Comparison with FCD Pro +

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sdrplay
Posts: 978
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2015 7:58 am

Comparison with FCD Pro +

Post by sdrplay » Wed Jan 07, 2015 10:54 am

Hello all, new here after seeing the review in Radio User. I currently use an FCD Pro+ and find it has pretty decent performance, certainly much better (RF wise) than the RTL sticks. The only thing I find bad about the FCD is the 190 KHz span, which feels very cramped. I see the SDR play can display up to 8 MHz, but is this the only advantage it has?\nMy second point is the power of the PC needed to take full advantage of the 8 MHz span - what are the recommended specs? So far I have had no problems running either the FCD or the RTL sticks (up to full 3 MHz span) on my modest laptop (P6200 at 2.3 GHz, Windows 7).

sdrplay
Posts: 978
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2015 7:58 am

Re: Comparison with FCD Pro +

Post by sdrplay » Wed Jan 07, 2015 1:18 pm

Hi Andy,\n\nThe main advantages of the SDRplay module are the 8MHz wide bandwidth. We also support reception of frequencies below 50MHz, unlike some units (lowest reception is 100kHz) . In addition to this we also provide the Mirics demodulators as free downloads. This currently includes DVBT for TV reception in Europe and the FM/DAB demodulators with associated player. It is planned the ISDB-T and ISDB-T 1seg will follow in the future. As for minimum PC specifications for 8MHz wide bandwidth DVB-T Demodulation we recommend a minimum of a core 2 duo architecture. DVBT is actually very load intensive so if you’re looking to use 8MHz of BW for narrowband reception like AM/FM you should have no problems. Ultimately as the processing is done on the PC it very much depends upon the efficiency of your choice of code. I think your setup would be fine if you were using an efficient code base like SDR-Console.\n\nbtw, did you get my email response to your question?\n

sdrplay
Posts: 978
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2015 7:58 am

Re: Comparison with FCD Pro +

Post by sdrplay » Wed Jan 07, 2015 1:18 pm

Thanks for the info Ian. I ordered one anyway and it arrived yesterday, so many thanks for the prompt service.\nIt runs smooth as silk at all b/ws on my ''better'' laptop, which has an i3 3110 running at 2.4 GHz. It''s a bit hesitant on my P6200 at anything above 1,5 MHz bw, but I think there may be something nasty lurking within, as I am getting some odd things generally on that laptop.\nThe only real complaint at the moment is the way the smaller bw''s are displayed in SDR Sharp - they don''t fill the display. Zooming in puts it right, but it''s not really an answer. Will this be corrected in the next software release?\nBTW, I did not get any e-mail. If it was in response to my q about a non-responsive control panel, I now realise that the player has to be stopped before changes can be made. Ha, ever felt a fool? Thanks.

sdrplay
Posts: 978
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2015 7:58 am

Re: Comparison with FCD Pro +

Post by sdrplay » Wed Jan 07, 2015 1:19 pm

I agree with Andy and I want to say my opinion about the usage of SDRplay with SDR#.\nI will post in the other branch of this forum "Using SDR# to drive the SDRplay RSP

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