Tag Archives: Android SDR

Android tablet SDRs?

SWLing Post reader, Philip, writes with the following question:

“I want to know if you are aware of any good shortwave receivers that can be used on an Android tablet.”

I am aware of the Android SDR application, SDR Touch (see image above), but have never used it so I can’t comment on compatibility with the various SDRs on the market. I know that SDR Touch is compatible with devices that support USB host mode–but you may need to do research to see if your Android device and potential receiver are compatible. I believe most SDR Touch users connect their device to RTL-SDR dongles.

Readers: Please comment if you have any suggestions for Philip. I’m also curious if anyone has had success pairing an Android tablet to an HF-capable SDR.

DRM: Dream on Android

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Looks like Dream has been ported to Android:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/drm/

SDR Touch: An Android-based software defined radio

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SDRtouch Though not available for the shortwave bands, Google Play reviews are mostly positive for the new software defined radio application that will run on your Android phone or tablet: SDR Touch.

According to the Google Play page, SDR Touch covers 50 MHz to 2.2 GHz and demodulates WFM, AM, NFM, USB, LSB, DSB, CWU and CLW signals. It requires an inexpensive USB rtl-sdr compatible USB DVB-T tuner. Click here to search eBay for RTL-SDR receivers. You then connect to your Android device via a USB OTG cable and SDR Touch should control the receiver.

SDR Touch’s Google Play website has a list of supported receivers–make sure to check the model number from eBay against this list before purchasing. Additionally, you should install their free demo SDR app to make sure your Android device is compatible.

This video shows SDR Touch in action on the FM broadcast band:

SDR touch claims that crashes should be expected as this app is still considered somewhat experimental.