Radio
A self-directed curriculum for the electromagnetic spectrum: SDR, antennas, modulation, and radio hacking, from physics to hands-on practice.
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Here’s a comprehensive engineering + hacker-oriented curriculum to master the electromagnetic spectrum, SDR, antennas, sensors, modulation, and access systems, from physics to practice. This roadmap blends university-level fundamentals, RF engineering, and practical SDR/radio hacking skills.
🧠 Phase 0: Core Concepts You Must Understand
| Topic | Goal |
|---|---|
| Classical Electromagnetics | Understand how EM waves work (Maxwell, wave propagation, polarization) |
| Signals and Systems | Understand how information is encoded, transmitted, received |
| Electronics Basics | Learn circuits, impedance, resonance, and RF signal flow |
| Legal Frameworks | Know what’s legal to transmit or scan |
📘 Phase 1: Physics and Electrical Engineering Foundations (1–2 months)
🎯 Objective:
Build physical and mathematical intuition about how EM fields and signals behave.
🧱 Topics:
- Maxwell’s equations & wave propagation
- Electromagnetic spectrum overview
- Impedance, VSWR, transmission lines
- Resonance, filters, capacitors/inductors
- Decibel (dB), power levels (ERP, EIRP)
🛠 Resources:
- 📘 MIT OCW Physics II: Electricity & Magnetism
- 📘 Fundamentals of Applied Electromagnetics by Fawwaz Ulaby
- 🛠 Use Falstad Circuit Simulator (online) or LTSpice for circuits
- 📘 The Art of Electronics by Horowitz & Hill (ch. 1–4)
🔉 Phase 2: Signals, Modulation & DSP (2 months)
🎯 Objective:
Understand how signals are represented, modulated, and decoded.
📊 Topics:
- Time vs Frequency domain (Fourier transform)
- Amplitude/Phase/Frequency Modulation (AM/FM/PM)
- Digital modulation (ASK, FSK, PSK, QAM)
- Sampling theory, Nyquist, aliasing
- FIR/IIR filters, convolution
🛠 Resources:
- 📘 Signals and Systems by Oppenheim & Willsky (classic)
- 📺 Khan Academy or Neso Academy
- 📘 Understanding Digital Signal Processing by Richard Lyons
- 🧪 Tools: Python (scipy.signal, matplotlib), Audacity, Inspectrum
📡 Phase 3: SDR & RF Hacking Foundations (2 months)
🎯 Objective:
Learn SDR software & hardware stack to capture, demodulate, analyze, and generate signals.
⚙️ Topics:
- What is SDR? How is it different from analog RF?
- SDR architecture: ADC, mixer, local oscillator, FPGA, USB interface
- Capture real signals with RTL-SDR, HackRF
- Reverse engineer RF protocols (garage doors, remote controls, etc.)
- Transmit (legally) using HackRF or LimeSDR
🛠 Tools & Resources:
- 📘 Software Defined Radio: The SDR Handbook by Alexander M. Wyglinski
- 🖥️ GNU Radio (use GNU Radio Companion)
- 📺 Michael Ossmann’s SDR YouTube series
- 🧪 Tools: GQRX, Universal Radio Hacker (URH), Inspectrum, Audacity
- 📦 RTL-SDR dongle, HackRF One, LimeSDR Mini
📡 Phase 4: Antennas, Propagation, and Transmission (2 months)
🎯 Objective:
Design, build, and analyze antennas. Understand how RF signals travel in real space.
📊 Topics:
- Antenna types: monopole, dipole, Yagi, helical, patch, log-periodic
- Gain, radiation patterns, beamwidth
- Impedance matching and VSWR
- Far-field vs near-field
- Free-space path loss, reflection, multi-path, fading
🛠 Resources:
- 📘 Antenna Theory by Balanis (academic), or ARRL Antenna Handbook (practical)
- 🛠 Tools: 4NEC2 (antenna simulation), NanoVNA (hardware)
- Build antennas from wire, PCB, copper foil
- Projects: ¼ wave monopole, dipole, directional Wi-Fi antenna
📶 Phase 5: Protocols, Spectrum Use, and Reverse Engineering (2 months)
🎯 Objective:
Understand how real-world radio systems work and how to decode them.
🔐 Topics:
- ISM bands (433 MHz, 868 MHz, 915 MHz, 2.4 GHz)
- LoRa, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Wi-Fi, ADS-B, AIS
- Decoding FM radio, POCSAG pager signals, AM, TV
- GSM, LTE, TETRA, satellite signals (Iridium, GPS)
- Legal constraints, power levels (ERP, EIRP), FCC regulations
🛠 Tools:
- 📦 URH (Universal Radio Hacker) to reverse RF signals
- 📦 gr-gsm (GSM decoding)
- 📦 dump1090 (ADS-B aircraft tracking)
- 📦 gps-sdr-sim (simulate GPS)
- 🔎 FCC Frequency Allocation Chart
🛰️ Phase 6: Satellite Comms, GNSS, and Remote Sensing (2 months+)
🎯 Objective:
Access satellite signals, decode GNSS/GPS, and understand satellite spectrum design.
🛰️ Topics:
- LEO/MEO/GEO satellites
- GPS/GNSS signal structure (L1, L2 bands)
- Satellite phone frequencies (Iridium, Inmarsat)
- Weather satellites (NOAA, GOES) image decoding
- Amateur radio satellites (CubeSats, ISS repeaters)
- LNBs, downconverters, dish setup
🛠 Tools:
- 📘 GNSS Software Receivers by Kai Borre
- 📺 Satellite decoding with SDR
- 📦 gr-iridium, GNSS-SDR, SatDump
- Hardware: RTL-SDR, dish antenna, LNA + SAW filters
🛡️ Phase 7: Legal, Ethics, and Operational Security
🎯 Objective:
Understand the ethical and legal boundaries, and learn to operate safely and securely.
🔐 Topics:
- FCC/ETSI/ITU regulations
- ISM vs licensed bands
- Ham radio licensing (e.g. Technician in US)
- Transmit power and interference avoidance
- Covert radio, burst transmission, spectrum hiding
- Spectrum monitoring & direction finding (DF)
📚 Resources:
- 📘 FCC Part 15 Rules
- 📘 ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications
- Forums: r/RTLSDR, MySdrLab
- ITU-R Recommendations (for spectrum governance)
🔧 Final Projects & Capstone Ideas
| Project | Learning Outcome |
|---|---|
| Decode GPS signal from scratch | Master GNSS DSP & orbital geometry |
| Build LoRa mesh network with Pico/ESP32 | Understand RF network layers |
| Construct software-only FM transceiver | RF DSP pipeline from scratch |
| Reverse unknown wireless protocol | Protocol RE, modulation inference |
| Build ADS-B flight tracker | Satellite reception, signal decoding |
| Receive NOAA weather satellite images | Antenna building, LNA, SDR pipeline |
| Make directional Wi-Fi antenna | Antenna theory, gain testing |
| Design + simulate patch antenna in 4NEC2 | EM simulation, design optimization |