Software Defined Radio Part 2 - Decoding Digital Transmissions with an RTL-SDR USB Radio

Рет қаралды 76,783

Күн бұрын

Buy one on Amazon: lon.tv/f16t3 (compensated affiliate link) - I am continuing my exploration with software defined radio and the RTL-SDR dongle. In this video we're going to take a look at digital signals and how to decode them!
Links:
VBCable: vb-audio.com/Cable/
DMR / DSD Plus: www.dsdplus.com/
QTMM for Packet Radio: sourceforge.net/projects/qtmm/
POCSAG Decoder: www.discriminator.nl/pdw/inde...
L-Band Antenna: lon.tv/f9cz (compensated affiliate link)
Jaero Software: jontio.zapto.org/hda1/jaero.html
FT8 APP : physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/...
JS8 app: js8call.com/
RTL-SDR Blog ( a great resource): rtl-sdr.org
Shortwave antenna: lon.tv/b1mqv (compensated affiliate link)
HamTestOnline: hamtestonline.com
ARRL: arrl.org
VIDEO INDEX:
00:00 - Intro
01:08 - Identifying Digital Signals
03:09 - VBCable virtual audio cable software
05:48 - DMR
08:41 - Packet Radio
11:29 - POCSAG - Pager Transmissions
13:39 - L-Band Satellite Transmissions
16:00 - FT8 - Weak Signal Messages
18:15 - HF Frequency Mode Change
19:10 - JS8 / JS8 Call
19:56 - Finding Weak Signal Transmissions
21:25 - Using a WebSDR instead
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Пікірлер: 86

@kjoewhitehair7367 2 жыл бұрын

SDR trunk is a great program for decoding public safety. Also try slow scan TV from the ISS. And weather satellites are also very fun. You can also pick up a lot of aircraft data in the HF spectrum. And also weather data in HF spectrum

@TheRealBanana Жыл бұрын

I never had much luck with DSD+ (non fastlane) and switched to using SDRTrunk instead with great results. It can channel follow and use multiple radios to cover a larger bandwidth than a single radio.

@TRUMP_WAS_RIGHT_ABOUT_EVRYTHNG 2 ай бұрын

EXCELLENT! i have been using SDRS for almost 5 years and oh my god! you are the first guy I've watched who actually explained Q branch! i knew it opened up a bunch of short wave and plethora of other signals. Not one of the dozens of other guys I've watched over the years have gone into Q branch like you did. that alone will help all the new guys into SDR world.

@BillyLapTop 2 жыл бұрын

Great video Lon! SDR radios are great fun for sure. Your presentation is excellent at explaining what one can do with them. I go back to the early 80's operating packet radio on 2 meters and 70 cm bands. Did a lot of satellite work then too. Good luck on your ham license.

@TomBo501 2 жыл бұрын

Hi Lon, Good luck with your Technician license exam. I obtained mine several decades ago when Morse Code was still required for other licenses (not Technician).....N0QBI (November Zero Quebec Bravo India) is my call sign. I bought a couple of two way radios from Amazon for using while we RV in our 5th wheel trailer. Lots of fun and useful when I am backing the trailer up with the wife being a spotter. Search for BAOFENG UV-5R. I also got involved with the local Weather Warn Spotter group when I lived in MN. I learned a lot about weather going through the training. Thanks for doing an awesome review of the SDR. Didn't know it existed until I saw your reviews. As always, your reviews are very thorough. Much appreciated. Thank you, Tom (73)

@RichCasey 7 ай бұрын

Lon: as a long time ham, I’m so glad to see you got your license. That said, I’m pretty new to the SDR world, and this video was very informative. I appreciate your enthusiasm and your explanations are extremely well done. There are few folks that can explain technical subjects as well as you do. Thanks and 73 de N5CSU

@LonSeidman 7 ай бұрын

Glad to be of help! A lot of what you learn here will help on on the transmit side too.

@ruellerz 3 ай бұрын

Omg this vid is info packed! I've been using my rtl sdr v4 and having fun

@newtron9 2 ай бұрын

Yea, I had 1 v3 now I am using a pair of V4s and trying to get SDR-Trunk to work correctly, so much to take in, a lot of trial and error.

@ricpla6930 Жыл бұрын

Excellent informative video. I just received the dongle and antenna today and within minutes I was surprised to actually hear faint voices coming through the speaker, I instantly felt like I was cool. I’m hooked now and I appreciate you going into detail because it helped a lot.

@earlyadapter643 5 ай бұрын

Very well researched tutorial. When looking at this sigidwiki, i was surprised that the vast majority of protocols are actually 2 cascaded modulations, often NFM for the RF and something else at audio freq, which shows that somebody actually took a walkietalkie and built a modem for the mic/speaker inputs. I had expected that almost all decoders that you hang behind the sdr would require I and Q streams piped over the virtual audio cable. Again learned something new today.

@sinisterpisces 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for this great video. I tried to set up a radio receiver (an actual big, physical unit that was meant to be paired with an equally large physical transmitter) several years ago, but the learning curve was too steep, and trying to figure out what antennas and other equipment I needed was too daunting. None of it would talk to a computer, either. I ended up giving the equipment to a family member. This looks like a lot of fun--and much easier and cheaper to experiment with.. I just ordered the kit. :)

@dojohns 2 жыл бұрын

absolutely an excellent presentation. Clear and precise and graphically presented for a newbie like me.

@TheKingOfInappropriateComments 2 жыл бұрын

The bug bit him and bit him hard. He's already found the unencrypted hospital pagers. 😄

@MarkGreen-pp3qy 7 ай бұрын

Lol

@MarkGreen-pp3qy 7 ай бұрын

man

@MarkGreen-pp3qy 5 ай бұрын

Ohok

@MarkGreen-pp3qy 5 ай бұрын

hey hey how did he do that

@JoeAnshien 2 жыл бұрын

Great stuff Ron. My wife and I got our Tech licenses about 10 years ago before we went sailing. Sadly never did much with them. Looking forward to taking the journey with you.

@erichaan770 2 жыл бұрын

Please keep us posted on all the things you find with SDR. Love the content. I had no idea this was a thing and I find it fascinating. I've begun studying for my technicians license as well!

@MarkGreen-pp3qy 5 ай бұрын

I have a Chromebook laptop

@MarkGreen-pp3qy 5 ай бұрын

I am finally starting to pick up trunk radio in other stuff

@stevephipps9305 2 жыл бұрын

Welcome to the Ham world, 73 from KB3VOG

@Larry21924 3 ай бұрын

This is a masterpiece. I recently read a similar book, and it was a masterpiece in its own right. "The Art of Meaningful Relationships in the 21st Century" by Leo Flint

@GaryLech Жыл бұрын

You're ready for the tech exam Lon! Thanks for all the VLOGS.

@LonSeidman Жыл бұрын

Thanks Gary! I passed the tech a few months ago and now working towards my General!

@BitsofSkin Жыл бұрын

This was an extremelly well presented video. Thank you.

@MartinPaoloni 2 жыл бұрын

Darn it, Lon, I have too many hobbies already! 😂

@TheIan350z 2 жыл бұрын

Lol, one of us, one of us :). BTW, the tech license is super easy…. Might as well study the general test once you reliably get 90% on the tech practice tests…. I passed both in the first go, a year later I went ahead and passed the extra. It’s kinda silly how easy it is these days. No code ftw :)

@MarkGreen-pp3qy 7 ай бұрын

I thought that was illegal

@MarkGreen-pp3qy 7 ай бұрын

Me to same here

@MarkGreen-pp3qy 7 ай бұрын

Lol

@adrianobueno6984 2 жыл бұрын

Really great work, very complete and comprehensive! I just missed you talking about the one that I use the most with my SDR: SW Radiogram! Maybe in the part 3? :-)

@LonSeidman 2 жыл бұрын

oooh that's one I hadn't heard of before. Time to dive in :)

@GadgetAddict 2 жыл бұрын

You might like to try the "simple dmr plugin" as an alternative to a virtual sound card and DSD. Some physical radios can be fed into the same software, using an audio cable. But a lot of the time it won't work because the audio output on the headphone jack is too narrow.

@technick2786 Жыл бұрын

Thanks! I have read a lot and watched a lot on this SDR.. and put in a lot of bookmarks, but your presentation was spot on. I have since reading this dumped some of those bookmarks LOL🤣. Thanks again & God Bless.

@gudenau 2 жыл бұрын

I've been thinking about trying to set up a system to automatically decode SSTV stuff. Not really sure how I could make that work fully automatically or find it manually. That's just stuff I'll have to research and learn. Edit: You can setup Window's audio subsystem to monitor a mic like the virtual audio cable to double check things!

@A.D.D.808 2 жыл бұрын

Welcome to the rabbit hole!

@raymondfb 2 жыл бұрын

thank you great video

@kevtheskin 2 жыл бұрын

Hi there, Thanks for the video. Are you using a small form factor pc there? If so what is the make please? Cheers 73s Kev

@DavidEvans-dt2kc 2 жыл бұрын

Lon, try the fldigi suite of free programs for digital modes in amateur radio. Very easy to use and will handle all protocols.

@MarkGreen-pp3qy 5 ай бұрын

that's why i started listening to mine

@warsurplus 2 жыл бұрын

Really good stuff Lon. Thank you for sharing this peek into what's going on in the RF spectrum all around us that contributes to modern wireless communications in ways other than personal mobile phones. APRS has had many successful applications that are implemented for surprisingly low cost such as tracking ambulances during disaster drills in my community. Amateur radio operators have helped relay important humanitarian messages during the conflict in Ukraine. Many amateur operators are prepared for loss of utility line power and can operate in austere conditions. I hope you seek out a local ARRL sponsored amateur radio club for more goings-on in your area. The trend on VHF and UHF is the transition to digital voice radio using modes such as Dstar, DMR and Fusion. Your technician class license will give you all the privileges you need above 50 MHz.

@ManuelPinner 2 жыл бұрын

Use a SDR Play RSP DX with SDR Angel Software to Decode Digital Voice Modes and also Video, it's Covers from 1 Khz to 2 Ghz and also have a Adalm Pluto SDR for DATV Reception and Transmitting DATV,

@MiTreasureHunter 2 жыл бұрын

General offers so much more opportunity and is not much more difficult to get.

@CantankerousDave 2 жыл бұрын

Do these pick up spooky Cold War-era number stations?

@W8RIT1 10 ай бұрын

yes, if you were tuned into that frequency.

@patriziocrispino Жыл бұрын

Bravissimo ottimo

@blaa6257 2 жыл бұрын

IMSI Capturing is possible or not possible on this rtl-sdr v3 device🙄 jest explain please🦋

@twiki1963 4 ай бұрын

2:55 - Don’t skimp when getting a good antenna!

@worldtour1892 Жыл бұрын

Sir pl make a video about decoding LMR digital voice

@heliophobix Жыл бұрын

What's the best way to decode LoRa? It seems like DSD+ can't decode that.

@MarkGreen-pp3qy 5 ай бұрын

that's what I need

@cemtanca2286 Жыл бұрын

goodmorning :)

@tomb9420 Жыл бұрын

I remember my bear car scanner kept picking up a signal , when ever i pointed the antenna in a different direction it would stop , finally I started flipping tandums in the breaker box , then i was able to see what part of the house the signal was coming from. Come to find out , it was coming from a light bulb in the garage. It was the only bulb putting out a signal, I just thought it was weird.

@CEG3RD 2 жыл бұрын

Keeping that mini PC?

@TheKingOfInappropriateComments 2 жыл бұрын

Lon once you get your ticket you will open up the doors to a whole new world of gear to test and do content on. You might even have to start a second channel if you do that because there is soooo much. Good luck. If you can learn as much as you did in the time span that you did, you can easily go straight to general, possibly even extra class. I wouldn't be surprised at all.

@davidlum-ny 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@LonSeidman 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks David!

@velorystanes9925 2 жыл бұрын

Very good guide, but Decoding Digital Transmissions is done with specialized software (RTL-SDR is just a receiver)

@cemtanca2286 Жыл бұрын

ohh my got that was 10 years ago :)

@RADIOTObg 2 жыл бұрын

HI Lon, with this rtl-sdr you can listen TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio) which is digital voice. I do this with two different software: SDR# - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/eb-Dh72D0q-5oX0.html and OpenEar - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/npp-ldyX1929nqs.html It's easy. The pay-version of DSD Plus have more digital modes: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/nrh9iKSYv9TQlmg.html You can see "no audio" reception of United States Department of Defense (AirForce) P25 signal: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ftOfi6ypvtSWdnU.html

@MarkGreen-pp3qy 7 ай бұрын

i just now started hearing a lot of stuff now

@kelplicker76 3 ай бұрын

A physical radio connected via audio cable may not work without doing a discriminator modification on the radio output.👍

@joeeagles7528 Ай бұрын

Huh? I made a comment about another piece of software but it has disappeared. I did not use any foul language or anything. Here is my comment once again (I removed a link, perhaps that was the problem: Like your channel. Tons of info. Regarding RTL-SDR, there is a piece of software called SDRangel. It's got a lot of plugins and features to do some analogue and digital signal processing without having to pipe the signal to an external application. Different demodulators can track multiple frequencies at the same time within a specific frequency range with just one dongle. If you have two dongles, you can use them with the same software and track different frequency ranges, for instance, track airplane VHF voice combined with ADS-B at 1090MHz. There is a learning curve to get the hang of this piece of software but there are some good channels out there describing it.

@omsingharjit Жыл бұрын

I found its Frequency sweeping for Spectrum scanning is very slow I am disappointed because I thought it can be use as spectrum analyser but with 1 MHz Screen bandwidth it's not as useful than my Arduino and si4432 based spectrum analyser which is very false in wide range 200 to 900 MHZ

@johnwest7993 Жыл бұрын

Last I knew it was illegal to rebroadcast or even communicate the contents of ANY commercial radio communications to which you are not a party.

@MarkGreen-pp3qy 7 ай бұрын

I thought it was illegal to unscramble signals

@MarkGreen-pp3qy 5 ай бұрын

the you play with it the more stuff you hear

@thejuggernaut217 Жыл бұрын

I wanna listen to p25 phase 1 & 2

@W8RIT1 10 ай бұрын

for that I use sdrtrunk....

@thegadgetemporiumaustralia8509 11 ай бұрын

Why is everything so complex 😢 i dont understand any lf how to install any of this. Can anyome walk me through how to do this step by step? Ill pay you for your time! Thanks!

@W8RIT1 10 ай бұрын

I'm not concerned with being paid, I'll try to help in a way that I can. Tell me some things. Do you currently have a SDR? Tell me more about what it is exactly you want to do. Do you want to get up and running by installing software to control the SDR? Do you then want to use the SDR to decode digital transmissions? If so, could you elaborate more? There are radio transmissions from aircraft and ships as well as car key fobs...

@thegadgetemporiumaustralia8509 10 ай бұрын

@@W8RIT1 thank you. Very kind of you. I managed to get SDR sharp and SDR trunk working in the end. However I really want to get RTL 433 to work and although it loads up I cannot get some of the other more detailed windows to show the device information. I can get a generic list of the devices so I know the program is running but the verbose screen doesn't let me see what the individual device parameters are. Do you know anything about RTL 433? Thanks so much!

@W8RIT1 10 ай бұрын

@@thegadgetemporiumaustralia8509 rtl433 I haven't played around with yet. I also need to learn more about URH, Universal Radio Hacker. Since I work in the industry I'd like to learn more about the format of alarm devices in the ISM band. I have a host of other areas to delve into here, car key fobs, weather stations, etc. I've seen a few interesting videos on a BlackHat channel many from Samy Kamkar, and another from a guy reverse engineering his car tire pressure sensor monitor to the processor.

@w.e.s. Жыл бұрын

After me and others have been trying to download this for the past year I've came to the conclusion they've taken our money and ran. The website is down but still takes "donations"

@MarkGreen-pp3qy 7 ай бұрын

how can you listen to cellphone conversation

@frequencywatchers 3 ай бұрын

SHow Us How REAL radio Would WOrk, I mean, Tuning And Everything, Does It Get Bypassed Or How That Would WOrk?

@MarkGreen-pp3qy 7 ай бұрын

man I would be careful of doing that

@frequencywatchers 3 ай бұрын

When You Say "Very Inexpensive" There ARe People Watching You Who Earn Monthly 10 Euros, Its Not VERY UNEXPENSIVE SDR FOR THEM ANd They Might bbe In Hobby !! Im Talking Abbout Myself, But I Don`t Get 10 Euyros A Month, But I Know People Do And If I Would Buy All My Medicine And Do All My Surgeries I Would Be In MINUS Every Month. I DOn`t Do That To Survive So That Sdr Was HUGE BUY For Me

@daviddufresne7049 Жыл бұрын

Nope, go step by step in order.

@RESISTAGE Жыл бұрын

if one is a true Ham he shouldn't have a computer in the first place. the sec he touches it he isn't a ham anymore. stay away from sdr.

@thesoutherndonkey Жыл бұрын

Let people enjoy things.

@MarkGreen-pp3qy 7 ай бұрын

Lol

@TRUMP_WAS_RIGHT_ABOUT_EVRYTHNG 2 ай бұрын

my god , my brain is about to explode from trying to figure out dsd plus or sdr trunk or unitrunker LOL I HAVE BEEN trying to decode these damn trunking systems for 2 years. i have all the settings right as far as I can tell and have watched hundreds of videos. and yes I do know how to use the SDRs, I have decoded pocsag/flex, NOAA sat, connected to all the local repeaters and with the built in simple DMR in sdr # I was able to listen to our school busses( who by the way have the absolute most crystal clear radio signals I've ever heard). i n sdr # I have the audio routed to vb cable and dsd+ shows a wave form but I get no audio output, same with sdr trunk. i see the signals on the FFT and waterfall but again no audio output, I matched all the sound -volume and recording settings as others have shown. using windows 11 and just about to hit myself with the laptop LOL thanks for any clues or tips. I'm watching this video for the 4th or 5th time now.