RTL-SDR - radio waves on Your computer

One day I thought to myself that I’d like to listen to “classic” radio - the kind one where you dial in the frequency and adjust the antenna, not something streamed over the internet. And instead of using a traditional receiver (which I don’t own), I chose an RTL-SDR from that site: https://www.rtl-sdr.com/about-rtl-sdr/

I chose the kit that comes with antennas (https://www.rtl-sdr.com/buy-rtl-sdr-dvb-t-dongles/) and followed the software installation instructions (https://www.rtl-sdr.com/rtl-sdr-quick-start-guide/).

Below there is a step-by-step list of what you need to do to listen to traditional radio using your computer.

Installing software

Step 1. Go to https://airspy.com/download/ and download Software Defined Radio  - simply said a kind of software that will decode radio waves into sound. It's name is SDR# (SDRSharp).

Step 2. Unpack downloaded .zip file to the desired location:

Step 3. As an administrator run the install-rtlsdr.bat. That script will download a driver for Your RTL-SDR dongle with a small application named Zadig which will be used to install that diver in Windows.

Step 4. First plug in Your RTL-SDR dongle in the USB then as an administrator run zadig.exe. Then make sure that below options are changed in Zadig:

• List all devices - make it checked
• Ignore Hubs or Composite Parents - make it unchecked

Step 5. Select proper device/interface in Zadig:

Make sure that proper device/interface is selected and WinUSB driver will be installed. Then press Install Driver:

Listening FM radio

Step 1. We will try to listen traditional FM radio (frequency range 88 - 108 MHz). Make sure Your RTL-SDR dongle is plugged into USB. Set the antenna included with the kit as a dipole with 70 cm per arm, and mount the whole thing vertically. Make sure that antenna is attached to RTL-SDR:

Step 2. Start SDR# using SDRSharp.dotnet8.exe. After start You have to select the RTL-SDR dongle to be used:

Step 3. Finally listening. You have to press play button, but when You press it without some changes in the software You will hear nothing. Here is what needs to be changed (marked red square):

To summarize:

1. Manually set the desired frequency.
2. Set NFM for bandwidth.
3. Make sure that Your RTL-SDR dongle is used as source
4. Most important: set RF Gain somewhere near the middle
5. Press Play button and enjoy :)