Category Archives: Software Defined Radio

Fenu-Radio reviews an AirSpy HF+ Discovery prototype

Fernando Duarte of Fenu-Radio has just posted his review of the AirSpy HF+ Discovery SDR prototype. I trust Fenu’s reviews because they’re always thorough and based on actual listening sessions.

In short, he’s quite impressed with the prototype. In many instances the Discovery outperformed his benchmark Winradio G33DDC Excalibur Pro. Quite an accomplishment for a $169 SDR!

Click here to read Funu-Radio’s full review.

I will evaluate a first production run AirSpy HF+ Discovery. Since it’s incredibly lightweight and compact, I believe I’ll try to even build a small portable SDR station around it. Stay tuned.

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Hackaday looks back at the venerable RTL-SDR

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Evans (W4/VP9KF), who shares the following article from Hackaday:

Before swearing my fealty to the Jolly Wrencher, I wrote for several other sites, creating more or less the same sort of content I do now. In fact, the topical overlap was enough that occasionally those articles would get picked up here on Hackaday. One of those articles, which graced the pages of this site a little more than seven years ago, was Getting Started with RTL-SDR. The original linked article has long since disappeared, and the site it was hosted on is now apparently dedicated to Nintendo games, but you can probably get the gist of what it was about from the title alone.

When I wrote that article in 2012, the RTL-SDR project and its community were still in their infancy. It took some real digging to find out which TV tuners based on the Realtek RTL2832U were supported, what adapters you needed to connect more capable antennas, and how to compile all the software necessary to get them listening outside of their advertised frequency range. It wasn’t exactly the most user-friendly experience, and when it was all said and done, you were left largely to your own devices. If you didn’t know how to create your own receivers in GNU Radio, there wasn’t a whole lot you could do other than eavesdrop on hams or tune into local FM broadcasts.

Nearly a decade later, things have changed dramatically. The RTL-SDR hardware and software has itself improved enormously, but perhaps more importantly, the success of the project has kicked off something of a revolution in the software defined radio (SDR) world. Prior to 2012, SDRs were certainly not unobtainable, but they were considerably more expensive. Back then, the most comparable device on the market would have been the FUNcube dongle, a nearly $200 USD receiver that was actually designed for receiving data from CubeSats. Anything cheaper than that was likely to be a kit, and often operated within a narrower range of frequencies.

Today, we would argue that an RTL-SDR receiver is a must-have tool.[…]

Click here to continue reading the full article at the excellent Hackaday blog.

Of course, for all things RTL-SDR and beyond, I highly recommend bookmarking RTL-SDR.com.

The RTL-SDR.com blog also manufactures my favorite flavor of the RTL-SDR dongle along with a nice bundle of antennas. Click here to check it out on Amazon.com (this affiliate link supports the SWLing Post).

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The SDRplay RSP1 just turned five years old

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Yesterday, @SDRplay noted on Twitter:

It’s 5 years ago today we sold the very first blue and white RSP to someone in Sweden – many thanks to all our customers over the 5 years

Perhaps it’s just because I’m getting older, but it’s hard to believe it’s been five years!

The little RSP1 really disrupted the SDR world. Up to 2014, there were few sub $150 SDRs that included HF reception natively. There were even fewer sub $150 SDRs that I would consider “enthusiast grade”–those that were sensitive, selective, and not prone to overload.

When I initially tested the RSP1 it pretty much blew my mind. I was so impressed by the performance for the price point.

Looking back at my original review, I see that I had a long list of “pros” and only three “cons.” In fact, two of the three “cons” I listed are no longer valid (multi-channel recordings are now an option and SDRplay has their own OEM application, SDRuno).

SDRplay has demonstrated iterative agility with each new product offering and built an impressive community in five years. They have also maintained their position as a price leader even though their products are all designed and manufactured in the UK.

Congratulations, SDRplay! Happy Birthday to the RSP1! Click here to check out SDRplay.

Click here to read my original SRDplay RSP1 review.

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SDR Academy presentation videos

Markus Heller, DL8RDS: SDR-Academy @ HAM-Radio 2019 – A Summary

Dr. Carles Fernandez: An Open Source Global Navigation Satellite Systems Software-Defined Receiver

Mario Lorenz, DL5MLO: The AMSAT-DL/QARS Ground Stations for Qatar-Oscar 100

Mack McCormick, W4AX: FlexRadio: SDR Technology that Will Change How you Operate HF

Christoph Mayer, DL1CH: KiwiSDR as a new GNURadio Source

Manolis Surligas, SV9SFC: SDR Makerspace, Exploid SDR technology for space communications

Michael Hartje, DK5HH: Digital signal processing for the detection of noise disturbances

Prof Dr Joe Taylor, K1JT: Welcome Address and Questions & Answers

DL1FY, DC9OE, DG8MG, DL8GM: Charly25 SDR Transceiver

Alex Csete, OZ9AEC: SDR-Makerspace: Evaluation of SDR boards and toolchains

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Mike’s expanding collection of SDRplay tutorial videos

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Besides making great receivers, one of the things I love about SDRplay is their focus on providing user documentation and tutorials. We’ve mentioned before that SDRplay’s Mike Ladd (KD2KOG) actively creates tutorial videos exploring a number of SDRplay topics. To date, he’s produced over 20 videos–!

If you own an SDRplay product, I’d strongly recommend checking out Mike’s video list even if you feel you’re already a pro user. The videos are easy to follow and are chock-full of SDRuno tips and tricks.

I’ve pasted the latest links to the Mike’s videos below but I would encourage you to check the SDRplay YouTube channel (link below) and this page for the latest episodes as they are regularly updated.

From the SDRplay Ham Guides page:

As SDRplay RSPs get used for more and more receiver applications, we felt we didn’t want to lose sight of the large number of people who love short wave listening and HF ham radio, so we have created “Ham Guides” as a place where we focus on providing tuition and help for all aspects of receiving radio signals at 30MHz and below. This includes set up and use of SDRuno, and tips and techniques on key related topics such as decoding, propagation and antennas.

The SDRplay Ham Guides YouTube channel can be found here, at www.youtube.com/c/SDRplayHamGuides

SDRplay Ham Guides complements the main SDRplay YouTube channel and all the documentation available via https://www.sdrplay.com/downloads/and the searchable resources in our Applications and Support Catalogue: https://www.sdrplay.com/apps-catalogue/

If you have ideas for what you’d like to see more of, then add your comments to the videos or email me at [email protected]

This is the first video of many to follow. Showing basic operation of SDRuno using a RSP1a SDR.https://youtu.be/ngv60EWiJ3U

Minimum requirements for running SDRuno.https://youtu.be/Rn3tuiIOvmM

Virtual audio cable basics in SDRuno.https://youtu.be/ZF86cK5vukY

Shaping the sound of shortwave broadcast stations using SDRuno.https://youtu.be/smvfCGx6zO8

Using SDRuno’s built in software notch filters.https://youtu.be/5K92dG2sedw

SDRuno basics, MultiPSKhttps://youtu.be/tnqfJhsvGFA

SDRuno basics, Import the free EiBi HF databasehttps://youtu.be/ZJlfxaudaNI

SDRuno basics, The EX CONTROL panel part 1.https://youtu.be/1XdBqXcyuzw

SDRuno basics, The EX CONTROL panel part 2.https://youtu.be/H0RJVy4u5Ro

SDRuno basics, My HF frequency lists part 1.https://youtu.be/KiNjsvKHVeU

SDRuno basics, My HF frequency lists part 2.https://youtu.be/Rx3B-6h_CIw

SDRuno basic, Decoding WEFAX using Black Cat HF Weather Fax decoder.https://youtu.be/juTdBpTDVp0

SDRuno basics, Removing wide band noise.https://youtu.be/_GtozskwFAY

SDRuno basics, CSV user list browser.https://youtu.be/1vu5fAjdRHw

SDRuno basics, RSPduo, dual tuner mode, listening and decoding signalshttps://youtu.be/1vu5fAjdRHw

SDRuno basic, VRX-Virtual receivershttps://youtu.be/ndUPm6Nccb8

Why I chose a loop.https://youtu.be/XesvzZG-Mi8

SDRuno basics, decoding CTCSS/DCS toneshttps://youtu.be/PM3WOMF7_eM

SDRplay user support options and resourceshttps://youtu.be/nXnrBaoKKjs

RSRduo with dual W6LVP loops Part 1https://youtu.be/w5SrDtUxhQU

RSRduo with dual W6LVP loops Part 2https://youtu.be/ikUymHFkCcY

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SDRplay RSPduo: SDRuno update now adds diversity reception!

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The SDRplay RSPduo

Many thanks to Andy with SDRplay who notes:

We are pleased to announce the release of v1.32 of SDRuno. The purpose of this release is primarily to add MRC Diversity functionality for the RSPduo, but it also contains other fixes and additions based on customer feedback. Diversity functionality is described on P.78 of the SDRuno User Manual.

A full list of the changes can be found in the release notes: https://www.sdrplay.com/docs/SDRplay_SDRuno_Release_Notes.pdf

Issues can be reported to us via our ticket system: https://www.sdrplay.com/support

Comments and feedback can be sent to [email protected] – emails sent to that address are usually not responded to unless we have questions, but are always read and noted.

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Hamvention Highlights: The QRP Labs QSX 10 watt, general coverage, low-cost HF transceiver kit

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Hans (G0UPL) of QRP Labs holding a QSX transceiver prototype at the 2019 Hamvention

Each year at the Dayton Hamvention I enjoy checking out the latest radio products and services. This year (2019) I found an exceptional number of innovations and will share these in Hamvention Highlights posts. If you would like to check out 2019 Hamvention Highlights as I publish them, bookmark this tag: 2019 Hamvention Highlights

The QRP Labs QSX Transceiver

Hans (G0UPL) of QRP Labs was, without a doubt, one of the most popular guys at the 2019 Hamvention — especially within the QRP community. In fact, at the Four Days In May (FDIM) vendors’ night his table was so busy I didn’t bother trying to force my way through the crowd to speak with him.

As luck would have it, our own table for ETOW was directly across from QRP Labs table at the the Greene County Fairgrounds so, in the end, I spent some quality time with Hans over the course of the Hamvention.

I’ll also make prediction: if the 10 band QSX transceiver delivers what it promises, it will be a serious disruptor in the ham radio transceiver world! This is a good thing. Why?

The QSX is a feature-packed, all-mode, high-performance, affordable, QRP transceiver.

The QSX will have a 24-bit Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) and a 24-bit Digital to Analog Converter (DAC). It will be a fully stand-alone unit and, since it’s an SDR and sports robust DSP, when connected to your PC, it will be recognized as a high-performance sound card. This equates to nearly native digital mode integration without the need for an external sound card interface.

The QSX Prototype Back Panel

The QSX Transceiver will be a through-hole kit with the surface-mounted components pre-installed on the circuit boards. This means the kit should be accessible to anyone with soldering skills.

Hans has even managed to include a mini spectrum display on the front backlit LCD panel.

The price? Around $150 US in total for the transceiver kit, 10 band filter module and enclosure. Unbelievable!

If Hans can pull this off — and I feel pretty confident he can — the QSX will set a new bar for QRP transceiver pricing and performance.

If you’d like more details about the QSX transceiver, check out the following resources sent to me by SWLing Post contributor, Pete Eaton:

Hans’ article in the Conference Proceeding (click here to download).

Power Point slides from Hans’ talk at FDIM on the QSX (click here to download PDF)

To go along with the slides the audio from his presentation is also available from Ham Radio Workbench. Talk starts at 51 minutes:

The 10 band QSX will sport a general coverage receiver and although though the modes supported currently don’t include AM, Hans plans to add AM for at least reception purposes. This could make for a high-performance stand-alone SDR field radio for HF broadcast listening.

Of course, I also see the QSX transceiver as an accessible entry radio for new ham radio operators who are nervous about forking out $800+ for a new HF transceiver.

I will certainly grab the 10 band QSX transceiver kit when it becomes available and review it here on the SWLing Post. Stay tuned!

If you would like to follow other Hamvention Highlights, bookmark the tag: 2019 Hamvention Highlights