[Elecraft] (OT) It finally died...

[Dave Cole]

Hi Phil,

I must second what Jim has to say about a general coverage rig and SDR. 
I too use the RSP-1, and once it is in a metal case it is a really nice 
rig.

The versatility is amazing.  I am now using them for RFI detection, and 
SWLing.

I also characterize my entire RFI background using the RSP-1 to create a 
spectrogram of entire bands at a time.  it spots every single RFI source 
in the area at once, and displays the relationships they have to each 
other.

See:
http://nk7z.net/sdr-rfi-survey-p1/
for an example of this.

My next project is to get the RSP-1 going on a Raspberry Pi.


73s and thanks,
Dave
NK7Z
http://www.nk7z.net

On 07/04/2017 06:26 PM, Jim Brown wrote:
> HI Phil,
>
> I suggest that you take a look at various SDR RX options and the
> half-dozen or so software programs written to control them. I have an
> SDR-Play RSP 1, about $130 from HRO, and a FunCube Dongle ProPlus, about
> $175 from the UK.  These are both VERY versatile products, and have
> surprisingly good performance. There's a brief outline of their
> performance for chasing RFI in k9yc.com/KillingRXNoiseVisalia.pdf that
> is focused on their usefulness as spectrum displays to identify types of
> RFI, and to chase RFI. But they are good for FAR more than that.  Here's
> a better summary of what's available.
>
> http://www.rtl-sdr.com/roundup-software-defined-radios/
>
> http://www.rtl-sdr.com/big-list-rtl-sdr-supported-software/
>
> ND0B, who has a serious VHF/UHF station and is one grid away from
> completing the FFMA award for working all 6M grids in the continental US
> (see his qrz.com page), says that he would not have worked our
> expedition to the very rare CM79 grid without an RTL dongle and Simon
> Brown's SDR Console software!  He says it outperforms his Flex 6700 for
> sensitivity and noise.  Simon, G4ELI, is a fine programmer, and was the
> author of the original Ham Radio Deluxe software, and a digital mode
> TX/RX program to go with it.  He sold that software several years ago
> because support was pulling too much time away from programming.
>
> http://www.nn4f.com/SDR-Console-SDRPlay-RSP_QuickGuideTips.pdf
>
> http://sdr-radio.com/
>
> I've been busy with other projects, so haven't gone beyond loading
> software and verifying that everything works. I'd be willing to bet that
> there's free software to do damn near anything with these radios!
> There's software to trace aircraft beacons, decode broadcast TV in
> various formats, SWL, and ham operation.  To use them as a SWL RX,
> simply plug the SDR into a USB port and listen on computer speaker,
> headphones, or a stereo rig connected to an audio output of the computer.
>
> 73, Jim K9YC