[i will include waterfall images and audio clips]
[will include definitions for various types of signals]
I think my fascination with radios began when I was very little. I remember using some toy portable radios for kids and picking up what I at the time thought was a commercial broadcast station that was interviewing people or something. A number of years later, I foundnd these toys again, and they still picked up the same signal. However, this time I understood that it wasn't actually a radio station, but some guy on the citizen band with a very strong transmitter around 27.145MHz (the toy's frequency as indicated on the back).
Fast-forward some more years, and I've discovered The Buzzer - a Russian transmitter making a buzzing noise audible from miles away which other people commonly interfere with. Having typed that into google, I found a result that lets users remotely listen to signals on the internet. I'm hooked immediately. Being able to hear and see signals was and still is infinitely fascinating to me.
I soon developed a desire to see what signals were in my area, so I searched for a way to operate my own SDR. I came upon the RTL-SDR, a cheap(er) way to get into SDRs and I buy one. I spent nights just seeing what I could receive from my bedroom.
To listen to radio signals, I currently use either an RTL-SDR v3/v4 or a HackRF One (that I regret getting) depending on what frequency I want to hear. I usually connect my RTL-SDRs to a Raspberry Pi 4 running OpenWebRX+ so I can decode various signals like FT8 and ADS-B. If I'm trying to hear anything above 1.7Ghz, I use the HackRF. Unfortunately, I think my HackRF is slightly fried and doesn't work too well. They're also regarded as 'deaf' in regards to reception capabilities. So, mainly I just use my RTL-SDRs. Sometimes I use a websdr if I want to hear things from faraway places.
I have four antennas: [add images]
1. I really dislike the fact that the people who partake in amateur radio and/or broadcast on shortwave frequencies are overwhelmingly old. There's just too many old people, not enough younger people like myself.
2. I also hate how it's so saturated with conservative [regressive] lunatics. I'd REALLY prefer NOT to hear an old guy talking about open-carrying his guns in a Walmart or another WWCR broadcast about how "LGBT people are the devil and are coming for our children".
Fast-forward some more years, and I've discovered The Buzzer - a Russian transmitter making a buzzing noise audible from miles away which other people commonly interfere with. Having typed that into google, I found a result that lets users remotely listen to signals on the internet. I'm hooked immediately. Being able to hear and see signals was and still is infinitely fascinating to me.
I soon developed a desire to see what signals were in my area, so I searched for a way to operate my own SDR. I came upon the RTL-SDR, a cheap(er) way to get into SDRs and I buy one. I spent nights just seeing what I could receive from my bedroom.
To listen to radio signals, I currently use either an RTL-SDR v3/v4 or a HackRF One (that I regret getting) depending on what frequency I want to hear. I usually connect my RTL-SDRs to a Raspberry Pi 4 running OpenWebRX+ so I can decode various signals like FT8 and ADS-B. If I'm trying to hear anything above 1.7Ghz, I use the HackRF. Unfortunately, I think my HackRF is slightly fried and doesn't work too well. They're also regarded as 'deaf' in regards to reception capabilities. So, mainly I just use my RTL-SDRs. Sometimes I use a websdr if I want to hear things from faraway places.
I have four antennas: [add images]
1. I really dislike the fact that the people who partake in amateur radio and/or broadcast on shortwave frequencies are overwhelmingly old. There's just too many old people, not enough younger people like myself.
2. I also hate how it's so saturated with conservative [regressive] lunatics. I'd REALLY prefer NOT to hear an old guy talking about open-carrying his guns in a Walmart or another WWCR broadcast about how "LGBT people are the devil and are coming for our children".