[DARARepeater] TV Dongles from China

[George F. Nemeyer]

A few weeks ago when the TN Group was talking dongles on Sept 11, I
ordered two from eBay while at the meeting.  These were $8 each with free
shipping from China.  I found them with an eBay search for
          "USB TV Tuner RTL2832"
     with "Buy It Now"
     and  "Price + shipping: lowest first" sort options.

The one I selected looked like the one George had, and similar to the
more expensive NooElec one we've talked about.

The dongles arrived on 28 Sept.  Packaging included only the antenna,
remote, and dongle in a factory-bulk style bubble-wrap bag...there was no
instructions or blister-pack for store display.  The two bags containing
the sticks, antennas, and remotes were, in turn, packaged in a larger
postal padded envelope, and arrived without any damage.  There was no
software CD, which would be needed to watch TV with them on a Windows
computer, but the vendor indicated a download link to get the TV software.
I run Linux, and planned to used these as SDR devices anyway so haven't
bothered with downloading the files.

They appear identical to the one George had brought to the meeting.

I gently pried the snap-shut case apart, and the inside circuit board was
IDENTICAL in parts layout to the NooElec one pictured on their website.

I got them to work using Linux "gqrx" SDR software and they successfully
tuned various FM stations, area repeaters, and several public service
frequencies I tried.

I did notice that the actual tuned frequency was very slightly off from
the digital on-screen display.  Each dongle was slightly different, but in
both cases, were close enough to the actual frequency to spot the
difference easily and shift the cursor/tuning over onto the signal.  I
attribute this to the variations in the 28.000 MHz crystal in the dongles.
The SDR software has an offset adjustment, so that's not any real issue.

I've not yet connected them to a V/UHF generator to make any actual
sensitivity measurements, but they did pretty well with the tiny antenna
that came with them.  When I get the chance to do some controlled tests,
I'll write that up here as well.

I also ordered a pair of adapter cables that goes from the MCX antenna
connector on the dongle to a standard TV antenna female F-connector.
These were $3.61 each, also with free shipping.  The eBay description was:

       MCX male right angle to F female jack RF Antenna Coaxial Cable
       30cm RG174 12inch

A search for "mcx cable adapter" will find various adapter cables
available with other connector options:  straight MCX plug, and other
types of connectors (SMA/BNC/Euro, etc.) at the far end.  I got the right
angle one to make the entire thing as narrow as possible with the idea of
mounting the dongle and an up-converter into a small box similar to the
ones we used for the Fox Hunt Attenuators.

So far, the cheapie dongles seem to do quite well...and it might be
possible to win some auctions for under the Buy It Now price if you're
patient and persistant.

One thing to note, though, pay attention to the shipping prices.
Sometimes China items list a *VERY* low price, but they make it up in the
added shipping cost.  Using the sort option "Price + Shipping: lowest
first" will help weed those out.

=^_^=  Tigerwolf
K9TGR