Tried and Tested SDR Hardware

Recommended Hardware:

Invest in your radio setup with Nooelec hardware. My daily use, tutorials, and working demonstrations prove their value. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to enhance your experience backed by exceptional support. Listed below are some of my recommended hardware.

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Nooelec NESDR SMArTee XTR SDR – Premium RTL-SDR w/ Extended Tuning Range, Aluminum Enclosure, Bias Tee, 0.5PPM TCXO, SMA Input.

Nooelec RTL-SDR v5 SDR – NESDR SMArt HF/VHF/UHF (100kHz-1.75GHz) Software Defined Radio. Premium RTLSDR w/ 0.5PPM TCXO

NooElec SAWbird+ GOES – Premium Saw Filter & Cascaded Ultra-Low Noise LNA Module for NOAA (GOES/LRIT/HRIT/HRPT) Applications. 1688MHz Center Frequency.

NooElec SAWbird+ NOAA – Premium Saw Filter & Cascaded Ultra-Low Noise LNA Module for NOAA Applications. 137MHz Center Frequency

Nooelec SAWbird+ IR – Premium Saw Filter & Cascaded Ultra-Low Noise LNA Module for Iridium and Inmarsat Applications. 1620MHz Center Frequency

Nooelec SAWbird iO – Premium Dual Ultra-Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) & Saw Filter Module for Inmarsat Applications. 1542MHz Center Frequency

Flamingo+ FM – Broadcast FM Bandstop Filter v2 In my opinion this is a must-have! (FM Notch Filter) for Software Defined Radio (RTL-SDR) Applications. Blocks Problematic 88-108MHz Frequencies from Your SMA-Connected Radio. Flamingo+ FM has a higher attenuation than other similar commercial filters, while also have a lower insertion losses outside of the stop band (<0.25dB avg.) and less of an effect on the adjacent VHF airband of 108MHz-137MHz (8dB avg. attenuation vs 16dB avg. of similar filters)

Nooelec Satellite Mesh Antenna Boom for Inmarsat, Iridium, & Hydrogen Line Applications. 21dBi w/ 1.4GHz Center Frequency, 300MHz+ Bandwidth. LMR400 SMA Feed Cable w/ Male SMA Connector

Nooelec GOES Weather Satellite RTL-SDR Bundle – Includes NESDR SMArTee XTR Software Defined Radio, & Everything Else Needed to Receive LRIT, HRIT & HRPT Satellite Weather Images Directly from Space! This is my go-to kit for receiving Geo Sats and HRPT polar orbiters. My Guides for GEO Satellite reception

Nooelec Satellite Mesh Antenna Bundle for Inmarsat, Iridium, & Hydrogen Line Applications. 20dBi Parabolic Antenna w/ 1.4GHz Center Frequency, 300MHz+ Bandwidth. LMR400 SMA Feed Cable & Mounting Kit.

Nooelec GOES Weather Satellite Mesh Antenna – For those who need just the feed and dish- 21dBi Parabolic Antenna w/ 1.7GHz Center Frequency, 200MHz+ Bandwidth, LMR400 Feed Cable with Male SMA Connector, Mounting Hardware, & 2 Year Warranty

Balun One Nine v2 Barebones – Small Low-Cost 9:1 (1:9) HF Antenna Balun and Unun with Antenna Input Protection for Shortwave. Great for Software Defined Radio (RTL-SDR), Ham It Up & SDRPlay

Nooelec Ham It Up Nano – Tiny HF, MF & LF Upconverter w/TCXO. Extends The Frequency Range of Your Favorite RTL-SDR or Radio Down to 100kHz. includes aluminum enclosure & accessories. Made in the USA!

NooElec Ham It Up Plus v2 – HF/MF/LF/VLF/ULF Upconverter and Panadapter w/TCXO & Switchable LNA/Passthrough Options Extend The Range of Your RTL-SDR, NESDR or Other Radio Down to 300Hz.

Nooelec Ham It Down 3GHz Down Converter – Extends The Frequency of Your RTL-SDR or Radio to 3.1GHz! Receive UHF & L-Band Transmissions with Ease. TCXO, SMA Connectivity & Multiple Power Options

Nooelec SAWbird+ ADS-B: Premium, Dual-Channel, Cascaded Ultra-Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) & Filter Module for Airplane Tracking Applications. 1090MHz (ADSB) and 978MHz (UAT) Center Frequencies.

Nooelec Flycatcher – High Performance Dual-Channel RTL-SDR Raspberry Pi HAT for Flight Tracking & Aviation Monitoring. ADS-B 1090MHz and UAT 978MHz Software Defined Radio w/Local & Remote LNA Bypass. Designed in a Pi HAT form factor for seamless compatibility with Raspberry Pi.
My ADS-B Build Page

Active L-Band 1525-1660 Inmarsat to Iridium Patch Antenna Set– Includes 1x Active L-Band Patch Antenna (Covering 1525 – 1660 MHz) in Weather Proof Enclosure, 1x 2 meter RG174 extension cable, 1x Flexible Tripod Mount, 1x Suction Cup Mount. This is an active (amplified + filtered) high performance patch antenna designed for receiving L-Band satellites such as Inmarsat, Iridium and GPS. Easily mountable outside on a window, surface, stick, tree branch etc. Comes with easy to use mounting solutions and extension coax, and is enclosed in a fully weather proof plastic cover. Requires 3.3 – 5v bias tee power.

GearIT RJ45 Cat-6 Ethernet Patch Cable, 10Gpbs Transfer Speed, Gold-Plated Connectors, Copper Clad, Outdoor, UV Resistant, Direct Burial, Waterproof, Durable, 150 Foot (45.7 Meters)

Vilros Raspberry Pi 4 8GB Basic Starter Kit with Fan Cooled Heavy Duty Aluminum Alloy Case (Black Case)

Vilros Complete Starter Kit for Raspberry Pi 5 with Aluminum Passive and Active Cooling Case-Includes Pi 5 Board, Case, Power Supply, 128GB Preloaded SD Card, HDMI Cables & More.

Waveshare PoE HAT (E) Compatible with Raspberry Pi 3B+/4B 802.3af-Compliant, Fully Isolated Switched-Mode Power Supply (SMPS)

Waveshare PoE HAT (F) Compatible with Raspberry Pi 5, High Power, Onboard Cooling Fan, with Metal Heatsink, Supports 802.3af/at Network Standard.

UPGRADED NanoVNA-H New HW Version V3.6 -The improved frequency algorithm of nano vna h4 can use the odd harmonic extension of si5351 to support the measurement frequency up to 1.5GHz. The 50K-300MHz frequency range of the si5351 direct output provides better than 70dB dynamic. The extended 300M-900MHz band provides better than 60dB of dynamics, and the 900M-1.5GHz band is better than 40dB of dynamics. Used it to check out new cable or antenna installations and to routinely adjust the RF tuner for optimum

The Little Things

Don’t forget the small stuff, These little do-dads are important to have in your box of necessities.

SMA Adapter Connectivity Kit: 8 Adapters for (RTL-SDR) SMA Radios w/Case. A must must-have kit for radio projects!

SMA Connectors kit In my opinion this is a must-have! 18 Type SMA RP-SMA Adapter Plug and Jack Straight and 90° SMA Connector Goldplated Brass RF Coax Connectivity Set

NooElec SMA DC Block in-Line 50 Ohm 50kHz-8GHz Connector Blocks DC Voltage from your Radio or RF Test Equipment. Ultra-Low Insertion Loss (<0.3dB to 6GHz) and 2 Watts Maximum Power.

Nooelec SMA Attenuator Kit – I Highly recommend this kit!
Bundle of 6pc 2W 50 Ohm SMA in-Line Attenuators Provides Highly Linear Attenuation from 1dB to 42dB in 1dB Increments. Includes values of 1dB, 2dB, 3dB, 6dB, 10dB and 20dB, which allows for selective attenuation of anywhere between 1dB-42dB in 1dB increments- Fantastic accuracy of / – 0.1dB through to 3GHz

Exterior Enclosures

If you have a project outside, then you should protect it! These are some of the products I use.

Junction Box, IP67 Waterproof Plastic Enclosure for Electrical Project, Hinged Grey Cover, Includes Mounting Plate and Wall Bracket 290×190×140mm (11.4″×7.5″×5.5″)

Outdoor Electrical Box Waterproof Nema Enclosure 16x11x6 Plastic WiFi Box with Fan Vented Dust Screen 15.7″x11″x5.9″

Membrane Breather Plug (Similar to Gore Vents) M12x1.5-10 Venting – Screw-In Vents for outdoor enclosures- Will Prevent Condensation, I use at least one of these on all my outdoor electronics projects!

Cable Gland Waterproof, 50 pcs Adjustable 3-16mm Waterproof Cable Connectors PG7 PG9 PG11 PG13.5 PG16 PG19 I use these to maintain a watertight seal for any cables coming in or out of outdoor enclosures.

Waterproof RJ45 Coupler IP68 Short Profile, Cat6/Cat5E/Cat5 Waterproof Ethernet Connector Shielded, Outdoor Network LAN Cable Extender PoE 6-Pack

RJ45 Waterproof Cat5 Connector IP67 Run this from inside your enclosure of a waterproof Cat5 Cat6 Connection. Nice cat5 pigtail for PI projects.

Other Choices that I have used and can recommend.

While Nooelec is my preferred hardware choice, I’ve also had the opportunity to test other products. Here are a few that impressed me.

V4 R828D RTL2832U 1PPM TCXO SMA Software Defined Radio – Several improvements over other brands including use of the R828D tuner, built-in HF upconverter circuit, improved filtering, improved component tolerances, a 1 PPM temperature compensated oscillator (TCXO), SMA F connector, aluminum shielded case with thermal pad for passive cooling, improved filtering, and an activatable bias tee circuit. Can tune from 500 kHz to 1.7 GHz and has up to 3.2 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth (2.4 MHz stable). NOTE: The RTL-SDR Blog V4 requires a driver update. Please follow the installation manual carefully!

V3 R860 RTL2832U 1PPM TCXO SMA Software Defined Radio R860 tuner, improved component tolerances, a 1 PPM temperature compensated oscillator (TCXO), SMA F connector, aluminum shielded case with thermal pad for passive cooling, and a software activatable bias tee circuit. Can tune from 500 kHz to 1.7 GHz and has up to 3.2 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth (2.4 MHz stable). (HF reception below 24 MHz in direct sampling mode with reduced performance).

Broadcast FM Block Filter (88-108 MHz Block) by RTL-SDR Blog Blocks the broadcast FM band between 88 – 108 MHz with over 50dB of attenuation. Insertion loss is less than 0.5 dB between 0 – 1 GHz, and mostly less than 1.5 dB between 1 – 3 GHz. Uses SMA female connectors. Comes with a free SMA male to SMA male adapter. I have several of these.