dvb-t TV tuner as a SDR radio - interesting

[VK3YE]

This month's Silicon Chip has a great article on this.

Ordering the dongle is the easy bit. Downloading the software is the fiddly bit. It is not like PSK31 or WSPR etc where there's one software file only. Instead it requires 2 or 3 and there's a bit of work to set it up.

I didn't have much luck with some of the online instructions which can gloss over things; you can waste a night or two and get nowhere. Also if you're not careful you can stuff up your USB drivers (often fixable by deleting them, leaving the computer off for a while and restarting).

However the SC article covered every step and setup took maybe an hour or two. It's also very important to make up a SO239 - Belling Lee adapter to ensure the dongle has a decent antenna and not the supplied which are OK for the FM broadcast band only.

[VK2EM]

Last Saturday, 4/5, I gave a lecture and practical demonstration to Oxley Region Amateur Radio Club (ORARC), in Port Macquarie, using a DVB-T dongle, and the SDR# software. I showed how a modified 'C' or 'Ku' band LNB could be used as a downconverter, and its output fed into the dongle antenna socket. This then becomes a cheap Spectrum Analyser, and can cover all Amateur bands up to 10GHz.
I was able to have my 10GHz transverter on the table running off a battery, and show how (10GHz) SSB signals were only present when modulation (voice) was applied.
My lecture was filmed by ORARC, and if anyone would like a copy, they should contact me, or ORARC. Copies COULD be made available by prior ordering, at the ORARC Field Days, 8th and 9th of June.

73
Bruce VK2EM

[VK5ZEE]

Hi all,
Been reading about these for a little while now.
So went the whole hog and have purchased one for AU$10.99 including delivery..

See that some people have been using UP Convertors and using them on HF...

Cheers
Neil

[VK4TJ]

Yes, or tapping into your HF rig's first IF, often around 70 MHz. There is dude on Ebay selling upconverters for those not inclined to build...

73
John VK4TJ

[VK2AVR]

Plenty of people also doing a 'direct sampling' mod which just involves bypassing one of the chips. $0 and some fine soldering work and you're done.. no doubt an upconverter works better but you can't complain about the price!