Somewhere in the pile of stuff behind my computer monitor is an SDR, a software defined radio. I haven't toyed with it very much because I don't have a useful antenna for it.
But did you know there are SDR Online websites that allow one to listen to SDRs in locations all over the world?
That means that your station could be listened to from your SDR and heard by listeners around the world? It's a whole other approach to streaming. Rather than connecting to your radio station stream listeners would connect to your SDR and have the option of tuning radio stations in your area, possibly yours.
I want to put my SDR online so you can listen to it. This will take some learning.
This is a very interesting concept.
I, of course, knew about SDR servers. But to put one up on your computer so that others can listen to your Part 15 radio station is a step further that I had not thought of.
You're not streaming in the traditional sense, so I wonder if the copyright issues for streaming are bypassed. You're really only picking up an over-the-air signal, which is either copyright fee exempt, or the fees have already been paid.
A gray area, for sure, but one worth exploring.
There appears to be, at least at first glance, lots of software available that will control SDR radios, and allow remote monitoring. But I suspect it will take a lot more than that to set up a general purpose server website to allow people access. There might be ready made solutions, but they didn't pop up and shout to me, at least at first glance.
Now, if instead of custom software (which I suspect most are), some of these developers actually implemented a web interface, accessible via a browser, then that would work just fine. Carl is right, a lot of investigation required.
I did a more thorough search on SDR server software and here are my findings.
A lot of the software is for Linux/Mac systems only. Good for them, not so good for those of us running Windows.
Some is commercial, requiring you to purchase SDR hardware through them.
I found one that looked interesting, went to their releases page but there were no releases. Another has discontinued issuing releases for the moment, and the website was very demanding, almost Hobbybroadcaster-obnoxious in its demands for information about what you plan on doing before they would even consider giving you the software.
I would have expected a search to at least give me one or two results, but so far, nothing. A deep dive is obviously necessary.
I think I've found two SDR servers that run on Windows. Specifically those are 'SDR ++' and 'SDR Console'. Either that, or I don't have my facts straight.
They appear to. One I had discounted because they had a lousy website. I should have investigated further. The other doesn't mention a server, but it appears they do have one.
I downloaded both and we'll see.
Slowly building my KDX-SDR Network.
I dusted off the SDRPlay RSP1A device, found a CB whip to use as an antenna, and next will download and install SDRuno, the software.
We'll go from there.
Super neat! Am now listening to KDX on the SDRplay and it sounds fabulous!
I took a screenshot of the AM MW spectrum, maybe I can show it here...
Too small? We're off to a start
'Signals Everywhere' is a YouTube series about creating a server connecting visitors to SDRs located anywhere.
And we update a previous comment where we mentioned how an SDR allows setting the bandwidth to include your entire AM MW band, but we now learn that bandwidth can be set to include only your own station!
Ideas Keep Coming.
An SDR could function as a modulation monitor if someone wrote software to accomplish it. SDRs may already provide frequency accuracy measurement, but I'm not sure.
@carl-blare I wondered if you could restrict listeners to your particular station, and you've answered that question.
i don't have an sdr right now, and am doing my research to see what to purchase. The v4 Blog is the cheapest, but the one you have, and it's successor, the 1B, seem to be the best performing. Where did you purchase yours?
And are you running SDR Runo?
Have you tried connecting to your SDR software over your internal network using a browser? I know that the various software packages claim you can connect via a network from anywhere.
I believe I purchased my SDRplay directly from the official website
SDRuno is the software supplied free to owners of the SDRplay, and I only connect to the SDR using SDRuno, I don't know any other way to connect to it. I am trying to learn how to connect remotely and how to make my SDRplay remotely reachable to the web.
Although, in thinking about it, I probably purchased SDRplay from the U.S. distributor
You might want the Canadian distributor
Here is what I think I have unearthed.
It appears that the makers of SDRplay and SDRuno are developing a third product called SDRconnect, already available in early access from SDRplay, free for owners of SDRplay.
SDRconnect is a Server that will let you put your SDRplay device online for remote access.
I have already downloaded mine and will be testing it during this week.