PLEASE BE AWARE OF FAKE RSP DEVICES
THEY WON’T WORK WITH ALL OUR SOFTWARE*!
ONLY BUY FROM A TRUSTED RESELLER
There are sellers of fake RSPs on the internet. They are selling counterfeit devices some of which appear cosmetically the same as the genuine SDRplay® devices. There is a high likelihood that these devices will not work – according to unsuspecting buyers* who have contacted us.
These counterfeit devices attempt to make use of:
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Stolen IP
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Stolen software product (SDRplay proprietary API and driver software)
In addition, the counterfeiters have no access to our rigorous production test solution and so these devices are probably untested
* Here’s what one AliExpress customer posted:
Above: What one AliExpress customer experienced
People have bought fake devices in the belief that they are getting a genuine SDRplay product. They find they don’t work and then contact our HELP desk and we discover they have a counterfeit device and we are unable to help them.
The rogue sellers often use genuine pictures and descriptions copied from genuine reseller sites or from SDRplay.com
Simple rules:
Make sure the seller is who they say they are.
Make sure the seller is someone you personally know and trust, OR is a reseller listed on: https://www.sdrplay.com/distributors/
If it says “from China” avoid – there are no genuine international resellers from China that we know of, apart from MyHamPlace who sell within China.
Avoid BangGood and AliExpress totally
Avoid Walmart – they too, are ONLY selling fake devices!
With Amazon, double check the vendor is listed on our trusted reseller list
With eBay be very very careful – there are more fakes than real – check contact details and be sure the vendor is listed on our trusted reseller list
ooo OOO ooo
Below are more examples taken from recent blogs on the subject:
Our RSPs have several imitations – some are real attempts to duplicate the functionality by copying the design. Other fake postings are “cut and paste” mis-representations of genuine SDRplay resellers’ webpages. These can be really hard to notice. A site called calvinpus.com has recently been carrying product items which mimic a genuine reseller’s artwork and product description (see the bottom screen shot below for an example).
Here’s an example of one of Walmart’s listings for a fake RSP1A –
So be careful. The fake copies are unlikely to work with SDRplay software including SDRuno. There will be no technical support if you buy a counterfeit device.
Even when you see what looks like a genuine post, double check the reseller is either a company you know and trust OR is listed here: https://www.sdrplay.com/distributors/
Just doing 4 searches we saw these results:
Jan Hrach reported the following when trying to repair this kind of thing!:
One Canadian customer paid $61 only to get a tracking number – and then 3 weeks later he got a 10 cent plastic cable tidy in the mail! All this delays the point at which the customer realises he or she has been taken for a ride! By then, some of these sellers have closed down and changed their name yet again! Others keep going because they sell 1000s of genuine trinkets and just a few 10s of fraudulent products, thereby retaining their 97% customer satisfaction score.
Of course there are other speculators who will charge you a a 50%+ mark-up, and then buy and resell the genuine device and add their profit!
So safe shopping everyone!
Here’s the purchasing link to our website – enter your country and proceed through the pages, to see the taxes and shipping costs which we charge ( You won’t be charged until you enter credit card information) : https://www.sdrplay.com/purchase/
As a footnote, we are grateful to those of you out there who report fake units to the websites and others responsible for encouraging them. In particular we’d like to thank Frank, K4FMH for all his work in this area. Checkout his blog on https://www.amateurradio.com/ah-geez-play-fair-with-sdrplay-and-if-some-dont-heres-what-can-be-done/