Happy New Year to everyone from the SDRplay Team
We are aware that people are eagerly awaiting more news on SDRconnect and whilst there have been a few delays as a result of illness, we will give a more detailed update in the next week or so outlining what can be expected in the first release of the software.
The SDRconnect information page is here: https://www.sdrplay.com/sdrconnect/
A very happy holiday season to all RSP users from all of us at SDRplay. Our technical support team will be available through the holiday period to provide support at this busy time. You can get one-to-one help by going to our help page and choosing “Tech Help” or “Other Questions” and following through to raising a ticket.
An RSP1A makes a very nice gift for anyone inquisitive about radio – this includes both the old and the young. An RSP1A together with SDRuno and its easy to use band buttons is a great way to get (or rediscover) the full-on general coverage receiver experience (assuming they have access to a windows computer and can string up some wire as an antenna).
There are still a few days left of the Holiday Special RSPdx pricing offer – for example, HRO are offering the RSPdx for $179.95 including free shipping in the USA
Regarding stocks of the RSPs, right now SDRplay and most of our resellers on www.sdrplay.com/distributors/ have stock of all three RSP models.
We are approaching the end of 2022 and intended to make available the new multiplatform SDRconnect software available at this time – we are working hard to get a first release in January – bookmark this page for ongoing news about SDRconnect: https://www.sdrplay.com/sdrconnect/
The SDRplay purchase page is here
The software team at SDRplay is working hard to make the first release of SDRconnect available as close to year end as possible. They have been hampered by sickness which is causing some delay, but we are hopeful that they will have it ready around mid-January 2023.
“SDRconnect” is the all new multiplatform SDR software for the RSP family of SDRplay receivers. It will initially run natively on Windows (10 and 11), MacOS (both ARM and x86) and Linux (both ARM and x86).
It will run on additional platforms such as Android and iOS soon after.
We have previously demonstrated the core functionality of SDRconnect at Dayton, Friedrichshafen and Newark. Now our software team is finalising the graphical user interface ready for the first release which is targeted for year end 2022/ January 2023.
The first release of SDRconnect will include basic functionality such as:
The software is highly modular and many features such as rig control and the scanner will be added via ‘modules’ rather than changes to the basic core program. This will help ensure continuity and software stability.
Functionality will be added at regular intervals. These include:
SDRconnect will fully support all current members of the RSP family (RSP1A, RSPdx, RSPduo). The now-discontinued RSP2 and RSP2pro products are also supported, although the original RSP1 (phased out in 2017) cannot be supported by SDRconnect.
(SDRuno V1.42 will continue to be available for RSP1 users on Windows).
We will soon release a new video demonstrating the features in the first release.
More information will be provided in the coming weeks on https://www.sdrplay.com/sdrconnect/
At SDRplay, we recognise that times are very tough for a lot of people. In view of the economic pressures that people are facing, we want to lend a helping hand by offering the very popular RSPdx at a special low price for this holiday buying season. After discussions with our dealer network, from Black Friday until the 31st December, we (along with participating dealers) plan to offer the RSPdx at a holiday discounted suggested retail price of £130/€156/$169.95 plus shipping and any applicable taxes. This represents a substantial discount of more than one fifth when compared to the normal retail price.
December 1st update: For USA customers, HRO are continuing to offer the RSPdx with free shipping at the special price of $179.95 (the offer accidentally disappeared from their website yesterday): https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-017027
For Australian customers – Strictly Ham now has their holiday offer running: https://www.strictlyham.com.au/sdrplay-rspdx#.Y4kc_nbP1D8
Starting midnight EST, Thursday November 24th visit https://www.sdrplay.com/purchasehome/ to purchase an RSPdx at the special price or contact your local SDRplay dealer for more details. Please also note that stocks are limited and this offer will certainly end on the 31st December and prices will revert to normal commercial levels thereafter.
This is a great opportunity to get the RSPdx as a gift for a newcomer or a returning radio enthusiast at a price which won’t be repeated, as our suppliers are already increasing their prices for the new year.
Come and see the SDRplay and Bonito antenna demonstrations at the Bonito stand at the 50th Dortmunder Amateurfunkmarkt at Messe Dortmund November 26th 2022.
The RSPdx will be on special offer
SDRplay is pleased to announce that RFbits has just launched brand new SDR receiver software called “Ortac_Rx” – and it’s been made available for SDRplay RSP owners to use from day one.
Ortac_Rx is a general purpose DSP receiver designed to have a simple front end, but having full capabilities within. It is compatible with Windows 7 to 11.
It features:
The website can be found at https://rfbits.com/one/ where there’s a link to the Ortac_Rx page from which you can download the manual and the software. ( https://rfbits.com/one/index.php/ortac_rx/ )
The site also includes a link to Ortac_AIS which is an advanced Windows dual channel AIS DSP receiver and message decoder. It is capable of decoding up to 25 messages per second simultaneously on channels A and B.
Nov 9th 2022 footnote: This third party software is not provided by SDRplay and questions regarding its operation and performance should be directed to the author. SDRplay’s own SDR receiver software, provided free of charge to RSP owners, is SDRuno: https://www.sdrplay.com/sdruno/
The title of this blog initially used the word “support” and not “compatibility” which may have been confusing as to who is supporting the software.
The UK’s largest gathering of radio amateurs takes place next weekend (October 14/15th 2022) at Newark in Nottinghamshire. See https://www.nationalhamfest.org.uk/
It’s a great opportunity to meet some of the SDRplay technical team and ask questions. This is ideal for current RSP owners with specific questions and for potential new owners. If you have friends visiting the event who are thinking about trying out an SDR receiver, then encourage them to visit us:
The SDRplay stand is in the far right hand corner as you enter from the main entrance
As well as demonstrating our upcoming SDRconnect multi-platform software running on several different platforms, we will be providing hands-on “how-to” help, for SDRuno users who want to explore new features in detail.
Steve KI5ENW from SDRplay will be at Superfest in Milwaukee on Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th September 2022
Superfest is hosted by Ham Radio Outlet and the details can be found here: Ham Radio Outlet Milwaukee, WI
Come and meet Steve and ask questions and see the latest demo of the upcoming multi-platform SDRconnect software, the development of which is still progressing well.
The SDRplay demo at Superfest 2019 – the last time it was held
SDRplay will also be at the UK National Hamfest in Newark October 14th and 15th 2022: https://www.radioenthusiast.co.uk/news/national-hamfest-2022/
Come and see the Bonito stand at DNAT22 where Dennis will be demonstrating his famous antennas along with SDRuno and the SDRplay RSP family. DNAT22 is taking place this weekend (August 27/28) in Bad Bentheim in the far north of Germany on the Dutch border. For more information visit: https://dnat.de/
The latest update to SDRuno (V1.42 build 0817) includes the much requested custom band-framing feature. Band-framing has long been a useful feature because it enables instant set-up of popular amateur or broadcast bands at the push of a button – making it very similar to using a traditional hardware radio. The picture below shows the example of selection the 20m amateur band from the “Ham Lower” dropdown menu:
However, many people would like to customise their own specific bands (it may be a subset of one of the standard offerings or indeed a span of frequencies not previously available).
This is now possible by the provision of a new custom band-framing panel which allows users to create their own choice:
Documentation is on page 66 of the updated manual: https://www.sdrplay.com/docs/SDRplay_SDRuno_User_Manual.pdf
Check out Mike KD2KOG’s new video guide to this feature:
