Tracking some planes 🛩️ using an SDR and homemade antenna # Over Christmas this past season, I spent quite a bit of time with my in-laws. While down there my father in law mentioned he was having issues getting his RTL-SDR dongle to work properly on his new laptop, and asked if I could help. For those not aware, RTL-SDR stands for RTL Software Defined Radio. They have been extremely popular for a long time for not only pulling in analog TV signals, but also tracking planes.