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Author Topic: Thinking of getting a SDR  (Read 8916 times)

Offline shadypyro

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Thinking of getting a SDR
« on: October 22, 2016, 1717 UTC »
Hello all,
I am thinking of getting myself a SDR, what would be the best one that I should get?
Regards Chris.
Tecsun PL-880, MLA-30 plus loop antenna. Various sdrs.

Please eQSL to deserthawk1990@hotmail.com

Offline MDK2

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Re: Thinking of getting a SDR
« Reply #1 on: October 22, 2016, 1743 UTC »
I do not own an SDR, however, I have been considering this closely as I do intend to get one, once my mini whip is finally up. (Who knew decent masts could be so expensive.) And I will get an SDRPlay because it sounds like a great entry-level unit, it's inexpensive, and it has lots of online support. Also it sounds like there are some different software packages available to use. Just my two cents.
Denver, CO.
SDRPlay RSPdx & RSP2pro, Airspy Discovery HF+, Icom IC-7100, Grundig Satellit 750, Realistic DX-300, Tecsun PL-600.
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Offline Fred Smith

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Re: Thinking of getting a SDR
« Reply #2 on: October 22, 2016, 2050 UTC »
For general listening the SDR Play is hard to beat for the price. And, HRO has it on sale for $124 and change for next few days. I have a few dongle types which work OK for VHF and up and I've owned a FLEX radio as well.

When considering a radio no matter what it is at least consider the antenna as well. The best receiver in the world is not going to work well without a decent antenna. Which for most of HF bands could be a piece of wire in a tree. A dipole antenna would be better. Or even a mini whip will work fairly well for most of the bands up to about 20 Mhz. I have one and use it from LW to 20 Mhz with pretty good results but it really shines on the LW/MW bands.
FT-920, SDR Play and others. 80 meter doublet/openwire feed, 80/10 OCFD, 400 BOG  NE/SW unterminated

Offline EliteData

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Re: Thinking of getting a SDR
« Reply #3 on: October 22, 2016, 2056 UTC »
For general listening the SDR Play is hard to beat for the price. And, HRO has it on sale for $124 and change for next few days.
i'll second that.
the SDR play is a great SDR receiver however, the front end on it is easily overloaded by strong signals within its passband that are nearby.
its not a deal breaker since you can adjust the gain to resolve that issue.
additionally, the SDR play is terrific at VHF and UHF bands but again, the front end can be easily overloaded.

Offline JCMaxwell

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Re: Thinking of getting a SDR
« Reply #4 on: October 22, 2016, 2059 UTC »
Another vote for the SDRPlay, love mine.
IC-R9000L, FDM-S2, Belka DX, HF+ Discovery, RSPdx, IC-R30, BC125AT, PL-880 <- W6LVP Loop

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Re: Thinking of getting a SDR
« Reply #5 on: October 26, 2016, 2308 UTC »
Count my vote for SDRPlay, too. I've been wanting to purchase a good sdr for a few years and was hesitant because of the prices.  I pulled the trigger on the SDRPLay a few months ago and it's pretty much become my main rcvr. You can't beat the price, the performance is good and it's a lot of fun. As someone mentioned, the rcvr is only as good as the antenna and mine if pretty decent, so that helps a lot.

Offline PirateSWL

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Re: Thinking of getting a SDR
« Reply #6 on: October 28, 2016, 1834 UTC »
Thinking about buying the SDR Play as well. What else do I need to buy with it to hook it up to the computer and RG-58 with a PL-259 connector ?
Brian D. - PirateSWL
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Offline curious george

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Re: Thinking of getting a SDR
« Reply #7 on: October 29, 2016, 0238 UTC »
Brian, at a minimum you're going to need an SMA male to UHF female SO-239 adapter and a shielded USB cable with ferrite chokes.  Since you're likely to buy the SDRplay from HRO (they're on sale right now), they also offer the adapter: http://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-014408
http://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-008512

The USB cable you can buy on Amazon: http://amzn.to/1zkgFTQ

Depending on your location, you may suffer from overload from AM stations, so you might  also need a BCB filter.

There's a bit of a learning curve, especially if this is your first SDR.  Fortunately, there's a very active support community for the SDRPlay, this page has some links to the various software guides, "cookbooks", and the Facebook page: http://www.sdrplay.com/windows.html  (look on the side under "Community Information")
« Last Edit: October 29, 2016, 0240 UTC by curious george »

Offline moof

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Re: Thinking of getting a SDR
« Reply #8 on: October 29, 2016, 2123 UTC »
my AM interference 2cents
I thought I had a lot of spikes everywhere due to the close AM powerhouse.  I got the PAR-BCST-HPF AM filter.
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/filters/4426.html
It DESTROYS to virtually zero all signals 500-1600ish but made no difference in my spikes on the screen or SWL experience.  I guess the spikes everywhere are related to my terrible noise related to our house electrical supply.  I will have S7+ noise until I move but the damn thing is almost paid off.

Offline Token

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Re: Thinking of getting a SDR
« Reply #9 on: October 30, 2016, 1346 UTC »
And a vote against, or at least not really in support of, the SDRPlay here.  Not that the SDRPlay is not a decent receiver, it is OK, it is just not particularly good.  With that said, at its price point you won't find anything better.  If your budget keeps you under $200 then this is the thing for you.

So lets talk requirements.  Do you want an SDR to listen to HF?  Or do you want one to listen to VHF and up?  What kind of budget are you looking at?

If your focus is HF I would not recommend the SDRPlay or any similar SDR.  I would instead recommend one actuality designed for primarily HF use, and if possible with at least 14 bit A/D.

The AFEDRI SDR is really quite decent, it is only 12 bit, but is still pretty good.

The Elad FDM-S2 is a good receiver.  I am not a big fan of the software layout, but other people seem to like it.  The hardware itself is pretty darned good.

The RFSpace CloudIQ is a good piece of hardware.  I have not owned one of these yet, but I have used them on remotes, and they seem to be quite good.

And then the prices get bigger, but the abilities and performance also increase.

The Microtelicom Perseus is getting a little long of tooth, but it is still a great receiver.

The WinRadio G31DDC and G33DDC are simply fantastic, the G33DDC is tied for my favorite and is quite possibly the best receiver I have ever owned.  And I am counting all the classics in there, SP-600, Drakes, anything.  The G31DDC is almost as good and a bit over half the price.  The problem with both of these receivers is the 3rd party software support, there is very little of that.  If you like the software that comes with them you will enjoy the radio, if you do not, and want to use other software, you have a very limited selection.  Fortunately I think the WinRadio software is great, but not everyone agrees.

The RFSpace NetSDR is the other radio tied for my favorite.  It may not quite be as good a receiver as the G33DDC, maybe, but it is a better tool and supported by more 3rd party software.

The selection is quite varied.  From low cost to expensive, from plug and play to "got to tweak the software".  As a general rule you get what you pay for, but that doe s not mean the low cost stuff is not OK, it only means the higher cost stuff is generally better.

T!
T!
Mojave Desert, California USA

Offline MDK2

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Re: Thinking of getting a SDR
« Reply #10 on: October 30, 2016, 1433 UTC »
Token,

An important consideration would be the learning curve, and whether any of your recommended SDR's are good for beginners. As my college photography instructor told me (when she made us all get very basic SLR cameras like the Pentax K1000v you don't learn to drive in a Lambourghini.x Can you tell us if these SDR's are easy to learn, whether support is good or not, and if there are online groups comperable with those that the SDRPlay has available?

Speaking for myself, I became very interested in the Cloud IQ and Elad based on your earlier remarks several months ago, but concluded that they might be too complex for newbies who aren't necessarily good for someone like myself (still inexperienced with sw listening, has never used a complex rig with dozens of controls, not great at learning software without a lot of support). Shadypyro may be further down the road than me.

Thank you.
« Last Edit: October 30, 2016, 1904 UTC by MDK2 »
Denver, CO.
SDRPlay RSPdx & RSP2pro, Airspy Discovery HF+, Icom IC-7100, Grundig Satellit 750, Realistic DX-300, Tecsun PL-600.
MLA-30 active loop, G5RV dipole.
eQSLs appreciated wickerjennie at gmail

Offline Token

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Re: Thinking of getting a SDR
« Reply #11 on: October 30, 2016, 1754 UTC »
As a general rule, the less expensive the SDR the more tweaking the software takes to make it do basic functions.  An exception to this is the SDRPlay with SDRUno, they have done an excellent job of making that thing pretty much plug and play under windows.

For basic functionality the WinRadio G33/31, the Perseus, and the NetSDR using SpectraVue could hardly be simpler.  In the case of the WinRadios and Perseus (and SDRPlay) you install the program, plug in or turn on the radio and you are operating.  The NetSDR takes one extra step since it is on the network with your PC, you have to select the "Find" button under the Setup menu.

Enter the frequency you want to hear, click the mode you want, and you have audio.  Ready to go.

Tailoring things is a  bit of a learning curve for each SDR, and it varies quite a bit by software.  In my opinion the RFSpace SpectraVue software is easiest to learn, this is partially because it is more basic, the Perseus software next easiest, the WinRadio after that, SDRUno after that, and Elad after that.

Several of these SDRs can work with other software, like SDR-Console, but in general setting them up to work with 3rd party software takes a bit more effort, and after setup it can take a bit longer to learn the abilities than with the factory software.

Like I said above, for the radios at the top of the easy list the basic operations are easy, once you have the software installed it is at least as easy as taking a traditional radio out of the box, turning it on, and tuning in your first station.  The more advanced capabilities are a bit of a learning curve.

The Perseus software has a lot of capability that is not immediately clear.  Menus and windows that once you know exist are great, but until you do you can sometimes bang your head.  The WinRadio software is more clear on the windows and menus, but sometimes things like setting thresholds and levels on the displays are not straight forward.  Just tuning the Elad can be a chore the first time, but once you learn how to do it there is no issue.

In my opinion using these radios has no steeper a learning curve than any new, full featured, DSP dial faced radio.

Support from the company varies greatly, from none to some, but still not great (in my opinion).  In my dealings Perseus has been the hardest to get an answer from, with WinRadio second hardest.  Not really had to deal with Elad and SDRPlay vendor support, so I don't really have an answer on those.  However each of these radios has an online community.  You may find user will give you more information than the people who sell the SDRs.

T!
« Last Edit: October 30, 2016, 1757 UTC by Token »
T!
Mojave Desert, California USA

Offline ChrisSmolinski

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Re: Thinking of getting a SDR
« Reply #12 on: October 30, 2016, 1843 UTC »
RF Space has a good online presence, they have several mailing lists, and it is easy to get answers to questions. Pietr also hangs out from time to time on the various IRC channels.

I have experience with a few SDRs, I'll summarize them here:

netSDR from RF Space: This is my main "go to" SDR. I use it nightly for the SDR recordings I make of the 43 meter (6800-7000 kHz) band. I also use it for a lot of general purpose listening. As Token has said, it is a fabulous radio. Not cheap, but you cannot go wrong buying it. I recently installed the VHF/UHF converter, and have been pleasantly surprised with the results. I also have the 10 MHz reference input option, which I feed from a GPS derived reference. I did this primarily for the times I look at the dozens of carriers that are present on any MW channel, day or night, as they are closely spaced and all have their own drift patterns, which would be lost due to the normal drift of the A/D clock oscillator. This is certainly not an option the casual listener needs, but when you use a Cadillac SDR, you may as well go for the leather seats  ;D

I use the third party SdrDx software with the netSDR, as well as the SDR-14 below. This lets me run native on the Mac, and not have to deal with Windows in any way, shape, or form. There is a Windows version of SdrDdx as well, however, although I have never used it. It should be the same feature-wise as the Mac version. I'm in close contact with the SdrDx author, and he is continuously maintaining it. It works with the AFEDRI SDRs as well. He is open to adding support for other SDRs, providing they do not use a USB interface, or if they have a USB to networking adapter program available (such as for the SDR-14/IQ, or the one I wrote for RTL dongles).

SDR-14: This was my previous SDR. I can't even remember when I got it, probably shortly after they came out. I had a lot of fun with it, though it shows it's age in comparison to modern SDRs. A 14 bit A/D vs the 16 bit in the netSDR. No bandbass filters like the netSDR, so you do sometimes get images. The interface is USB not ethernet, which I really don't like. I am not sure why so many modern SDRs use USB. OK, I know why, it is a little cheaper. But it is a PITA to deal with drivers and such. C'mon folks, get with it, and use ethernet. OK, rant mode off. You can still find SDR-14s, as well as its cousin the SDR-IQ, on the used market. Are they worth it? Depends on the price. If you can get one cheap, and can't afford much more, perhaps. But if they are in the $250 range and up, you are likely better off buying something new for about the same price.

AFEDRI: I recently got a dual channel AFE822x SDR. My two reasons for getting this was first to play around with phasing and diversity reception (which sadly I have no had much time to do) as well as use it as a general purpose RF measurement/test tool (which I have done a little bit). I ended up replacing my SDR-14 with this, and use it for my nightly DGPS recordings, as well as looking at the 48m Europirate band, and other bands when the netSDR is busy recording 43m.   It only has a 12 bit A/D, but it seems comparable to the SDR-14 in performance, with the added bonus that it samples up to 2 MHz, vs just 190 kHz for the SDR-14. Plus it has an ethernet interface, yay. (It also has a USB interface if you like living in the Stone Age)  I'm generally happy with it, I think it offers a lot of value for the price. Alex, the owner of AFEDRI, is responsive both via direct email as well as on their mailing list. AFEDRI is located in Israel, shipping charges to the US are not too bad, I think I paid $24 for EMS shipping for mine, it arrived in a few days.

RTL Dongles: I've played around with these on VHF/UHF, I have two of them. They work great for decoding aircraft radar transponders at 1090 MHz, as well as general purpose listening. There's a huge, no, insane number of third party programs for them, for decoding all sorts of things. The performance/price ratio is huge, but mostly because the price is so cheap. They're what, $15 or so?  Now, my experience is purely on VHF/UHF. While not an R-7000, they are great there, and if you do any VHF/UHF listening, you really should get one, if just to play around with.

I know there's a lot of converters out there to use them on HF, as well as mods to do direct sampling, etc. I have not used them myself this way, but from what I have read, as well as knowing a bit about how they work, I am not really sure there is much value here. There's a big difference between using an 8 bit SDR on VHF/UHF, and one on HF. Between the huge dynamic range differences in signals, overloading, images, etc.... I think you'll drive yourself crazy. If you really want to experiment with this, sure, knock yourself out. I suppose on an extremely low budget, it makes a nice spectrum display. But don't expect to use an RTL dongle as an HF DXing machine.

As Token said earlier, if you absolutely need to stay under $150 for an HF SDR, get an SDRPlay. But if you can spend a bit more, consider something a notch up from that.
« Last Edit: October 30, 2016, 1911 UTC by ChrisSmolinski »
Chris Smolinski
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netSDR / AFE822x / AirSpy HF+ / KiwiSDR / 900 ft Horz skyloop / 500 ft NE beverage / 250 ft V Beam / 58 ft T2FD / 120 ft T2FD / 400 ft south beverage / 43m, 20m, 10m  dipoles / Crossed Parallel Loop / Discone in a tree

Offline MDK2

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Re: Thinking of getting a SDR
« Reply #13 on: October 30, 2016, 1903 UTC »
Chris, Token, thank you very much for your detailed answers and recommendations.
Denver, CO.
SDRPlay RSPdx & RSP2pro, Airspy Discovery HF+, Icom IC-7100, Grundig Satellit 750, Realistic DX-300, Tecsun PL-600.
MLA-30 active loop, G5RV dipole.
eQSLs appreciated wickerjennie at gmail

Offline skeezix

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Re: Thinking of getting a SDR
« Reply #14 on: November 23, 2016, 2247 UTC »
This thread is perfect timing as I've been looking to get another SDR lately. Have had a Perseus for a few years and really like it. This past summer, picked up the new version of the RTL-SDR and a HackRF. It seemed time to get another one for the lower part of the spectrum.

Had it down to: NetSDR+, CloudIQ, and AFEDRI. NetSDR+ is nice. Too expensive for now, however its still on the list.

CloudIQ & AFEDRI were the finalists. After thinking about it a while, decided to go with the AFEDRI 822x (dual antenna). Placed an order for it this morning. CloudIQ is still on the list too, but want to wait until I hear more about it.

Plans are to be able to extract data directly from it and do analysis (much like what Chris does). Also want to see what can be done with the dual antennas.

Thanks to Token & Chris for the comments, made things easy.

Minneapolis, MN