Identification of CDMA2000, GSM, and LTE signals with SDR# and RTL SDR

So, you’re interested in seeing just what carriers are at that cell tower by your house.  Or maybe you’re interested in trying to determine the best location in your home for mobile reception.  There are many reasons why it might be useful to peek at the cellular, PCS, and AWS signals that make up our day to day communications network.  Unfortunately, the FCC does not maintain a database of all cellular and PCS transmitters and their locations.

However With the RTL-SDR, for $30 and open so

urce software, you can tune the frequency ranges for each carrier and see a graphic deception of the types of signals found.  Using this graphical depiction you can identify the type of signal (CDMA, GSM or LTE) and combined with looking up what block of frequencies it is in and who owns that block in this market, you can identify the carrier.

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Updated Pro 96 Pro 2096 Cedar Rapids Police Scanner Config

It’s been 3 years since I last posted an updated Pro 96/2096 scanner file for the Linn County metro area.

There has not been a significant number of changes in public service scanning in Linn County in that time. However, I have revamped my scanner programming to cover a new approach in scanning.

I am posting a new version (version 3) of my scanner file today.  This is a Arc96 Binary formatted file which can be programmed with the application Arc96 and a data cable.

I have removed much of the business banks and expanded public service banks, to offer a more fine tuned approach to scanning. During busy periods, it may be desired to listen to only police or only fire / ambulance. In this new programming table, that is possible.

*** Download CR Pro 96 Scanner November 2013 (v3) HERE ***

One final note, we are in the end days of digital scanning in Cedar Rapids with the Pro 96.  This radio is not compatible with the new Linn County system coming online which will eventually replace the Motorola system used by Cedar Rapids.

Here is the new bank chart:

0. CR Police (Trunk Group 0) [Motorola] 
1. CR Fire (Trunk Group 0) Ambulance (Trunk Group 1) [Motorola] 
2. Linn Police / Fire / EMA 
3. RACOM South CR [EDACS] 
4. RACOM North CR [EDACS] 
5. FRS/GMRS 
6. Air & Rail 
7. HAM Radio 
8. CR City (Trunk Group 0) 5 Seasons Transportation (Trunk Group 1) [Motorola] 
9. Iowa Power and Light Line Crew (Trunk Group 0) [Motorola]

Zoneminder: Powerful Open Source Security Camera Monitoring

Zoneminder is an extremely powerful open source utility which I believe can completely revolutionize the security camera market.  What previously cost hundreds or thousands of dollars to build and implement and usually required hiring external installers and support people can now be done with free software and hardware you may already own.  I have used this software for the last year or so, and have found it remarkably straightforward to use.

Like most open source software it can be tricky to get configured and running at first.  So I have put together this document on how I configured my zoneminder system at home.  This isn’t exactly an installation guide, since your install will likely be very different from mine, but consider this more of a planning guide.  It can be used to help you plan and implement your own zoneminder based setup.
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WKQX (87.7) Chicago in Coralville

Noticed something strange today while on my way back from lunch — must be the strange weather, but WKQX from Chicago was nice and clear in Coralville today.

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This is one of a very few FM radio stations that broadcast at 87.7MHz.  It can do this because technically it’s not a radio station, but a low power TV station.

So, it’s surprising to hear a station from Chicago in Eastern Iowa — especially so if it’s a low power station.

FCC Coverage WKQX
Wikipedia WKQX