SDRplay Community Forum

Firstly howdy folks thanks for having me. I've been reading / watching videos around SDR for sometime now, which finally bought me to SDRPlay. Before I make my purchases I need to ask some questions, which we'llbe pretty basic for some.

1) I'm wanting to listen to HF amateur bands, HF Oceanic traffic and VHF Air Band. I'm happy that I'll have to use two different antennas, but what receiver would be best. If there is only a single antenna port how would I switch antennas?

2) As well as monitoring air band I would like to track aircraft using ADS-B. Is this possible and could I track and listen to aircraft at the same time?

3) I use a Mac. Will this work with SDRPlay software?

Thanks a lot

1) I'm wanting to listen to HF amateur bands, HF Oceanic traffic and VHF Air Band. I'm happy that I'll have to use two different antennas, but what receiver would be best. If there is only a single antenna port how would I switch antennas?

It all depends on what you mean by Best. The RSP1A and RSP2 both have their pros and cons. The RSP1A has a 14 bit A/D vs. 12 for the RSP2 (which gives better performance in some cases). It also has some filter advantages the main one being the MW filter works for LF reception which your post did not state as a band of interest. However the RSP1A only has one antenna port vs. 3 for the RSP2. It is nice to be able to software switch the antenna ports. The RSP2 also has external clock output/input which is not that important for most users. I own a RSP2pro which I bought before the RSP1A was released. If I was buying today I would get an RSP1A and save some money. I suspect there will be an RSP2A before long that has all the features. It is easy to switch antennas with an external box. You can make your own or you can buy one ready made form any good ham radio supplier. Daiwa makes nice switches and for the budget conscious MFJ.

2) As well as monitoring air band I would like to track aircraft using ADS-B. Is this possible and could I track and listen to aircraft at the same time?

This is possible and SDRplay has an app note on how to do it and you can download the software from their site. https://www.sdrplay.com/docs/SDRplay_AD ... _Guide.pdf. However it might not work on a Mac. I am not a Mac user so I can't comment. Mac can run Windows software so if you have Parallels or VMware you should be able to get it to work. Go to the SDRPlay group on Facebook and ask there about doing ADS-B on a Mac.

3) I use a Mac. Will this work with SDRPlay software?

There are two ways to get your RSP running on a Mac. Use Parallels or VMWare as discussed above or you can run directly on the Mac with Cubic SDR. This is not as nice as SDRUno or SDR-Console but some users like it. Look in the SDRPlay downloads section https://www.sdrplay.com/downloads/ There are lots of Youtube videos showing CubicSDR in action.

Thanks for the in depth reply. Firstly I wasn't aware there is a Facebook page so I'll head over there.

Secondly my Mac will prove difficult to run everything and do everything I want it to do. As you pointed out I can use Boot camp to create a partitioned Windows OS.

I think I'll be going for a RSP1A using SDRUno. Once I get used to how it all works I'll have the option to upgrade, likely to the RSP2A (when released)