Hi guys,
I am new with SDR and I just received my new LimeSDR 2 weeks ago. Since then I have been playing with it, but it doesn’t has antenna. Unfortunately, I don’t have any antenna. I have been trying to build FM receiver with GNU Radio but it hasn’t worked yet. I tried to use Gqrx to receive FM transmission but it didn’t work as well. My question is do I have to use antenna to work with LimeSDR?
Best regards,
Kirianto
short answer … yes
a receiver can not work without an antenna
Hi,
Thanks for the answer. I thought Lime has an internal antenna so I didn’t buy the external antenna but it seems I have to buy one 
BR
Kirianto
do you have the lime with case?? then you can screw antenna to the sockets
if you just have the lime (no case, no connectors) … then first
buy some u.fl to sma pigtails (a short cable with ufl connector on one end and sma or reverse sma on the other end)
what area are you wanna work in?? 2.4 gig ??? or on 433 megs??
depending of the frequency you wanna use you also need a antenna FOR THAT frequency!!
so if you wanna use 2.4 gig then i would recommend ufl to reverse sma (reason is in evilbay you find a lot of antennas for 2.4 gig for wifi gear and they all have reverse sma)
for all other setup i recommend using “normal” sma sockets and if needed adapt from there
buy a case where you can mount the sockets in
add a fan and a cooler to the lime (only needed for longer use cause then it may get a bit hotter)
greetz sigi
ps … if you do not even know the basics then i think the lime is not the right toy for you … grin
Thanks for the advices. Unfortunately, I only bought limeSDR, without case and antenna. My intended use of lime is for my project in cooperative communications and I’m gonna work in 2.4 GHz. Because of limited budget, I chose to use lime. My first step was to buy SDR hardware and play with it and see how it works. I didn’t expect that lime is more complicated the other SDR hardware. Or perhaps it’s just because of my limited knowledge.
BR,
Kirianto
so then … go in evilbay … and buy TWO ufl to reverse sma pigtails (better buy 4)
you need in minimum 2 antennas (one for rx and one for tx) cause the lime has not rx/tx relay on the antenna sockets
then get some wifi antennas (they are shorter ones and longer ones with a bit more gain)
in your case the shorter should work fine
remember … these wifi antennas are sold with REVERSE SMA!!!
…
connect pigtails to rx1h and tx1.2
what software do you wanna use with the lime??
If you have old router take it apart take the antenna most router uses same connector then take the antenna out and hook it up to pcs of wire to test the card in fm radio receive.