Nooelec RTL-SDR v5 SDR - NESDR Smart HF/VHF/UHF (100kHz-1.75GHz) Software Defined Radio. Premium RTLSDR w/ 0.5PPM TCXO, SMA Input & Aluminum Enclosure. RTL2832U & R820T2 (R860)-Based Radio

This v5 RTL SDR works incredibly well with my Home Assistant environment for pulling in hyper local utility data. The initial setup process was straightforward, and the hardware offers seamless compatibility with third party software like rtlamr2mqtt to capture radio broadcast signals from local water and electric meters in real time. The tuning stability is rock solid, it handles heat much better than older models, and the network connectivity gives me a perfectly clean signal with excellent overall reception. While sound quality is not something I am actively testing for telemetry data, the raw RF signal performance is pristine. This is an essential piece of hardware that provides incredible value for money if you want to build custom utility dashboards in your smart home.

I had a question about the driver installation and sent a support request and it was answered within minutes. Also the receive worked perfectly. Great value for the money.

This is exactly as described. I have two of the common silver ones and one is off by 500 PPM, the other by a bit more than that. However, this NESDR is spot-on on the tuning, as promised, and the signal from it is clear and strong. Very pleased with the purchase. I have used it under Windows 10 (use the zadig.exe utility from SDRSharp to set the correct drivers) and I've used it on Raspbian Linux on a Raspberry Pi 3a+ to run trunk-recorder and liquidsoap streaming the local P25 trunked radio traffic to Broadcastify as a source. I can only get one dongle to work at a time on the Raspberry Pi before the USB bus is saturated (my assumption), but it locks up when I plug in a second silver website branded RTL-SDR along with this one (even after assigning unique serial numbers to each). Luckily everything fits within a 2.4 Mhz band, so I only need one, but I'm limited to three simultaneous recordings, when there are five data channels in my system. So I would like to run two dongles and separate the tasks, but that's not possible with my setup. I will try a Raspberry Pi 4, and maybe some other mini computer options in the future. But for now it's working. Well built, I haven't had any cooling issues, but I have a fan cooled case for the Rasberry Pi and set the dongle next to the case where there is airflow (it's on a short usb extension cord). I also have a cheap 800mhz SMA antenna, nothing fancy. It's 15 feet cord length and I placed it in the attic by drilling a hole in the ceiling. I get great reception and clear audio from the scanner.

The Nooelec RTL-SDR hardware works really well for RF monitoring and experimentation. I’ve bought three so far and they all work great. Very nice and premium-feeling aluminum outer case. Everything was nicely packaged. I’ve run these sticks on a Raspberry Pi for days at a time with no frequency drift. They all worked with zero or minimal ppm correction needed. If you want some RTL-SDR hardware this is a great option. It’s not perfect, though. While it is technically true that you can run two side by side on a Raspberry Pi, in practice I didn’t find this to be very practical. It will cover all four ports so forget about any other peripherals. When run in this configuration, the two SDRs will get really, really hot. With a little extra separation, they get warm but not hot. (I realize these are designed to run hot, but why do that if you don’t have to?) Even though you can run two side by side on a Pi, you’re better off using a USB hub instead in my opinion. The other problem I’ve found is something about the USB-A connectors doesn’t allow them to make a great connection with the host. I’ve tried multiple USB hubs, and of course connected directly to the Pi and in every case the dongles don’t feel like they are held solidly in place. They are quite loose and slightest bump will disconnect them or give a lousy connection to the host until they are wiggled around some to reseat them. This doesn’t appear to be a problem with the USB connector to the circuit board. It’s something with the connector design and how it mates with the ports — almost as if it’s slightly too long. If you plan on using these with a semi-permanent configuration, you should consider a bit of hot glue or epoxy to make sure they are held in place even if bumped around. I’ve had no problems with the SMA connectors and they feel solidly attached. So, in all it’s great hardware let down by a couple unfortunate but not insurmountable design decisions. As long as you keep these things in mind when you purchase, you’ll be fine.

1) To those who are plugging into your PC's you nuts... You goes near your antenna... 2)I love mine. I get everything with a discone antenna. 3)Do all those who say your HAMS and dont like it maybe its your or you dont know how to use a SDR or the software... It works with SDR#, SDR++, SDR Console. I get all the bands. I have not bought HF stuff yet but all the VHF/UHF bands I am picking up (Air, Rail, Marine, CTA, some police as most here are Encrypted, Fire, etc) Also it goes, Antenna -> Active USB -> SDR -> PC Your SDR does not plug into your PC Learn how to use it before you complain.

Solid performance SDR and compatible with most modern SDR software. It doesn't seem to get as warm as some other SDRs.

What a brilliant piece of tech. I'm currently collecting readings from my energy, gas, and water meters into Home Assistant using this in tandem with a rPiZero2W, docker, and Home Assistant reliably for over 6 months now.

I wanted to love this thing and it does work good when it does but the issue is that falls short in too many places where it matters, for starters, no Bias-Tee circuit means you'll need to drag more cables with you to power any external LNAs/filters and if you can't use ports on your computer you'll likely end up having to use some sort of battery bank which bleeds electrical noise in the HF band, which has its own issues with this device. It can receive HF and LF quite well with Direct Q sampling however the USB connection with the smart actually ends up bleeding A LOT of electrical noise across the spectrum likely due to its poor USB plug, which is so insanely sensitive that I wouldn't be surprised if a minor gust of wind could disconnect it (see video). Also not to mention, this thing gets hot! HOT HOT!! Hot to the point I can't even hold it in my hands and I worry it'll burn out it's internal LNA some day. Got it to replace my old RTL-SDR V4, but it only solidified it's position, the SMArt is only really handy as a backup for me

Spełnia oczekiwania

問題なく使える。冷却したいならNvme ssdの放熱板を2枚買うといい感じに挟めていいと思う

todo bien, muchas gracias

Rápido y fiable

When I got interested in SDR, I shopped for the least expensive dongle I could find. After all, I thought, all RTL2832 chips are produced by Realtek, so they are all working the same, no? The first dongle I ordered from China came with free shipping at half the price of the NooElec NESDR Smart unit. Several weeks after my order, the unit arrived but was DOA... Warranty? Certainly! Just return the unit to China using traceable shipping! Well, it costs more to return the defective unit than buying a new one! Some warranty hey! But I was not deterred yet! I ordered another one, a different model, el cheapo, of course. Several weeks after, my SDR dongle arrived, was working, but the TUNER chip was not an R820. I did not get the frequency coverage I was expecting, the unit overheats, so the frequency mixer is jumping all over the place and the unit blocks the access to the next USB port on my laptop... Then it dawned on me to get this unit from a "local" reputable vendor. Not only the shipping was free, but it arrived at my door three days after the order. Nice thick aluminum casing acting as heat-sink, gold plated SMA female connector, 0,5 ppm TXO, installed in a breeze following the detailed instructions... slim enough to allow access to all my USB ports. NooElec has even contacted me twice since the unit arrived this week to make sure everything was fine with their product... What else can you ask? These is tremendous service, tremendous product design and performance, tremendous supplier. The choice is clear!