I’m new to SDR. Only played a little bit with RTL-SDR, nothing serious. Recently I’ve also received LimeSDR. When I’ll find a little free time I’m going to try to reverse-engineer some wireless protocol (I got HC-12, NRF24L01, RadioLink T8FB, Turnigy 6X), mostly just to figure out whether I’m interested in this area.
So I got a few questions:
Is there anyone here who also is interested in SDR, especially who has some experience in this area?
I was told that the documentation for LimeSDR currently is pretty raw and in general it’s not trivial to make it work. So I wonder whether there is anyone who successfully used LimeSDR?
What device from the list provided above would you recommend to get started with SDR?
Thanks @_py , there’s so much going on right now, exams and such, that I haven’t had the time to be active.
@afiskon , the LimeSDR documentation is not fancy at all because the team hadn’t had much time to work on it, but it will get you started and working properly, no worries. If you need more help you can always ask to the LimeSDR community at the MyriadRF’s Discourse. Just keep in mind if you intend to use the device for HF bands, you will have to mod it by removing the MN18 coil (aka. Quick/Simple HF Mod 1) (MN18 coil for the RX_1 input, for RX_2 is other coil). There are many people that I know of that have successfully used the LimeSDR. I haven’t had the opportunity to use it because mine is only shipping on the 30th of September. The LimeSDR HAS support for OsmoSDR and UHD api’s via SoapySDR wich makes it compatible to most of the already written software for SDR devices.
The answer to the question about wich device should you buy to get started with SDR is pretty obvious to me, a $10 RTL-SDR to start and when you get more serious, LimeSDR, a 2x2 MIMO (2 Tx, 2 Rx) with a pretty decent frequency range for only $300? I also have an eye on PandawRF (a upgraded YARD Stick One) and ADALM Pluto. If you have a bigger budget, USRP B-series are also a great option.
I would go with one of the drone controllers, I don’t know the complexity of the used protocol but it shouldn’t that hard. The NRF24L01is also pretty good.
TWIMC turned out the best module to start with is a classic 433 MHz module like this one (tx and rx parts):
Particularly you can use it to sniff and clone any OOK modulated signal, e.g. from some garage door opener (available on eBay). In this case SDR is used a as debugging tool but you can use it as a transceiver and receiver as well.
NRF24L01 also is relatively easy to decode. Also listening portable radios is a lot of fun.
