SDRplay As a Panadapter

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Harry
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Joined: Mon Nov 02, 2015 9:47 pm

SDRplay As a Panadapter

Post by Harry » Tue Nov 03, 2015 2:55 pm

I'm relatively new to SDRplay although I've been tinkering with other SDR receivers and transceivers for a few years (e.g., SDR-IQ, Afedri SDR-Net, FlexRadio 5000A). In the past I've used the SDR-IQ and Afedri SDR-Net as panadapters to my HF rigs by inserting them into the Rx path via the rig's Rx In and Rx Out ports. With HDSDR or SDR-Radio Console I've been able to get point-and-click control over my HF rigs with excellent bandscope resolution.

For the most part, the SDRplay seems to work equally well. However, I am experience considerable intermod, ghost signals, etc. with the SDRplay that I have not had with either the SDR-IQ or Afedri. The antennas I'm using are a 5 band Hexbeam for 20m-10m and an OCF dipole for 80m-10m. Not unexpectedly, the intermod and ghost signals are with the OCF dipole and not the beam. Further, the intermod and ghost signals happen on multiple bands.

Playing with the Gain Reduction I can almost eliminate the problem on 80m and 40m with a setting of -60dB and some tweaking of the Visual Gain settings. On the higher bands a Gain Reduction of -25dB seems to be fine.

Further, I noticed with SDR-Radio Console the Gain Reduction and Visual Gain settings require more adjustment than with HDSDR. Wondering whether Simon's "gain settings" implementation in SDR-Radio Console is quirky or if he had not fully implemented the ExtIO_SDRplay.dll

So I guess where I need some help is (a) better understanding SDRplay's Gain Settings, (b) an explanation of Zero IF and Low IF, and (c) anyone else's experience using SDRplay in an HF panadapter application.

Thanks....Harry WE1X
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NN4F
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Location: Ridgeville, SC
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Re: SDRplay As a Panadapter

Post by NN4F » Sat Nov 07, 2015 4:28 am

Hi Harry,

I use the play with my FTdx3000, and as you said it's pretty good, I run on a mosley 6 band 6el and doublet for 160-40, in sdrconsole, I find i'm running at 65-80 on HF and the visual gain around 5/10 - -5/-10 all depends on the bands, Simon has just updated to v2274 and the gain setting are pretty good now, but I think he still has some work to do with the AGC, but that probably won't come to V3, and the LOW-IF will be in V3 also I think, currently console only uses the ZERO-IF settings...

Paul - NN4F
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Paul Jones - NN4F, Charleston SC
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Harry
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Re: SDRplay As a Panadapter

Post by Harry » Sat Nov 07, 2015 12:55 pm

NN4F wrote:Hi Harry,

I use the play with my FTdx3000, and as you said it's pretty good, I run on a mosley 6 band 6el and doublet for 160-40, in sdrconsole, I find i'm running at 65-80 on HF and the visual gain around 5/10 - -5/-10 all depends on the bands, Simon has just updated to v2274 and the gain setting are pretty good now, but I think he still has some work to do with the AGC, but that probably won't come to V3, and the LOW-IF will be in V3 also I think, currently console only uses the ZERO-IF settings...

Paul - NN4F
Hi Paul,

Thanks for the reply! Yes, with the OCF I'm using -60dB Gain Reduction and it seems to work fine and adjust the Visual Gain as needed per band as you said. Am using Simon's latest version and it works quite well. For some reason, maybe it's a sense of being in control, I like how the implementation is done in HDSDR better than SDR-Radio Console, but prefer Console's features. So will try to be patient for v3. Can you or someone explain Zero IF and Low IF?

BTW, the SDRplay seems to be competitive with the Afedri SDR-Net and the SDR-IQ for a panadapter application at a fraction of the cost.

Thanks again...Harry WE1X
Last edited by Harry on Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am, edited 0 times in total.
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