Wolfram Donat - Explore Software Defined Radio

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The offspring suggested I make a few acknowledgments: "Id like to thank my arms for always being at my side, and my legs for always supporting me..."

Id like to think Im not quite that dorky, though I may be close. Instead, Id like to thank:

Chloe, for ensuring that all projects built are equipped with evasive maneuvering capabilities.

Oliver, for making sure that the office door hinges work well.

Loki, for ensuring that Im able to hear in case of an emergency and for making sure Im not forgotten in the office.

Smudge, for emotional support (both giving and receiving).

Sai Yamanoor, Mike Lewis, Oona Risnen, Gianluigi Spagnuolo, and Youssef Touil for tech editing the book, spotting errors, and ensuring that the projects worked for everybody. What errors may remain in this book are mine and mine alone.

Everyone at The Pragmatic Bookshelf for taking a chance with this book.

Patrick Di Justo, for doing an awesome job, as always, of making my stuff sound the way I wanted it to sound.

Rebecca and Reed, as always, for putting up with my disappearances and weird projects, sometimes with little or no explanation.

For several years in my travels online, I kept hearing and reading about SDR, or software-defined radio. It seemed interesting, but (at least at first) I didnt have the time or motivation or learn more about it.

I gradually picked up a news item here or a Reddit post there, but I still didnt know the details of SDR. All I knew for sure was that the topic was complicated and it allowed you to use your computer to pick up radio signals. Instead, I concentrated on more easily learned things like partial differential equations and making the perfect souffl.

Then, not too long ago, I got an email from my editor. Hey Wolf, he wrote. How would you like to do a book on SDR? Ever heard of it? It was time to jump into the pool again, and this time I didnt come out until I figured out just what the heck was going on in this weird mix of hardware, software, Internet, and radio waves and wrote it all down.

This book is the result. Its all about how to use your computer or laptop to pick up radio signals from the earth and space using a fairly recent technology called SDR.

On the surface, receiving radio signals doesnt seem like a big deal. After all, everyones familiar with satellite TV, right? Even before Dish Network and DirecTV made it commonplace, anyone with a few grand and a good view of the sky could erect a 2-meter satellite dish in their backyard, hook it up to their TV with an esoteric jumble of electronic bits and pieces, and enjoy watching Japanese television in their living room. The radio waves are there; its just a matter of receiving and decoding them.