News

Summer greetings (to all in the northern hemisphere)  – apologies for the slow news flow the last few weeks – due to a slow down on the marketing front with yours truly distracted by some family issues and  vacation time but be assured work is continuing on the software front and we hope to have the next release of SDRconnect out very soon.

I was recently in France and had great fun accessing my home-based Raspberry Pi4 and RSPdx-R2  – I found I could use it for a much better receive signal than I could achieve with a relatively poor temporary antenna in the Dordogne.  I actually had a couple of QSOs around Europe where my transmit signal was getting out on 20m yet my local ICOM 718 was unable to pull them from the noise. But the RSPdx-R2 in the UK was giving superb reception – obviously this is a mixture or propagation quirks as well as having remote access to a much better set-up.  But it does add a new dimension to operating away from the home QTH.

New video added (August 19th):

For more on using SDRconnect remotely with a choice of server hardware, see the videos on: https://www.sdrplay.com/sdrconnectvideoguides/

Ham Radio 2024 at Friedrichshafen proved a great opportunity to gather customer feedback by chatting with a constant stream of visitors. SDRplay was there with demos of the lastest SDRconnect client and server software running on a number of platforms including Windows, Linux/Raspberry Pi and MacOS.  Of special interest was our abilty to show the excellent LF performance of the new RSPdx-R2 by connecting remotely to one in the UK,  and demonstrating how clearly NDB signals could be received.

At the show, we were guests of CJ Elektronik – Funk24 but I was also able to spend time with two of the other SDRplay resellers, Bonito and Funtechnik Dathe,  on their stands.

Above: Windows , Raspberry Pi 4  and MacOS demos

Lots of people came up to me saying they already had at least one or two, some even more RSPs!  Many people wanted to share their positive experiences of using SDRconnect and the new RSP1B which was very satisfying. Interestingly more than half of those who already had units had not yet tried SDRconnect, so this was a great opportunity to show it to them.  There were also many people still enjoying SDRuno who came with their questions.

Here is a selection of the comments made to me:  “What’s the difference between the RSPdx and the RSPdx-R2?”, “What’s the difference between the RSP1B and the original RSP/RSP1A? “, “I like the simplicity of SDRconnect compared to SDRuno”, “I want to use the RSP as a panadapter but I don’t have RX out on my transceiver – what do you recommend for a T/R switch”,  “Oh yes, I use my RSP for Q100” (wanting our s/w to handle frequency offsets to represent signals above 2GHz),  “Oh your software runs on Raspberry Pi?, great”,   “When is rig control coming”, “I want brighter colours”, “The SDRconnect S-meter (green bar) is dim compared to SDRuno”, “I want RDS”  or “I need RDS for FM DXing, especially the PI code”, “Will there be a DAB module soon?”, “I really want plugins/modules for 433MHz so I can decode weather station info/ car wheel tyre-gauge info/Tetra”, “I wish I could set and keep filter settings”, “Where is the server software?” (not realising it’s with the download )  and “When will there be plugins/modules for SDRconnect?”   These are mostly things we have heard before and we hope to address the majority of them in the coming months with website improvements, updated video guides and/or software updates.

Above: l to r: Christian, Jon, Matthaus and Rike from Funk24

I also enjoyed  meeting, (for the first time)  Dino, from Hamradioshop.it, our Italian reseller and Salvador, from Astroradio, our Spanish reseller.   I also met Manuel, from our Swedish reseller, Limmared, whom I’d met before. We really appreciate the hard work and dedication of our European reseller network.  Other meetings which were very interesting included our friend Frank Werner Krippendorf who has done so much work on linux software for RSP users. He now works for https://aaronia.com/ whose customers sometimes need access to low cost hardware.  I also met with Marcus Mueller, GNU radio architect who was very enthusiastic about RSPs as a serious hardware option for GNU radio users – we will work together to update the links and wording on the GNU radio tutorial site.

In summary, many thanks to everyone who came to say hello and for all the feedback and comments.

Above: Jon and Dennis from Bonito in front of their SDRconnect demo

Above: Jon and Daniel from Funtechnik-Dathe

Above: Jon with Dino from Hamradioshop.it

Preview 3 of SDRconnect has been released. SDRconnect is the multiplatform SDRplay software for Windows, Mac and Linux/Raspberry Pi.  Development is continuing and features are being added as soon as possible.

Click here for the SDRconnect page (including downloads for each platform)

SDRconnect Preview 3 includes these additions and changes:

Added
• RSPdxR2 Support.
• Tabulated frequency module to store and manage frequencies.
• Audio recording pre-roll buffering with up to 10 seconds history.
• MPX view for WFM signals.
• Spectrum peak hold with decay added to the Audio SP view.
• Recording settings are now saved.
Changed
• Layout has been adjusted to make it look better on smaller screen resolutions.
• Several updates to both the spectrum and waterfall displays to improve the overall look and feel.

Please note: Version Preview 3 was first released on 10th May (along with an update to SDRuno) to enable operation with the new RSPdx-R2 also announced that day.  There were some bugs in that release which are now fixed in today’s release (May 19th 2024):

-Mac (x64 and ARM64) were crashing on exit due to issues with the json output.
-Some of the text was either clipped by a bounding box or edge of a panel.
-VRXs were not receiving changes from the main receiver.

Full release notes  can be found here.

Some of the new features are now demonstrated in the introductory video in our collection of SDRconnect video guides

We will be adding video updates in the coming weeks.

Here’s Steve, KI5ENW –  recoderded live  from the Ham Radio Outlet booth in Building 3 at Hamvention, Dayton, Ohio.  There was a steady stream of costomers, old and new on Day 1 – keen to ask questions and find out more about the latest members of the RSP family and updates to our multi-platform SDRconnect software.  A key highlight was the remote server access demo –  looking at signals from Europe.

Above: The tranquil scene on “set-up” day 

Click below to see HRO’s live video of Steve, KI5ENW talking through some of the demonstrations:

Mike KD2KOG and Steve KI5ENW will be demonstrating the new RSPdx-R2 at Hamvention, Dayton, Ohio this weekend (May 17-19 2024).  They will be on the HRO booth in Building 3. If you’re there – come and say hi. If you’re not there, tell your friends to drop by and say hi from you! It’s a great opportunity for the SDRplay team to get face-to-face feedback from customers, old and new. HRO only have a limited number of units for sale with them so best to get there on the Friday if you want to pick one up there and then.

Mike and Steve will also be showing the latest multi-platform SDRconnect software and answering questions:

Here’s a map of Building 3 showing the HRO booth:

See the latest review from Tech Minds here.

For more about Hamvention 2024, click here.

Check out all the SDRplay products here: https://www.sdrplay.com/products/

SDRplay is pleased to announce the launch of the RSPdx-R2 which is an enhanced version of the RSPdx.

Global supply chain support issues have prompted some redesign of our existing products to ensure continued supply for our UK manufacturing partners. With each new member of the RSP family, we try to include improvements. This has given us the opportunity to offer performance enhancements at the same time as assuring supply.

The RSPdx-R2 provides up to 10MHz spectrum visibility anywhere from 1kHZ to 2GHz with no gaps. It features:

• Improvements to the RSPdx for MF frequencies and below:
• Improved noise performance below 1MHz
• Improved dynamic range below 2MHz both in tuner mode and HDR mode

In other respects it is has the same additional features over and above the lower cost, single antenna RSP1B. These include:
• 3 Software selectable inputs, including a BNC input for up to 200MHz
• A 500kHz LPF for LF/VLF
• HDR mode for enhanced performance under 2MHz (using free SDRuno or SDRconnect software)
• Notch filters on all inputs

More details on https://www.sdrplay.com/rspdxR2/

The suggested retail price is £188.00 GBP (excluding VAT or shipping), $235.00 USD (excluding tax or shipping) or €225.60 EUR (excluding tax or shipping).

First production has begun and we have started shipping to resellers worldwide.

To purchase, go to: https://www.sdrplay.com/purchasehome/

For those going to Hamvention in Dayton, Ohio next week, Mike, KD2KOG and Steve, KI5ENW will be demonstrating the new RSPdx-R2 on the Ham Radio Outlet booth

Both Funk24 and Bonito will be at Funktag Kassel, Germany on Saturday April27th.  They will have the new RSP1B on show and can answer your questions about both the hardware and the new multi-platform SDRconnect software.  Funk24 also specialise in Raspberry Pi support

Messe Kassel
Damaschkestrasse 55
34121 Kassel