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by pid-1
1062 days ago
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Download GNU Radio and implement modulation blocks by yourself. You can use it to simulate systems, without buying any hardware. You can write blocks in Python or C++. I don't recommend getting real hardware. Cheap software define radios will only work in uninteresting frequencies like AM / FM. You need way, way more expensive equipment to work with Wifi / 4G systems. |
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There’s quite a bit interesting stuff to listen to on cheap hardware.
With a $20 dongle:
- Local police/fire
- Marine bands
- Watch airplanes transmitting ADSB
- Follow trunked radios in the area (more police depts are doing this)
- Receive NOAA weather images
- Pagers operate here, but legally this gets dicy
Beyond this, addons like the Ham it Up upconverter can bring you Ham bands for a little more money and a lot more entertainment.
And there’s a lot of other misc stuff to explore.
Working with 4G systems is a whole other ball of wax anyway, and also gets into legally challenging territory.
If the goal is to learn more about radio and find some interesting stuff going on in your area, a cheap dongle provides a lot of value and fun.
I definitely can’t agree that this requires expensive equipment.