Post your comments here

Post your feedback here
jon
Posts: 433
Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2015 10:48 am

Post your comments here

Post by jon » Thu May 28, 2015 6:26 am

This is a new area for people to post their feedback and experiences - Tell us how you are getting on with your RSP
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robman50
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon May 25, 2015 6:45 pm

Re: Post your comments here

Post by robman50 » Thu May 28, 2015 3:10 pm

I've just moved to the SDRplay from this SDR http://www.nooelec.com/store/sdr/sdr-re ... 820t2.html and I love it how I can now do FM DXing without dealing overload from the local stations. For example with the other SDR 99.9Mhz will popup at 25Mhz. No issues anymore! :D
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DL8CQ
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2015 4:12 pm

Re: Post your comments here

Post by DL8CQ » Sat May 30, 2015 6:43 am

I got my SDRplay recently and am experimenting.

Installing API and the ExtIO-Plugins for SDR# and HDSDR was no problem and it is running without any crashes. (OS is Win8.1)

I compared it to my RTL-SDR receiving NOAA signals: I am located in South Germany and could receive signals from
- Napoli to Scotland with the RTL-SDR
- Lybia to Iceland with the SDRplay
The comparison was not carried out in a highly scientific way, but it shows that there is some difference :-)
(Antenna performance is limited due to a balcony on first floor with lots of steel concrete around...)

The Meteor M2 signals are not as strong as those from NOAA satellites; I can see it on the waterfall and sometimes I get pieces decoded, but there is also noise and other signals nearby, so up to now I had not much success with the russian satellite. (Looking for some filter / antenna preamp for 137MHz)

There is a ham radio DMR relay nearby (DB0ESS) that I was able to decode with DSD. There was no chance doing this with the RTL-SDR.

Looking at broadcast radio stations is quite impressive when you were using only a cheap RTL-SDR before...
RTL-SDR: maximum bandwidth with fluent FM demodulation was 2.8 MHz. The spectrum was full of images!
SDRplay: 8 MHz bandwidth and FM without any stuttering. Only very few weak images visible.

Ham radio bands (SW): checked, WSPR decoding works. There is QRM on some bands that stays there even if I disconnect the antenna, so I guess that is caused by the PC and transferred through the USB cable. Unfortunately the USB isolators support only USB1.1 full speed. (So I did not buy one)
I have to check if the noise is the same using a notebook.

There are a few more ideas I want to check:
- Multi-band WSPR decoding using SDR console and multiple VFOs.
- Get it running on an Odroid C1

I am definitely lucky with that little box!

Best regards
Martin
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jon
Posts: 433
Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2015 10:48 am

Re: Post your comments here

Post by jon » Sun May 31, 2015 5:12 pm

There are lots of candid new user comments on the SDRplay Facebook Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/sdrplay

It''s a very friendly group (not run by SDRplay i should add, so it is completely independent)
Jon
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NN4F
Posts: 128
Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2015 1:54 pm
Location: Ridgeville, SC
Contact:

Re: Post your comments here

Post by NN4F » Fri Jun 12, 2015 2:29 pm

Ok, so where to start....what an amazing box, I've been into radio for about 40 years, 28 of those as a licensed HAM, I could have only dreamt about this box years ago, it makes radio a pleasure again, it was starting to wear off a little....

I got into SDR like many newbies via the cheapie RTL dongle, then added an upconverter, mainly used for HF as a panadapter and for general shortwave and shortwave utility listening. They performed OK, when used with a good antenna... the SDR bug had taken hold and I was looking for something more, I was considering the airspy or perhaps the one of the elads or afredri, then I saw a post for the SDRPlay with the price drop to $149.00 so I did some research and it looked good, I liked the 8 MHz bandwidth, and the coverage that included HF without the need for the upconverter, and the extended coverage up to 2 ghz. I think I was sold within 20mins of reading the specs.

I jumped in and ordered that night, 6 days shipping from the UK to South Carolina, impressed...

It arrived and I immediately went down to the radio shack and installed the driver, and fired up SDRConsole, wow, I was floored, the difference between the 8bit dongle and this new SDRPlay with its 12 bit ADC, a much better dynamic range, sure this is no flex or Perseus, but there again I didn't pay those prices... But it sure is close, I had. S5-7 noise floor on the rtl devices, now I have a S2 noise floor and solid huge signals all across the HF spectrum.

I use the RSP on my amateur radio antennas, for HF I use a Mosley TA63 6band 6element on a 50ft tower, so lots of gain from 20m thru 6m, and a full size 5/8 wave 160 doublet for 160-40m and 3 1000ft receiving beverages, the old saying, it's all about the aerials and we Brits say... Antennas for my home in the USA...

I have the used the RSP in several configurations so far, connected to the IF out on the back of my Yaesu FTdx3000 as a panadapter, works AMAZING, connected to the RX out, which passes the rx signal out for second rx use, and running SDRConsole, I now have the vfo in the radio, and SIX more vfos...I can be on 40m and monitor 30m, I can be on 30m and monitor 20m, I can be on 40m on a Saturday night and listen to the U.S. Pirate broadcasts on 6.9 'MHz, all with fantastic signals.

I've connected the antennas directly, same performance, perhaps a a fraction better, but using the back of the yaesu, allows me to TX and the RSP lines are muted via the Yaesu for RF protection.

Ok so more good news, we said it was 8mhz, well under sdrconsole, Simon the author has settings to 10mhz and 12 MHz, and YES they work, my I tried the wider setting on my main PC for the radio a which is an AMD with dual quad cores and 32gb of ram, both work like a dream, no stuttering at all, tried on my laptop, which is only a core2duo, win7 3gb, it works ok up to about 6mhz wide, after that I get a slight occasional stutter on 8mhz, 10 and 12 are a no go...

Sdrconsole is my preferred software and as I write this an update should be coming out with better control support for the sdrplay... I also use HDSDR, SDR#, SDRSharper, SoDiRa in that preferred order, and most programs the use the EXTIO DLL interface will support the RSP, even spectrum lab for use as an analyser...

So how would I rate the SDRPlay as out of 10, probably a 9.9 as I never seem to rate anything 10 out of 10, and if they get the Mac USB support sorted out, it will be a 10/10

Performance is excellent, I can't compare, but I can say it has to be close to the airspy in performance, and wins in my eyes due to the full HF coverage with no upconverter, and I was also considering the HackRF, but that has great coverage, but it seems the rx reception is not as good as it should be...

I can highly recommend the SDRPlay RSP, it's all I need so far, and can't see needing anything any better for a while, I know it has the rx gap, but that is being worked on, and nothing I really monitor there anyway, and I have the now unused RTL's to cover that gap until the software fix comes out....

I'm a FAN... Go get one today....
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--
Paul Jones - NN4F, Charleston SC
http://www.facebook.com/groups/SDRPlay

jon
Posts: 433
Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2015 10:48 am

Re: Post your comments here

Post by jon » Sat Jun 20, 2015 12:03 pm

Just had the greatest of emails from a customer who initially had problems on an old Windows XP machine but moved to a newer Windows 7 laptop.... he writes....
"...for LW-SW reception I use a home-made pa0rdt-Mini-Whip antenna (50kHz-30MHz) in combination with a home-made tunable pre-amplifier. For FM – 2m I use a modified telescope antenna. I also have RTL-SDR sticks with up converter and an old Kenwood R1000 receiver. For SDR I use both, HDSDR and SDR# software.
The first thing I noticed is that the SDRplay RSP works well below the specified low frequency limit of 100kHz. For example, the time signal at 77,5 kHz is well received. The lower limit in frequency for practical use seems at approx. 50kHz.
That was a good start. However, the extremely high sensitivity really knocked me off my feet: Stations which are noisy on the R1000 (so far my unbeatable workhorse) are crisp and clear in the RSP, thanks to the innovative LNA concept. Furthermore, I could receive week stations even in between strong signals – of course somewhat noisy. But in the R1000 they are completely buried within the noise and you would not have guessed that there is something. That also holds for FM and 2m: the RTL-SDRs are much, much worse, even when using an external LNA.
The next positive impression was on frequency accuracy and stability. The displayed absolute frequency appears accurate within less than 100Hz for my RSP. Besides accuracy, frequency stability is the key– otherwise any fixed ppm-corrections are useless. For my RSP I could detect no frequency drift e.g. within a few hours of receiving SSB/CW or when tuning in the next day. In complete contrast to all the RTL-SDR sticks I have tested – they drift like hell.
Another positive observation is the low heat generation of the RSP (– no comparison to the RTL-SDR sticks). Maybe this also contributes to the good frequency stability of the RSP.
What is left to say: Congratulations to the SDRplay engineers who have developed this superb piece of SDR hardware! It is worth every penny."
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jon
Posts: 433
Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2015 10:48 am

another customer review

Post by jon » Sat Jun 27, 2015 10:30 am

“Guys, i've been using my RSP1 in the last 3 days and i must say it's simply awesome. My station is now composed by the RSP1 for
receiving and a Yaesu FT-897 for transmitting. Both devices are connected to a switchbox which is basically a device switch. It connects the
antenna to the RSP1 and automatically switch it to the 897 as soon as i press PTT.
With this mechanism i can use the best of all devices, receiving with the RSP1 and HDSDR is simply fantastic, almost no QRM. This is really
one of the best thing i have purchased in 2015  73 de IU0CXV” June 24th 2015

Read more independent reviews on https://www.facebook.com/groups/sdrplay/
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Qosmio
Posts: 22
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2015 5:12 pm

Re: Post your comments here

Post by Qosmio » Thu Jul 02, 2015 6:42 am

My experience playing with the SDRplay radio, many moons ago (70's) i was into HAM radio until the 80's when i lost interest and moved on to Computers professionally and as a hobby, recent i lost my job and with 55 finding a new job in Holland is not an easy thing to do, but anyway i have lots of time to kill and was looking around how to do that, until i read something about SDR Radio's .... WOW cool awesome and at the same time my mouth fell open of the possibilities what was available with such a gadget. Playing with it for 3 months i needed more than VHF and UHF and bought me a second hand Icom PCR1000 for HF but living in a big city the PCR1000 only received noise with an end fed antenna so I bought me the Bonito Active antenna but with same results lots of noise, I then saw a ad for the sdrplay and was pretty excited with the specs of this sdr radio, as soon as I received it I hooked it up and it was running in two minutes, I was really curious how it performed on HF and I must say WOW, still noise but 60/70 percent less then with my PCR1000, Performance on VHF is a little less than the PCR1000 but not much using a Sirio discone antenna. I am very satisfied with the sdrplay I could only dream of such a possibility’s in the 70’s and that for such a low price it’s really amazing.
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jon
Posts: 433
Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2015 10:48 am

Re: Post your comments here

Post by jon » Fri Jul 03, 2015 12:40 pm

Another review, comparing the RSP with an SDR 3 times the cost came out just now on http://swling.com/blog/
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Sasan
Posts: 124
Joined: Sat Jun 27, 2015 1:15 am
Location: Berlin

Re: Post your comments here

Post by Sasan » Wed Jul 15, 2015 8:56 am

My order received today.
I'm a beginner when it comes to SDR and RF. I've got a RTL-SDR (with HF Upconverter), a FunCube Pro and a HackRF.
I was disappointed with the reception quality of those above and was searching for another SDR to add to my shack (within my budget range) and I found some SDRs that met my criteria. After reading nearly every review and discussion on the net, I decided to buy a SDRPlay.
I can't make any scientific/expert reviews on its performance/sensitivity/etc or compare it with other SDRs , but when I tuned SDR# to a FM station (around 88MHZ) and an AM station (around 900KHZ), the output (sound quality) was way better and more crisp than HackRF and RTL-SDR (and Ham It Upconverter for the AM test)
Also there is no competitor in the market with the features offered by SDRPlay in this price range.
The box also is good and compact enough for using outside.
My only complain would be its issues with Mac OS X and GNURadio, which fortunately the SDRPlay team are working on.
In fact they're working on multiple things in parallel, like removing the frequency gap.
(The device is great. Great design and great price. It just needs some time so the software support for it becomes more mature)

In summary I'm very happy with my new device :)
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DF2HF, NM9A, EP2C

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