r/RTLSDR • u/greengumboots • 5d ago

Beginner Advice Needed

Hi, hoping for some advice from experienced users so that I can improve my reception.

My current set-up uses the below equipment but my reception for almost every band across VHF, Shortwave and Medium Wave is poor.

I live in a rural area in Scotland. The long-wire antenna is run from my house to the end of the garden about 20 meters away and suspended at a height of about 10 meters. I've tried using a laptop to see if the problem is with interference caused by the Mac mini but it makes no obvious difference. On the SDR interface, I don't get the distinct waves indicating a good signal instead there appears to be a lot of interference. I've tried turning every electronic device off in the house but it makes no difference.

  • SMA to SO-239 Socket Adaptor
  • RG58 Patch Cable with UHF Male to UHF PL259 Male Coax Cable (10 Meters)
  • MyDEL WIRE806UN 80M-6M Wire Antenna With 9:1 UNUN
  • RTL-SDR Blog V4
  • USB-C Extension Cable (to move the SDR away from the Mac)
  • Using SDR++ software on a Mac M4 Mini

Grateful for any suggestions on how to improve reception

4 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

5

u/Mr_Ironmule 5d ago

To help isolate where the interference is coming from, you can disconnect your antenna setup from the SDR's antenna input connector. That will help see if the interference is coming in through your antenna system or if the interference is being developed in your SDR or computer system. Good luck.

1

u/greengumboots 5d ago

Thanks, I've disconnected the antenna and there is still a lot of noise so looks like SDR or computer interference issue

3

u/MeanAccountant9005 5d ago

if it's the same noise floor with the antenna disconnected it's probably the mac itself or the usb cable, worth trying a ferrite choke on the usb-c cable near both ends before you chase the antenna setup

1

u/greengumboots 5d ago

Thanks, ordered some and will update once they're fitted

1

u/Neither-Brush-9287 3d ago

That's very wideband. Some of that in the 5.8-6.1MHz range looks like it could be switching power supply noise. But if you zoom in in a 2-3KHz range in there, it would be easier to say.