Why buy a sdrplay

[Scooby300]

Hi All
I am thinking seriously to buy one of these how easy are they to use setup ect can you use dsd+ with them to decode digital signals not encrypted. What would be the best indoor antenna to use, when using sdrsharp with it can you scan through frequencies or just manually put in the frequency lots of things to ask don't know we're to start I have a rtl/sdr dongle at the moment but it's not very good or I just haven't got a clue how to use it lol.could do with some advice please.
Thanks
John
Ps Hi everyone I am new here big hello to you all

[Tech_Support]

Hello John,
As well as this forum, if you are a Facebook user, there is a very active (and friendly) public Facebook group where you can get lots of helpful inputs, tips and advice at https://www.facebook.com/groups/sdrplay/?fref=ts

Sincerely

Tech_Support

[jon]

Look here to see how Paul suggests you can use DSD+ viewtopic.php?t=142

regarding antennas, I'm not sure what frequencies you are considering but I imagine VHF/UHF. The Discone antenna is pretty popular - available in the US from Ham Radio Outlet for example or in the UK Waters and Stanton - these typically give unidirectional broadband coverage from 25MHz up to either 1.3GHz or even 2GHz.... the cheaper variety are receive only. Some come with coax. They do take up quite a bit of room. Make sure you terminate the coax with a male SMA plug for plugging into the RSP antenna socket. (or get the appropriate adapter)

For a smaller antenna solution (window sill) and say if you mainly use it on a couple of bands, then a quarter wave whip antenna with a simple ground-plane will work quite well close to an upstairs window. An alternative is a simple half wave dipole (inner coax to one 1/4 wave stub and the outer of the coax connected to another quarter wave stub - each stub can be normal copper bell-wire or household mains flex). Even wire taped to a window can be very effective. To work out the size, a look here for a handy calculator http://www.csgnetwork.com/antennageneri ... ncalc.html

Best regards, Jon

[k3uk]

I think the question might be why NOT buy one. The price for most Europeans, North Americans, and many Asian and Oceania residents is well within the average budget . I read the reviews first but also though "for the price I'm willing to take the risk" . It is not like spending a thousand Euros on some of the higher end SDRs. I am not much of a VHF or UHF listening but my HF experience has been very positive when it comes to the SDRplay. When comparing the receive capability of my SDRplay to my Flex transceiver, I do not see much difference.