Tag Archives: Kickstarter

Grace Digital Mondo+ Kickstarter

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Tom Ally, who writes:

I remember that article you wrote about Wi-fi radios and just saw this Kickstarter on Facebook that may interest you:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1209003580/mondo

[T]hey are saying it is supposed to ship out sometime next month. [S]ome of the things it has –over the old Mondo–is Bluetooth 4.1 and Chromecast built in.

Thank you, Tom! Here’s the product description from Kickstarter:

The home audio market is evolving, and Grace Digital is leading the way. We combined the latest Wi-Fi audio streaming technologies from Google, added Bluetooth audio streaming, and over 30,000 AM/FM/HD radio stations from around the corner to across the globe. The Grace Mondo+ can even be controlled by the Google Assistant on devices like Google Home, the front panel controls, free smartphone apps, or the included remote control. We wrapped the technology in a beautifully crafted cabinet, and drive the audio with custom made speaker drivers and high performance class D digital amplification, ensuring the best possible listening experience in a perfectly compact design. We hope you love the Mondo+ as much as we do!

This is an “all or nothing” campaign, meaning it’ll have to be fully funded for the production run to become reality.

As a Kickstarter supporter, the pricing is in line with the Grace Digital Mondo (we reviewed last year).

I am still quite happy with my Como Audio Solo, so will not plan to back the Mondo+ at this time. If I was interested, I would splurge for the $174 Early Bird package which includes a Lithium Ion battery pack. Shipping could be as early as April 2017.

Check out full details and a video on Kickstarter.

Thanks, Tom, for the tip! I would certainly welcome a review of the Mondo+ from any Kickstarter backers!

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Kickstarter: The $239 RS-HFIQ 5 Watt General Coverage Transceiver

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Many thanks to Jim Veatch (WA2EUJ) who shares the following:

HobbyPCB is offering their RS-HFIQ 5W SDR on Kickstarter starting at $239. Check it out here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hobbypcb/rs-hfiq-5w-software-defined-radio-sdr-tranceiver

Thanks, Jim-I wish you success in this campaign (though it appears you’ve met your base goal and are now into stretch goals).

While there are a fair amount of SDRs in the $200-300 price range, there are few that are actually transceivers. I’m also impressed with the level of filtering on both the RX and TX stages and the fact that the baseband and digital section have separate and isolated grounds. The RS-HFIQ could potentially have a low noise floor and a decent front end.

If you back the RS-HFIQ, please consider sending us your review to publish here on the SWLing Post!

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The Como Audio Solo and Duetto radios on Kickstarter

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The Como Audio Solo

Alas, I find that I’m frequently blamed by SWLing Post readers who cite this blog as the reason they spend so much money on radios.

But for the record, I’d like you to know that such spending is actually a two-way street! A couple of days ago, Post contributor Robert Gulley sent me a link to a cool Kickstarter campaign for two new multi-format digital radios: the Solo and the Duet by Como Audio.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/819585793/solo-and-duetto-one-touch-music-streaming-with-hif

Having just completed an in-depth review of several WiFi radios for The Spectrum Monitor magazine, the good-looking Solo in its wood casing really caught my attention! (the Duet, meanwhile, is a two-speaker version of the same rig). At first glance, the Solo appears to be compatible with a much wider range of digital formats than many of its competitors, so naturally I’m eager to determine if this is so. Here’s a list:

Internet radio accessing 20,000+ stations
Spotify
Bluetooth with aptX
NFC Android Bluetooth connection
DLNA WIFI
Music player allowing easy navigation and playback through a USB or network-shared library of music files, including AAC+, MP3, WMA, WAV, and FLAC
4 High-Res inputs: 2 analog, 1 Optical, and 1 USB.
Google Cast-ready
Amazon Dot-ready

It even has a “high-performance” FM tuner and is DAB+ compatible, especially great if you live in Europe.

It also sounds like they’ve spent time designing a proper acoustic chamber/chassis and are fueling a 3″ woofer and 3/4″ dome tweeter with a 2 X 30 watt RMS amplifier. This radio should pack some audio punch.

The Como Audio Duetto

The only obvious thing I see missing on the Como Audio WiFi radios is an internal battery.

Still, after watching the video and reviewing the specs, I backed the campaign to receive a walnut Kickstarter Edition Solo. If all goes well––and I never actually expect a campaign to produce and ship a product in the amount of time they expect––they may be shipping the radios as early as October.

The campaign has already met it’s goal of $50,000 and is now stretching for $100,000 with more incentives.

So, I didn’t really need another WiFi radio, but thanks to Robert’s email––yep, I bought one! Now the only question remains: can you actually make impulse purchases on Kickstarter? I think I just proved that you can.

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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.

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