guides/antennas-for-orcsdr
Antennas for OrcSDR
The antenna matters more than the dongle. Here's what to use for each OrcSDR band, and what to expect from the small telescopic one that comes in many kits.
the short version
Match the antenna to the band, keep the coax short, and get it up high and away from the Tab5 and other electronics. Outdoors beats indoors almost every time. OrcSDR shows signal as relative dBFS, so compare antennas side by side on the same station rather than chasing a number.
by band
| Dashboard | Frequency | What works |
|---|---|---|
| FM broadcast | 88–108 MHz | Almost anything. A telescopic dipole with each side about 75 cm. |
| Airband | 118–137 MHz | Vertical antenna, each element about 55–60 cm. Planes are line-of-sight: height helps most. |
| Weather (NOAA) | 162.4–162.55 MHz | Vertical, about 45 cm elements, or a marine VHF antenna. |
| Marine VHF | 156–162 MHz | Same as NOAA; a marine VHF whip works well. |
| Satellite | ~137 MHz | A V-dipole or QFH aimed at the sky. OrcSDR has no dedicated satellite decoder yet. |
| P25 / pagers | depends on your area | An antenna for your local system's band (often VHF, UHF or 700/800 MHz). Check what's used near you first. |
| LoRa / Meshtastic | 915 MHz (US) | A 915 MHz antenna; the band changes by region. |
| ADS-B | 1090 MHz | A dedicated 1090 MHz antenna, outdoors, with short low-loss coax. Each dipole side about 6.5–7 cm. |
| CB | 26.965–27.405 MHz | CB antennas are long (a quarter wave is about 2.6 m). The small kit antenna will hear only strong, close stations. |
| AM / shortwave | below 30 MHz | A long wire or an active loop. Needs a dongle with an HF route (V4, or V3/V3c direct sampling). |
Lengths are rule-of-thumb quarter-wave figures (dipole side ≈ 71 / frequency in MHz, in metres, before trimming). They're general radio knowledge, not OrcSDR test results.
cables & connectors
RTL-SDR Blog dongles use an SMA connector. Above about 400 MHz, a long thin coax run can lose more signal than a better antenna gains, so keep it short or use lower-loss cable. Only turn on bias-T if your antenna or LNA needs power.
picks
Good starting point for FM, airband, NOAA. Note it's a compromise on CB and ADS-B.
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Only list one you've used with OrcSDR's ADS-B dashboard.
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Short run, correct connectors for the dongle.
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Facts about OrcSDR from the OrcSDR README, user guide and release notes (2026-10). General radio advice is rule-of-thumb, not OrcSDR test data.