To listen to CB radio using a software-defined radio (SDR), you will need a few things:
- A computer: You will need a computer to run the SDR software and process the radio signals.
- An SDR receiver: This is a device that connects to your computer and receives radio signals. There are many different SDR receivers available, and they can range in price from a few dollars to several thousand dollars.
- SDR software: This is the software that runs on your computer and processes the radio signals received by the SDR receiver. Some popular SDR software options include SDR#, HDSDR, and GQRX.
- An antenna: A CB radio operates on 27 MHz and you will need a suitable CB radio antenna . It is recommended to use a directional antenna such as a Yagi antenna or a vertical antenna, as they will provide better reception than a whip antenna.
Once you have all of these components, you can set up your SDR and tune it to the CB radio frequencies (26.965 MHz – 27.405 MHz). You can use the SDR software to adjust the gain and filter settings to optimize the reception of the desired signal.
This solution is associated with costs, additionally, many places are full of interference that makes reception difficult. For this reason, it is worth starting by listening to CB radio on websdr.