{"id":16246,"date":"2015-12-17T16:08:51","date_gmt":"2015-12-17T20:08:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=16246"},"modified":"2015-12-17T16:08:51","modified_gmt":"2015-12-17T20:08:51","slug":"how-to-use-the-sdrplay-rsp-as-a-panadapter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/12\/how-to-use-the-sdrplay-rsp-as-a-panadapter\/","title":{"rendered":"How to use the SDRPlay RSP as a panadapter"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SDPlay-RSP\"<\/p>\n

In this post, I will show you how to use an SDR as a panadapter for a commercial communications receiver. I’m using an Icom R72<\/strong> and a SDRPlay RSP<\/a><\/strong>, but you can do it with nearly all receivers and SDRs.<\/p>\n

The Icom R72 is a double conversion HF (0-30 MHz) communications receiver.<\/p>\n

A panadapter lets you see the spectrum of your receiver (it gives you a broader, higher-level picture of what’s around your tuned frequency).\u00a0After using it, you’ll wonder how you’ve been using your receiver without a spectrum display! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Almost all the radios we use are of superhetrodyne type. To connect a SDR to the radio, you should first find its 1st IF mixer output (if it has more than one Intermediate Frequency stage).<\/p>\n

To find it, the best way is to consult\u00a0the service manual. The first IF of Icom R72 is 70.4500 MHz, so we can use RTL-SDR<\/a><\/strong> dongles too.<\/p>\n

Here’s a part of\u00a0R72’s schematics, extracted from its service manual:<\/p>\n

\"IC-R72-Schematic-Mehdi-Asgari\"<\/p>\n

Look at the R82 resistor; it’s located at the output of first IF stage, so I soldered a connector to its pins (its other pin is connected to the ground)<\/p>\n

Between the R82 resistor and the output, we’ve added\u00a0a series 470-ohm resistor (to prevent loading the IF stage)<\/p>\n

\"IC-R72-Internal-IF-Stage-Mehdi\"

Click to enlarge.<\/p><\/div>\n

The other side of this connector is connected to the antenna input of my SDRPlay RSP.<\/p>\n

Now I can view my spectrum on a PC.<\/p>\n

Here’s a screenshot of CubicSDR<\/a> on Mac OS X (you can use other apps like HDSDR<\/a>, SDR Console<\/a>, etc.):<\/p>\n

\"CubicSDR-Screenshot-Mehdi\"<\/p>\n

Although this post was about the SDRPlay RSP and Icom R72, this procedure can be done for almost any combination of receivers and SDRs provided that your SDR covers the frequency of first IF stage<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Also, don’t forget that you should tune the SDR to the frequency of IF–in this case: 70.4500 MHz.<\/p>\n

Mehdi Asgari, the author of this post, is a regular contributor to the SWLing Post. <\/em>Mehdi lives in Tehran and is an active member of the EP2C amateur radio club<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this post, I will show you how to use an SDR as a panadapter for a commercial communications receiver. I’m using an Icom R72 and a SDRPlay RSP, but you can do it with nearly all receivers and SDRs. The Icom R72 is a double conversion HF (0-30 MHz) communications receiver. A panadapter lets […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[545,139,158],"tags":[4371,4537,2858],"class_list":["post-16246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ham-radio","category-radio-modifications","category-software-defined-radio","tag-mehdi","tag-mehdi-asgari","tag-rtl-sdr"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-4e2","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":26954,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/07\/sdrplay-lowers-rsp1-price-to-99-95-us\/","url_meta":{"origin":16246,"position":0},"title":"SDRplay lowers RSP1 price to $99.95 US","author":"Thomas","date":"July 8, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: SDRplay Press Release via Jon Hudson) SDRplay are pleased to announce a price reduction for their entry-level SDR receiver, the RSP1 to $99.95 USD making it the most competitive mid-range SDR to include reception down to low frequencies without the need for an upconverter. The RSP1 provides general coverage\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Deals"","block_context":{"text":"Deals","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/deals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/SDRPlay-RSP-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/SDRPlay-RSP-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/SDRPlay-RSP-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16250,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/12\/icom-ic-r72-a-repair-story\/","url_meta":{"origin":16246,"position":1},"title":"Icom IC-R72: a repair story","author":"Mehdi Asgari","date":"December 19, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"In this post I'm going to tell you how I repaired my Icom IC-R72 receiver. Although it's about a specific device, the logic\u00a0and methodology applies to all radios. I bought an Icom R72 from a friend for about $200. At first, I just checked 7.0MHZ (40 meter band) and 21.0MHZ\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Icom-IC-R72-Front-Mehdi-Asgari","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Icom-IC-R72-Front-Mehdi-Asgari-1024x539.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Icom-IC-R72-Front-Mehdi-Asgari-1024x539.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Icom-IC-R72-Front-Mehdi-Asgari-1024x539.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34384,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/10\/sdr-primer-part-2-exploring-the-world-of-sdrs-for-200-or-less\/","url_meta":{"origin":16246,"position":2},"title":"SDR Primer Part 2: Exploring the world of SDRs for $200 or less","author":"Thomas","date":"October 7, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The following article originally appeared\u00a0in the\u00a0July 2018 issue of The Spectrum Monitor magazine: Welcome back to the world of SDRs Last month we covered Part One of our three-part primer on software-defined radios (SDRs). While last month\u2019s Part One focused on the nomenclature and components of a functioning SDR system,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DX"","block_context":{"text":"DX","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/dx\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/RTL-SDR-ADS-B-Rasperry-Pi-PiAware-1024x631.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/RTL-SDR-ADS-B-Rasperry-Pi-PiAware-1024x631.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/RTL-SDR-ADS-B-Rasperry-Pi-PiAware-1024x631.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12698,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/03\/sdrplay-rsp-now-149-or-99\/","url_meta":{"origin":16246,"position":3},"title":"SDRplay RSP: now $149 or \u00a399","author":"Thomas","date":"March 19, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I just received the following tweet from @SDRplay: We've been able to reduce the SDRplay RSP price to $149 or \u00a399 (approx \u20ac149 ) + tax\/shipping. See http:\/\/www.sdrplay.com\u00a0 I've just started reviewing the SDRplay RSP for the June 2015 issue of The Spectrum Monitor Magazine. Preliminary impressions of this SDR\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Products"","block_context":{"text":"New Products","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/new-products\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"SDR-PLay-RSP","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/SDR-PLay-RSP.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/SDR-PLay-RSP.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/SDR-PLay-RSP.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34039,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/09\/sdrplay-video-more-panadapter-tips-tricks\/","url_meta":{"origin":16246,"position":4},"title":"SDRplay Video: More Panadapter Tips & Tricks","author":"Thomas","date":"September 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to Jon Hudson with SDRplay who shares the following on the SDRplay Facebook page: We have released a new YouTube video which covers some items that have been asked about by our users. First up we talk about synchronizing VFO A and VFO B between SDRuno and the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/SDRplay-Panadapter-e1536405529849.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/SDRplay-Panadapter-e1536405529849.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/SDRplay-Panadapter-e1536405529849.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18507,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/04\/video-sdr-touch-demo-on-android-device-using-sdrplay-rsp\/","url_meta":{"origin":16246,"position":5},"title":"Video: SDR Touch demo on Android device using SDRplay RSP","author":"Thomas","date":"April 24, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: SDRplay via YouTube) https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vMiPVgFbgl8&feature=youtu.be Click here to view on YouTube. This demonstrates turning an Android Tablet (or Android Phone) into a highly portable comms receiver or spectrum analyzer operating from Long Wave to Microwave (10kHz to 2GHz) - using SDR Touch and the SDRplay RSP www.sdrplay.com To be a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fullscreen capture 4242016 10946 PM","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Fullscreen-capture-4242016-10946-PM.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Fullscreen-capture-4242016-10946-PM.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Fullscreen-capture-4242016-10946-PM.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16246\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}