The electromagnetic spectrum is like an invisible world that always surrounds us, and allows us to do many amazing things: It’s how radio and TV are transmitted, it’s how we communicate using WiFi or our phones. And there are many more things to discover there, from all over the world.

blinry demonstrates fifty ways to use a software defined radio (SDR) to tune in signals – locally or from around the world.

A Software Defined Radio is essentially a radio that relies on a computer to do most of its data processing. It doesn’t rely on analog hardware too much – instead, most of what is does is “defined in software”, hence the name.

Usually, SDRs can detect electromagnetic waves in a much wider range than a common FM radio, which makes it especially exciting.

I looked into the topic a bit, and a popular, cheap SDR right now is the RTL-SDR Blog V4, which has the form factor of a simple SUB dongle. You can get it for around $30, or as a kit with telescopic antennas for $50.

All you need is this simple USB dongle and an antenna kit.

Read all you can do in the post here.