"Affordable Digital Scanner: Pi 5 and SDR Join Forces"
Frustrated with the high cost of digital trunking scanners, [Top DNG] created a budget-friendly alternative using a Raspberry Pi 5 and an RTL-SDR dongle running sdrtrunk to monitor control and frequency channels of trunking radio systems and decode P25 digital modulation. The setup, which includes a touchscreen display and USB power, costs around $250, significantly cheaper than purpose-built scanners. Additional components like a heat sink, fan, enclosure, and better antenna are recommended for optimal performance, and the system has the potential to support multiple SDR dongles for expanded functionality.