If you don't know, there are many things one can do with SDR dongle. Perhaps you never heard of them, if not go google it. They are USB dongles that can capture the a chunck of the air waves. People use them to listen to police/fire scanners, air traffic, hacking and so many other splended things.
My best project with one is to use it to decode Outernet signals. What is Outernet? Outernet is a project that was created by Syed Karim. The teams sends signals over the globe to be recieved for people in rural areas devoid of internet. They hope this technology will be used by developing countires. It statred out as a crowd funded project. This grew into a great success and people can go there their site to buy a setup for around $100 bucks. Their website is https://outernet.is I'm no way tied to this project nor site. I just love what they are doing. They are constantly pushing this technology forward. Their aims are to get current news, weather, as well as a plethora of other useful information to those areas I mentioned above.
If you have a RPI3+or(2), a SDR dondle then your halfway there. You would need a LNA filter, as well as a L-band antenna; which can be grabbed from Amazon for about $50.00. Next, you grab an image from their site and burn it to your sd card. All the documentation is there to help even a Noob do it :). Once that is all done, just boot it up. My setup went well without any problems. I faced the antenna toward my satallite in my region. Their are only 3 satellites that broadcast the Outernet signal. Those satallites do cover the globe, so reception should not be an issue. It is recommended just to let it recieve for 24 hours before seeing what has downloaded. Outnet only sends down about 20 megs of data, but it is all text. Therefore, a lot of information is being sent. You can take your phone, tablet, laptop, or any wifi enabled device to look for the Outernet SSID in your open networks. Connect to it and log onto 10.0.0.1 in your browser, any site. Go through the setup process and head over to the settings tab. You can move the antenna unitl you get the best signal. Average signal is about 5db. 3db is the lower limit
I thought I'd share this information to people who like working projects with their RPI or radio enthuiast. The ham community has really helped out and streamlined the content. Again, this project is in constant flux. It is a great to have them look ways in bringing technology to those that couldn't have accessed it before. I have seen great blue prints from water gathering systems to efficiant earth ovens. They do take requests and will send out any file that is helpful. It reminds me of this community, trying to help others. All the pictures posted were from my Outnet system.
Thank you for your time and stay cool !!!