Well it seems OK on VHF I receive 2 or 3 weather stations with just a small wire, still deaf on MW/LW.
The RSP1A does not perform as well on LF as the RSP2 and the RSPduo when using a poor antenna. This is because the RSP1A has a higher noise floor. See screenshots below (same antenna - an HF G5RV) That said you can still get some signals by doing the following.
1. Turn off the LO Lock and set to Low IF mode
2. Spin the frequency until the LO is at 1000 kHz and then Lock the LO
4. Turn on the MW filter. Check IF AGC under SETTings in Main window. Adjust RF Gain to max (Attenuation to minimum). If you get AD overload you need to reduce gain (add attenuation) However this will increase the noise floor of the receiver.
5. You can use the zoom feature to show only the signals below 500 kHz.
I found this code in Soapysdrplay, settings.cpp. I think IF mode refers to frequency, 0, 450khz, I dont see anything setting about low IF mode.
SNIP .....
mir_sdr_SetDeviceIdx(devIdx);
deviceSelected = true;
sampleRate = 2000000;
reqSampleRate = sampleRate;
decM = 1;
decEnable = 0;
centerFrequency = 100;
ppm = 0.0;
ifMode = mir_sdr_IF_Zero;
bwMode = mir_sdr_BW_1_536;
gRdB = 40;
lnaState = (hwVer == 2 || hwVer == 3 || hwVer > 253)? 4: 1;
//this may change later according to format
shortsPerWord = 1;
bufferLength = bufferElems * elementsPerSample * shortsPerWord;
agcMode = mir_sdr_AGC_100HZ;
dcOffsetMode = true;
IQcorr = 1;
setPoint = -30;
antSel = mir_sdr_RSPII_ANTENNA_A;
tunSel = mir_sdr_rspDuo_Tuner_1;
amPort = 0;
extRef = 0;
biasTen = 0;
notchEn = 0;
dabNotchEn = 0;
bufferedElems = 0;
_currentBuff = 0;
resetBuffer = false;
useShort = true;
streamActive = false;
.....SNIP
I have this when I type this command, SoapySDRUtil --probe=sdrplay:
######################################################
## Soapy SDR -- the SDR abstraction library ##
######################################################
Probe device sdrplay
----------------------------------------------------
-- Device identification
----------------------------------------------------
driver=SDRplay
hardware=1807096593
mir_sdr_api_version=2.130000
mir_sdr_hw_version=255
----------------------------------------------------
-- Peripheral summary
----------------------------------------------------
Channels: 1 Rx, 0 Tx
Timestamps: NO
Other Settings:
* RF Gain Select - RF Gain Select
[key=rfgain_sel, default=4, type=string, options=(0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)]
* IF Mode - IF frequency in kHz
[key=if_mode, default=Zero-IF, type=string, options=(Zero-IF, 450kHz, 1620kHz, 2048kHz)]
* IQ Correction - IQ Correction Control
[key=iqcorr_ctrl, default=true, type=bool]
* AGC Setpoint - AGC Setpoint (dBfs)
[key=agc_setpoint, default=-30, type=int, range=[-60, 0]]
* BiasT Enable - BiasT Control
[key=biasT_ctrl, default=true, type=bool]
* RfNotch Enable - RF Notch Filter Control
[key=rfnotch_ctrl, default=true, type=bool]
* DabNotch Enable - DAB Notch Filter Control
[key=dabnotch_ctrl, default=true, type=bool]
----------------------------------------------------
-- RX Channel 0
----------------------------------------------------
Full-duplex: YES
Supports AGC: YES
Stream formats: CS16, CF32
Native format: CS16 [full-scale=32767]
Antennas: RX
Corrections: DC removal
Full gain range: [0, 48] dB
IFGR gain range: [20, 59] dB
RFGR gain range: [0, 9] dB
Full freq range: [0.01, 2000] MHz
RF freq range: [0.01, 2000] MHz
CORR freq range: MHz
Sample rates: 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 2.048, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 MSps
Filter bandwidths: 0.2, 0.3, 0.6, 1.536, 5, 6, 7, 8 MHz