SDR-radio community (plugin)
A plugin for SDR# that automates frequency scanning for ghost box-style ITC investigation using a software-defined radio receiver. Provides transparent, configurable sweep parameters unlike any hardware ghost box.
GhostSDR is a plugin for SDR# that turns a software-defined radio setup into a fully configurable ghost box. Unlike commercial ghost box devices (where the manufacturer controls the sweep algorithm, speed, and frequency range, and these parameters are unknown to the investigator), GhostSDR exposes all sweep parameters: frequency range, step size, dwell time, direction of sweep, and audio gate threshold.
The plugin operates by rapidly stepping the SDR# receiver across a configured frequency range, sampling a brief slice of audio at each step. The audio slices are concatenated into a continuous stream — listeners interpret patterns in this noise stream as voices or responses. The key parameter is dwell time: shorter dwell times (5-50ms) produce more fragmented, noise-like audio; longer dwell times (100-500ms) produce more recognisable speech fragments.
From a scientific standpoint, GhostSDR is most valuable as a research tool for studying ITC as a psychological and auditory phenomenon — it makes the source process completely transparent and reproducible. The same sweep parameters on the same hardware will produce the same type of audio at the same location. Check rtl-sdr.com community forums for the latest version download links, as URLs for the plugin change periodically.
Investigator Note
GhostSDR generates audio from radio signals. Any 'voices' heard are audio pareidolia from broadcast speech fragments and noise patterns. Do not present GhostSDR sessions as evidence of communication.
Airspy / SDR-radio community
The most widely used software-defined radio application for Windows. Combined with a low-cost RTL-SDR dongle, creates a sophisticated radio monitoring station for radio sweep investigation, RF anomaly monitoring, and frequency baseline documentation.
Alexandru Csete OZ9AEC
Open-source software-defined radio receiver for Linux and macOS. The Mac and Linux equivalent of SDR# — provides spectrum display, recording, and radio monitoring with RTL-SDR hardware.
Doug Haber (open source)
Open-source Python script that controls GQRX via its remote API to perform automated frequency sweeping for ghost box-style investigation on Mac and Linux. The transparent, scriptable SDR ghost box for non-Windows investigators.
