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Love the RTL-SDRs and the HackRF ... my first SDR was called the Zeta SDR ... it is a DIY direct conversion receiver with less than 10 parts or so, and you plug

by th0ma5 11y ago

Love the RTL-SDRs and the HackRF ... my first SDR was called the Zeta SDR ... it is a DIY direct conversion receiver with less than 10 parts or so, and you plug it into a soundcard. The schematics are available online, and I think I put it together with all brand new stuff for less than $30. It is only a single band, however you can add a digital synth like the Si5351A and if you can handle the hash and spurs the thing supports a range from below 1mhz to almost 10mhz. If you have a 16 bit or 24 bit soundcard, then the dynamic range is superb. If it is 192khz or so then you can see that / 2 as the range... Anyway... this was a while ago, and it was very satisfying to put together a simple circuit and get going. I used Quisk and various other things, but I'm sure GNU Radio would work.

gravypod 11y ago
The Zeta SDR sounds more in my price range! A great idea. Someone should be able to rig it to a USB interface, Is there a website with a lot of open source radio designs?
- jjoonathan 11y ago
  Not to be rude, I have no way of judging your skill level, but are you sure you understand the implications of 20-100khz bandwidth and a tuning range of 1-10mhz? Here is the table at top with the zeta included. I'd _strongly_ recommend going with the rtl-sdr over the zeta as a first radio. Source Device Price Max. Bandwidth Resolution Name EUR GHz MHz bit 0 zeta-sdr 30 .01 .002 16 1 rtl-sdr 25 2 3 8 2 rad1o 200 4 20 8 3 hackrf 400 6 20 8 4 bladeRF 400 4 28 12 5 usrp 700 6 60 12/14 6 warp 7000 5 170 14
  - th0ma5 11y ago
    Yes I'd go along with this. You're going to have a plug & play experience more so with the RTL... I guess my interest at the time was transatlantic weak digital signals on HF ham bands. With the RTL-SDR you'll be able to "see" all your favorite radio stations, listen to or track airplanes, and all kinds o things. With an upconverter (~$40) you'll get into HF a bit as well.

by th0ma5 11y ago

gravypod 11y ago

The Zeta SDR sounds more in my price range! A great idea. Someone should be able to rig it to a USB interface, Is there a website with a lot of open source radio designs?

jjoonathan 11y ago
Not to be rude, I have no way of judging your skill level, but are you sure you understand the implications of 20-100khz bandwidth and a tuning range of 1-10mhz? Here is the table at top with the zeta included. I'd _strongly_ recommend going with the rtl-sdr over the zeta as a first radio. Source Device Price Max. Bandwidth Resolution Name EUR GHz MHz bit 0 zeta-sdr 30 .01 .002 16 1 rtl-sdr 25 2 3 8 2 rad1o 200 4 20 8 3 hackrf 400 6 20 8 4 bladeRF 400 4 28 12 5 usrp 700 6 60 12/14 6 warp 7000 5 170 14
- th0ma5 11y ago
  Yes I'd go along with this. You're going to have a plug & play experience more so with the RTL... I guess my interest at the time was transatlantic weak digital signals on HF ham bands. With the RTL-SDR you'll be able to "see" all your favorite radio stations, listen to or track airplanes, and all kinds o things. With an upconverter (~$40) you'll get into HF a bit as well.