Thanks Dennis – appreciate the info.
My project has nothing to do with FT8, Q65, or any other digital mode.
I recently jumped shoulder deep into the SDR pool for 6m. I am using the AirSpyR2 for 6m and will probably get another for 2m shortly. My setup uses a 6m Antennas-Amplifiers brand band pass filter, a cheap green and gold low noise amplifier ($13 off Amazon),and a splitter. From the splitter I pull one leg into the AirSpy and the signal from it is handled by SDR Console on my PC. The other leg out of my splitter goes into a SDR Switch (SDRSwitch.com) and the back into my dedicated 6m rig which for me is my older Flex 6600. This allows me to receive both with Flex and SDR and then transmit from the Flex and the switch keeps BPF, LNA and AirSpy all isolated from the Tx.
AirSpy HF + Discovery is one of the best SDR’s for HF but I just haven’t jumped into that just yet. I also have an SDR Play
I will say the general opinion out there is that there are several good SDR’s out there but the #1 thing that can make or break an SDR’s performance is the software that processes it’s signal. 99% of the serious 6m guys running a SDR are using SDR Console. I’ll reference the YouTube channel for Front Range 6m Group. They are a wealth of knowledge for this stuff and the best part is they have done all the testing for the AirSpy R2 and SDR Console and already have the settings figured out. I’ll warn you thier videos are a rabbit hole. Easy to get lost for hours on that site.
Anyway that’s my SDR answer and I’ll close with this statement which will make you all scratch your head…side by side I get better decodes on my SDR than I do with my Flex when I run them side by side on separate versions of WSJTx. In fact much better for weak signals whether it’s FT8, MSK, or Q65.
How’s that for a simple answer 😎
Glad to know SDRPlay ‘s are still available. Other than a 2m rig, it was the first radio I bought after getting my license in 2019. It was simple to use, opened up the HF world to me and allowed me to learn the HF band frequencies and something about propagation. It fostered my desire to chase DX.
73, Scott/W5AAJ
Just one minor correction. The SDRPlay’s are still available.
Is anyone up to speed on SDR receivers currently available? I know the SDR IQ has not been available for a long time and RF Space doesn’t seem to have anything. Most of what I know that are in use are no longer available. Neither is the Perseus or the SDRPlay receivers except second hand on eBay.
Is there one particular receiver folks are migrating to? I know there is some Chinese version available but I have no clue what it is or if it even works well.
73 Joel W5ZN
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