Re: [Discuss-gnuradio] Recommended RF Front End for USRP

[Eric Blossom]

On Fri, Dec 08, 2006 at 09:04:34AM -0800, Thomas Schmid wrote:
> Hi Ranga
> 
> On 12/8/06, M. Ranganathan <address@hidden> wrote:
> >
> >Hello!
> >
> >I am a newcomper to SDR. I have scoured the mailing list but I cant find
> >a definitive answer on the following questions (I suppose its been asked
> >but I cant seem to find answers in the archives at any rate):
> >
> >1. Can anybody recommend an RF Front end to be used with the  USRP from
> >Ettus research? I just got the Basic RX / Basic Tx  daughterboard,
> >motherboard + power supply and am looking for recommendations on what to
> >buy so I can experiment with these things. My budget is a few hundred
> >bucks. Can somebody recommend specific products one can buy off the
> >shelf to hook into the Basic RX ? I want to be able to recieve RF
> >signals from a walkie talkie radio and play them on my computer.
> 
> This really depends on what you want to do. If you want to play with
> WiFi, Bluetooth etc, then you would need the RFX2400 for the 2.4GHz
> spectrum. If your walkie talkie uses the 400MHz ISM band (most
> likely), then you need the RFX400.
> 
> >2. What is the simplest meaningful thing one can do to get started with
> >SDR? (I am looking to bootstrap myself into this before trying to do
> >anything serious so a fun learning project is what I am looking for.)
> 
> The simplest thing is to hook up a metallic wire and try to receive
> AM/FM radio. Look at the examples in gnuradio-example. They will help
> you further.
> 
> Thomas

All true.  Also, generally speaking, you don't want to start with the
Basic Tx or Basic Rx.  Those are really designed to work with an
external tuner, transverter, etc.

Pick one of the RFX-* boards.

Eric