SWLing Post reader London Shortwave recently moved the Software Defined Radio (SDR) application SDR# (“SDR Sharp”) off of his MacBook Pro and onto a Toshiba Encore 8″ tablet PC. He recently posted this video of SDR# running his FunCube Dongle Pro+ on the Toshiba Encore tablet:
His reception of the Voice of Korea’s Spanish service is most impressive, especially considering the high level of RFI (radio noise) he must cope with at his home in London, England.
SWLing Post reader, London Shortwave writes with a remarkable story about the free SDR application, SDR#(or, “SDR sharp”). He writes:
“Two days ago, I emailed Youssef (SDR# developer lead) to ask if he would consider adding synchronous AM detection to his software at some point.
To my great surprise he e-mailed me back the same day and told me that it wouldn’t take him long to write the necessary code. A few hours later he sent me a preview copy of the software with the feature included (all I had to do was to swap one .dll file in the version I had installed at the time). The following day, he integrated it into the latest release!
With the new sync detector the software is rapidly becoming my favourite SDR application.
Here’s a demo video I made for Youssef (and everyone else!) to show how I’ve been getting on with it:
This is amazing–what’s especially impressive is that a first iteration of AM sync should be so well implemented. I love the way you can use the IF shift to block out interference within a sideband, much like USB/LSB selectable sideband. There are paid and OEM SDR applications that can’t do this.
London Shortwave: you’ve convinced me to see if SDR# will drive any of my receivers. Many thanks!
I’ve been on the road a lot lately. A lack of time resulting from this, combined with frequent afternoon and evening thunderstorms when I am home, has meant that I’ve not had the radio time I often enjoy.
This morning, I woke up around 5:50 AM determined to get a bit of time on the radio. After all, today is the first day of summer here in the US, and a special day for me. I walked outside and hooked my antenna back up; I had been forced to disconnect it yesterday as pop-up thunderstorms persisted throughout the afternoon and evening.
I then brewed a cup of coffee and settled into my “listening lounge” for some early morning tuning.
I started off this morning off by tuning the Elad FDM-S2 to Radio New Zealand International on 9,890 kHz in DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale). I was treated to one full hour of Peter Fry’s Saturday Night music; the DRM lock was completely stable. Though I prefer the sonic characteristics of AM over digital modes, I’m most impressed with the audio quality DRM affords coming from a 50 kW signal being broadcast on the other side of the planet. The quality is so exceptional that, if you listen carefully, you can even hear the news reader shifting papers at the top of the hour.
That got me thinking: I’m flawlessly receiving and decoding a wireless digital audio signal from 13,500 kM away. Amazing. Especially considering that my laptop struggles to receive Wi-Fi in many hotels.
RNZI signed off after an hour, so I switched modes to AM and tuned to Radio Australia on 9,580 kHz.
As I had hoped, RA was broadcasting the second half of the AFL match featuring the Essendon Bombers who ultimately held a nine-point win over the Adelaide Crows. Alas, Radio Australia dropped the signal before the end of the final quarter, but I was able to watch the results roll in on my iPhone while making waffles in the kitchen. If this had been a World Cup match, I would have scoured the shortwaves for another Radio Australia frequency.
Immediately after tuning in RNZI, I hit the record button on the FDM-S2 (around 5:55 EDT/9:55 UTC) and didn’t stop the recording until after Radio Australia signed off, so there is a 30 second silence in the middle while I tuned and switched modes from DRM to AM.
Click here to download my full 2+ hour morning recording, or simply listen via the embedded player below:
Depending on which hemisphere you live in, I hope you enjoy this summer–or winter– solstice.
As for me, I’m looking forward to a happy birthday with my family. Cheers!
Yesterday, SWLing Post reader London Shortwave took his laptop, FunCube Dongle Pro+, and 6 meter long wire antenna to a local park where he tested SDR#‘s new IF noise reduction.
He made the following screencast/video where he toggles the IF noise reduction feature while receiving the BBC World Service’s Pashto language service on shortwave:
Most impressive! Indeed, I believe SDR#’s noise reduction might rival that of OEM applications. While I’m not the biggest fan of noise reduction for everyday use (due to inherent digital artifacts) it is a valuable tool when noise levels are high.
Click here to follow @LondonShortwave on Twitter.
If you would like to experiment with SDR#, click here to download your free copy. SDR# has a number of additional plugins and dedicated users/developers who communicate via this this Yahoo! Group.
Many thanks to @LondonShortwave.
Any other readers using SDR#? Please comment.
This morning, while scanning the 31 meter band, I noticed a DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) signal on 9,890 kHz. Normally, I ignore most DRM signals because the amount of signal strength needed to properly decode the mode (here in the US) is simply too low for pleasant, artifact-free copy.
Still, I thought I’d give the new Elad FDM-S2 a try, so I changed mode from AM to DRM.
To my amazement, the FDM-S2 quickly decoded the signal and produced excellent audio from Radio New Zealand International.
I assumed the decoding lock would not hold, but I was wrong; indeed, I believe there were only one or two significant drops in the 40+ minutes I listened. This may be a very good sign from the FDM-S2, even if propagation was above average.
I’m not a big DRM listener, but that’s mainly because there is so little to hear on the bands. The real test will be All India Radio in DRM–I’ve never managed to get a consistent lock on them from here in eastern North America.
Still, I’m pleased as punch that I can so easily copy RNZI–one of my favorite international broadcasters–in DRM.
Here’s a recording of the broadcast starting at 11:18 UTC on June 14, 2014. Click here to download the the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:
Last night, while learning the ropes of the new Elad FDM-S2, I noticed some great music on 9,420 kHz, the former Voice of Greece frequency.
It was then that I realized yesterday (June 11) marked the one year anniversary of the day that the Greek government shut down ERT and the Voice of Greece. If interested, click here for some audio I recorded that very night.
Amazingly, one year later, 9,420 kHz is still active out of the Avlis transmitter site and last night, the Radio Station of Macedonia (a.k.a., ERT 3) was playing an excellent mix of Greek music and jazz.
Click here to listen to the 51 minute recording, made with the Elad FDM-S2 software defined receiver, starting at 00:50 UTC:
You’ll note great audio fidelity and a low noise floor despite the numerous static crashes present from area thunderstorms. (Note that I did not have DSP noise reduction nor the noise blanker engaged.) I started the recording in standard AM mode, then changed it to AM synchronous detection between songs in the first half of the recording.
At the Dayton Hamvention last month, I made a point to check out the Italian radio manufacturer, Elad. Though I’ve known about Elad for some time, I hadn’t investigated their offerings yet simply because I was under the impression they only sold and warrantied their equipment within Europe. Fortunately, Elad has begun supporting and shipping their products within the US, via their division Elad-USA.
The Elad USA table at the 2014 Dayton Hamvention
Elad’s booth was one of the first stops I made at the Hamvention; I met with their representatives there, who answered my many questions. While Elad is soon to release their flagship tabletop SDR transceiver (the FDM-DUO, see below), I was more interested in their flagship receiver, the FDM-S2–which really impressed me during their demo.
The FDM-DUO attracted many visitors at the Elad booth.
Yesterday, I unpacked a loaner FDM-S2 Elad sent for review; this review will be published first in The Spectrum Monitor magazine, and following, here on the SWLing Post. While it will take some time to piece together a full review for TSM, I thought I would periodically post recordings (and note FDM-S2 features) I discover along the way…
Being a receiver with a small footprint (a major plus, in my world), the FDM-S2 comes in a small box (measuring only 6.5 x 5.5 x 2 inches).
Contents of the box are few and simple: the FDM-S2 receiver, a black cloth carrying bag, and a 4GB USB drive with installation software and documentation. A standard USB cable was also included in the shipping box.
The FDM-S2 metal enclosure is beautifully engineered, and feels of excellent quality in my hands.
I found installation of the Elad FDM-S2 to be fairly straightforward. However, I would encourage you to follow the included guide, since installation is a two-step process:
On the back of the FDM-S2 you’ll find HF and VHF (SMA) antenna ports, a USB port, serial interface, and on/off switch.
The FDM-S2 derives its power from the same USB cable that is used for data, no separate external power supply required–a huge plus, for those of us who like to travel.
Once I installed the software and driver, I hooked up my antenna to the HF SMA connector on the back, turned on the FDM-S2, and launched the application. The FDM-S2 clicked to life, and the application ran on the first go: very nice!
I spent a good hour or so familiarizing myself with the Elad software yesterday evening. It’s quite a departure from the WinRadio Excalibur and Microtelecom Perseus applications with which I’m most familiar. Nonetheless, while I’m still learning how to adjust the spectrum bandwidth (which can be a full 6 MHz wide!) plus manage the four virtual receivers, I found I was able to do quite a bit of band-scanning.
In fact, I noticed some great music on 9,420 kHz, the former Voice of Greece frequency:
I initiated my very first AF recording on the FDM-S2 (see screen capture above). The process was quite simple and I’m very happy with the level of customization Elad affords in its software; indeed, I can set the file name to automatically note the frequency, time, date and mode.
Click here to listen to that recording in the recent post, The Voice of Greece, one year on.
Day One with the FDM-S2? So far, so good. The Elad application is very customizable, hence has a higher learning curve than SDR applications I’ve used in the past. Thus I’ll need to log quite a few hours on the FDM-S2 before I can say that I’m proficient.
Readers: Have you had experience with the FDM-S2? Any hints or suggestions? Please comment–!