SDR Uno - first impressions

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

SDR Uno - first impressions

Post by DaveB » Tue Jun 21, 2016 10:28 pm

It is going to take a while to get familiar with all the controls but the layout looks good. You can set up the various pop-up windows above the main RX display quite neatly. How to get them to stay there for next time needs investigating.

My thoughts for FM-DX use which is 98% of my interest in reception.
The key requirements are:
to be able to have a file recording the frequency / RDS PI code / PS name etc for later retrieval
RDS data automatically resetting when changing frequency
Unfiltered audio at 192 kHz sample rate - in MME - to feed RDSSpy
Note: the preset bandwidths for WFM/SFM are inadequate. 120 kHz is too narrow for full RDS sensitivity and 192 kHz is too wide. 135 kHz and 150 kHz would be good additions. I haven't attempted manually setting things yet.

A frequency scanner - CSVUserBrowser List will drive SDR Uno. As I've already got it set up to drive HDSDR I just set the com port and baud rate to match the existing set up under the CAT set-up - and away it went. One very good point the frequency stays centred. It may not be a scanner but it can step through a preset frequency list. However - not much use if RDS data isn't being recorded - but it is early days.

I/Q imbalance suppression - as good as with SDR# - around 55-60dB suppression. I presume that that it uses the auto setup in the API as you can't improve the suppression using the manual option. I would like to be able to turn off the auto I/Q imbalance to see if manula fine tuning can achieve a better result (as it does on HDSDR).

I emphasise these are my immediate thoughts and I know that it is a development project. I hope developments will be reported through this forum as I won't use Facebook.

David
Last edited by DaveB on Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am, edited 0 times in total.
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mnicolau
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2016 7:20 am

Re: SDR Uno - first impressions

Post by mnicolau » Sun Nov 27, 2016 11:18 am

Automatic translation

Hello!
I am an FMDXer and I was very happy with SDRplay with SDRuno.
Since upgrading SDRuno to version 1.1 the recordings are not compatible with other softwares.
Now I can not share my recordings with other FMDXers if they do not use SDRuno V1.1. Previously to this version all softwares to play recordings were compatible.
I would like the next update could has a MPX output to 192 Khz for RDSspy.

Thank you very much!

In Spanish

Traducción automática

¡Hola!
Soy diexista de FM y estaba muy contento con el SDRplay.
Desde que actualice SDRuno a la versión 1.1 las grabaciones no son compatibles con otros programas.
Ahora no puedo compartir mis grabaciones con otros diexistas de FM si ellos no usan SDRuno V1.1. Anteriormente a esta versión si eran compatibles todos los programas para reproducir grabaciones.
Me gustaría pedirles que para la próxima actualización si podrían sacar una salida MPX a 192 Khz para RDSspy.
También vendría bien un manual en idioma español.
¡Gracias!
Last edited by mnicolau on Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am, edited 0 times in total.
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13dka
Posts: 136
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2016 8:40 am

Re: SDR Uno - first impressions

Post by 13dka » Fri Dec 02, 2016 5:08 pm

First off, I've had my share of troubles with the RSP1, but if there's one thing it's just brilliant at and never disappoints, then it's FMDX! So far I was never lucky enough to have some tropo conditions higher than a '1' or a partial '2' on the Hepburn index but still I received plenty of stations beyond the horizon with it (up to 400km), with an improvised 1.5m wire whip stuck out of an attic window (2nd floor) as a vertical. Now I use it with my 2x10m shortwave dipole hanging even lower in the backyard, and it still picks all of the stations you'd only expect to get with much more elaborate gear. Last week I got BBC Radio 1 off the Holme Moss transmitter site, with only a meager patch of inversion worth some 1-2 "Hepburns" between here and Yorkshire, that's 740km (across the North Sea). Apparently it matches the sensitivity and excels the selectivity of the most merited and heavily modified classic FM tuners used for that hobby, and adds a lot of flexibility and comfort. The RSP1 really got me interested in FMDX!

Now here's where SDRUno comes into play. Its existing list import and "follow VRX" features come in really handy when you create a "localized" userlist on FMSCAN.org:

http://fmscan.org/perseus.php

Enter your location, create a Winradio CSV list (Perseus userlist.txt worked too but the output didn't jive as brilliantly with SDRUno) for FM (or AM/SW for that matter) and import it in SDRUno, then save it as a new bank (so it always shows up on the files pane for quick selection) . Now when you scan the band, the memory window will show you a list of possible stations for a frequency, sorted for probability of reception at your location. Before I learned about that site, I had to do a lot of list browsing, googling, listening, checking parallel frequencies and guessing before I could identify some station unequivocally. Now the list is narrowing down the possible candidates a lot and I get more stations logged than ever before.

Of course there's still room for improvement (for example a nice station display on the spectrum (like SDR# or the software coming with the Elad SDRs) reminding you of the standard station you usually get at this frequency would make things even faster and nicer to look at). Still, I can only imagine how very tedious FMDX must have been in the pre-internet days. :mrgreen:

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

Re: SDR Uno - first impressions

Post by g1hbe » Sat Dec 03, 2016 9:08 am

I'm not an FM DX listener, but on the odd occasion I've used the RSP and SDRUno to tune around the FM band I've noticed it performs extremely well, pulling usable audio out of signals that other receivers really struggle with.

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Andy

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

Re: SDR Uno - first impressions

Post by 13dka » Mon Dec 05, 2016 9:31 pm

Just found out that SDRuno has one little thing ahead of the competition (not only) for FMDX: On occasion of a current mild tropo opening I just learned how useful the passband tuning feature (use the right mouse button to move the whole filter passband left or right) can be when you have a local powerhouse station and a weak DX station one 100kHz channel higher or lower, you can move the filter away from the nasty deviation peaks splattering onto the frequency of interest, which sounds (I believe) a tad more intelligible than making the filter even narrower (below 80kHz it's getting increasingly distorted).

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