Gil of the Radio Prepper YouTube channel sent me his mini End-Fed Half-Wave antenna transformer.
He describes it in these videos.
This is a master list of crowd-sourced data exchanges, many with an RTL-SDR component.
Type | Name/Link | Using | Devices |
Air traffic | ADSB Exchange | ADS-B | Raspberry Pi + RTL-SDR |
Air traffic | Airframes | ACARS | Raspberry Pi + RTL-SDR |
Air traffic | FlightAware | ADS-B | Raspberry Pi + RTL-SDR * |
Air traffic | Flightradar24 | ADS-B | Raspberry Pi + RTL-SDR * |
Air traffic | OGN (Open Glider Network) | FLARM, OGN | Raspberry Pi + RTL-SDR |
Air traffic | OpenSky | ADS-B | Raspberry Pi + RTL-SDR * |
Air traffic | Planefinder | ADS-B | Raspberry Pi + RTL-SDR * |
Air traffic | RadarVirtuel | ADS-B, FLARM, ATC, ACARS | Raspberry Pi + RTL-SDR * |
Air traffic | Thebaldgeek | ACARS, etc. | Raspberry Pi + RTL-SDR |
Marine traffic | AISHub | AIS | Raspberry Pi + RTL-SDR |
Marine traffic | Pocket Mariner | AIS | Supplied proprietary, Raspberry Pi + RTL-SDR ** |
Marine traffic | Marine Traffic | AIS | Supplied proprietary, Raspberry Pi + RTL-SDR ** |
Marine traffic | Ship Finder | AIS | Raspberry Pi + RTL-SDR ** |
Marine traffic | VesselFinder | AIS | Raspberry Pi + RTL-SDR ** |
Radiation, air quality | Safecast | Sensors | Proprietary |
Radio | Broadcastify | Radio feeds (police/EMS/etc.) | PC + radio |
Radio | Openmhz | Radio feeds (police, fire) (US) | PC + RTL-SDR |
Satellites | R2server | APT, LRPT, FSK, etc. | Raspberry Pi + RTL-SDR |
Satellites | SatNOGS | VHF/UHF, mixed | Raspberry Pi + RTL-SDR |
Satellites | TinyGS | LoRa | LoRa capable ESP32 |
SDR | RX-TX | AM/FM/CW/LSB/USB/etc. | RTL-SDR w/ WebSDR, OpenWebRX, or KiwiSDR |
Seismic activity | RaspberryShake | ADS-B | Proprietary |
Weather | Weather Underground | N/A | Commercial weather stations + bridge |
Weather balloons | SQ6KXY Radiosonde Tracker | Various (RS41, etc.) | Raspberry Pi + RTL-SDR |
Weather balloons | SondeHub | Various (RS41, etc.) | Raspberry Pi + RTL-SDR; LoRa capable ESP32 |
* These also supply proprietary receivers to plug gaps in coverage.
** Also accepts NMEA-0183 messages via UDP socket that is relatively simple to set up from generic software.
After watching the OpenTechLab video on "Sigrok and Logic Analyzers", I ordered a Saleae clone from AliExpress.
It came out to 1,258 JPY (appx 9.17 USD, 8.98 EUR);
After installing sigrok on Windows 10, the device was specified in the sigrok PulseView Connect to Device screen using the driver "fx2afw", interface USB, however the device was not found when clicking on "Scan for devices using driver above" button.
Following the documentation, I tried using "Zadig (PulseView)" packaged with sigrok to install the WinUSB driver.
Retrying, the board could be found by scanning, in both sigrok-cli and PulseView.
C:\Program Files\sigrok\sigrok-cli>sigrok-cli --scan
sr: asix-omega-rtm-cli: Cannot execute RTM CLI process: Failed to execute helper program (Invalid argument)
The following devices were found:
demo - Demo device with 13 channels: D0 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 A0 A1 A2 A3 A4
fx2lafw:conn=1.18 - Saleae Logic [S/N: Saleae Logic] with 8 channels: D0 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7
Using a short test program for an Arduino Uno clone:
// simple program for Arduino Uno clone to check logic analyzer
int ladelay = 1; // ms
int lapin = 13; // pin no.
void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);
Serial.println("Logic analyzer test starting");
pinMode(lapin, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
digitalWrite(lapin, HIGH);
delay(ladelay);
digitalWrite(lapin, LOW);
delay(ladelay);
}
and connecting the CH1 and ground to the appropriate pins, sigrok was able to capture the signals.
I ordered PCBs of NorCal 40a Rev 2.0 and a copy of The Electronics of Radio as a project to prep while working on the ADX.
A classic rig, I'd like to try operating in conjunction with a skimmer and computer controlled key.
In preparation for some kit building, I obtained a tinySA spectrum analyzer.
Passed self test, and seems to be the real deal.
I forgot to order the band pass filters from JLCPCB when I ordered the ADX boards, but caught it on the same day. The order went in late night June 16th, and was delivered mid-day June 26th, nice turnaround.
Price per board for a lot of 10 came out to 68 JPY (.5 USD, .48 EUR).