rtl sdr what a big world of radio.

got one of these on e-bay and found it a bit tricky at first. usual thing most software for fun stuff is on Linux and window won't let you compile it even if you have all the listed dependencies?
then I found window binaries for http://sdr.osmocom.org/trac/wiki/rtl-sdr.
Linux was very easy follow the instruction. Gnuradio as yet I can get to work on window and was tricky even on Linux my tip is if you have any problems install GQRX and it seems to fix any problem? and it is not a bad GUI.

if you are looking for example at http://sdr.osmocom.org/trac/wiki/rtl-sdr the link to https://www.cgran.org don't work.

also be warned this is all processor intensive my Windows 8 laptop is a beast quadcore 64bit but getting software to run is a pain and my Linux machine is single core + 7 years. but you can install and run loads :(

Cool stuff
http://www.rtl-sdr.com/

www.eb3frn.net

http://hackaday.com/2012/06/17/ask-hackaday-has-anyone-built-a-radio-telescope/

An extra note on newer Linux watch out for driver problems. you may need to blacklist the TV driver. see post http://www.kubonweb.de/?tag=rtl-sdr.
this is for a PI but get the idea.
look in  /etc/modprobe.d/
and these are the drives:
blacklist dvb_usb_rtl28xxu
blacklist rtl_2832
blacklist rtl_2830
also see this if on Ubuntu, http://m0dcm.co.uk/?p=423

"Open a Terminal and type

sudo gedit  /etc/modprobe.d/no-rtl.conf

Once you’ve entered your password and the text editor has opened, copy and paste these few lines into it

  blacklist dvb_usb_rtl28xxu 
  blacklist rtl2832 
  blacklist rtl2830 

Now press save and reboot the PC"

needed above Ubuntu 11.
next time I'll explain if you get jumpy audio but off to play now.