R820T RTL2832 SDR Dongle under Android

Surfing the web I came across an article on the Ham Radio Science page http://www.hamradioscience.com/android-meets-the-rtl2832u/  with an app to use the SDR dongle I had previously used under windows and Ubuntu on my Nexus 7 Tablet under Android. The app is called SDR Touch, the authors web site is at http://sdr.martinmarinov.info/ . All I needed was  the appropriate OTG micro USB cable.

Firstly I downloaded and installed the demo version of the software and driver from the web site. I found my OTG cable that I bought after the Nexus 7 but never used. I plugged the dongle into the micro usb port via the cable and launched the App. It failed to find the receiver. I then noticed that the blue light had not illuminated on the receiver. Very Strange!

A trip was made to the local emporium (Frys) and a $5 OTG cable was purchased. Interestingly the sales lady asked what tablet was for. When I said the Nexus she said it would work, if I had a Galaxy it would not. Obviously all OTG cables are not created equal!

Now when I plugged the receiver in it lit up, the Tablet found it and I had a spectrum display. Tuning to the local classics station it demodulated nicely.

 The demo version has restricted features (no direct frequency entry, only 30secs of spectrum display, no waterfall display and  no presets) but I was so impressed with what I had seen so far that I went to the app store and paid my $9.99 to upgrade from the Demo to the Full Version of the software. This was easily installed and the following shows spectrum, waterfall and presets:-

I did run the driver app on its own and it did show communication with the correct tuner chip

Very useful discovery.