, Questions and Comments. => Topic started by: SDR Brian on September 30, 2014, 11:45:41 AM

Title: SDRs Options
Post by: SDR Brian on September 30, 2014, 11:45:41 AM
Hi,

Anyone else experimenting with SDRs for prepping? Taking a PC to run them puts some strain on power resources; but the weight and capabilities seem like a value add. Anyone else toying with these?


The Peaberry thread was interesting, has anyone experimented with it? With the built in soundcard can you run it from a netbook? The Atom powered netbook (with a second battery) it gives me 10 hours of use; far more than I want to be listening to the radio. An Atom processor isn't normally beefy enough to run an SDR, but I was hoping the Peaberry's built in soundcard made it possible.

I have been playing with the SDR concept to see what it could add to my preps. For the cost and weight the RTL2832u based units are an amazing option for UHF/VHF. I have tried an Up-Converter for the RTL2832u. The first one was a Chinese no-name model, but I wasn't impressed. It had soundcard alignment issues, and turned WX FAX reception into "line soup." I'm hoping to have better results with the NooElec "Ham It Up" converter.

I built an SoftRock Ensemble RXTX, but the image rejection issues still haunt me.

I think I have crossed the line from Radio as a means of communications as a prep, into a hobby of playing with SDRs. That's been my SDR experiments so far. Any other options out there?

Thanks,

-Brian
Title: Re: SDRs Options
Post by: gil on September 30, 2014, 12:21:12 PM
A small PC like the EeePC that can be powered with 12V would be a good candidate for that. Mostly for receiving, with a SoftRock. The advantage would be in localizing signals in a broad spectrum, instead of having to turn a knob and listen. SDR transceiver kits usually have very little power, maybe good for CW but not so much for digital modes.

Gil.