#rtlsdr

[enterprisewired]

RTL-SDR Goes Browser-Based with WebUSB

Source: hackaday.com

Revolutionizing Software-Defined Radios

RTL-SDR, the innovative software that turns affordable TV tuner dongles into software-defined radios (SDRs), has taken a new leap forward. A new web-based application showcased by [Tech Minds] has eliminated the need for installing additional software, making SDR access more seamless than ever. This latest approach leverages WebUSB technology, allowing users to operate an RTL-SDR directly from a web browser.

In a recent video demonstration, the application was shown running smoothly without requiring complex installations. The project builds on previous advancements in the RTL-SDR ecosystem, expanding accessibility to a broader range of users. By using a browser-based solution, this innovation simplifies SDR usage, making it easier for radio enthusiasts, hobbyists, and professionals alike to explore the radio spectrum.

Requirements and Compatibility

While the web-based solution removes software installation hassles, users still need to meet certain technical requirements. To begin with, the correct USB drivers for RTL-SDR must be installed. Additionally, since WebUSB technology powers the application, only Chromium-based browsers, such as Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, are compatible. Other browsers, including Mozilla Firefox, do not support WebUSB directly, limiting their use with this method.

Users might also need to adjust system settings to allow raw USB access, which could require administrative permissions on some operating systems. Interestingly, user comments on the video indicate that the application may even work with smartphones, potentially opening up mobile SDR capabilities without the need for dedicated apps.

A Promising Step Forward

Although this web-based SDR tool may not replace fully developed SDR applications with advanced features, it provides a surprisingly functional and accessible alternative. As an open-source project, it has the potential to evolve further, with developers able to contribute improvements and enhancements.

Over the years, RTL-SDR has grown from a niche experiment into a significant component of radio hacking, experimentation, and research. With the integration of WebUSB, it becomes even more accessible, reducing barriers for newcomers while offering convenience to experienced users. This development marks another milestone in the ever-expanding world of SDR technology, bringing radio exploration to users with nothing more than a simple browser.

[kathunim]

I'm turbo autisming this shit because as it turns out going somewhere with bad reception to get better signal quality means no reception so I wrote everything in a little notebook

Last time was a pretty depressing amount of passes for the evening and we were standing under a powerline so the background noise was horrendous but not this time

Gonna go out somewhere remote to listen to satellites later y'all want anything

[hackernewsrobot]

Eavesdropping on smartphone 13.56MHz NFC polling during screen wake-up/unlock

https://old.reddit.com/r/RTLSDR/comments/1jsr9jv/eavesdropping_on_smartphone_1356mhz_nfc_polling/

[mip248]

Airwaves (Or, how I learned to stop worrying and love the aircraft on my screen

Admittedly, I'm a bit of a fan of aviation. Most forms of transit actually, but that's for a different blog. I like aircraft. They've always fascinated me, and at a point, I'd wanted to get my pilots license.

I just think they're neat. I enjoy flying, I enjoy the intricacies of the taxiing, the take-off, the landing, and hopefully enjoying in-flight wi-fi in-between. I enjoy seeing and knowing the ins and outs of how I get from Point A to Point B via plane.

So what better way to enjoy two things at the same time, than by mixing my fascination of aviation with my passion for technology! I was shown this by a colleague at a past workplace, and I just HAD to have one myself. Below, I'll be chronicling my journey, experience, frustrations and wins with tracking aircraft in my area over ADSB.

Our adventures begin with this little nugget - I figured I'd start small and assuming all goes well, I'd scale up. Here's what it looked like initially

Not bad - just on 100nmi of range.

Once I moved to this arrangement, I was getting no more than 25nmi to the south, but got over 100nmi to the north, which was a pleasant boost, no doubt helped by the wall.

I invested in a RadarBox ADS-B FlightStick and the associated dipole antenna.

25nmi to the south, and more than 135nmi to the north. A sound improvement, but we can do better!

And it starts with the roof!

Much improved coverage all-round! 107nmi to the west, 162nmi to the east and north, and around 80nmi to the south. The Pi was in the roof, running off a POE Spliter

This is where I begin to have issues though.

POE Splitter burn-outs

SD Card corruptions

The Airnav stick not being recognised

So I get through the POE Splitter burnouts by getting another one. I get another ~2-4 weeks out of that one. Then the SD Card dies. I swap it over and get about 2 months. Then it dies. Amongst this, the Airnav stick is being less than helpful and is not consistently picked up by the Pi.

Not good.

So where to from here? I saw a few options:

Try and have the Pi network boot the ADSB feeder image from a server

Get another SD card and go again

Try USB over Cat 6 converters and do it that way

Install an Active USB Extension cable

Option 2 was the last option - I really didn't want to go down this route because it's just me purchasing SD cards again and again and restoring backups and I have better things to do.

Option 1 was the first idea - it keeps the power and network up near the AirNav stick and is what I experimented with first.

I found that I was not able to get much love with that - mostly involved with trying to get rootFS off the SD card was painful and difficult and was abandoned after a weekend.

This led me to option 3 - try some USB over Cat converters and give that a go. I'll virtualise the ADSB receiver as a VM in ProxMox and do it that way. And I did - I picked up these promising DOSS USBCAT100 dongles, which on the product page spec sheet advise that USB 2.0 full power/speed can be done up to 50 metres. They arrived, yay, happy days! I thought "before I get up in the roof and use these and find out they may not work, I better test these", and so I did, with my iPhone and a 1.5 metre Cat 6 cable only to see...

Wonderful. It's USB 1.1 speeds. Not great. The common consensus if you look up USB speeds and RTLSDR sticks is that they need USB 2.0 speeds, so this can't be used, and I had to get a return.

So I went for option 4 - a 15M Active USB Extension Cable from 4Cabling. I got up in the roof and ran that cable from the rack to the spot, plugged the AirNav stick in and connected the server and... Something...ISH? The stick fired up, but the light on the stick was flickering, and the data activity lights on the USB cable were not consistent either. Eventually both got settled and off we went.

Off we went to not too much luck. Every 2-6 hours, the stick would fail/stop and not be recognisable by the host.. How annoying... No mix of USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 ports would work. Rebooting the ProxMox host didn't yield any wins - I had to shutdown and power on every time this happened. Thinking it may be power related, I got one of those USB splitter cables that shipped with many external HDDs of yore (pre-USB 3.0 days) to see if that would make a difference.

And it did, again briefly. No mix of 2.0 or 3.0 ports worked, but I DID have some better luck with using a USB power bank on the power-only cable, but that failed again (just after a longer time period), and so did using an Apple 10W USB Power Brick. A 12W Apple Power Brick also didn't work.

So, now with seemingly nothing else to try, I went with a FlightAware Pro Stick Plus. It's been installed for over a week now and is happily plodding away! I'm getting coverage of more than 200nmi north, getting around 175nmi east, more than 100nmi south, and 125nmi west. The amount of hits is also much more consistent.

For reference, for my aircraft tracking, I use adsb.im to track and feed. Make sure you take backups early and often!

[sdrdxhound]

Skywavelinux 4.0 is released. Enjoy the fresh and responsive realtime Xanmod kernel 5.6, Ubuntu MATE 20.04 base, and the i3 window manager.

It has hardware drivers and SDR apps out of the wazoo. SoapySDR, Gr-OsmoSDR supporting Gqrx and CubicSDR.

[electronicscuriosities]

When Ur interested in telecom RTL SDR receiver for taking weather images from NOAA Satellites . Hobby kit Follow for more @electronics_curiosities #electronicscuriosities #rtlsdr #sdr #electronicengineer #electronics #electronic #telecom #coaxial #students #educational #knowledge #exploring #satellite #noaa #hobby #receiver https://www.instagram.com/p/B9EGvPPhNdi/?igshid=ql6y5w1rzeti

[freevpns]

RTL-SDR to Harvest Aero Radio Sigs

An A330 on short final, just about to flare. You can intercept its voice and data radio signals with a properly set up RTL-SDR! Voice on the VHF-Airband is an easy catch. So is ACARS data, whether in the old signal format or the new VDL Mode 2. Know what is going on. See the book "Airband Radio on the RTL-SDR" for tips, tricks, do's and dont's for using software defined radio to harvest aero signals en masse.

[rtlsdr]

Article Not Found

February 04, 2018 at 04:17PM

[sparkyzilla85]

China Radio International in Mongolian

[skywavelinux]

"Is my RTLSDR sensitive enough?"

The RTLSDR isn't the most sensitive radio dongle out there. However, you can get enough sensitivity for most needs if you are careful with the gain settings, use a good antenna, and consider a low noise preamplifier.

[netshadestuff]

GNURADIO Tutorial 6 [ FM, interpolation, NBFM Trasmit]

[joelbenavidez]

SDR radio allows you to pull in just about every frequency you can imagine using your computer, a USB stick and an up converter. #hamradio #sdrradio #rtlsdr #nooelec (at San Antonio, Texas) https://www.instagram.com/p/B7oe_AqnuvSBMMj5IjK8Gc-F_saDG2FP1eAwyM0/?igshid=wj785j2ij109

[photoniceye]

Finally picked up some 20m with the Ham It Up and RTL-SDR with a random wire antenna. Out at the lake and ran a 50 foot random wire antenna up the flag pole and through the trees. So hopefully with some work I can do something similar at home. #hamradio #hamitup #rtlsdr #qsoparty #sdrsharp (at Cartwright, Manitoba) https://www.instagram.com/p/Boo94f7HcSu/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1udw16depjsit

[va3dbj]

A very quiet night on the radios, while listening to the hurricane network. Monitoring the OnQue Nexedge system on the laptop via a couple RTL-SDR’s.

[adult-social-networks]

DEF CON 23 - Ian Kline - LTE Recon and Tracking with RTLSDR

DEF CON 23 – Ian Kline – LTE Recon and Tracking with RTLSDR

LTE Recon and Tracking with RTLSDR

Since RTLSDR became a consumer grade RX device, numerous talks and open source tools enabled the community to monitor airplanes, ships, and cars… but come on, what we really want to track are cell phones. If you know how to run cmake and have $50 to pick up an RTLSDR-E4000, I’ll make sure you walk out of here with the power to monitor LTE devices around you on a…

[corrosiveone]

Looking at multiple pager signals using the matrix feature on SDR-Console.

https://youtube.com/c/corrosive