📻 HD Radio with RTL-SDR

macOSWindowsTerminal Guide

Use an RTL-SDR (Blog V3/V4 recommended) and nrsc5 to listen to HD Radio with a single Terminal/PowerShell command. No heavyweight apps needed!

What You'll Need

  • RTL-SDR dongle (RTL-SDR Blog V3 or V4 recommended)
  • USB port on your computer (macOS Ventura+ or Windows 11)
  • nrsc5 software (install via Homebrew on Mac or GitHub on Windows)
  • A decent FM antenna (or even just the included antenna)

Quick Start (macOS)

Install nrsc5 using Homebrew:

brew install nrsc5

Then tune to an HD Radio station:

nrsc5 -l 1 -p 0 89.3

Quick Start (Windows)

Download pre-compiled binaries from the nrsc5 GitHub repository, extract, and run in PowerShell:

./nrsc5.exe -l 1 -p 0 89.3

🛠️ Recommended Equipment

RTL-SDR Blog V4

Latest version with improved sensitivity, direct sampling, and bias tee. Perfect for HD Radio reception.

RTL-SDR Blog V3

Proven design with excellent performance. Great value and widely supported by software.

Good Antenna

A quality FM dipole or discone antenna dramatically improves reception quality and range.

💡 Tips & Best Practices

Getting the Best Reception

  • Position your antenna near a window for better signal
  • Use the -g flag to manually adjust gain (try values between 20-40)
  • HD Radio stations have multiple channels (HD1, HD2, HD3) - use -p to select
  • Keep the RTL-SDR away from USB 3.0 ports to reduce interference
  • Check signal strength with the -l flag before tuning

Troubleshooting

  • If audio is choppy, try adjusting the gain setting
  • Make sure your RTL-SDR drivers are up to date
  • Close other SDR software before running nrsc5
  • Verify the station actually broadcasts HD Radio (not all FM stations do)