The new SDRPlay: RSP2

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Sasan
Posts: 124
Joined: Sat Jun 27, 2015 1:15 am
Location: Berlin

The new SDRPlay: RSP2

Post by Sasan » Tue Nov 22, 2016 8:42 am

Congratulations to the SDRPlay team for listening to the community and releasing a new product with so much exciting features.
Almost any hardware changes we requested is in the new version's features:
  • Here are the main additional features of the RSP2:
  •  10 built in front-end pre-selection filters, with substantially enhanced selectivity
  •  Frequency coverage extended down to 1 KHz
  •  Software selectable variable gain Low Noise Preamplifier
  •  2 x SMA Software Selectable 50Ω RF ports (1.5 MHz – 2 GHz)
  •  1 x High Impedance RF port (1 kHz – 30 MHz)
  •  Built in software selectable MW /FM notch filters
  •  Highly stable 0.5PPM TCXO trimmable to 0.01PPM
  •  24MHz Reference clock input / output connections
  •  4.7V Bias-T option (on one of the software selectable antenna inputs)
  •  RF screening within a strong plastic case for the standard RSP2
  •  A Rugged metal box version – the ‘RSP2pro’
I created this thread to discuss about the new product. It's ready to purchase from "sdrplay.com"
Right now I've got a question: When will the RSP2pro (metal box version) will become available and is its price determined yet?
Can you give more information about its technical characteristics versus the plastics box version? (have you tested it to see how much it affects external noise?)

Best regards and thanks again

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DF2HF, NM9A, EP2C

13dka
Posts: 136
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2016 8:40 am

Re: The new SDRPlay: RSP2

Post by 13dka » Tue Nov 22, 2016 10:16 am

First off, this is very unexpected, absolutely exiting news! Congratulations guys! I didn't expect that so soon but I'll be buying this ASAP! I jotted down a personal wishlist for a RSP1 successor at some point and on the data sheet you met all of theses wishes (OK except for the 16bit DA I wanted for some reason, well you know, more is bettererer. :)). Of course I hope the RSP2 performs considerably, or noticeably... well at least a tad better on the VHF/UHF boundary. If it does, I'm pretty sure it will become a huge success.

- One point on that wish list was a preamp that allows for using one of those SMA screw-on telescopic whips, having enough gain to match the sensitivity of small portable receivers like my PL-660 on its telescopic antenna. The idea is that I leave the PL-660 at home and just pack the RSPx, a USB cable and said whip antenna into my suitcase for some light, hassle-free listening in hotel rooms. Will the new preamp be able to do this?

I also have one little niggle already, that's about the SMA antenna ports both cutting off at 1.5MHz, so for VLF through MW you have to use the high-Z port. Is that true?

I made me an odd wire dipole for SW that works surprisingly well on VLF and (even more surprisingly) far beyond 30 MHz, keeps being really useful up to 200 MHz, and still beats my handheld scanner with telescopic antenna on 70cm (which is for the most part owed to the built-in RSP1 LNA). Totally not surprising that there is only a single coax with an SMA connector coming in from my backyard and I guess there are other fellow SWLs/monitoring enthusiasts using very wideband antennas with a single coax feed who wouldn't be overly fond of having some ugly SMA-to-bare-wire pigtail dangling around and some external switch to avoid changing ports "mechanically".

Anyway, congratulations again, thanks for being so avid and responsive in developing this great little package,I really hope it pays off for you (and us all of course)!

73's

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EA2OK
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2016 10:54 pm

Re: The new SDRPlay: RSP2

Post by EA2OK » Tue Nov 22, 2016 12:33 pm

Hi to all,

I'm not happy with this news, last week I bought 3 units of the rsp1. If I had known there was a new receiver, I would have waited a week to buy the new one......
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4nradio
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Nov 22, 2016 8:15 pm

Re: The new SDRPlay: RSP2

Post by 4nradio » Tue Nov 22, 2016 8:24 pm

Hello, the review on RTL-SDR.com says this about the ports: Ports A & B are standard 50 Ohm SMA female ports, with port A tunable from 10 kHz – 2 GHz, and port B tunable from 1.5 MHz – 2 GHz. Port B can also be used with the 4.7V bias tee.

So, although it goes well past HF, port A is usable throughout the HF range. However, there is interesting information contained in SDRPlay's YouTube video about the antenna connectors. The Hi-Z port is supposed to be best for the HF range even with 50 ohms input (with or without the addition of a reversed 9:1 balun). It sounds a bit fiddly to me in order to use a standard 50 ohms coax connection to best effect, but I do like the random wire possibilities for field use of the RSP2. Portable wire antenna types using ladder line or zip cord/speaker wire feed line (nominally 100 ohms) can work directly with this Hi-Z port also.
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NN4F
Posts: 128
Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2015 1:54 pm
Location: Ridgeville, SC
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Re: The new SDRPlay: RSP2

Post by NN4F » Tue Nov 22, 2016 9:07 pm

13dka wrote:
I also have one little niggle already, that's about the SMA antenna ports both cutting off at 1.5MHz, so for VLF through MW you have to use the high-Z port. Is that true?
Port A will work, but is slightly degraded compared to the HiZ performace....that is why it is stated as performance not guaranteed...

Paul - NN4F

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--
Paul Jones - NN4F, Charleston SC
http://www.facebook.com/groups/SDRPlay

g1hbe
Posts: 494
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2015 3:28 pm
Location: Cheshire, UK

Re: The new SDRPlay: RSP2

Post by g1hbe » Wed Nov 23, 2016 12:16 am

It's a shame that the MW notch is not operative on the hi-z input. I do quite a lot of listening in the sub-500KHz area and MW stations do cause images and stuff in this part of the spectrum. I've still ordered one though. :D I'll just knock up another LPF.

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Andy

DK7OB
Posts: 79
Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2016 7:14 am

Re: The new SDRPlay: RSP2

Post by DK7OB » Thu Nov 24, 2016 8:54 am

This is exciting news indeed.

My concerns regarding the 1.5 MHz limitation on the coax ports have been discussed.

My other concern is that there is no API support yet for the RSP2. This would be a show stopper for me since I am not running Windows. I hope the RSP2 will be supported in future API versions.

Or, an SDRUno version for Linux (wink, wink)

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g1hbe
Posts: 494
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2015 3:28 pm
Location: Cheshire, UK

Re: The new SDRPlay: RSP2

Post by g1hbe » Fri Nov 25, 2016 1:31 am

I think it should be made clear that the A and B antenna ports are NOT suitable for VLF (sub 100 KHz). I've just set my new RSP2 up, and after a few tests it is obvious that as the frequency decreases, the sensitivity via these ports falls away steeply and if the gain is increased you just get more noise and spurii. The only way to listen to VLF is to use the Hi-Z input, and I find this works well with my Wellbrook loop antenna. Even without a LPF, the spectrum is fairly clean and the signals are strong and clear.
There are some people over on the Facebook page who seem unaware that the A and B inputs are not suitable for VLF and are complaining of poor performance.
The limitations of the SMA inputs re VLF should be emphasised.

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Andy

13dka
Posts: 136
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2016 8:40 am

Re: The new SDRPlay: RSP2

Post by 13dka » Fri Nov 25, 2016 10:47 am

NN4F wrote: Port A will work, but is slightly degraded compared to the HiZ performace....that is why it is stated as performance not guaranteed...
Thanks, Paul. It looks like I have to check that for myself, but the antenna I'm using has already (deliberately, to mitigate overload problems) reduced performance down there, so that's probably not a good match.
g1hbe wrote:I think it should be made clear that the A and B antenna ports are NOT suitable for VLF (sub 100 KHz).
OK this would be moderately bad news as in "I have to re-think my antenna farm plans". On the other hand, there's 3 switchable inputs, of which 2 are apt for V/UHF and if your areas of interest go all the way up to the L-band this is certainly a big plus. So that's a 1:1 in the game "SDRPlay vs. demanding customer". But then again, now I really want 3 antennas. Minimum! :)

Re sudden, unannounced appearance of a successor a week after someone purchased 1 or more RSP1 units - I understand how this feels bad. But on the bright side, the RSP1 was quite likely considerably cheaper than the new one and it's still a capable receiver (that's probably why you bought it). It might feel less bad if you consider what you planned to do with it - many if not most of the standard applications work just fine with the RSP1 and the improvements/additions of the RSP2 may not be that important for you. But even if they are:

For example, my areas of interest cover almost everything you can do with such a receiver and - apart from the "problem zone" of the RSP1 - I had much fun with it in the past 12 months. I could certainly live another year with it, to wait for possible RSP2 teething problems ironed out, save up money for it, maybe fetch a price drop or get one of the first second-hand examples. Also, I'm not going to sell the RSP1 when I get the RSP2 - the only thing that's better than a good receiver is TWO good receivers and with the available software supporting more than one radio I will get great flexibility in dual-band operation, and I have a separate radio for long-term observations (radio astronomy!) so these activities won't hog my main rig for ages.

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DaveB
Posts: 142
Joined: Sun Feb 01, 2015 6:04 pm

Re: The new SDRPlay: RSP2

Post by DaveB » Fri Nov 25, 2016 5:11 pm

I'm not happy with this news, last week I bought 3 units of the rsp1. If I had known there was a new receiver, I would have waited a week to buy the new one
There is a 14 day money back guarantee - "if you are not happy for any reason"......

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