I have been reading about software-defined radio (SDR) over the past several months, and have been especially impressed with the capabilities for the price. I asked for some basic components for my birthday a week ago, and everything is running pretty well right now.

The software runs on a computer with a USB port. I'm using a low-end Windows 8 touchscreen notebook I got for Christmas, and it runs fine.

You will need a USB TV tuner dongle (I got the Nano 820T dongle from the Nooelec website) - I think I paid about $20 for it. It comes with a tiny antenna that is ok for checking it out, but you will want a better antenna.

For the better antenna, I got an Antennacraft ST2 wideband scanner antenna - cheapest place to buy is the Radio Shack website for about $45. It comes with 50' of RG-6 coax and a Type N to BNC adapter. For the price, the antenna is a steal. It can tune from about 30 MHz to about 1.7 GHz.

The Nano dongle has a miniature MCX RF connector on it. On the Nooelec website, you can buy a small cable that is MCX at one end and BNC at the other. So for less than $75 you can have the whole thing.

The 2 main software packages (both are free) that you will need to download install are SDR# ("SDR Sharp") and HDSDR. You can google them and get all the info to help with installation. There are also quite a few Youtube videos to help get you familiarized. I am using HDSDR, but I think either should work fine.

There are 2 things this setup doesn't address: HF radio and digital (like Mototurbo or APCO 25). For HF, you will need an RF upconverter, like the Ham it up Upconverter from Nooelec. I have it, but haven't tried it yet. You will also need a suitable antenna to tune the HF frequencies you are interested in. The ST2 covers 6M (VHF) and the 11M stealth band, but 10M (28MHz - 29.7 MHz) may be dicey.

For digital, you will need to download and install a suitable program like Unitrunker. Some cities (Longmont, e.g.) and public services use trunked digital, and that is what Unitrunker can help with. Note that no scanner, even the high end models, will be able to decode encoded digital comms. Fortunately, very, very few non-mil entities have that capability. I hope to get Unitrunker installed etc in the next week or 2.

Lastly, you will need to know what you are listening to. Go to the Radioreference website, enter your zip code, and you will get a very useful list of county, city, and emergency service (police, fire, ems, roads/plows,...) frequencies and related information. The list is organized by function, and not frequency. I think you will also need a frequency-organized list. I am creating an excel spreadsheet that does just that for my local stuff.

When you look at the display, you will see a waterfall display covering a range of frequencies. You can position the cursor over a specific frequency and zoom in, adjust bandwidth, squelch, and use various digital filters to help with intelligibility. Note that this is a receive-only setup. and therefore does not require any license to use.

With the ST2 antenna in a good location (upstairs in my house, in my case), it is amazing how much you can hear. I was listening to Centennial Police and fire dispatch for awhile, from Boulder County. Completely clear and noise-free.

I am in the process of putting together a smallish solar system to keep the notebook and scanner running in case of power down. This will hopefully work well and give me some improved situational awareness in case of emergency. I highly recommend it, especially for the price.