One of the bonuses you get with the RTL2832U / R820T DVB-T stick is some HF reception. The RTL2832U / R820T will cover HF between 24-30 MHz. Using SDR Sharp you can easily listen to the CB, 10 Meter, and 12 Meter bands. The working frequency range for the RTL2832U / R820T is roughly around 24MHz to 1850MHz when used as a SDR receiver. I did a quick test of the RTL2832U / 820T by connecting a random wire antenna to the screw on the stock antenna base. While by no means was this the best antenna for the HF reception, I still managed to pickup a few 10 Meter SSB broadcasts and some 12 Meter CW broadcasts. I suspect with a better antenna, performance would have been a bit better. However, the point is that the RTL2832U / R820T stick will receive in the 24 – 30MHz frequency range. If you decide to try one of these sticks out, be sure to up date to the latest RTL drivers for SDR Sharp. The RTL2832U / R820T can be purchased for around $10 -$15 shipped from Chinese dealers on Ebay (2 to 4 week delivery) or in the US from NooElec for about $21 shipped.
Newsky TV28T v2 USB DVB-T & RTL-SDR Receiver, RTL2832U & R820T Tuner, MCX Input. Low-Cost Software Defined Radio Compatible with Many SDR Software Packages
Here is a quick video of the RTL2832U / R820T receiving a few HF signals.

7 thoughts on “RTL2832U / R820T HF Reception”
  1. You keep saying “broadcast”
    Amateur radio operators do not “broadcast” they transmit, and there most certainly is a difference.

  2. Where can i find the technical features of the RTL-2832 ? I use one with an opendous upconverter and i would want to know if it’s a good HF receiver.

    I would want to know too if MF reception is possible in good conditions.

    Best regards.

  3. I don’t have exact measurements, but the sensitivity of the R820T seems pretty good to me. I’m just using the dinky antenna it came with right now. It picked up the usual FM stations (88-108mhz) at similar signal strength to a very good FM radio, some trunked stations (800-900mhz), etc. The noaa weather station is pretty weak here in Iowa City, it pulled it in. I did get overload on a few FM stations, dead center it was fine and you could even capture weak stations very near it on the dial, but when you have the strong station towards the edge of the ~2mhz capture window it “wrapped around” and showed a ghost toward the other edge of the capture window. The spec I read on a typical 125mhz upconverter was that it lost about 10db down low and 15db above 45mhz or so. I know the R820T can tune down to 25mhz, I don’t know if anyone’s tested the sensitivity below 88mhz or so though. It’s possibly it’s fairly deaf that low, and it’d be better to upconvert even ~25-50mhz signals.

  4. any one plz tell main about this device that can i use it ? in receiving GPR data? also can i receive siganl of 40Mhz through this rlt2832u +R820T sdr ?

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