As someone who owns both an RSP1A and a HF+ Discovery, the airspy is simply outstanding! It is my primary HF listening device. The sensitivity, selectivity and dynamic range is unparalleled in this price range. The RSP1A however, has insane sensitivity at L-band frequencies and I use it almost everyday for SATCOM listening. Both are fantastic SDR's and get a recommendation from me!
I have had an AirSpy HF+ Discovery for 6 months and it is great, my best receiver ever. I use it with SDR Console or SDR++ as I find SDR # too complicated for an old guy like me. Enjoyed your video. Thanks.
Well Rob you've convinced me! Since watching this video a couple days ago I've been tossing around the idea about purchasing an Airspy HF+ Discovery. Watching again, and the comments, (plus being on sale, I'm on a frugal budget), I just made the purchase. Thank you for all you do for this radio hobby, I truly appreciate it.
Cheers Nate. Always feel free to spread the word about the channel and share it where the would be interested parties. Thanks for the vote of confidence!
@@FrugalRadio I did share almost immediately after watching your stuff! 🙂The detailed specs of the different SDRs is great and not seen much in other YT series on the topic! Cheers!
Great information!!! I have always been considering the RSP1a and RSPDX (in the back of my mind) but have always been put off by the lack of support of most of the other interface programs (as you mentioned) and the fact that I can't really find any problems with my RTL-SDR v3 dongles (at least in the way that I use them). I will continue to keep these upgrades in the back of my mind!!! Thanks so much for the great videos and information you provide!!!!
That's definitely the downside of the SDRPlay gear. I really hope more support continues to arrive over time. I would love to try an RSPDX. It also looks like a fabulous bit of kit!
@@FrugalRadioHi Mate. Do you have any information on the performance of using an airspy R2 or even mini airspy over a rtl-SDR with SDR sharp. I'm wanting to scan DMR (Business radio digital) I've tried various things like dsdplus and sdruno. I wonder if it's better using an airspy R2 with dedicated SDR sharp software rather than anything else. Looking ro be able to land on a DMR signal then have scan resume once the transmission is done. Any help appreciated.. Thanks for sharing Kind regards
If you are scanning a selection of frequencies with SDR#, the R2 doesn't really have a huge benefit. Where it comes into play is being able to monitor 8 MHz spectrum at a time. Something like SDRTrunk can utilise all 8 MHz and record the output, even if the conversations are taking place on multiple frequencies simultaneously. However they have to be in the same 8 MHz of space. So if you had 4 frequencies (450.100, 453.900, 454.250, 456.875) the R2 could monitor them all at once. An RTL-SDR v3 couldn't. The Alpha version of SDRTrunk also connects to SDRPlay receivers. I don't really use SDR# much these days, and haven't done much scanning with it, only used it for searching. So I'm not sure if it can utilise the full spectrum through a scanning plugin.
@@FrugalRadio Hi Sir, Thanks for your response. I have a uniden SDS200e. It works oka however I tend to use Rsp1a with dsdplus as it has a better SDR chip and seems to catch a lot of stuff the uniden does not even hear. Dsdplus is a bit monotonous to setup though having to write out frequency files, group lists, site lists etc. SDRplay is good hardware but the driver and software is really clunky imo. It needs more development to bring more functionality to other apps and tidy up the current API. One thing I like about the Airspy devices for adsb and AIS reception they have a high message rate. Trial and error I suppose
G'day Rob & welcome back I've missed you. So I run the 2 × RTL-SDR's for trunk tracking MPT1327, whilst I have Nooelec SDR time & life havnt allowed me time to "Play" just yet, I also own the SDRplay RSPduo & finally the Airspy HF Discovery +. Here's the GO the Airspy HF Discovery +. leaves everything else behind on H.F. & VHF, nothing even get close to it I've tested it time & time again & the result is the same if its H.F. & VHF ( Air Band ) that you want then the Airspy HF Discovery + has it over every thing else you will not be disappointed. The Airspy HF Discovery + is EXTEREMLY difficult to get in Australia for a number of reasons. I'm hoping over the Australian Christmas break to get time to play. Keep up the great work. Rgs Wayne.
Thanks for the comments Wayne. After discovering just how well it performed on VHF, I might actually pick one up to dedicate to airband. We'll have to see. I think the RSPdx might be fairly similar in 0-30MHz performance, but I haven't got one so don't know for sure. What I would love is a receiver like this with 20 MHz bandwidth. It could then simultaneously decode all active HDFL channels. Maybe someday...
@@FrugalRadio Thanks for your reply Rob. I would have loved to get a 2nd one myself but considering how hard it was & how long it took to get this one into Aust not to mention how expensive it was ( it certainly wasnt frugal let me say thete was no change out of $300 AUD) again because of the complexity involved in getting it into Aust in the 1st place I think I'd have zero chance of getting a 2nd one. I agree with you if only it had a greater bandwidth but ha beggers cant be choosers 🤗. Keep up the great videos I really miss them. Rgs Wayne.
Great review/information, thanks for that. Also the RSPdx is an excellent SDR with plenty of immediate tech support ( as long as its a genuine device, not a clone/knockoff) and the SDRuno console which is regularly updated and more free plug-ins coming on stream all the time.
Thanks Tony. Yes, the RSPdx looks like a great SDR. Hopefully I'll get to use one someday. It is in the next price category as well, so I would be expecting great things!
A ham from long ago, stumbling onto SDR a couple days ago when looking for an inexpensive receiver. I had no idea this came about. Watching demos, reading specs, then interpreting either no or maybe marginal performance in the LW/MW/SW area I care about without up-converters, pre-amps, filter add-ons, who knows what else, I see here the HF+ Discovery. Single antenna input? A coax switch is simple, unless they're too dinosaur today. I haven't seen anything like this SDR-wise so far, expect I won't. Thank you so much for this video!
You're welcome for the video, and I'm pleased to hear it's opened up the world of SDR to you. The other alternative to the HF+ Discovery are the SDRPlay receivers. Some of those can monitor up to 10 MHz of simultaneous bandwidth. So you could monitor multiple 40m, 60m and 20m frequencies simultaneously!
Overall RSP1A is an excellent SDR but the lack of software support really hurts it. They have been talking about releasing SDRconnect software that will eventually run on multiple platforms eventually including Android, but by that time some other SDR will come on the market.
tbh i wanted to stepup from RTL-SDR V3 to some LimeSDR mini but after i found out that it got replaced by a v2 and priced at 399$ i had a change of heart and now looking for an alternative, and the airspy ones looks so promising, and i'm really thinking about getting the HF+ bc my RTL V3 is disappointing on HF airband even tho i got wspr contacts from japan and australia from here in north-africa, and south-america on FT-8, and finnish OH9TEN on CW, i think i picked Shanwick once but it wasn't repeatable, strange how i pick irish ATC and volmet but nothing from Gran Canaria's Santa Maria, well it's DX HF mysteries. thanks for the reviews, i watched lot of others, and most of them can't even be called reviews, bc so little details in them, you rock man!
Excellent contribution as always, friend !. I would like you to tell us about the Kiwi SDR and its comparison with the other SDRs that you have presented in a future. Thanks a lot.
Excellent video! Just thought I would add my $0.02 worth. I own the SDRPlay RSP2 (discontinued), the Nooelec NESDR SMART and the Airspy HF+ Discovery SDR receivers. The Airspy unit is the finest of the lot in my opinion since A live a mile from a 50kw AM BCB station and listen to the ham bands. Overloading and image rejection properties are awesome! FD was last weekend and the Airspy unit made for great reception on the band despite its relatively narrow spectrum display properties. The RSP2 is good but not nearly as good as the Airspy - at least for us city dwellers, I think that SDRuno is my favourite software package, however, it is for Windows only and I really don't do Windows if I can help it. A cross platform version is supposed to be released at the end of 2022. I also like SDR# on W10 but use SDR++ on Ubuntu as it 'feels' very much like SDR# and I use it for all 3 receivers.
Great video Rob as always! The negative on Airspy devices for me is they appear to be a PIA to order in Canada. The US source seems to be a bit difficult to determine availability from and I'm not sure I want to order direct from China either. The non-airspy devices are much easier to obtain from multiple reliable sources. Would love to try one of these some day, the R2 in particular would be a great addition for me. Cheers
I'm currently using a rtl-sdr blog v3 with a mla-30+ in q branch mode, Just ordered hf+ discovery and the youloop yesterday, hoping the increased sensitivity will be noticeable. Thanks for all the great videos,
Yes, the AirSpy HF+ Discovery is much better in the HF bands than the RTL-SDR v3. It's great that the v3 can give you a taste of shortwave, but a dedicated unit designed for the band will always yield greater performance.
Because P25 Public Service scanners are so expensive I would like to know which SDR (from user experience) have proven to work better in the 800MHz range receiving P25 transmissions. I would also like to know if any of the different software made a difference SDR+ etc. My only experience with decoding P25 is with DSD+. I have a early and cheap RTL-SDR dongle. I use SDR+ to control the dongle and DSD+ for digital modes. I can listen to DMR fine, just can't get more than a couple words in a row with P25. Thanks
I prefer the RTL-SDR v3 SDRs. They work well with DSDPlus Fastlane. With this you don't need to run SDR+ at all. The FMP24 program manages tuning of the SDR. You might want to give SDRTrunk a try as well. It decodes P25 nicely, but it's designed more as a streaming platform.
In the case of the AirSpy HF + Discovery I agree with its disadvantages, which are minimal in relation to its advantages; although it would be good if its developers did the increase in bandwidth. I am very satisfied with its performance from VLF to HF, in VHF it does not convince me much. The antennas I use are homemade T2FD, MLA 30+ loop and the MFJ-1868 discone. 73 of XE1007SWL in Mexico.
Yes, there is some history between the founders of both companies. However SDR++ is very similar to SDR#, so if you don't need any specific plugins it works well for the RSP1A, as does SDR Console.
@@FrugalRadio and that is the specific problem I have with it, I use the full range of plugins on SDR sharp, having the exact same plugins on a seperate system just for one specific dongle seems like a big waste of time and effort. Keep up the good work with your channel its very informative and enjoyable
Great Review, So much useful information... I own two RTL-SDR V3 dongles and i've been playing with them for more than a year now. I'm really into weather satellites and satellite communication. So i've been saving up for a upgrade... I'm thinking about getting a Adalm Pluto because it full duplex and would be able give QO-100 a go... Thanks for the information, keep up the good work...
I started this with an RTL2832U which claims to be a RTL-SDR v3 but pretty sure it's a clone .. but cheap. Had so much fun. Made my self a dipole coffee pot on a 4m pole (actually my sons old cheap fishing pole) and get great reception. Wanted to step up and this has been really useful. Mostly listen to the aircraft. Saving for a Airspy HF+ Discovery
Awesome. It's all about experimentation. A lot of fun to be had "playing around", and even inexpensive devices can perform surprisingly well. Great to hear of your SDR exploits 🙂
I found my self building various antennas to aid reception to improve this little thing I got but decided to save and get something a little better. I made a little 1090 for picking up ADSB and displaying on virtual radar? Signal loss was an issue until someone taught me about coax ha ha. And made the coffee pot dipole for air band. Basically for free! Really cheap and very good reception. I learnt a bit about antennae on the way. I have a very basic electronics knowledge, hopeless at RF! I did manage to spend half of today to get my Dads old AOR1500 scanner working again .. .mainly dry joints and a diode! It's all very frugal! Which is why I like you channel, what can you here on the cheap.
I 'm going now. But (I'm 60), I asked my Dad if we could make a radio I think I was 5 because there was still sheep in a field at the back of the house. I remember he banged six nails in a block of wood, He got me to solder some components, I think a diode, a resistor and a variable capacitor, an earpiece and a long wire to the fence which stretched a mile and a spike in the ground. No battery, absolutely no power source at all? I could here a radio station? He was the technical training officer for Philips.
Yeah, I built a simple circuit like that when I was a youngster as well. It was a little electronics kit. Living in rural Ireland it didn't pick up a lot, but I consistently received 1 station without a battery. The magic & mystery of RF caught my attention from then on!
Thank you for your excellent videos. I find them very helpful. I have an SDRPlay RSPdx and have been using it primarily on HF and VLF frequencies. It's a great radio for sure but wished there was greater software compatibility for it. If you had your choice of any SDR to use for monitoring trunked emergency services on 800 MHz what SDR or SDR(s) would you choose and with what software? My head has been spinning with so many different combinations of SDRs and software and I'm having a tough time figuring out which combination is best. Thanks for any help you and/or others can provide.
I really like the budget SDRs for monitoring trunked systems. I pair them with DSDPlus Fastlane for decoding the audio, and I also log with Unitrunker. The RTL-SDR v3 is my current stable choice when deciding voice with DSDPlus.
😍 Love it, thanks! If MOBILITY is important, would you recommend Malachit? I'd like to listen VHF / UHF as well. How is the Malachit's sensitivity compared to the RSP1A? Thank you 👍
I wanted to get an Airspy HF+ Discovery for monitoring HF as well as use with dumphfdl but sadly I was unable to purchase one where I live so I ordered the consolation prize of an SDRPlay RSP1A instead. It should arrive by mid-December. I hope it performs similarly to my old Kenwood R-1000 general coverage HF communications receiver or even the Sony ICF-6500W portable I used to have and also lets me finally see HFDL messages, which none of my "budget" dongles (NESDR SMArt, NESDR SMArtee, FlightAware Pro orange dongle with a built-in LNA) have been able to do so far.
Well that will be a nice Christmas gift for yourself 🙂 The RSP1A is definitely a great value receiver, and reportedly works well with dumphfdl. I'm sure there'll be lots of fun ahead for you!
nice demonstration..thanks alot.I ask about sdrs like : Dragonfly , TRX-DUO ,and others Chinese sdrs that appear in ebay ,what do you think about them ? ...Thank you
You're welcome. I haven't tried any of the other SDRs you've mentioned, so I don't view myself as qualified to talk about them. Maybe join some of the SDR groups on Facebook and ask if any of the users there are familiar with them?
Would love to see a follow-up video similar to this but covering options above $200. What about HackRF, ADALM-PLUTO (or the upgraded "Pluto+"), bladeRF 2.0, limeSDR mini 2.0, etc.? How do these compare to the SDRs in the "step-up" category? Do they offer any advantages for RX or are they simply more expensive because they add TX capability?
Great questions, and I would like to know the answer to those myself. Unfortunately I don't own anything higher than the step up units. I know Adalm are working on a new unit, which I would definitely be interested in testing.
Any thoughts on a step-up to the step-up.. in particular a $200-$300 sdr that can also do transmit, like the LimeSDR, PlutoSDR, or HackRF? I've been itching to get the LimeSDR, but it doesn't seem like there's AS MUCH software support for it so I'm kinda on the fence. For example, some of the software I'd like to try it with.. gqrx , cubicsdr, audacity w/sdr plugins, rfcat , wireshark (filter Gsmtap packets). And then the tons of cool applications I've seen people using SDR for: Tracking planes (Ads-B) using XPlane/XHSI or SDRAngel/Maperitive Morse Code CW Transmission (NFM and AM/USB) and decoding/Receiving (CW Skimmer, CWGet , morsecode scphillips translator, etc) Reverse Engineer an RF keyfob ( clock-recovery (michael ossman?), analyze protocol (Universal-Radio-Hacker), transmit ) HAM applications: trunk (SDRTrunk / Unitrunker), or the many digital-modes listed on MultiPSK (DMR, D-Star, System Fusion/C4FM, NXDN, P25 , POCSAG, (YSF? FT8?)) , convert modes on the fly (i..e use DMR radio to talk on C4FM). Decoding/Visualizing Weather Satellite data (noaa-apt, sdrglut) GPS Decoding/Plotting ( GNSS-SDRLIB, RTK-NAVI) ATSC Video Receiver/Transmitter (SDR-Angel, GRC) Reverse Engineering Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum Local GSM/LTE cellular network (GPRS) (gr-gsm, Kalibrate, IMSI-catcher, srsLTE-Sniffer, rtl-sdr-LTE dedsecimsi, FALCON)
Yes, there's certainly a lot you can do with SDR. I haven't got any of the $200+ SDRs as I can do what I want with what I have right now. If I was to purchase another unit, it might be the HackRF with a Portapack. That would be really interesting to experiment with!
Great review, thank you. I'm presently using the RTL-SDR with CubicSDR and Gqrx on my MAC-OS 12.0.1 It works great but I am looking to upgrade. Would the SDRPLAY RSP1a or AIRSPY HF+ Discovery also work in my present configuration ? I'm trying to keep the upgrade process as traumatic free as possible as I needed to install a number of plug-ins just to get the RTL-SDR to run. Thanks again
Hey Tony. I'm not a MAC user, so I'm really not sure how the various step up SDRs would work with your OS. Perhaps there are some other Mac users out there who can comment?
I do not use OSX but there is brew formulae for the airspyhf. But after the library is installed I do not know what you would need to do on OSX maybe brew install gqrx, CubicSDR, CuteSDR or sdrdx, they might be good, I do not know I have never used OSX, but all that software does support the Airspy HF+ Discovery and there is probably software that I just did not think of while searching on brew.
I would DSDPlus Fastlane for this. There is an option to block or monitor individual calls. Head to The Control Menu in the Event Log window, then Hoover over Call Priorities. From there you can choose how Private Voice Calls will be handled. That said, I haven't tried it on NXDN systems as none of my local ones seem to place unit to unit calls.
That's a great idea, although I've never used a DX Patrol unit. Do you have one, or are you considering it instead of one of the step up devices in the video?
I want to setup as a remote SDR and I know that we can do that with remote SDR functions. But the issue is that I have internet connection with multiple NAT(Network Address Translation). As I don't have a private IP address. Therefore the port forwarding doesn't work. Is there any solution to the the above challenge? Thanks in advance...
You can use a dynamic IP address update service to connect to your device. However the ports would still need to be forwarded through on your multi NAT setup.
Great and informative video. I'm brand new to Amateur radio and am going for my license soon. Could you please tell me what software you are using at time code 8:32. Is this your favourite software. It looks really good too me. Thanks.
That is SDRUno. It is what many people use with the SDRPlay series of receivers and is made available by the SDRPlay team as a free download from their website. Good luck with your license!
Just my experience with sdr radio ; I have : airspy R2 , RSP1A, RSPDuo plus several economic dongle with the discone D130 antenna . The experience with airspy R2 and discone was terrible , it is completly deaf.. infact I believed that it was broken .... but when I put a FM stopper between antenna and airspy every things apeared . RSP are very usefully due to the software very easy to usa instead of new version of SDR# very unusefull complication windows...
Hi Steven. From 31-60 MHz lie a few services, but these will depend where you live. This area is called VHF Lo, or Low Band. The California Highway Patrol use it, and at one time there were a lot of public safety signals there. Most have moved to other frequencies now. In the low 40s you have some military usage. Typically range control and a few other base activities. There's also very old cordless telephones, analog baby monitors, children's walkie talkie sets in the 47-50 range. Not many of those around now as most have moved to higher frequencies and lots have gone digital. 50-54 is the 6m Ham Radio band. Honestly, the last time I received any low band transmissions was when I was a kid, during the high point of the sunspot cycle. From Ireland, signals would travel in from across Europe and North America for a few hours, then fade away again. In the last 20+ years, I've hardly ever tuned to the band. Pertussis there are other commenters who monitor the band and could tell you more...
I haven't actually heard these devices for a really long time now. Walkie talkies are mostly in the UHF band now. Check out PMR446 frequencies for Europe, and FRS / GMRS for North America. A lot of the cordless phones went to DECT frequencies, a digital modulation in the GHz band. Baby monitors tend to be in the ISM bands, 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz etc. Difficult to monitor now.
I am heavily in to Shortwave DXing as well. While my RTL SDR is on its way, I would like to ask if I should also buy any Airspy SDR while it's on black Friday sale ? If so which would be great for HF along with UHF / VHF ? HF+ discovery or the R2 ?
Unfortunately I don't get any compensation for recommending AirSpy products. I'm just a fan of their products. So just link through from their site to whichever retailer you prefer. If you'd like to make a small donation to the channel, you would be welcome to do so, but no obligation! frugalradio.com/tips/
@@FrugalRadio I tried but paypal doesn't allow donations ad a feature in my country. I'll try to find alternates. If your UA-cam channel had a subscription I could do that , your content is very informative 👌🏻
Hi Rob great video. Can I ask if I just want to monitor VHF (air-band) just to listen to aircraft flying in and out of my local airport what would you suggest? I think it would be easier with a radio than a SDR but finding radios on this frequency are often way more expensive. I am an ex commercial pilot so I have the radio operators licence. I just found your other video which you recommend UBC125XLT...thanks will check it out
Honestly, I'd recommend everyone start with an RTL-SDR v3, and an FM band stop filter if needed. These are great devices to begin with. If you've used SDRs for a while, the RSP1A would be a great upgrade.
I'd get an AirSpy R2. It doesn't offer HF unless you opt for an upconverter, but the 10 MHz bandwidth is nice to play with. Or you could spend a little more and go for one of the higher SDRPlay models. All would be good options.
As someone who owns both an RSP1A and a HF+ Discovery, the airspy is simply outstanding! It is my primary HF listening device. The sensitivity, selectivity and dynamic range is unparalleled in this price range. The RSP1A however, has insane sensitivity at L-band frequencies and I use it almost everyday for SATCOM listening. Both are fantastic SDR's and get a recommendation from me!
Thanks for sharing your experiences of both these step up SDRs Robert. Very helpful.
I have had an AirSpy HF+ Discovery for 6 months and it is great, my best receiver ever. I use it with SDR Console or SDR++ as I find SDR # too complicated for an old guy like me. Enjoyed your video. Thanks.
Great to hear you're enjoying the Airspy. They are wonderful receivers for the price!
Well Rob you've convinced me! Since watching this video a couple days ago I've been tossing around the idea about purchasing an Airspy HF+ Discovery. Watching again, and the comments, (plus being on sale, I'm on a frugal budget), I just made the purchase. Thank you for all you do for this radio hobby, I truly appreciate it.
Thanks for letting me know @jj2me. I hope you'll be very pleased with your new SDR!
This series has been better produced and written than anything else I've found. You deserve LOTS more subscribers than you have! Thanks!
Cheers Nate. Always feel free to spread the word about the channel and share it where the would be interested parties. Thanks for the vote of confidence!
@@FrugalRadio I did share almost immediately after watching your stuff! 🙂The detailed specs of the different SDRs is great and not seen much in other YT series on the topic! Cheers!
Thanks, much appreciated!
Thank you for showing me what to buy myself for Christmas! I liked the long wave stuff.
Ha ha, enjoy your new toys!
Hoping Airspy puts the R2 on sale again this year for Black Friday.
I'm sure you aren't the only one!
Nice review of these SDRs. Since this was recorded, SDRTrunk now includes support for the SDRplay RSP1A.
Great information!!! I have always been considering the RSP1a and RSPDX (in the back of my mind) but have always been put off by the lack of support of most of the other interface programs (as you mentioned) and the fact that I can't really find any problems with my RTL-SDR v3 dongles (at least in the way that I use them). I will continue to keep these upgrades in the back of my mind!!! Thanks so much for the great videos and information you provide!!!!
That's definitely the downside of the SDRPlay gear. I really hope more support continues to arrive over time. I would love to try an RSPDX. It also looks like a fabulous bit of kit!
@@FrugalRadioHi Mate. Do you have any information on the performance of using an airspy R2 or even mini airspy over a rtl-SDR with SDR sharp.
I'm wanting to scan DMR (Business radio digital) I've tried various things like dsdplus and sdruno.
I wonder if it's better using an airspy R2 with dedicated SDR sharp software rather than anything else.
Looking ro be able to land on a DMR signal then have scan resume once the transmission is done.
Any help appreciated.. Thanks for sharing Kind regards
If you are scanning a selection of frequencies with SDR#, the R2 doesn't really have a huge benefit. Where it comes into play is being able to monitor 8 MHz spectrum at a time. Something like SDRTrunk can utilise all 8 MHz and record the output, even if the conversations are taking place on multiple frequencies simultaneously. However they have to be in the same 8 MHz of space. So if you had 4 frequencies (450.100, 453.900, 454.250, 456.875) the R2 could monitor them all at once. An RTL-SDR v3 couldn't. The Alpha version of SDRTrunk also connects to SDRPlay receivers.
I don't really use SDR# much these days, and haven't done much scanning with it, only used it for searching. So I'm not sure if it can utilise the full spectrum through a scanning plugin.
@@FrugalRadio Hi Sir,
Thanks for your response. I have a uniden SDS200e. It works oka however I tend to use Rsp1a with dsdplus as it has a better SDR chip and seems to catch a lot of stuff the uniden does not even hear.
Dsdplus is a bit monotonous to setup though having to write out frequency files, group lists, site lists etc.
SDRplay is good hardware but the driver and software is really clunky imo. It needs more development to bring more functionality to other apps and tidy up the current API.
One thing I like about the Airspy devices for adsb and AIS reception they have a high message rate. Trial and error I suppose
G'day Rob & welcome back I've missed you.
So I run the 2 × RTL-SDR's for trunk tracking MPT1327, whilst I have Nooelec SDR time & life havnt allowed me time to "Play" just yet, I also own the SDRplay RSPduo & finally the Airspy HF Discovery +.
Here's the GO the Airspy HF Discovery +. leaves everything else behind on H.F. & VHF, nothing even get close to it I've tested it time & time again & the result is the same if its H.F. & VHF ( Air Band ) that you want then the Airspy HF Discovery + has it over every thing else you will not be disappointed.
The Airspy HF Discovery + is EXTEREMLY difficult to get in Australia for a number of reasons.
I'm hoping over the Australian Christmas break to get time to play.
Keep up the great work.
Rgs
Wayne.
Thanks for the comments Wayne. After discovering just how well it performed on VHF, I might actually pick one up to dedicate to airband. We'll have to see.
I think the RSPdx might be fairly similar in 0-30MHz performance, but I haven't got one so don't know for sure.
What I would love is a receiver like this with 20 MHz bandwidth. It could then simultaneously decode all active HDFL channels. Maybe someday...
@@FrugalRadio Thanks for your reply Rob.
I would have loved to get a 2nd one myself but considering how hard it was & how long it took to get this one into Aust not to mention how expensive it was ( it certainly wasnt frugal let me say thete was no change out of $300 AUD) again because of the complexity involved in getting it into Aust in the 1st place I think I'd have zero chance of getting a 2nd one.
I agree with you if only it had a greater bandwidth but ha beggers cant be choosers 🤗.
Keep up the great videos I really miss them.
Rgs
Wayne.
Great review/information, thanks for that. Also the RSPdx is an excellent SDR with plenty of immediate tech support ( as long as its a genuine device, not a clone/knockoff) and the SDRuno console which is regularly updated and more free plug-ins coming on stream all the time.
Thanks Tony. Yes, the RSPdx looks like a great SDR. Hopefully I'll get to use one someday. It is in the next price category as well, so I would be expecting great things!
A ham from long ago, stumbling onto SDR a couple days ago when looking for an inexpensive receiver. I had no idea this came about. Watching demos, reading specs, then interpreting either no or maybe marginal performance in the LW/MW/SW area I care about without up-converters, pre-amps, filter add-ons, who knows what else, I see here the HF+ Discovery. Single antenna input? A coax switch is simple, unless they're too dinosaur today. I haven't seen anything like this SDR-wise so far, expect I won't. Thank you so much for this video!
You're welcome for the video, and I'm pleased to hear it's opened up the world of SDR to you. The other alternative to the HF+ Discovery are the SDRPlay receivers. Some of those can monitor up to 10 MHz of simultaneous bandwidth. So you could monitor multiple 40m, 60m and 20m frequencies simultaneously!
Thanks for this great review. I decided for a SDRPLAY which is a huge improvement compared to the cheap dongles. Enjoying decode of ACARS now.
Fabulous. Glad the review was useful!
I bought an HF+ Discovery earlier this year. It’s an excellent radio. For the price it’s spectacular.
I 100% agree with you. A fantastic SDR at an amazing price point.
Overall RSP1A is an excellent SDR but the lack of software support really hurts it. They have been talking about releasing SDRconnect software that will eventually run on multiple platforms eventually including Android, but by that time some other SDR will come on the market.
tbh i wanted to stepup from RTL-SDR V3 to some LimeSDR mini but after i found out that it got replaced by a v2 and priced at 399$ i had a change of heart and now looking for an alternative, and the airspy ones looks so promising, and i'm really thinking about getting the HF+ bc my RTL V3 is disappointing on HF airband even tho i got wspr contacts from japan and australia from here in north-africa, and south-america on FT-8, and finnish OH9TEN on CW, i think i picked Shanwick once but it wasn't repeatable, strange how i pick irish ATC and volmet but nothing from Gran Canaria's Santa Maria, well it's DX HF mysteries.
thanks for the reviews, i watched lot of others, and most of them can't even be called reviews, bc so little details in them, you rock man!
Thanks for your kind comments.
I really enjoy my HF+ Discovery.
Excellent contribution as always, friend !. I would like you to tell us about the Kiwi SDR and its comparison with the other SDRs that you have presented in a future. Thanks a lot.
Yes, the KiwiSDR is in another price bracket, but certainly is an interesting unit!
What a great video! This is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you
Glad to have been of assistance!
Excellent video! Just thought I would add my $0.02 worth. I own the SDRPlay RSP2 (discontinued), the Nooelec NESDR SMART and the Airspy HF+ Discovery SDR receivers. The Airspy unit is the finest of the lot in my opinion since A live a mile from a 50kw AM BCB station and listen to the ham bands. Overloading and image rejection properties are awesome! FD was last weekend and the Airspy unit made for great reception on the band despite its relatively narrow spectrum display properties. The RSP2 is good but not nearly as good as the Airspy - at least for us city dwellers, I think that SDRuno is my favourite software package, however, it is for Windows only and I really don't do Windows if I can help it. A cross platform version is supposed to be released at the end of 2022. I also like SDR# on W10 but use SDR++ on Ubuntu as it 'feels' very much like SDR# and I use it for all 3 receivers.
Thanks for your report Terry!
good review long time in coming . thank you . hope things are going well for you and your's , happy holidays
Cheers. Best wishes to you as well!
Great video Rob as always! The negative on Airspy devices for me is they appear to be a PIA to order in Canada. The US source seems to be a bit difficult to determine availability from and I'm not sure I want to order direct from China either. The non-airspy devices are much easier to obtain from multiple reliable sources. Would love to try one of these some day, the R2 in particular would be a great addition for me. Cheers
Hi John. I have successfully ordered the R2 direct from Itead China. Had no problems with delivery to me here in Canada :-)
@@FrugalRadio Thanks for the feedback Rob! I'll give it a shot soon.
0:39 Up on top of Black Mountain ! Hi from Belfast :) Great vid as always
got to be dam cold up there today, im down below in antrim so not for away.
Yeah I loved making that vid when we lived in NI 🙂
I would love to see you tinker with the KrakenSDR and maybe some content on passive radar usage
I've been really enjoying your videos! Thank you for compiling so much useful information!
You're welcome. Thanks for sharing your appreciation!
I would like to hear about that splitter for the antenna. Looks like something everyone will end up needing soon.
ua-cam.com/video/1dccjqw0sJ4/v-deo.html is where you'll find out more about it!
I'm currently using a rtl-sdr blog v3 with a mla-30+ in q branch mode, Just ordered hf+ discovery and the youloop yesterday, hoping the increased sensitivity will be noticeable. Thanks for all the great videos,
Yes, the AirSpy HF+ Discovery is much better in the HF bands than the RTL-SDR v3. It's great that the v3 can give you a taste of shortwave, but a dedicated unit designed for the band will always yield greater performance.
Because P25 Public Service scanners are so expensive I would like to know which SDR (from user experience) have proven to work better in the 800MHz range receiving P25 transmissions.
I would also like to know if any of the different software made a difference SDR+ etc. My only experience with decoding P25 is with DSD+. I have a early and cheap RTL-SDR dongle. I use SDR+ to control the dongle and DSD+ for digital modes. I can listen to DMR fine, just can't get more than a couple words in a row with P25. Thanks
I prefer the RTL-SDR v3 SDRs. They work well with DSDPlus Fastlane. With this you don't need to run SDR+ at all. The FMP24 program manages tuning of the SDR.
You might want to give SDRTrunk a try as well. It decodes P25 nicely, but it's designed more as a streaming platform.
In the case of the AirSpy HF + Discovery I agree with its disadvantages, which are minimal in relation to its advantages; although it would be good if its developers did the increase in bandwidth. I am very satisfied with its performance from VLF to HF, in VHF it does not convince me much. The antennas I use are homemade T2FD, MLA 30+ loop and the MFJ-1868 discone. 73 of XE1007SWL in Mexico.
Thanks for your feedback and comments @MCruz Dxer!
Very interesting I have a few dongles, I would love a RSP but I am very put off by the fact it wont connect to SDR Sharp software
Yes, there is some history between the founders of both companies. However SDR++ is very similar to SDR#, so if you don't need any specific plugins it works well for the RSP1A, as does SDR Console.
@@FrugalRadio and that is the specific problem I have with it, I use the full range of plugins on SDR sharp, having the exact same plugins on a seperate system just for one specific dongle seems like a big waste of time and effort. Keep up the good work with your channel its very informative and enjoyable
Thanks Julian.
Great Review, So much useful information...
I own two RTL-SDR V3 dongles and i've been playing with them for more than a year now. I'm really into weather satellites and satellite communication. So i've been saving up for a upgrade...
I'm thinking about getting a Adalm Pluto because it full duplex and would be able give QO-100 a go...
Thanks for the information, keep up the good work...
Thanks for commenting and letting us know about your setup!
I started this with an RTL2832U which claims to be a RTL-SDR v3 but pretty sure it's a clone .. but cheap. Had so much fun. Made my self a dipole coffee pot on a 4m pole (actually my sons old cheap fishing pole) and get great reception. Wanted to step up and this has been really useful. Mostly listen to the aircraft. Saving for a Airspy HF+ Discovery
Awesome. It's all about experimentation. A lot of fun to be had "playing around", and even inexpensive devices can perform surprisingly well. Great to hear of your SDR exploits 🙂
@@FrugalRadio Cheers buddy :-)
I found my self building various antennas to aid reception to improve this little thing I got but decided to save and get something a little better. I made a little 1090 for picking up ADSB and displaying on virtual radar? Signal loss was an issue until someone taught me about coax ha ha. And made the coffee pot dipole for air band. Basically for free! Really cheap and very good reception. I learnt a bit about antennae on the way. I have a very basic electronics knowledge, hopeless at RF! I did manage to spend half of today to get my Dads old AOR1500 scanner working again .. .mainly dry joints and a diode! It's all very frugal! Which is why I like you channel, what can you here on the cheap.
I 'm going now. But (I'm 60), I asked my Dad if we could make a radio I think I was 5 because there was still sheep in a field at the back of the house. I remember he banged six nails in a block of wood, He got me to solder some components, I think a diode, a resistor and a variable capacitor, an earpiece and a long wire to the fence which stretched a mile and a spike in the ground. No battery, absolutely no power source at all? I could here a radio station? He was the technical training officer for Philips.
Yeah, I built a simple circuit like that when I was a youngster as well. It was a little electronics kit. Living in rural Ireland it didn't pick up a lot, but I consistently received 1 station without a battery. The magic & mystery of RF caught my attention from then on!
Very good. I purchased an Airspy HF+ Discovery. Thanks!
Excellent. As I'm sure you can tell, I'm remarkably fond of the AirSpy HF+ Discovery. I trust it will bring you many hours of enjoyable listening.
Thank you for your excellent videos. I find them very helpful. I have an SDRPlay RSPdx and have been using it primarily on HF and VLF frequencies. It's a great radio for sure but wished there was greater software compatibility for it. If you had your choice of any SDR to use for monitoring trunked emergency services on 800 MHz what SDR or SDR(s) would you choose and with what software? My head has been spinning with so many different combinations of SDRs and software and I'm having a tough time figuring out which combination is best. Thanks for any help you and/or others can provide.
I really like the budget SDRs for monitoring trunked systems. I pair them with DSDPlus Fastlane for decoding the audio, and I also log with Unitrunker.
The RTL-SDR v3 is my current stable choice when deciding voice with DSDPlus.
😍 Love it, thanks!
If MOBILITY is important, would you recommend Malachit? I'd like to listen VHF / UHF as well.
How is the Malachit's sensitivity compared to the RSP1A? Thank you 👍
I wanted to get an Airspy HF+ Discovery for monitoring HF as well as use with dumphfdl but sadly I was unable to purchase one where I live so I ordered the consolation prize of an SDRPlay RSP1A instead. It should arrive by mid-December. I hope it performs similarly to my old Kenwood R-1000 general coverage HF communications receiver or even the Sony ICF-6500W portable I used to have and also lets me finally see HFDL messages, which none of my "budget" dongles (NESDR SMArt, NESDR SMArtee, FlightAware Pro orange dongle with a built-in LNA) have been able to do so far.
Well that will be a nice Christmas gift for yourself 🙂
The RSP1A is definitely a great value receiver, and reportedly works well with dumphfdl. I'm sure there'll be lots of fun ahead for you!
Excellent video, thank you very much.
nice demonstration..thanks alot.I ask about sdrs like : Dragonfly , TRX-DUO ,and others Chinese sdrs that appear in ebay ,what do you think about them ? ...Thank you
You're welcome. I haven't tried any of the other SDRs you've mentioned, so I don't view myself as qualified to talk about them. Maybe join some of the SDR groups on Facebook and ask if any of the users there are familiar with them?
your videos are the BEST
Ha ha, thanks!
LNA belongs as close to the antenna as possible
Would love to see a follow-up video similar to this but covering options above $200. What about HackRF, ADALM-PLUTO (or the upgraded "Pluto+"), bladeRF 2.0, limeSDR mini 2.0, etc.? How do these compare to the SDRs in the "step-up" category? Do they offer any advantages for RX or are they simply more expensive because they add TX capability?
Great questions, and I would like to know the answer to those myself. Unfortunately I don't own anything higher than the step up units. I know Adalm are working on a new unit, which I would definitely be interested in testing.
@@FrugalRadio Interesting, where did you hear/see that there is a new ADALM SDR upcoming?
RTL-SDR blog I believe.
Any thoughts on a step-up to the step-up.. in particular a $200-$300 sdr that can also do transmit, like the LimeSDR, PlutoSDR, or HackRF?
I've been itching to get the LimeSDR, but it doesn't seem like there's AS MUCH software support for it so I'm kinda on the fence.
For example, some of the software I'd like to try it with.. gqrx , cubicsdr, audacity w/sdr plugins, rfcat , wireshark (filter Gsmtap packets).
And then the tons of cool applications I've seen people using SDR for:
Tracking planes (Ads-B) using XPlane/XHSI or SDRAngel/Maperitive
Morse Code CW Transmission (NFM and AM/USB) and decoding/Receiving (CW
Skimmer, CWGet , morsecode scphillips translator, etc)
Reverse Engineer an RF keyfob ( clock-recovery (michael ossman?),
analyze protocol (Universal-Radio-Hacker), transmit )
HAM applications: trunk (SDRTrunk / Unitrunker), or the many digital-modes listed on MultiPSK (DMR, D-Star, System Fusion/C4FM, NXDN, P25 , POCSAG, (YSF? FT8?)) , convert
modes on the fly (i..e use DMR radio to talk on C4FM).
Decoding/Visualizing Weather Satellite data (noaa-apt, sdrglut)
GPS Decoding/Plotting ( GNSS-SDRLIB, RTK-NAVI)
ATSC Video Receiver/Transmitter (SDR-Angel, GRC)
Reverse Engineering Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum
Local GSM/LTE cellular network (GPRS) (gr-gsm, Kalibrate,
IMSI-catcher, srsLTE-Sniffer, rtl-sdr-LTE dedsecimsi, FALCON)
Yes, there's certainly a lot you can do with SDR. I haven't got any of the $200+ SDRs as I can do what I want with what I have right now. If I was to purchase another unit, it might be the HackRF with a Portapack. That would be really interesting to experiment with!
Great review, thank you. I'm presently using the RTL-SDR with CubicSDR and Gqrx on my MAC-OS 12.0.1 It works great but I am looking to upgrade. Would the SDRPLAY RSP1a or AIRSPY HF+ Discovery also work in my present configuration ? I'm trying to keep the upgrade process as traumatic free as possible as I needed to install a number of plug-ins just to get the RTL-SDR to run. Thanks again
Hey Tony. I'm not a MAC user, so I'm really not sure how the various step up SDRs would work with your OS. Perhaps there are some other Mac users out there who can comment?
@@FrugalRadio Appreciate it, thank you
I do not use OSX but there is brew formulae for the airspyhf. But after the library is installed I do not know what you would need to do on OSX maybe brew install gqrx, CubicSDR, CuteSDR or sdrdx, they might be good, I do not know I have never used OSX, but all that software does support the Airspy HF+ Discovery and there is probably software that I just did not think of while searching on brew.
Thanks for this!
@@itsevilbert Thanks, I will look into it
Fantastic video as usual. Thanks 👍👍👍
Thanks for the encouragement!
How can I monitor private conversations on a NEXEDGE system? I am hearing the talkgroup conversations but not the private conversations. Thanks
I would DSDPlus Fastlane for this. There is an option to block or monitor individual calls. Head to The Control Menu in the Event Log window, then Hoover over Call Priorities. From there you can choose how Private Voice Calls will be handled. That said, I haven't tried it on NXDN systems as none of my local ones seem to place unit to unit calls.
@@FrugalRadio Thanks I will try that with my DSDPlus and see how it goes
Is there an SPR Mac M1 compatible version? How is the software?
SDR++ is available for Mac. It offers similar functionality to SDR#. In fact I'm mostly using SDR++ now, rather than SDR# for analog reception.
How about a showdown between the DX-Patrol MK4 and these devices?
That's a great idea, although I've never used a DX Patrol unit. Do you have one, or are you considering it instead of one of the step up devices in the video?
Thank you Rob, fine intel.
🙂
I want to setup as a remote SDR and I know that we can do that with remote SDR functions. But the issue is that I have internet connection with multiple NAT(Network Address Translation). As I don't have a private IP address. Therefore the port forwarding doesn't work. Is there any solution to the the above challenge? Thanks in advance...
You can use a dynamic IP address update service to connect to your device. However the ports would still need to be forwarded through on your multi NAT setup.
@@FrugalRadio I wish the software developers developer something that bypasses the port forwarding rules. But anyways thanks for your advice...
Great and informative video. I'm brand new to Amateur radio and am going for my license soon. Could you please tell me what software you are using at time code 8:32. Is this your favourite software. It looks really good too me. Thanks.
That is SDRUno. It is what many people use with the SDRPlay series of receivers and is made available by the SDRPlay team as a free download from their website. Good luck with your license!
Just my experience with sdr radio ; I have : airspy R2 , RSP1A, RSPDuo plus several economic dongle with the discone D130 antenna . The experience with airspy R2 and discone was terrible , it is completly deaf.. infact I believed that it was broken .... but when I put a FM stopper between antenna and airspy every things apeared . RSP are very usefully due to the software very easy to usa instead of new version of SDR# very unusefull complication windows...
Thanks for your report Marco! FM broadcast filters can be lifesavers 🙂
Hi Great series but I cannot find Episode 10 ...Was there one ?
No episode 10. I skipped that number accidently!
I'm just getting started. What do I miss with the 31-60 mHz gap? Do I want to receive beyond 260mHz?
Hi Steven.
From 31-60 MHz lie a few services, but these will depend where you live. This area is called VHF Lo, or Low Band. The California Highway Patrol use it, and at one time there were a lot of public safety signals there. Most have moved to other frequencies now.
In the low 40s you have some military usage. Typically range control and a few other base activities.
There's also very old cordless telephones, analog baby monitors, children's walkie talkie sets in the 47-50 range. Not many of those around now as most have moved to higher frequencies and lots have gone digital.
50-54 is the 6m Ham Radio band.
Honestly, the last time I received any low band transmissions was when I was a kid, during the high point of the sunspot cycle. From Ireland, signals would travel in from across Europe and North America for a few hours, then fade away again.
In the last 20+ years, I've hardly ever tuned to the band. Pertussis there are other commenters who monitor the band and could tell you more...
I haven't actually heard these devices for a really long time now. Walkie talkies are mostly in the UHF band now. Check out PMR446 frequencies for Europe, and FRS / GMRS for North America.
A lot of the cordless phones went to DECT frequencies, a digital modulation in the GHz band. Baby monitors tend to be in the ISM bands, 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz etc. Difficult to monitor now.
I've been thinking about the RSP1A. I run Linux and from what I've found online, I think that shouldn't be a problem. Does anyone know differently?
SDR++ and I believe SDR Angel should both work under Linux with the RSP1A.
@@FrugalRadio Excellent. Thanks!
Tnx for the information :) Helped me allot
You're most welcome!
I am heavily in to Shortwave DXing as well. While my RTL SDR is on its way, I would like to ask if I should also buy any Airspy SDR while it's on black Friday sale ?
If so which would be great for HF along with UHF / VHF ?
HF+ discovery or the R2 ?
HF+ Discovery would win hands down. It is designed for HF and performs amazingly well. May as well save some money while it's on sale!
@@FrugalRadio thank you. Any affiliate link I can use ? I'll head over and buy one !
Unfortunately I don't get any compensation for recommending AirSpy products. I'm just a fan of their products. So just link through from their site to whichever retailer you prefer.
If you'd like to make a small donation to the channel, you would be welcome to do so, but no obligation!
frugalradio.com/tips/
@@FrugalRadio I tried but paypal doesn't allow donations ad a feature in my country. I'll try to find alternates. If your UA-cam channel had a subscription I could do that , your content is very informative 👌🏻
Ah, okay. Well thanks for trying!
I may set up a subscription feature - UA-cam keep emailing me about it!
Hi Rob great video. Can I ask if I just want to monitor VHF (air-band) just to listen to aircraft flying in and out of my local airport what would you suggest? I think it would be easier with a radio than a SDR but finding radios on this frequency are often way more expensive. I am an ex commercial pilot so I have the radio operators licence.
I just found your other video which you recommend UBC125XLT...thanks will check it out
Glad you spotted the reference to the UBC125XLT. It does a great job of monitoring Air band. Welcome to the channel!
@@FrugalRadio yes its on special in USA for just $105...but getting it imported will cost extra
Which country are you in?
@@FrugalRadio France
Ok, probably best to pick it up locally unless you know someone making a trip to the US!
So if you were looking for an SDR to cover mainly UHF / VHF and you live in an RF noisy environment.. Which SDR would you go with?
Honestly, I'd recommend everyone start with an RTL-SDR v3, and an FM band stop filter if needed. These are great devices to begin with.
If you've used SDRs for a while, the RSP1A would be a great upgrade.
@@FrugalRadio Thank you! I appreciate your advice..
It looks like the RSP1a Isn't going to be available for a while, What is your next choice in the step-up category for an
SDR :-)
I'd get an AirSpy R2. It doesn't offer HF unless you opt for an upconverter, but the 10 MHz bandwidth is nice to play with. Or you could spend a little more and go for one of the higher SDRPlay models. All would be good options.
@@FrugalRadio Ok, Thank you.. I have an HF Discovery +. So the R2 would be a nice addition.. Thanks again.
Thank you.
Thank you.
You're welcome!
Thanks for the videos Liked and subbed from KLWWORLDNEWS