Technical Topics > SDR - Software Defined Radio
KiwiSDR, SDR-14 and possible cheaper options?
jon5500:
So, a bit of luck came my way, and it looks like I may be able to afford the Kiwi after all. I have a few questions:
1) Since the kit is unavailable, it looks like I will need a Beagle card and a 5V transformer based power supply, is this correct? Is GPS antenna really needed or can I forego that for now?
2) How reliable is the unit and/or card? History of failures, etc, welcome. I still debate whether it or the SDR-14 is the better choice, if I can find the '14 used. I read that at one point, there were Beagle card failures apparently due to manufacturing problems.
Anything else I should know?
Thanks again.
ChrisSmolinski:
--- Quote from: jon5500 on February 04, 2021, 1910 UTC ---So, a bit of luck came my way, and it looks like I may be able to afford the Kiwi after all. I have a few questions:
1) Since the kit is unavailable, it looks like I will need a Beagle card and a 5V transformer based power supply, is this correct? Is GPS antenna really needed or can I forego that for now?
--- End quote ---
The GPS antenna is not required, but highly encouraged, that's how the KiwiSDR corrects for errors in the ADC clock sampling frequency.
--- Quote ---2) How reliable is the unit and/or card? History of failures, etc, welcome. I still debate whether it or the SDR-14 is the better choice, if I can find the '14 used. I read that at one point, there were Beagle card failures apparently due to manufacturing problems.
--- End quote ---
I've found the KiwiSDR to be highly reliable. Just don't apply the power backwards, or a higher voltage. The KiwiSDR online forum does have a few mentions of boards dying, but as there's about 5k of these out there (if serial numbers started at 1 with no gaps) that is not too bad.
While "better" is going to depend on usage, I have both an SDR-14 as well as the KiwiSDR. No comparison in my mind, the KiwiSDR is better overall.
--- Quote ---Anything else I should know?
Thanks again.
--- End quote ---
You'll possibly want an SMA to (whatever) RF adapter for the antenna input, although the SDR-14 is SMA as well, so if you still have your old adapter from that, you're all set. Plus of course an ethernet cable and router/whatever to connect it to, the KiwiSDR does not have WiFi.
jon5500:
Thanks, Chris. I do believe I still do have the SMA adapter around somewhere. I collected a LOT of adapters over the years. I also have several unused routers and I'll be using one for the unit. Would appreciate recommendations of a cheap GPS antenna and power supply. I assume it is best to not using a 5V switching supply. I probably have several "walwarts", but of course will have to check DC voltage output as they are often far higher than labelled.
ChrisSmolinski:
Any of the cheap units on Amazon (designed for 3-5 volts) will probably work fine, what they ship with the KiwiSDR itself is not exactly "top of the line" if you get my drift. Again not strictly mandatory for operation, so you can get up and running without one.
And yes, it is best to avoid any switching power supply. Some are not horrible and may work OK in a pinch, but in general most will cause some form of RFI issues.
There's a KiwiSDR document: http://kiwisdr.com/quickstart/#id-power that spec's what you want for the power supply, at least 2A is probably reasonable.
kris:
Hi Jon - However, for the sake of clarity, the RX888 receives a bandwidth of up to 10MHz in the HF range. My Dell (i5-6300U 2core x64, 2,4GHz, 8GB) at 2MHz reception width locks up after short operation.
I am using Concole V3 which requires a powerful computer.
I also started the HDSDR program control, which is the least processor-intensive, but I do not remember if the PC was stable at the full 10MHz reception bandwidth.
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