Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike Ladd with SDRplay, who shares the following PDF primer on decoding NAVTEX with an RSP series SDR.
Click here to download “Basics to decoding NAVTEX using an RSP and SDRuno” (PDF).
Thanks for sharing this excellent guide, Mike. Without a doubt, SDRplay has some of the best documentation and primers in the world of radio. Click here to check out more.
Also, check out Mario’s post, from our archives, which discusses decoding NAVTEX, RTTY, and Sitor B.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who notes that an eBay vendor in Italy is selling new inventory of the benchmark Microtelecom Perseus SDR. The price is 883.66 Euro or roughly $975 US. 
I have gotten a lot of inquiries about the Perseus over the past few years since it’s more difficult to find ones new-in-box. It appears this vendor has at least ten units and a 99.3% rating with almost 800 eBay reviews. The seller allows for a thirty day return period and they also pay return shipping. If you’ve been looking for a new Perseus, this may be worth considering.
(Source: Jon Hudson with SDRplay)
Happy new Year from all of us at SDRplay.
Here’s an update on additional software for the RSPdx. SDRplay’s SDRuno fully supports the RSPdx but it takes several weeks for other software to catch up to the capabilities offered on the other RSP models.
Simon Brown has released his latest version of SDR Console V3 which supports the RSPdx (Version 3.0.18 dated January 1st) over on https://www.sdr-radio.com/ (make sure you download the latest API 3.x from our downloads page first)
We have released an EXTIO plugin for the RSPdx which will enable the RSPdx to work with any EXTIO-based software (e.g. HDSDR) although it doesn’t support HDR mode. HDR mode will not be added and the source code for the plugin can be found on our GitHub repository (https://github.com/SDRplay/ExtIO_SDRplay) we will not be supporting the plugin source code or extending the plugins capabilities. They are all free to be modified.
It is important to note that the RSPdx ExtIO plugin does NOT, AND WILL NOT, support HDR mode. If you need HDR mode, then SDRuno is the best option. HDR mode requires the end application to work in a certain way and this is not something that can be controlled via the ExtIO protocol.
Work has also begun on supporting RSPdx for SoapySDR based applications such as Cubic SDR (again this won’t include HDR mode). A Gnu Radio source block for the RSPdx will follow.
We are working with Steve Andrew, author of the Software Analyser software programme (see https://www.sdrplay.com/spectrum-analyser/ ) to help get compatibility for the RSPdx – this is a slightly longer process so this will take several more weeks.
Regarding stocks of the RSPs, SDRplay and most of our resellers on www.sdrplay.com/distributors/ have plenty of stock of RSP1A and the RSPduo. However there continues to be a shortage of the RSPdx whereby many of the resellers have sold out of their first deliveries. SDRplay is queuing up their replacement orders on a first come, first served basis. We also have our own quantity planned in there to allow us to sell direct from our website. We still hope that by the end of January we will have supplied this second wave of RSPdx demand.
For newcomers to SDR, see also, the glossary and links included in the news item on: https://www.sdrplay.com/happy-new-year-and-an-rspdx-update/
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who discovered via Gilles Letourneau’s YouTube Channel that the popular SDR.hu KiwiSDR portal now requires registration and a ham radio callsign.
I almost didn’t believe this at first, but then checked on the SDR.hu FAQ page to find this message:
What is a callsign and how do I get one?
An amateur radio callsign is issued by the appropriate authority in your country (e.g. FCC in the US). The amateur radio callsign allows you to both transmit and receive with amateur radio equipment, and you need to pass an exam to get one. (If you are not familiar with this, please search Google about amateur radio.)
Can I access the receiver list if I do not have a callsign?
No.
Why do I need a callsign to access the receiver list?
The purpose of the site is to serve amateur radio. I decided to restrict access to the receiver list in order to protect the site and its purpose in the long term.
To be clear: this doesn’t imply you need a callsign to access the KiwiSDR network. This only applies to the SDR.hu KiwiSDR portal operated by András Retzler. I’m guessing he’s doing this to regulate his site’s resources. (See UPDATE below.)
kiwisdr.com/public/ provides a list of all active KiwiSDRs.
As Dan points out, there are a number of other KiwiSDR portals that do not require registration or a call sign.
Here are a few:
If you prefer another KiwiSDR portal, please comment with a link. I’ll try to update this post with any new additions.
UPDATE – Many thanks to Cristiano Amaral who shares this update sent by Andras to all of the OpenWebRX contributors:
Hello,
You are receiving this e-mail because you were listing a public OpenWebRX receiver on SDR.hu in the last 3 months.
I wanted to let you know that the OpenWebRX project is discontinued [1], which means that it will not receive any updates (including security fixes) from me. I hope that you will be able to run your receivers without problems in the next years, and hopefully the community will be able to help each other even if I’m not working on the project anymore.
It is also important to know that starting from next year, Python 2, a dependency of OpenWebRX is not maintained either, at least officially by the Python team [2], as it is deprecated in favour of Python 3.
If you want to keep running your public receivers securely, you should be looking for a Python 2 fork that is still patched against the latest security vulnerabilities. There is a possibility that Anaconda [3] or Red Hat [4] will keep patching Python 2.
As a note, you can also find unofficial Python 3 ports of OpenWebRX online, though I’m not involved with those either.
Thank you for participating in the project, and I wish you a Happy New Year!
VY 73!
Andras, HA7ILM
—
sdr.hu
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who recently took advantage of a rainy Sunday in Maryland to put together the following video.
Dan notes that the video/screencast demonstrates, “reception of the low power Radio Kahuzi, the religious station in Democratic Republic of Congo, via two of the best KIWI SDR sites, in Sweden and Switzerland. The video shows how the signal of Radio Kahuzi propagates the 9,000 + kilometers from DRC into Europe.”
Fascinating! Thank you for sharing this, Dan!
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark Fahey, who shares the following tweet from KiwiSDR:
“Happy Holidays. Software update brings integrated DRM receiver (Digital Radio Mondiale) based on Dream 2.1.1 to all KiwiSDRs. Stock BeagleBone-Green/Black based Kiwis support one DRM channel, BeagleBone-AI Kiwis support four. Development work continues.”
Ironically, I had only recently published a post asking if anyone had ever attempted to decode DRM using a KiwiSDR. Turns out, several readers had by porting the IQ audio output into the DREAM application. Now that KiwiSDR will have a native DRM mode, this will no longer be necessary.
Many thanks, Mark, for sharing this tip! As you say, this is “mega news!”
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mike Ladd with SDRplay, who shares the following videos comparing the new RSPdx with a number of benchmark SDRs:
https://youtu.be/ah5Zu8qgvp8