Yesterday, SWLing Post reader London Shortwave took his laptop, FunCube Dongle Pro+, and 6 meter long wire antenna to a local park where he tested SDR#‘s new IF noise reduction.
He made the following screencast/video where he toggles the IF noise reduction feature while receiving the BBC World Service’s Pashto language service on shortwave:
Most impressive! Indeed, I believe SDR#’s noise reduction might rival that of OEM applications. While I’m not the biggest fan of noise reduction for everyday use (due to inherent digital artifacts) it is a valuable tool when noise levels are high.
Click here to follow @LondonShortwave on Twitter.
If you would like to experiment with SDR#, click here to download your free copy. SDR# has a number of additional plugins and dedicated users/developers who communicate via this this Yahoo! Group.
Many thanks to @LondonShortwave.
Any other readers using SDR#? Please comment.
Gary,
This link, pointing to an archived version of the full SDR# site, gives information and a possible download of the source code:
http://web.archive.org/web/20140209093518/http://sdrsharp.com/index.php/source-code
Guy:
Any idea of where I can find out how the SDR# Noise Reduction algorithm works without reading through the C# code (if I could find it)?
Thanks,
Gary K5AMH
Hmm… looks like I totally mangled the link in my post above, with some extraneous characters.
Try this one instead:
http://web.archive.org/web/20140209103518/http://sdrsharp.com/index.php/downloads
Hi Thomas, thanks for sharing London Shortwave’s video of SDR#’s noise reduction.
I’m not so sure this is a new feature, as the SDR# web site has been down for some time, with no access to new downloads or betas. The author is embroiled in a dispute with some other developers who have made offshoots (“forks” I believe they are called in PC geek parlance) of the open source SDR#. He is unhappy with their “tampering”, and they can’t understand why he’s upset, since he released it with a GPL Public License or similar open source designation.
However, SDR#’s download page is still accessible through the useful Web “time machine” Archive.org: <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20140209103518/http://sdrsharp.com/index.php/downloads"http://web.archive.org/web/20140209103518/http://sdrsharp.com/index.php/downloads
I haven’t tried SDR# yet with my Perseus, as I’ve been content so far with Jaguar and HDSDR as alternative software packages for the receiver.
The noise reduction of SDR# sounds quite good, as I listen to London Shortwave’s video. I’m hearing fewer artifacts at similar NR levels compared to the Perseus stock software. It actually reminds me of the results from the BHI Ltd. (UK) noise reduction products. I’ve installed the NEDSP1061-KBD version in both a AOR AR7030+ and an Eton E1XM, and have been very happy with the results. These small modules can be retrofitted to many models of receivers, and their are stand-alone versions with speakers and audio amplifiers, too. In the USA, some of the BHI devices are repackaged and sold by the GAP Antenna folks under the “Hear-It” label.