This Thursday the 19th, we have another installment of the Software Defined Radio (SDR) workshop. The goal of which is to provide introductory support to people learning about SDR's as well as let some of the more seasoned folk work on their projects. We've talk to a lot of people lately about what an SDR is and why we have a workshop for it so I thought I'd review why they're fun.
What is an SDR?
Unlike some radio equipment which only provides a small range of frequencies you can transmit and receive on, SDR's let you use a single device, and control their frequency from very low (<100Mhz) to very high (2.4GHz+).
![hdsdr1[1]](./wp-uploads/2015/02/hdsdr11.jpg)
So what?
In the past, if you wanted to listen in on a certain frequency, say your garage door opener for example, you'd have to buy a piece of hardware that runs at that frequency -- in this case it's often 434MHz. Now for as little as $20, you can buy a device that can read your garage door opener at 433Mhz, listen to the local FM radio station at 90.5Mhz, or track airplanes at 1090Mhz. This lets you play with different frequencies and see what's being transmitted. You may be surprised.
This also lets you learn about the basics of RF: electronics, antennas, ways to decode a signal.
The workshop is open to the public; non-members are welcome as always. Feel free to drop a comment on the meetup page if you're interested but have some questions.