Nooelec RTL-SDR v5 SDR - NESDR Smart HF/VHF/UHF (100kHz-1.75GHz) Software Defined Radio. Premium RTLSDR w/ 0.5PPM TCXO, SMA Input & Aluminum Enclosure. RTL2832U & R820T2 (R860)-Based Radio

This kind of bandwidth, all kinds of decoding, tuning, and demodulating software out there, for <$25? "Back in the day" something that could do this would run you thousands of dollars. What interested me initially was receiving image data from NOAA satellites etc. ( I still need to build the QRP antenna). What sold me on it was everything else you can do with it. Update: I've built a few different antennas for this and got a ham it up plus for it. Tons of fun. I added some NOAA satellite images I aquired from NOAA 19, 18, and 15 recently. I was using a Quadrafillar Helix antenna I made from refrigeration tubing (Booming signal, I don't even need a low noise amplifier. I bought a cheep one but it make no difference). I'm using the HDSDR program. I set to 137.1 MHz for NOAA 19, 137.9125 MHz for NOAA 18, and 137.62 MHz for NOAA 15. I set my demodulation to FM mode and my Bandwidth is set at 96000 (have to make sure you get the whole thing or it turns out grainy if set too narrow). I set my sound output to VB virtual audio cable (it's a program that twitch and Facebook streamers use to pipe audio out to other programs, in this case to your image decoder) My image decoder is WXtolmg. I set it's sound input to the VB virtual audio cable and presto (Theres a few more things like setting up what satellites you want it to hunt for, updating keplers, telling it what your lattitude and longitude are so it knows when to auto record for a satellite pass and stuff). I've decoded some really nice clear NOAA weather photos with this, I'm still surfing the web to find some other cool stuff I can do with it. Track airplanes? eeeh, maybe. Observing the hydrogen line with my dish antenna? (Radio astronomy stuff) ehhh, maybe but I need to buy a Saw filter, FM trap, and a VLNA for it.... I'm trying to keep the cost down but it's an option for later since I have the dish for it. If you have that equipment, you can also pick up GOES satellites. I tried to lock on to one with my crappy LNA and dish, no dice... you need the good LNA and saw filter for that. The most fun I've been having with this thing is the lower frequencies using my Ham it up plus, 40 meter band, decoding really odd conversations in Morse code. then play around in the VLF bands picking up atomic clock signals (60khz from Fort Collins) and who knows what else...

First off I have been a ham radio operator since the 80s and hold an extra class (top) rating. I was looking for a very portable scanner that I could take along on my travels to listen to airline frequencies (also a private pilot) that wouldn't take up a lot of space in my full under seat bag nor look suspicious while in the airport, as a standard scanner might. The good news is that it does work, the bad news is that there are some limitations. The idea of slapping a small antenna on it and plugging into a cell phone or tablet with an OTG adapter is not feasible. The main issue is that the SDR radio draws more power than the OTG via the usb port can deliver. Solution, purchase a powered USB cable. This allows you to plug one end into a charging battery, which I always travel with, which powers the radio and doesn't drain the phone or tablet. https://www.amazon.com/Degree-Angled-Female-Enhancer-Adapter/dp/B071X8BCFH/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=powered+usb+cable+otg&qid=1552141974&s=gateway&sr=8-3 Then you will need an extension USB cable to the phone or tablet so you can place the unit in suitable position, and any adapters to your particular phone, USB to C, etc. Easily done and not expensive. Then there is the antenna! The beauty of this Radio is that it is extremely wide band covering below commercial FM to 1.700 Ghz or more. This covers most of the commercial bands including Aircraft, first respondeners, most walkie talkie and even cell phones. Note that many systems on those bands are encrypted and not easily monitored. The beautiful thing about this SDR radio is the spectrum display, or "waterfall" which will show you a chunk of the band and all the active frequencies. You are able to simply slide your virtual vernier to a hot spot and monitor the frequency. In addition there is a running visual display of all the activity on that part of the spectrum so you can see frequencies with intermittent activity. You also can easily select all the common radio modulation schemes, like AM, FM, FM narrow, amateur radio SSB USB, LSB and CW, etc. Of course, you will need an antenna and unfortunately antennas are tuned to the frequencies you want to listen to. Very critical if you are transmitting, less so for receiving. For example, international ham radio frequencies have a wave length of around 65 feet (20 meters) the length of a full wave antenna. 1/4 wave antennas also work at approximately 16 feet. Not practical to carry around plus you will need an additional adapter (Ham it up) to receive the lower frequencies. On the other hand a 1700 MX signal close to the top end of LTE cellphone data as a full wave length of 6". For receiving a wide band scanner antenna is probably your best bet like: https://www.amazon.com/AEcreative-Wide-Band-Scanner-BCD396XT-BCD436HP/dp/B07HWLSNQP/ref=sr_1_8?crid=3RCJLW4EP4MW&keywords=wideband+scanner+antenna&qid=1552143429&s=electronics&sprefix=wide-band+scanner+antenna+%2Celectronics%2C205&sr=1-8 When looking for an antenna you will need an SMA female connector. Lastly, you will need software for your phone, tablet or computer. Some of it is open source and free (donation) and others have a demo version and a small fee ($5-10) for the Android / IOS versions. Try before you buy! All in all a great product with serious applications.

Great SDR with good sensitivity. I've purchased several of these over the years and they all have performed well. With the onboard TCXO, the frequency is stable and it's easy to tune into whatever you are trying to find. Compared to the SDR-Blog models, these do not feature a switchable bias circuit. While it may not be something that everyone needs, it is extremely helpful when you need to power certain LNAs or amplified antennas further down the line. I expect that I'll probably but more of these. While the ~2.4 MHz slice of bandwidth they provide is less than some more expensive SDR devices, the having several independent tuners for a little over $30 each generally gives you the flexibility to find the pieces of spectrum you are interested in without recording a lot of unwanted transmissions in the process.

The Nooelec RTL-SDR hardware works really well for RF monitoring and experimentation. I’ve bought three so far and they all work great. Very nice and premium-feeling aluminum outer case. Everything was nicely packaged. I’ve run these sticks on a Raspberry Pi for days at a time with no frequency drift. They all worked with zero or minimal ppm correction needed. If you want some RTL-SDR hardware this is a great option. It’s not perfect, though. While it is technically true that you can run two side by side on a Raspberry Pi, in practice I didn’t find this to be very practical. It will cover all four ports so forget about any other peripherals. When run in this configuration, the two SDRs will get really, really hot. With a little extra separation, they get warm but not hot. (I realize these are designed to run hot, but why do that if you don’t have to?) Even though you can run two side by side on a Pi, you’re better off using a USB hub instead in my opinion. The other problem I’ve found is something about the USB-A connectors doesn’t allow them to make a great connection with the host. I’ve tried multiple USB hubs, and of course connected directly to the Pi and in every case the dongles don’t feel like they are held solidly in place. They are quite loose and slightest bump will disconnect them or give a lousy connection to the host until they are wiggled around some to reseat them. This doesn’t appear to be a problem with the USB connector to the circuit board. It’s something with the connector design and how it mates with the ports — almost as if it’s slightly too long. If you plan on using these with a semi-permanent configuration, you should consider a bit of hot glue or epoxy to make sure they are held in place even if bumped around. I’ve had no problems with the SMA connectors and they feel solidly attached. So, in all it’s great hardware let down by a couple unfortunate but not insurmountable design decisions. As long as you keep these things in mind when you purchase, you’ll be fine.

Really great SDR for the price. If you're familiar with this type of SDR, you'll know it's pretty much an accident that these things work perfectly for this application. I really like NooElec's enclosure. It's very sturdy and holds up great. The chip quality is fantastic as well, and I have not had any frequency drift or tuning issues. One really important tip that I highly recommend: Keep it cool. It runs pretty hot. Not hot enough to really decrease it's lifespan, but I measured it at around 110 degrees F when set at maximum gain. This temperature increase does add a lot of noise, so if you can keep it cool, you can save yourself a lot of trouble trying to find weaker signals. If you don't need it to be portable, say you're using it with a desktop, find something metal and use some CPU thermal compound to stick it to it. It does the job perfectly, and the temps lowered to around 90 degrees at peak. I stuck it to the steel case of a battery backup I have my computer hooked up to. I just put a drop of thermal compound between the enclosure and the metal of the battery backup's case. Then I taped it on with some strong masking tape so it wouldn't come off. Works like a charm.

We use six of these in a cluster for an SDR trunk server. They work extremely well. Are very well tuned out of the box and are plug and play on Linux (essentially). Definitely worth it

The Bottom Line: A significant upgrade over generic "blue" sticks. If you are building a multi-SDR rig for trunk-tracking (like Trunk-Recorder), the frequency stability and thermal performance of the v5 make it the only logical choice. The Multi-SDR Rig Test: I am currently running a high-demand setup using four of these Nooelec v5 units to monitor P25 trunked radio systems. Running 24/7 on a Raspberry Pi (or any single-board computer) requires specific care, but once these are dialed in, they are rock solid. Key Performance Observations: Frequency Accuracy: The 0.5PPM TCXO is the real hero here. Across all four units, they are consistently "on freq" right out of the box with zero thermal drift. This is critical when you have multiple digital recorders tuned to tight 800MHz control channels. Thermal Management: It’s no secret that RTL-SDRs run warm, and these aluminum enclosures are designed to wick heat away. In a dense 4-stick array, I highly recommend active cooling. I’m using a simple 5V USB fan over the stack, which has completely eliminated thermal throttling or frequency "warbling." Mechanical Stability: The only minor "con" is that the USB connection can feel a bit loose when these are stacked or used with heavy SMA cabling. To ensure a 100% stable uptime, I "shored up" my connections using cable ties and spacers to prevent port wiggle. Power Requirements: Pro-tip for multi-stick users: Do not try to run more than two of these off a single USB bus or a Raspberry Pi’s onboard ports. They pull significant current. Use a high-quality powered USB hub to ensure consistent voltage and signal integrity. Who is this for? Serious hobbyists running trunking scanners, ADS-B trackers, or anyone building a "set-and-forget" radio server that requires high-uptime reliability and precision.

I wanted to love this thing and it does work good when it does but the issue is that falls short in too many places where it matters, for starters, no Bias-Tee circuit means you'll need to drag more cables with you to power any external LNAs/filters and if you can't use ports on your computer you'll likely end up having to use some sort of battery bank which bleeds electrical noise in the HF band, which has its own issues with this device. It can receive HF and LF quite well with Direct Q sampling however the USB connection with the smart actually ends up bleeding A LOT of electrical noise across the spectrum likely due to its poor USB plug, which is so insanely sensitive that I wouldn't be surprised if a minor gust of wind could disconnect it (see video). Also not to mention, this thing gets hot! HOT HOT!! Hot to the point I can't even hold it in my hands and I worry it'll burn out it's internal LNA some day. Got it to replace my old RTL-SDR V4, but it only solidified it's position, the SMArt is only really handy as a backup for me