RTL SDR V4 - Now with Built-In HF Upconverter + More Features

Just had mine V4 delivered to the UK today from AliExpress. After a bit of basic frequency hunting in the morning just a few hours ago I managed to listen in on my very first satellite!, the downlink from the NOAA 15 satellite using the bundled dipole aerial in a 120° V-shape.

The RTL dongles have always been a great way the get into radio reception , if a little trick to set up in the early days.... Nice to see some progress and "cheaper" cool.....

Got myself a v4 kit recently. Took some trial and error to set up the driver/software but it works fine now. I don't know much about radio and did almost nothing with the subject since I stopped playing with my dad's Philips D2603 Power booster 4 band radio in the 1980s. But it is nice to be able to tune into random things again. I love the visual tuning. I'm probably limiting myself with the indoor antenna from the kit but I like it so far.

Wow, so great performance on HF, much better than usual dongle.

I ordered one the day they came out... should arrive monday, its my first sdr dongle and can't wait to try it.

Ordered mine from their website the day it was announced. Still in transit but looks like it might arrive on Tuesday 🤞

Great review. My old v3 died two month ago (RIP). I hope they restock soon.

Thanks for the review Matt. Mine is on the way from China. It'll be here in a couple of weeks I hope.

Pretty neat piece of kit!

Just got myself a V3 kit and have been enjoying the journey. Thanks for the time you put in to help newbies like me get to grips with the whole hobby.

I ordered the V4+ antenna kit after following the link from the sdr blog page to ali express a couple of days back, Will be the first SDR but i had been thinking about it on and off for a while. bit limited for antenna where I live, going with the airspy software to start out. one thing that would be nice to have that i have not seen is a scanning option, so for example set to scan 11M and have it stop where there is a signal.. perhaps it is there as i dont have the sdr yet to plug in and play with. Glad I saw this as it has kind of confirmed i had made an ok choice especially at the price point.

my V4 came in yesterday. I picked up to ham operators with my VHF-UHF TV antenna. It's all I have to test with now. I could hear both speakers very clear. Nearest was 700 miles away and farthest was 1200 miles. They were on frequency 14,164,040. I need to put up a long wire next.

Well, i found your channel informative! You get my sub and a thank you! Got you 1 more closer to 100k! Thank you again!

Thank You !

Thanks, what about doing a long video comparing both V3 & V4?

Looks like it's out everywhere, hope i can get one at some point, the v3 is pretty great

The latest V3 also showcases a similar black design with white letters, which is very interesting.

Just put an order for my V4 on Aliexpress, waiting to receive in September 19th.

Ordered one, will give it a go. My v3 the smallest movement and the usb would disconnect, don't know if it was just faulty, hopefully this one is a bit better.

I just wondered if you know about the mod to the RTL-SDR v4 that has recently begun shipping. You can read the thread in the RTL-SDR Forum. The discussion that reveals it is in the Topic: “RTL-SDR DISCUSSION”, Post: “RTL-SDR V4 – Image Signals” where the management at RTL-SDR reveals the mod in the Post Reply: “…newer versions of the V4 that are shipping soon will have a minor modification which is a switch to turn the upconverter off when in VHF/UHF mode."