How to set the bandwith of the SDR tranceiver

When we set up a handheld UV radio, we can hear the information of the same channel no matter whether the bandwidth is set to wideband or narrowband, but when we use an SDR radio, if we set different bandwidths, we can often hear different sounds. So, how do we set the bandwidth of the SDR radio correctly?

As shown above, taking AM broadcasting as an example, after we set the frequency and bandwidth, we need to observe the distribution of signal strength inside and outside the bandwidth. If the bandwidth we set is too wide, it will not only waste bandwidth resources, but also make you hear other interferes with the signal; however, if the bandwidth is too narrow, the sound will be distorted or intelligible.

The key to setting the correct bandwidth is to match the bandwidth profile to the outer profile of the signal, we can try setting the bandwidth to 5KHZ to see.