Happy Christmas
Thank you to all our customers – for your encouragement and enthusiasm.
From the SDRplay team
About Jon
Posts by Jon Hudson:
A new Facebook Group for SDRuno Plugin developers and users
SDRplay has started a new Facebook group for SDRuno Plugin Developers – this group is open to both developers and end users alike.
It is designed to be a place of learning, sharing, helping and for suggesting plugins.
Please note that this is strictly for plugin development and any non-plugin posts will be removed.
So, for all plugin users and developers, please join us at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sdrunoplugindevelopers
Note: you will need to answer the question on the membership application and also tick the box to agree to the rules before being approved.
We look forward to seeing you there.
More about SDRuno Plugins can be found at: https://www.sdrplay.com/plugins/
New Webinar – all about SDRuno Plugins
On Sunday 20th December , SDRplay hosted a live YouTube webinar all about SDRuno plugins. Many thanks to all who participated via live chat. The webinar explained the plugin system and showcased the current plugins – there was also a section at the end, especially for plugin developers. For those who missed it or who would like to view it again, here’s the link: https://youtu.be/qCFsIsZYPKQ
We have done many webinars during 2020, many of which are still available – for more information and links, go to: https://www.sdrplay.com/webinars/
Seasons Greetings and latest on RSP availability
A very happy holiday season to all RSP users from all of us at SDRplay. We will do our best to support you and any of your friends and family who might receive a new RSP as a gift in the coming weeks. An RSP1A makes a very nice gift for both the old and the young. In the case of the old, there are many retired folks looking for a hobby. These are people who way back, long before the internet era, were inspired by the magic of wireless communications. Some may have been short wave listeners or even radio amateurs for a while. An RSP1A together with SDRuno and its easy to use band buttons is a great way to jump back in (assuming they have access to a windows PC and can string up some wire as an antenna). Among the youngsters are many who by the age of 13 or 14 have really mastered a Raspberry Pi and maybe even getting a bit bored as to what new things they can do with it. An RSP1A gives them the radio spectrum to play with. The computing community has barely scratched the surface of what cool new applications could auto-tune into relevant signals.
Regarding stocks of the RSPs, right now SDRplay and most of our resellers on www.sdrplay.com/distributors/ have plenty of stock of all three RSP models. However if you buy direct from our website then overseas shipping times via courier may be extended both due to seasonal volumes and also additional Covid and Brexit related logistical anomalies.
Audio equalisation can enhance signal readability
Mike KD2KOG just released this video showing the benefits of using EQ (audio equalisation):
Here’s a link the Black Cat Systems EQ plugin for SDRuno, which is available separately from their main suite of plugins: http://blackcatsystems.com/software/sdruno_equalizer_plugin.html
World Radio TV Handbook 2021 is out and praises the SDRplay RSPdx
The 2021 edition of the World Radio and Television Handbook is now available for purchase and includes a review of the RSPdx in which the author comments ‘This receiver excels at all types of monitoring whether it be broadcast, amateur, utility, L-Band and more. With decent aerials there is not much out there than can escape the SDRplay RSPdx. It impresses with its good overall performance, wide band coverage, small footprint, all mode reception, and powerful free software; it is also so reasonably priced that it’s hard to think what’s not to like about this great little receiver. ‘
To get a copy of the handbook – go to www.wrth.com
SDRplay Videos showing new SDRuno Plugins
Here are three new videos showing the capabilities of recently released SDRuno compatible plugins.
The first shows the latest version of FRAN – a FRequency ANnotation programme, developed by Eric Cottrell – it can read SWSKEDS or .s1b memory bank files and display the active stations from the files on the main spectrum window. This is an example of a Community Plugin
FRAN complements the DX Cluster demo plugin provided by SDRplay. This programme displays DX cluster callsigns on the SDRuno spectrum display. A DX cluster is a network of computers, each running a software package dedicated to gathering, and disseminating, information on amateur radio DX activities. With this plugin you can overlay the DX cluster callsigns as they pop up. There’s a choice of how long you let them display and you can control the way in which they appear.
Here we show it successfully tuning in to a US station flagged by the cluster. (The receiver was in the UK):
Finally there’s this new video showing the new plugin for interfacing the software suite from Black Cat Systems to SDRuno enabling DXToolbox, HF WEFAX and Slow Scan TV decodes:
Black Cat Systems has a range of software available – more information can be found at: https://blackcatsystems.com/
For more about the SDRuno plugin system for both users and potential developers, go to https://www.sdrplay.com/plugins/
Calling university lecturers wanting to teach radio communications to science undergrads
Updated November 22nd 2020
If you or anyone you know teaches STEM subjects at undergraduate level and wants to inspire a deep interest in radio communications, then the new SDRplay-sponsored teaching materials provide a great way to do this. It’s a ready-to-teach one term module (11 hours of lectures and engaging lab sessions) Teachers can register and download free materials (PowerPoint (editable) lecture slides, notes, hand-outs, lab-set-up guides, video materials, tests and so on) and join a forum of like minded teachers to share experiences and support from the authors of the materials. The official launch webinar took place on Thursday 19th November when the authors talked through the materials and answered questions submitted via live YouTube chat. Click here to view the event: https://youtu.be/gv664PcDnh0
Full details of the course can be found here: https://www.sdrplay.com/understandingradio/
Download and print the Course brochure: https://www.sdrplay.com/resources/URCInfoSheet.pdf
SDRuno V1.40.2 released
SDRuno 1.40.2 has been released. This is to fix the ini file corruption issue we posted about recently, but it also introduces some new features and more plugin functionality. Release notes can be found here: https://www.sdrplay.com/docs/SDRplay_SDRuno_Release_Notes.pdf
Please note that the SDRplay plugins and community plugin installers that are included in the SDRuno installer are also available on our downloads page and will be updated when needed independently of SDRuno. If you are installing them separately, please make sure you get the right installer for the version of SDRuno you are using.
Added
• Hotkey to start/stop stream – P.
• Support for loading and saving profiles (supports multiple VRXs).
• Profile file area in the memory panel below the memory bank file area.
• Button in the memory panel to store profiles.
• Checkbox in the main panel settings to disable and hide the Bias-T function.
• Hotkey to start/stop stream – P.
• Support for loading and saving profiles (supports multiple VRXs).
• Profile file area in the memory panel below the memory bank file area.
• Button in the memory panel to store profiles.
• Checkbox in the main panel settings to disable and hide the Bias-T function.
Changed
• LO and VFO for VRX#0 now separate on start-up and when loading a profile.
• ini file is only saved when SDRuno closes cleanly.
• Halved the size of the memory bank file are in the memory panel to accommodate the profile file
area.
• Overhaul of the minimise and restore functionality (now only main panel appears in the taskbar
when minimised).
• Plugin Control panel look/feel now matches the rest of the SDRuno panels.
• The default directory for community plugins is now the same as in the Community Plugins installer
for ease of use.
• LO and VFO for VRX#0 now separate on start-up and when loading a profile.
• ini file is only saved when SDRuno closes cleanly.
• Halved the size of the memory bank file are in the memory panel to accommodate the profile file
area.
• Overhaul of the minimise and restore functionality (now only main panel appears in the taskbar
when minimised).
• Plugin Control panel look/feel now matches the rest of the SDRuno panels.
• The default directory for community plugins is now the same as in the Community Plugins installer
for ease of use.
Fixed
• Memory panel being flagged as modified when it is not.
• Check for new version can sometimes get something other than the version number.
• HDR 630m band was non-functional due to the wrong centre frequency being used.
• If decimation had been set before the 10m band was selected, the decimation value would be
wrong after the band was unset.
• Cancelling wav file open window on start-up allowed SDRuno to continue to open with no input.
• SDRuno could crash on start-up if the memory bank referenced to be open was empty.
• Clicking on the frequency title in the memory panel to sort the frequency list could cause the
current band to be unframed.
• The Plugin Control panel will no longer allow the SDRuno Plugins folder to be selected when
using the right click method as community plugins should be stored elsewhere.
• Manual frequency entry after being band framed did not disable the notch filter.
• Pausing a memory scan could make it impossible to un-pause.
• Memory panel being flagged as modified when it is not.
• Check for new version can sometimes get something other than the version number.
• HDR 630m band was non-functional due to the wrong centre frequency being used.
• If decimation had been set before the 10m band was selected, the decimation value would be
wrong after the band was unset.
• Cancelling wav file open window on start-up allowed SDRuno to continue to open with no input.
• SDRuno could crash on start-up if the memory bank referenced to be open was empty.
• Clicking on the frequency title in the memory panel to sort the frequency list could cause the
current band to be unframed.
• The Plugin Control panel will no longer allow the SDRuno Plugins folder to be selected when
using the right click method as community plugins should be stored elsewhere.
• Manual frequency entry after being band framed did not disable the notch filter.
• Pausing a memory scan could make it impossible to un-pause.
Known Issues
• SP2 CWAFC drift issue (Zoom/window size/freq display)
• IF output mode disabled SP1 spectrum mouse clicks
• SP2 CWAFC drift issue (Zoom/window size/freq display)
• IF output mode disabled SP1 spectrum mouse clicks
Plugin information can be found on: https://www.sdrplay.com/plugins/
See how SDRplay’s RSPs are made
This video had proved very popular and so here’s a bit more about Walkbury Electronics in Peterborough who were our first of our two UK manufacturing partners. Walkbury continue to manufacture the RSPduo for SDRplay. (Our other partner is TT Electronics in Hartlepool ) We are grateful to both these great companies for managing to build RSPs throughout the Covid-19 pandemic this year.