The HP Stream 7 Windows 8.1 tablet
Regarding the Elad FDM-S2, Guy Atkins comments:
“This week I bought an HP Stream 7 tablet from the local Microsoft Store for $99, and it runs my Elad FDM-S2 receiver great! This recently introduced tablet is the perhaps the lowest priced new computer with Windows 8.1. I can even record the entire MW band, and play back the WAV files without audio stuttering. CPU load is an impressive 11-12%. Once you add a small OTG USB adapter you can plug in a USB hub and attach a wireless mouse receiver, the SDR’s cable, and other stuff. I was recording to a micro SD card (the slot is a bit of a pain, as you need to remove the back cover of the tablet. Recording to a USB external HD or SSD may also work). I also had an AC adapter powering the USB hub, as the tablet’s micro USB port cannot supply enough current for the Elad SDR.
This will be a neat, very portable setup for camping DXpeditions and when I want to take the SDR right to the termination of a phased loop array antenna for adjusting nulls. I do that now, but it’s more of a hassle with a regular laptop.
I presume I’ll be able to run the Afedri SDR-Net in “LAN mode” also but I’ll need to attach a USB-to-LAN adapter to the tablet first. A LAN rather than a USB connection is required for this particular SDR to have the bandwidth to handle all of medium wave at once.
Here’s a review of the 7-inch, Win 8.1 tablet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoPNzx8bcVQ. Also, when you buy it for $99 USD it includes a one-year subscription to MS Office 365, that can be used on two different devices. That’s worth $70 in itself.”
Wow–thanks so much for sharing this, Guy.
I’m very impressed you can record the entire MW band to an SD card and playback without stuttering. The quad core Atom processor must have enough horsepower to cope with the incoming data.
This setup would be ideal for field recording then taking the SD card back to the PC for analyzing later on a larger screen.
As you use this set-up, Guy, please keep us informed about any tips or quirks you discover along the way!
I found the Stream 7 at the following places online:
- Amazon.com $99 shipped
- HP Store $99 + shipping
- Microsoft Store $99 shipped
- Office Depot $99 with free store pickup
Update: Check out Guy’s video demonstration of the Stream 7/FDM-S2 combo.
Hmm as soon as I get the SDR I will try it on my Surface Pro2. Im sure it will work, hope so will make a nice small carry along setup.
It should run any of the RTL dongle style SDRs fine; I can’t think of any reason they wouldn’t work. I have not personally used SDR#, so I’m not aware of its system requirements. However, this is just another Windows 8.1 computer, just shrunken in size. It should work with SDR# as long as that program is OK on a computer with just 1GB of RAM.
My hope is that HP will release another version of the Stream 7, but with 2GB or more of RAM.
Guy,
Do you know if the tablet can handle a recording at 4 MHz to an external hard disk?
As I already have hardware to record at 2 MHz, it would be useful something in conditions to handle 4 MHz or more.
Best wishes from Brazil!
Hi Ivan,
In my brief tests I was able to run the tablet and SDR smoothly at the second to highest sampling rate (3072 kSPS; a tuning range of 2457 kHz). This was without recording, which I did not try. The highest sampling rate of 6144 kSPS was too choppy to use, even for audio demodulation only. It could be that another software package used with the FDM-S2 would help at the highest setting.
I only tried recording & playback with the 1536 kSPS setting, which is the one that can include the entire MW band.
I think the HP Stream 7 is not powerful enough for recording/playback with the higher rates/bandwidths of the FDM-S2 or similar SDR. It is impressive, in my opinion, that it even handles the 1536 kSPS rate! Remember, this tablet has only 1.0 GB of RAM and a modest CPU. The price of the Stream 7 is attractive at $$99 USD however.
Any chance this runs SDR# ? Will it run a dongle?
I have a similar tablet and it runs SDR# perfectly.