We usually think of the RTL-SDR as a low-cost alternative to a “real” radio, but this incredible project spearheaded by [Rodrigo Freire] shows that the two classes of devices don’t have to be mutually ...

Like almost everything else in electronics, radios are becoming processors with software that communicate via a small amount of RF I/O circuitry. Surely, then, the rise of software-defined radio (SDR) ...

Traditionally, working with RTL-SDR required a deep understanding of radio frequency (RF) principles and a significant investment in sourcing compatible components. This complexity often posed a ...

Since the discovery that some USB TV tuner dongles could be used to monitor radio waves across a huge amount of spectrum, the software-defined radio world has exploded with interest. The one limiting ...

Ham radio operator Frank Krizan of Texas, who spends his summers in Scarborough, performs "Hunt and Pounce," a method of scanning the radio band for stations waiting for a turn to call them, during ...

Well before the days of the tweet and the status update, people communicated with each other over sweeping distances by quite literally harnessing the earth's magnetic field to send messages via radio ...

Many of today’s experienced engineers got their start in electronics through amateur, or “ham,” radio. (Many theories exist over the origin of the term “ham radio,” but there is no consensus.) Over ...

Two years ago, in my home state of Kentucky, we had a devastating tornado that traveled nearly 200 miles, leveled towns, killed scores of people, and left widespread devastation. When emergency ...

In this day and age, there are countless methods of communication, but let's not leave radios in the past. Although smartphones offer similar functions, radios are still a trusted form of ...