Features:

  • Included: NooElec USB dongle, antenna, remote control
  • RTL2832U interface IC & R820T tuner IC on USB dongle
  • These are custom USB devices tuned for SDR and include much better components than generics (see description below)
  • Compatible with most SDR software packages; software & drivers may be downloaded freely from nooelec.com
  • Full 1-year warranty & installation support available!
This is the new age of cheap indulgance in scanning the airwaves!!!

What can I say that others have not.... Now for less than $25.00 one can purchase a receiver/N00Elec TV28T v2 USB that offers the opportunity to explore frequencies in many ways as has been mentioned in the many other reviews HERE AND THERE from 50MHZ to 1.9GHZ plus or minus . Keeping in mind that this is leading age technology and software development is in its genesis one can with a good amount of patience and just a average amount of research explore what use to be much more costly. The experience for me is something like the offering of the baofeng uv-5r transceiver for the first time. The word I am looking for is unusually cheap, lots of possibilities and somewhat complicated. The unit comes with no software or drivers as mentioned on the sellers web site......NOOELEC however offers options on it's web site.. This is where the complication begins. I learned the hard way that the installation of the various software packages available and needed drivers can consume a good amount of time and patience in many cases. Many people experience many different issues so one needs to pick through the many sources to resolve a particular issue. Sometimes just one tiny error in the set up process can keep you from getting off the ground. To keep it short about this issue ... The antenna that comes with this receiver is as many have mentioned for moderately strong signals so no surprise here.. I like to refer to it as a stubby type antenna for short range capability. Understand what a type MCX antenna connector is and you will know what to do... enough said THIS IS THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE I CAN OFFER. IF YOU FINALLY GIVE UP OR ARE PULLING YOUR HAIR OUT TO GET YOUR DRIVERS/SOFTWARE LOADED THIER IS HELP! THIS GUY HAS HELPED COUNTLESS PEOPLE SOLVE THIER PROBLEMS, WILL EVEN REMOTE TO YOUR COMPUTER AND DO IT ALL FOR YOU... that WORKED FOR ME...HE DOES THIS FOR FREE BUT PLEASE ALWAYS DONATE SOMETHING FOR HIS TIME AND DON'T BE SQUARE. He has a web site and is a very honest man. just *Google* his name.... MIKE XENO... and understand. that's it... I am enjoying my scanning now thanks to mike.. He knows it all in my opinion. If that is possible I HAVE OBSERVED MANY COMPLAINTS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN RESOLVED BY SIMPLY READING THE REVIEWS HERE.. I am buying several more of these. LIFE IS GOOD 1/18/14 Wow decided to check it down to 25mhz and it picks up signals as good as my 10/11 meter mobile.

Simply awesome

So, a coworker was telling me about SDR, had no idea these existed, been a ham and into radio for a good portion of my life and im pushing 50, anyway, a usb dongle that you can plug into a computer and use as almost an ALL band reciever......hosh posh you say, something like that would cost thousands of $........less than $30 for a new "toy" that may or may not work...........ordered it, got it within a week, company sent me a message on how to use as a radio instead of tv tuner, popped this little dude in the usb port of my trusty old mac, followed the link and downloaded the cuibtsdr software.........literally from the package onto the air receiving in less than 10 minutes......im old and slow with software but even i was decoding fm bands in minutes............SERIOUSLY, if you want a multipurpose reciever this is the way to go, comes with a tiny antenna so you may want to buy a smx to PL type connector cabe to get you up on the big antennas, my plans are to connect to a long wire I have out back and see if I can get into the KC stuff from overseas

Works surprisingly great on FM broadcast band!

Works great for Software Defined Radio applications (SDR)... I can listen to 104.7mhz Rock and Roll from anywhere in my house without interference... I have yet to try it for anything outside broadcast band but from what I hear, HF (high frequency band) might need a converter... It didn't pick up WX (weather band at 162.55mhz) very well but that may be antenna related (comes with a cheap little magnet mount) or interference related (dead spots in my house). I haven't tried it with my roof mounted disc-cone scanner antenna yet, but I have the cable to connect them together. If you want to listen to FM broadcast band radio, this device works perfectly for that function right out of the box with software free on the internet. If you are a HAM operator, this is not a bad toy. However, it is not a top shelf product and should not be thought of as such... There are much more expensive software defined radio solutions if you have the money... I have not tried using it for television reception so I don't know of the quality there, but I believe these devices were specifically made for that purpose. I have no complaints with the quality or operation of the device and would definitely recommend this product to friends (I already told a couple friends about it)

What a neat little toy!

I've been a ham for over 50 years and this little gadget reminds me of how exciting radio listening was to me when I was a kid with no money to buy any radio gear. It's so neat that it's so frequency agile that I can listen to the local repeaters, go to the weather broadcast, then tune in the aircraft traffic at the local airport with just a click or two of my mouse. The SDRSharp app is really excellent and the companion book "The Hobbyist's Guide to the RTL-SDR" explains how the electronics works and how to use the device properly. I'm looking forward to exploring parts of the VHF/UHF spectrum I've never looked at before, and also building a QFH antenna for NOAA weather satellite image reception. This is why I've always loved radio.

Not sure how something so cheap can work so well!

I actually bought mine from NooElec's website directly, but it's the same exact product they're selling here. I bought this as an SDR (Software Defined Radio) instead of as a DVB-T receiver. I'm in the United States where we don't have DVB-T stations, so I can't comment upon its performance there. However, as an SDR, it's quite amazing. And that's before you realize it's twenty bucks! I'd gladly pay $100-$200 for this thing. I've only had mine for 4 days, but so far I've been able to pick up local HAM radio repeaters, a few 2-way radio conversations, FM radio stations, NOAA weather radio, and am currently using it for ADS-B reception and am uplinking to FlightRadar24. A few tips for beginners: 1) This comes bare-bones. Hardware only. That's good in a way, as if you're using it for SDR, you DO NOT want to use the DVB-T drivers. 2) This is an off-label use for this device. It was NEVER intended to be used as an SDR. Keep in mind that prior to February 2012, all these USB sticks were good for was watching TV in Europe. The drivers and software are a work in progress. This is what I call bleeding edge technology. Some of the software is very refined & polished; other parts have been cobbled together & borrowed from other devices. With patience, you can get a very reliable and very functional rig from this. 3) When in doubt, Google is your friend. Search for RTL-SDR + whatever terms you're having trouble with or curious about. We're all still learning what these devices can do. 4) FWIW, you can use multiple USB sticks on one computer. Why would you want to do this? UniTrunker, running ADS-B + ACARS simultaneously, monitoring multiple frequencies, you name it. I don't know of anything out there this flexible. Running multiple is beyond the scope of this review. See #3 above. For Windows users: (Please note: Amazon won't let me post links in the review....BUT I've posted them in the comments section.) 1 Go over to NooElec's website and download the drivers there. Just look for this product there and on the product page will be a Product Download page. Their download includes the driver installer (Zadig) and SDR Sharp (SDR#). 2) Run the Install.bat which is inside the installer. It'll download everything and leave you a SDR Sharp folder. 3) Plug in the USB stick. When Windows prompts to install drivers, cancel. It might prompt to do this twice. Cancel both attempts. 4) Run Zadig.exe. It should have WinUSB selected by default. Click Install Drivers. Close Zadig when it's done. 5) Run SDR Sharp. When it loads (it can take awhile), next to the Play button, select RTL-SDR/USB in the drop-down. Click PLAY. If everything works as planned, it'll come alive. Valid frequencies are ~24MHz-1800MHz. When in doubt, try a local FM station (mode WFM) and see what happens. For Mac users: As usual, software support is a bit thin on the Mac side of things. Despair not though! Getting this device to work is easier in MacLand, even if software support is limited. Google around for gqrx_7.dmg or GQRX Mac. You're trying to find a pre-built version of GQRX. Once you get it, plug the USB stick in, run GQRX, and you should be up & running. **Update after 3 months** These are still the best USB SDR tuners. I have a couple of these NooElec USB sticks which have been running 24/7, some outdoors in the Florida heat and so far they're still going. I've also since bought other ones from other sources (eBay & the like) for less money, BUT so far every single one of those has developed problems due to overheating, loose connectors, or a blown front-end. I've actually bought a few of these and given them away as gifts to a few techie & ham radio/scanner types. At this price, you can't go too wrong. **Update after 12 months** Still using these USB SDR sticks all over the place. From listening to broadcast radio stations to ham radio to 2-way radio to receiving aircraft ADS-B signals, they're still my go-to device. I have a few which have been running 24/7 since purchasing these a year ago and no ill effects on them. So far no issues with static electricity or lightning taking out the front ends either, and that's with some very close lightning strikes over the past year which did take out some gear on my roof. Still 5 stars.

Good value, but for $10 more you may want to get their nicer model.

So, like nearly everyone else on here, I'm not going to use this thing to watch television, I got it to pick up all sorts of different radio, from plain broadcast FM to ham radio to beyond. If you're just starting out and want to tinker around with SDR? This is just fine. That said... for the minor price difference, the same manufacturer has a "SMArt" bundle (NooElec NESDR SMArt - Premium RTL-SDR w/ Aluminum Enclosure, 0.5PPM TCXO, SMA Input & 3 Antennas. RTL2832U & R820T2-Based Software Defined Radio.) that has a metal case (good for keeping out radio "noise") and SMA connector for the antenna (which is more rugged) instead.

Very Impressive

What a hoot it is to use this USB dongle with my PC. Opens up a whole new world of radio wave listening. Buy the Kindle book to go with this - The Hobbyist's Guide To The RTL-SDR by Carl Laufer. (Not available at BN.) You cannot go wrong with this combination. I'm making antennas now, per the book, for aircraft tracking. Also own a general coverage military surplus AM receiver that weighs 83 pounds and has 33 tubes. This dongle has 50 times the coverage, covers all the modes (AM, SSB, FM, CW) and weighs a few ounces! Awesome. Oh, and I purchased the Ham-It-Up upconverter to enable the HF ham bands. Very pleased with all of it. Impressed that Amazon has all the parts and cables to make this all work together.

Education and Research Tool

There are already a lot of positive reviews of this product. Therefore, if you're hesitant about dropping $20 on a really cool gadget at this point, I can't help you. However, I would like to mention my particular use. I am researching an established radio-based protocol. I'm trying to characterize the types of interference and real-life signals involved (not just what the spec says). Until I found this gadget, I was working with other engineers to develop a simple capture system just for research. Even though this doesn't have the sensitivity and resolution I will ultimately need, this got me out of the pure theory stage, and working with real signals. And, I'm not spending other people's time building temporary hardware. I want to also point out just how educational this can be to any aspiring or current electrical engineers. Using any of the free SDR programs gives you a pretty amazing perspective of the RF spectrum. My past experience with receivers has been tuning to known frequencies, and seeing what you get. Using a tool with a live FFT and waterfall display gives you a visual "browser" into the RF spectrum. It's really cool to see the channelization in the commercial broadcast bands.

Great for tracking planes

WHY I BOUGHT IT: I am not a professional, I was just looking for an ADS-B receiver to track planes using Flightradar24's platform, as I live close to an airport and I am always curious about what planes are flying over my head. Sure, I could just use a flight tracking website, but I love DIY and wanted to build something myself. DOES IT WORK: It works perfectly for my needs: I connected it to my Raspberry Pi 3 and I was able to easily follow the tutorial on FlightRadar24; after a few minutes I was already tracking planes and contributing by uploading my data to their website. They also offer a free Flightradar24 Business subscription which is great. As I said, I am not a professional, so I can't give you a technical review, but I can say that I was able to track planes that were 30 miles away (even 40 when placed close to a window).

This little dongle is a gateway to some serious fun: go google SDR

This little dongle is a gateway to some serious fun: go google SDR, or Software Defined Radio. Intended as a TV thingy, very clever people discovered that it can be "told" via software to listen to ANY frequency from kilocycles to gigahertz (bring your own antenna) with multiple modulation techniques. Waaaay under the hood, one can define the characteristics of one's very own signal. One can - I can't. Yet. There is a huge reservoir of info and talent already brought to bear since the chip's been out (RTL2832 if you're curious) from the hacker/DEFCON/amature radio communities. It's as much fun as a cat with a laser!

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