Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Tom Ally, for sharing the following article by James Careless in Radio World:
Well, if you are the engineering firm PantronX, you have the Titus II software-defined radio. And when you plan to sell this ultimate receiver for less than $100 each, you hope you have a consumer sensation for the worldwide broadcast market.
Unveiled by the Panama-based company at an international broadcasting meeting in Miami in August, the Titus II SDR is not yet shipping. But it is described as capable of receiving and playing analog and digital radio transmission formats including AM, FM, shortwave, HD Radio, DAB+ and Digital Radio Mondiale. The company is considering adding a DRM+ decoder.
The initial market is among worldwide broadcasters, particularly those serving countries where listeners may lack internet; a secondary market is individual listeners, hobbyists and others. PantronX will not supply all decoders for all formats but add them preloaded as needed.
Had one for a few weeks. So far not impressed with the reception quality and sound quality. It also feels cheaply made. The battery life is also very poor.
That’s a shame, although I hope it is more than a RTL-SDR dongle hooked up to an android tablet, which is what it looks like.
I think it will be a good solution to DRM, SDR radio and price is accessible to the majority of lovers radio. I hope soon it will be available on the market.
Tacky looking cabinet, like a Fisher Price or Tonka toy. I am sure it works better than it looks. Are the upgrades permanently installed or do they go away every time you replace the batteries? Does it work without an internet or iphone subscription or connection?
I think the cabinet looks a LOT better now that they’ve gotten away from the purple back part of the case as seen in the prototype. Shape-wise it is a bit odd (mini boombox sort of look) but perhaps the fixed handle above the enclosure houses the antenna for DRM.
This unit has a rechargeable Li-poly battery as mentioned in the article. The internet isn’t needed, as the article states: “Titus was designed with an eye on users who lack internet in less-developed parts of the world and who don’t have any computing device, and it most likely will be preloaded with presets and apps for their particular needs.”