Tonight’s BARRA Tech Net dives into one of the most powerful and affordable tools available to today’s radio hobbyist: RTL-SDR and SDRTrunk. Whether you are new to software-defined radio or already experimenting with digital systems, this session will show how a simple USB dongle can unlock an impressive range of monitoring and learning opportunities.
The RTL-SDR is a low-cost, widely available software-defined radio receiver capable of tuning frequencies from roughly 500 kHz up to 1.7 GHz. This wide coverage makes it useful for everything from HF listening with an upconverter to VHF/UHF scanning, aviation, weather satellites, public service monitoring, and countless experimental projects. Paired with the right software, it becomes far more than a scanner.
That is where SDRTrunk comes in. SDRTrunk is a powerful, computer-based application designed to monitor modern trunked radio systems such as P25, DMR, and NXDN, as well as conventional analog and digital channels. It can manage multiple virtual receivers simultaneously, follow trunked systems automatically, record audio, and present detailed system and channel data in real time.
Join us tonight as we discuss setup basics, practical use cases, and how these tools can expand your radio capabilities without breaking the bank.
