[Discuss-gnuradio] Recommended RF Front End for USRP

[M. Ranganathan]

Hello!

I am a newcomper to SDR. I have scoured the mailing list but I cant find 
a definitive answer on the following questions (I suppose its been asked 
but I cant seem to find answers in the archives at any rate):

1. Can anybody recommend an RF Front end to be used with the  USRP from 
Ettus research? I just got the Basic RX / Basic Tx  daughterboard, 
motherboard + power supply and am looking for recommendations on what to 
buy so I can experiment with these things. My budget is a few hundred 
bucks. Can somebody recommend specific products one can buy off the 
shelf to hook into the Basic RX ? I want to be able to recieve RF 
signals from a walkie talkie radio and play them on my computer.

2. What is the simplest meaningful thing one can do to get started with 
SDR? (I am looking to bootstrap myself into this before trying to do 
anything serious so a fun learning project is what I am looking for.)

I am looking forward to a learning adventure!

Thanks and regards,


Ranga