Category Archives: Software Defined Radio

A $38.99 RTL-SDR with 100 Khz – 1.7 GHz coverage

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bill, who recently shared a link to this very affordable RTL-SDR with wideband coverage.

I am not at all familiar with this model, but I do like the enclosure and the fact it has both an HF and UV antenna jack. This must be one of the least expensive SDRs on the market with HF coverage.

Here are a few details per Radioddity.com:

Features:

100% Brand New And High Quality
Using the RTL2832 idle channel, broadband connection impedance isolation transformer provides the signal to the signal receiver HF HF bands.
Increased input low-pass filter to improve noise performance of the machine. At the same time, it retains the original V / UHF band reception, creative use of studded way to achieve RTL2832 + R820t circuit board assembly and connecting circuits increases
Further improve the overall performance of the circuit.
In the homemade circuit board also surrounded, surrounded reserved some help to further develop the pads. The entire circuit is loaded inside a small aluminum to further improve the performance of the overall circuit interference by aluminum shielding.

Package Contents:

1 x 100KHz-1.7GHz full band UV HF RTL-SDR USB Tuner Receiver/ R820T+8232 Ham Radio
1 x USB cable
1 x antenna

Post Readers: If you have experience with this little SDR, please comment!

eBay Deal: Funcube Dongle Pro Plus SDR $100 shipped

1 Reply

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mario Filippi, who points out this Funcube Dongle Pro Plus with a BuyItNow price of $100 on eBay. The seller appears to have a long eBay history and a 100% rating.

Mario and I were both tempted at one point to snag the Pro + at this price, but neither one of us needs another SDR. Please, someone buy it before I change my mind and buy it in a moment of weakness! 🙂

Click here to view on eBay.

Guest Post: Using the HackRF One for DGPS Beacon Reception

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mario Filippi (N2HUN) for the following guest post:

Receiving with a HackRF One, SDR#, and MultiPSK

by Mario Filippi (N2HUN)

The HackRF One is a Software Defined Radio manufactured by Great Scott Gadgets (www.greatscottgadgets.com) and has been on the market for a few years. Having used an SDR-Dongle for several years I felt it was time to “step up” to this wideband (1 MHz – 6 GHz) receiver to investigate a broader breadth of the radio spectrum, so one was purchased from Sparkfun (www.sparkfun.com).

Recently I performed a rudimentary evaluation of its ability to receive DGPS (Differential Global Positioning System) beacons found in the Longwave band between 285 – 325 KHz; this frequency range is well below the HackRF One’s stated lower receive limit of 1 MHz.

DGPS beacons, when tuned using SSB, emit a distinctive warbling sound, and at this QTH, depending on band conditions and time of year, can be heard as far away as the Midwest. Winter brings the cold weather but also excellent conditions for receiving these beacons, some of which were former marine radiobeacons retrofitted to provide greater DGPS accuracy.

The HackRF One, when used with SDR#, MultiPSK, audio piping software, and a good (43 foot vertical) receiving antenna was able to receive DGPS beacons, and two screen captures are below:

DGPS beacon from Sandy Hook, NJ. SDR# using HackRF One in foreground, MultiPSK software in background with decoded information. Click to enlarge.

DGPS beacon from Moriches, NY. Click to enlarge.

I was very pleased that the HackRF One was able to receive DGPS stations, though tuning them in seemed a bit trickier than with a standard RTL-SDR dongle. Since this time of year is not optimal for monitoring DGPS beacons, as well as the Longwave band in general, it’s reassuring to know that come winter I’ll be able to do some DGPS beacon DX’ing with the HackRF One. However, anyone with a shortwave radio and a good antenna can avail themselves of DGPS beacon hunting, just tune down between 285 – 325 KHz and listen for the distinctive warble.

To decode, look into an excellent program like MultiPSK (http://f6cte.free.fr/index_anglais.htm). 73’s!

Thank you, Mario, for another great post!

When Mario told me he had purchased the $299 HackRF One, I was hoping he would do some guest posts about this SDR–DGPS beacons was use I had never thought of. Looking forward to more of your guest posts, Mario!

Kickstarter launch: The KiwiSDR for BeagleBone

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Many thanks to SWLing Post reader and KiwiSDR developer, John Seamons (ZL/KF6VO), who notes:

The KiwiSDR for BeagleBone Kickstarter just launched:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1575992013/kiwisdr-beaglebone-software-defined-radio-sdr-with

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1575992013/kiwisdr-beaglebone-software-defined-radio-sdr-with

Many thanks, John!

Those of you who had such a positive response to our previous post about John’s New Zealand-based web SDR, may consider supporting this Kickstarter and even installing a a KiwiSDR at your location! Check out the Kickstarter video for more information.

Mike’s Virtual Audio Cable (VAC) promotion

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SWLing Post contributor, Mike Ladd, has been working with vendors to lock in promotional pricing on products and accessories commonly used by SDR enthusiasts. Last week, for example, he shared an excellent promotion for high/low pass filters.

This time, Mike has reached out to the author of Virtual Audio Cable (VAC) who has also kindly offered a discount.

VAC is a fantastic piece of software that allows you to port audio from one application to another on your PC without loss of audio quality. For example, if you’re running an SDR and you want to port its audio to FLDigi (to decode SSTV, RTTY, PSK31, or another digital mode) VAC does this for you.

Mike’s discount allows you to purchase a self-support copy of VAC for $21.42 US (a $3.78 discount).

To get the promo price, you’ll need to use this link which has the embedded coupon code, then simply make the selections as shown below:

Click here to purchase VAC with promotional pricing.

Thanks again, Mike, for sharing discounts with the SWLing and ham radio communities!

SDRplay RSP update includes broadcast ID

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The SDRplay RSP software defined radio

Many thanks to Jon Hudson at SDRplay who shares the following news:

The latest EXTIO control file (Version 3.8.1) has a very cool new feature for shortwave listeners interested in hunting HF DX stations.

Using the world-wide station list mintained by http://www.eibispace.de/ you can see the name of stations appear in a pop-up window as you select a particular broadcast signal. The details are in the updated EXTIO user guide selectable from the Platforms section or by clicking here.

There’s a video demo here:

A simple homebrew high pass filter

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Many thanks to Jon Hudson, of SDRplay, who posted the image above along with the following note on Facebook:

David, WA7JHZ has designed and assembled this neat 2.6 MHz high-pass filter (HPF) for use with SDRs. He says that this simple input band-pass filter (BPF) might be of interest to anyone suffering from strong AM broadcast stations that are causing overloads…..David suffers from three nearby AM radio broadcast stations that overload the front ends of several of his receivers, including the SDRplay RSP and this is an ideal, low cost solution. He built this circuit from junk parts and commented that Amidon T44-2 iron powder cores would have made a better design, but that he decided to keep costs down with this design.

This design is simple enough for almost anyone to build and could help your receiver’s front end from overloading. Many thanks to David for the design/schematic and to Jon for sharing!