Software Defined Radio Capture the Flag Course

So, you've either got yourself one of those RTL-SDR dongles or you've been reading about them, but not sure what to do with one once you have it. I've been in your shoes and am now in the process of working up a course of things to do in the form of a Capture the Flag (CTF) exercise. There are so many things to do in the hobby, a Capture the Flag exercise can expose you parts of it you weren't aware of. Each flag will expose you to a new skill, tool, or communication-method that will build up experiences that you'll reuse in your own projects.

The RTL-SDR dongle is the first thing you need to get started. There are a lot of versions available, I personally own four or five different versions that have come out. Some are the original dongle, while others have been modified to better work with the driver hack that turns this simple TV receiver into a wide-band receiver.

Getting started with your first flag: pick your favourite operating system, Linux or Windows. The first flag is for you to receive a local commercial FM stations using your RTL-SDR.

For Windows: Getting Started with Windows

For Linux: Getting Started with Linux