Android Question Is it possible to use the mobile as a radio receiver?

[Emerito]

For example, to listen to frequencies of 155 MHz.
Regards

 

[DonManfred]

I dont think that this will work.

As far as i know your hardware need to have an radio-frequency receiver (or whatever the name is; i´m not an electrician).

 

[emexes]

For example, to listen to frequencies of 155 MHz.

Many Android phones have FM radios, but this only covers the broadcast FM band eg 85 to 108 MHz here in Australia. Perhaps some phones implement the FM receiver with a SDR Software Defined Radio, but even if you could access the hardware to reprogram it, antenna:frequency mismatch would probably be an issue.

https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?chkFMradio=selected&sOSes=2

Ticking the FM radio filter reduces the number of Android matches from 4495 to 3497, which indicates about 75% of Android phones have the feature.

 

[BillMeyer]

For example, to listen to frequencies of 155 MHz.
Regards

Given the Frequency, you want to listen to, probably not as this falls out of the spectrum of the normal GSM frequency. If there is a need for this for whatever purpose desired, then you could purchase an SDR (Software Defined Radio - not expensive - Look Here) and run it alongside your device and use the device to decode and listen to the radio traffic received by the SDR.

As far as I know your hardware needs to have a radio-frequency receiver

Spot on Manfred !! - As explained above.

 

[Emerito]

Given the Frequency, you want to listen to, probably not as this falls out of the spectrum of the normal GSM frequency. If there is a need for this for whatever purpose desired, then you could purchase an SDR (Software Defined Radio - not expensive - Look Here) and run it alongside your device and use the device to decode and listen to the radio traffic received by the SDR.


Spot on Manfred !! - As explained above.

Thankyou

 

[emexes]

SDR (Software Defined Radio - not expensive - Look Here)

An alternative, but probably with better support:

https://www.adafruit.com/product/1497


Another common use is DTV-B television sticks being reprogrammed to receive airplane transponder ADS-B transmissions, for eg: www.flightradar24.com :

https://blog.alexellis.io/track-flights-with-rpi/

 

[Emerito]

My question has been somewhat confusing. I would really like to know one more concrete thing:
I have a Garmin animal locator collar, which sends its location to a receiver with a frequency of 155 MHz. Is it possible to receive that notification on mobile? to avoid having to use two devices?

 

[MarkusR]

here after radio comes air port / air plane messages and in 155 range in-house voice messages.
i found a "frequency plan" with all ranges.

i think its possible to get 155 MHz at phone, my phone use the headset cable and filter the frequency for radio, i guess via hardware.
(at older car radios the frequency range could be changed beyond limit via screwdriver at a variable capacitor.)
maybe you can translate the 155 MHz via external hardware into 100 MHz if your radio have a build in receiver.

edit: emm, i will read about a Garmin animal locator

which product is that?

 

[BillMeyer]

My question has been somewhat confusing. I would really like to know one more concrete thing:
I have a Garmin animal locator collar, which sends its location to a receiver with a frequency of 155 MHz. Is it possible to receive that notification on mobile? to avoid having to use two devices?

I doubt it - unless your receiver has capabilities to forward the message into the cellular realm (Like MQTT, Push Notifications, UDP on WiFi etc)

Your Garmin device will listen/talk in the VHF band and your Cellular Device in the UHF band. This entails, electronically, a receiver/transmitter chip and antennae tuned to the VHF band and this is not as a rule built into Cellular devices (cost, market, etc).

Now, depending on what you wish to track, the location and numbers (is this a hobby or commercially viable ?), you could build a base station that contains an SDR, placed in the middle of the area you wish to cover, linked to a Raspberry or NodeMCU based board (speed essential), in turn linked to a GSM or LORA network and then transmit that to a central server, which in turn will send a push notification to your device which you can then pick up as either data or notification and then either read the notification or show the sent data (lat/Lng) on a Google Map on your device.

My apologies if I have confused you even more, but I trust that this will explain it somewhat.

 

[emexes]

My question has been somewhat confusing.

Your question was fine, but the clarification of what you are using it for helps rule out the ideas of alternative solutions. But for other people who were interested in the possibility of using a mobile phone as a more general radio receiver, perhaps those ideas might generate new epiphanies. Better too many ideas than too few

I have a Garmin animal locator collar, which sends its location to a receiver with a frequency of 155 MHz. Is it possible to receive that notification on mobile to avoid having to use two devices?

The answer to that is almost definitely: no. I looked for an Android phone that has a MURS radio transceiver, but... no luck.

The closest you might get to receiving locations directly on your phone is to use an animal locator collar that instead uses one of the three radio systems typically provided on a smartphone:

- Bluetooth or wifi, which talk directly to your phone but only when within radio range, ie perhaps a hundred metres
- GSM/cellular/mobile network that gives (preferably) internet or (more restricted in Android) SMS access, wherever you have mobile coverage

 

[MarkusR]

1.
for VHF /UHF you need a antenna +filter and then a amplifier, then you can use the Microphone input at device + a software that capture this data in real time.
2.
or using a Arduino nano ble (Bluetooth) board + antenna +filter as receiver which is sending data to b4a phone app. its also a second device but it can stay in pocket.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_modulation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrier_wave
https://www.electronics-notes.com/a.../understanding-rf-filters-basics-tutorial.php

for FM you will need a Band pass filter, for AM you need to change the DC voltage.

 

[Emerito]

Thank you all very much. Discarded the idea. Regards.