Letter: For DX With SDRs, It’s Not the Same As It Was

[ChrisSmolinski]

Ira Wilner feels software-defined radios have damaged the traditional hobby of long-distance signal listening

https://www.radioworld.com/columns-and-views/readers-forum/letter-for-dx-with-sdrs-its-not-the-same-as-it-was

You gotta wonder if his grandfather complained when the super-het replaced the crystal radio. Radios with batteries! It's ruining the hobby! 

[n2avh]

I believe the actual lack of signals is what's damaged the hobby.

[radioartisan]

I believe the actual lack of signals is what's damaged the hobby.

Agreed.  Or in the case of AM broadcast, nothing worth listening to.  Every time I see some cool crystal radio or simple tuned-circuit/diode/audio amp AM broadcast receiver project I get interested and motivated to build it, but then remember there's not a thing on AM broadcast worth tuning into.

[Treehouse SWL]

This letter was making the rounds on several radio-related sites, and I don't get it.

I mean, I'm middle-aged enough that I can yell about the "old days" if I want, but SDRs are great. I use SDRs quite a bit when trying to hear pirates, which are fewer and far between up here in the Pacific Northwest.

At the same time, I have several radios I use to manually hunt down DX targets on shortwave or to indulge in MW DXing, especially during the long winter nights. I even enter a DXing contest every year in which SDRs are strictly forbidden.

It's kind of like music tastes: Listen to what you enjoy, don't worry if other people think it's "right" or "wrong," and let the rest of us listen the way we want!

[BoomboxDX]

Tech is always a double edged sword -- in any hobby. FT8 is adding to the ham radio hobby (low signal catches, ease of use in a limited antenna environment) but it's also killing it, being that bands like 20 Meters are half empty even when prop is up because so many hams are using FT8 instead. It's leaving a lot of spectrum unused, and that probably looks good to HFT traders who may want it.... Who needs all this spectrum when just one frequency is where most of the activity is?

Although I can see their benefits, I basically dislike SDRs. Most of the ones online sound like utter crap. I think that a lot of SWL's, MWDXers and other DXers reliance on SDRs has demoted the hobby somewhat to them only paying attention to the brightest lines on the waterfall display. There is a lot to hear that you can't really see on a waterfall. I hear a lot of DX on the ham bands that goes unanswered. Sometimes I wonder if it's because so many hams are relying on their visual display, which may not show much of a signal when the DX is in the mud and watery sounding -- yet if they manually tuned it in, they'd be able to read it and respond to it.

That said, every DSP chip in a modern radio is technically an SDR. And DSP chips have revolutionized the hobby because, when it comes to SWBC DXing or listening, a $15 XHDATA with just a DSP chip inside can pick up almost as much as an expensive portable from the 70's-90's could off the same amount of wire. Considering the vast difference in cost, the performance of a DSP portable is impressive.

I think SDR's do have their benefits. They do make catches easier to share, and a lot of signal hunters use them because the visuals in the waterfall can give them a better idea of what sort of signal they're hearing.

And the idea that someone who's in an RFI infested location can use his internet connection to still DX from a distant SDR is pretty cool.

So yeah, pluses and minuses. There's room in the hobby for all of it, really. Like TreehouseSWL said, there really is no 'right' or 'wrong' in it.

As for the AM band, I like hearing the Punjabi and Sikh music overnights. And there are a lot of classic hits and classic country stations out there. You just have to tune around to pull them in.

[NQC]

Hey All,

I am kind of old school and would "prefer" to use my own gear. But being  stuck with an  indoor antenna , so SDR's can really help out at times.

 OT: I am lucky here : my  crystal set can receive several music stations that are actually worth listening to (one of them just got a BIG power increase  ).  Also handy for late  bedside news on WBZ.

NQC