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Reviews For: SDRplay RSP1 and RSP1A

Category: Receivers: General Coverage

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Review Summary For : SDRplay RSP1 and RSP1A
Reviews: 101MSRP: 100
Description:
The current production version, the RSP1A which launched in November 2017, is a 14- bit full featured SDR receiver covering 1kHz – 2GHz with 10MHz visible bandwidth. The full datasheet can be found by going to https://www.sdrplay.com/rsp1a/
Product is in production
More Info: Http://www.sdrplay.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001014.6
WA4NUN Rating: 2015-10-23
Fun Radio for hams and SWLR's Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Purchased mine a few weeks ago thru HRO and only needed to purchase an SMA adapter to put it into my bank of Alpha Delta antenna console switches. I have used it with both SDR Console and HDSDR, each of which have some advantages over the other. This radio at $149 accomplishes a lot. For hams, it is a great introduction for those among us on the fence as to whether our next transceiver should be an SDR radio without breaking the bank. For SWLR's, they get a great radio to listen to almost all frequencies and mostly all modes and perhaps get the itch for a ham license as a result. Maybe a small learning curve on software, but no crazy sound ports or weird virtual com ports to give headaches on the attached computer. All of my computers are Windows 10 Pro and with the three I have loaded it on......simple piece of cake. As others mention, I am not going to put it up there with a Flex or many other higher end SDR radios, nor would I put it on an equal with the RX section of my Icom 7410, I rate it a 5 on bang for the bucks as I try to do in any review.
KG7NXH Rating: 2015-10-06
Best mid-priced SDR out right now. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've had my SDRplay for about 1 month now and have been putting it through it's paces and overall I am very, very happy with it's performance.

The SDRplay covers 100 Khz to 2 GHz with no gaps, uses an SMA antenna input and printer style USB connector. The case is probably bigger than it needs to be to house the PCB but I don't mind because with some rubber feet added it stays put. Electrically, it has several front-end filters which are automatically switched in depending on frequency range in use.

The specs state having 8 MHz of bandwidth display available but in reality it abotu 7 MHz of flat bandwidth due to roll-off on the ends.

The built-in front end filters are definitely doing their job by keeping strong out of bands signals out of the receiver. However, like any radio or SDR, strong signals within the filter bandpass will cause intermods if the gain is turned up too high.

The ExtIO dll used to interface the SDRplay to SDR software has a nice assortment of adjustments for gain through the various stages, PPM adjustment and LO choices.

Frequency stability is a non-issue as I have noticed no drift whatsoever and my PPM value is set to -1 so pretty darn close.

Sensitivity is as good as anything else I have. I compared very weak HF signals (same antenna of course) received on my Kenwood TS-2000 to the SDRplay and the SDRplay picked up everything the Kenwood could. I can't really ask for more than that. Same story on VHF/UHF - just as sensitive as the Kenwood although I couldn't find any consistent very weak signals to test the lowest limits. Overall, from what I can tell it is very sensitive.

I compared 1090 Mhz ADS-B to my RTL dongles with R820T and R820T2 tuners and the SDRplay performed better giving maybe 2 dB better S/N then the RTL with R820T2 tuner. Too bad I can't find an ADS-B app that supports the SDRplay.

I am seeing no desense on 70cm when transmitting on 2 meters. - again front end filtering is working well there.

For about $149 it's a good deal and the perfect device for somebody who has dipped their toes onto the SDR waters with a cheap RTL-SDR dongle and wants something better without spending several hundred dollars.

So how could the unit be better?
1. Provide a USB cable with Ferrite chokes installed.
2. Install in metal case to help with RF shielding.
3. Provide sharper filtering around the amateur bands so that gain can be increased without overload/intermods from strong out-of-ham-bands interference (like the Funcube Pro Plus does).

Perhaps the next version could add these hardware changes for not too much more money.
WD9EWK Rating: 2015-09-23
Great device, affordable too! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Hi!

I have been using other SDR receivers over the past year or two - the inexpensive "RTL-SDR" type of USB dongle, the FUNcube Dongle Pro+, and the HackRF. When I saw the SDRplay price had been cut to US$ 149, I ordered one from the UK manufacturer in July. As previously noted, the SDRplay is now sold stateside by Ham Radio Outlet, making it easier to buy in the US.

I have been using the FUNcube Dongle Pro+ for working amateur satellites. Its only real drawback for me is its limited bandwidth, only 192 kHz. Otherwise, it is a capable SDR device for working satellites. Being able to receive bandwidths up to 8 MHz in a device that costs US$ 149 is great! And now that the SDRplay has no gaps in the range it receives, it is even better.

With an SDR receiver like the SDRplay, I can see all of a satellite's transponder - not just the frequency I am hearing from the receiver. This is a powerful way to know where to tune and work other stations during satellite passes. I transmit to the satellites using various radios, but normally with a Yaesu FT-817ND. With the recent launch of a new group of satellites from China on the weekend of 19-20 September 2015, I have been able to show the signals coming from one group of 6 satellites on that launch at the same time (all of their frequencies line up, one satellite after the other, on the 2m band) within a 600 kHz bandwidth.

I have used HDSDR, SDR#, and SDR-Console with my SDRplay, but prefer HDSDR for my satellite work. HDSDR can write an RF recording of what it receives. Then I can play it back later to see what else was on from those satellites, and even hear stations that I might have missed on the transponders. I can then pipe specific signals from the passband into other software - for example, to decode SSTV from the ISS, or to decode some digital audio.

The SDRplay plays nicely with the latest crop of small (7- to 10-inch) tablets with Windows 8.1 or Windows 10. This has the potential to make a very small and powerful all-mode receiver covering MF, HF, VHF, UHF, all the way to 2 GHz. I use my SDRplay more with an 8-inch Windows 10 tablet than I do with a larger laptop or desktop computers - and it works great!

Would I recommend the SDRplay? Definitely! I might end up buying a second SDRplay, so I can use one at home and have the other for use away from home. This device has a wider range than the RTL-SDR type of dongles, and even the more expensive Airspy receiver (it is based on the RTL-SDR dongles, covering 24-1800 MHz) that requires an upconverter if you want to hear more of the MF/HF bands other than 10m and 12m.

73!
KW4CQ Rating: 2015-09-23
A $5000 receiver for only $150 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
At the present time I am using it as an IF spectrum display for my Yaesu FTDX-5000 on the HF bands. Much better than the LP-PAN+PowerSDR combo I had been using in the past. At first I tried it with the free HDSDR software app but found the software lacking in features I wanted for amateur radio use (your opinion may vary). HDSDR hasen't been revised since 2008. Now I prefer using the free SDR Console app version 2.7 from SDR-Radio.com. This software app is under active revision and well supported. I am running it on a six year old 32 bit dual core PC under Windows 7 and concurrently with my favorite logging program, Log4OM. I understand SDR Console works just as well on an Windows 10 PC. I found the SDR Console software to have a wider range of features that are compatible for ham radio use. The Console user's manual is very well written and can be downloaded from their web site. For CW and SSB work I couldn't be more pleased with this combination. The SDRplay receiver is an exceptional buy at this price. I ordered mine from the U.K. manufacturer but I saw recently that HRO became a U.S. distributor.
WM3M Rating: 2015-09-19
Great, outstanding receiver Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This little box is amazing. I don’t often do reviews, I know I should since I read them all the time, but I had to do one on this SDR receiver. I have had several SDR devices over the past year or so, I owed the FunCube, Flex 1500, SoftRock, and a $15 USB SDR from Amazon, I either sold them or sent them back. Install was easy, I went to the SDR play web page, downloaded and installed the two drivers, downloaded HDSR, and it all worked first time, very easy install. I used the defaults, did not change any settings. It hears well from MF all the way to 1296 Mhz. As a test I am running it with WSPR-X, it ran all night and I copied nearly 300 hits on MF 494.2 kHz, some at minus 31 dB, this is as good or better than my K3 which has been hardware modified for better copy on the MF band. I had promised myself I would not buy anymore SDR devices/receivers, since I had 4 already, but when I saw it on the HRO web site I gave it a try. I have bought many things from HRO over many years and always have been pleased with them. One caution, I downloaded SDR-Console from SDR-Radio and it blew away my Windows 10 desktop, I had to go back to a restore point before it was installed.
I have only had the SDRplay for a few days but it works very well so far, if anything changes, I will update this review. Try it.. 73 Emory WM3M
KC0EKQ Rating: 2015-08-28
Affordable Awesomeness Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Like many newbies to SDR, I began with a cheap little dongle to get my feet wet, and it was certainly fun enough, for a little while. The cheap dongle's myriad limitations were apparent from the beginning but I could overlook them for a short while.

But then of course, the need for FAR LESS images and intermod, the need for filters and AGC, basically the need for a GOOD receiver resulted in my trashing the dongle and trying one of those $40 or $50 Chinese HF/VHF/UHF boxes.

Well... it really wasn't much better than the dongle. A waste of money and time.

So I wanted to try a 'real' SDR but I could never afford the high-end SDRs available; I could spend about $200 at most, and so I just thought I'd wait for however long it took to be able to afford one... and then I saw that SDRPlay had been reduced to $150.

No-brainer for me. Which is great because I don't have any brain anyway.

It's affordable, the shipping was crazy fast, and it was very easy to connect to SDR Console, HDSDR, and SDR#... and let me tell you, when you finally get a GOOD SDR receiver, you realize it's all about the antenna.

We all know it's about the antenna anyway, all the time, but having a wideband receiver like this can point out to you the limitations and quirks of your antenna/s.

Once it's up and running, the SDRPlay is very rewarding, fun to use, and for $150, come on! It outshines many portables in that same price range, and it's small enough to be portable itself, at least to travel in your computer bag.

VERY well done, well priced, well worth it.
NN3RP Rating: 2015-08-28
Excellent! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I must agree with all of the review being made here...from the shipping time, to installation of drivers/software, to the performance of the device. It is an amazing piece of work. I connected it to my Carolina Windom antenna. The easy of use of the SDR# is a plus. I am planning on testing it through other software as well.

One thing I need to find out is how do I protect the device from my RF station.

Rafael / NN3RP
KB2EOQ Rating: 2015-08-13
Amazing! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is an amazing deal! The price is great and the radio even better, especially when paired with the free SDR-Radio Console software. Customer service was good, it arrived from the UK to USA in 7 days. The installation of drivers was a breeze. I did need to get an adapter from a local store so that I could connect it to my antennas with PL-259s on them. O own three other SDRs including a Flex 3000. The SDRplay receive performance matches my others and the ability to receive up to 8 MHz bandwidth (split in to up to 6 VFOs if needed) is astonishing for the price. You can't go wrong with this!
WA7ROD Rating: 2015-07-18
great sdr Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Love this thing. sounds great, runs great. I use HDSDR software on it and love the sound coming out of it. FM radio is great and so is every thing about it. They shipped it from England on Monday and got it on Wednesday in the USA, Idaho!! Don't waste your time buying the dongle. It is a waste of your money.The SDR-PLAY is it!!
WAVEGUIDE Rating: 2015-07-08
RSP sensitivity, frequency accuracy & stability Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I got my SDRplay RSP two months ago. For LW-SW reception I use a home-made pa0rdt-Mini-Whip antenna (50kHz-30MHz) in combination with a home-made tunable pre-amplifier. For FM – 2m I use a modified telescope antenna. I also have a few cheap RTL-SDR sticks for use with an up converter and an old Kenwood R1000 receiver. For SDR I use both, HDSDR and SDR# software.

The first thing I noticed is that the SDRplay RSP works well below the specified low frequency limit of 100kHz. For example, the time signal (DCF77) at 77,5 kHz is well received. The lower limit in frequency for practical use seems at approx. 50 kHz.

That was a good start. However, the extremely high sensitivity really knocked me off my feet: Stations which are noisy on the R1000 (so far my unbeatable workhorse) are pretty crisp and clear in the RSP, thanks to the innovative LNA concept. Furthermore, I could receive weak stations even in between strong signals – of course somewhat noisy. But in the R1000 they are buried within the noise and you would not have guessed that there is something. That also holds for FM and 2m: my cheap RTL-SDRs are much, much worse, even when using an external LNA.

The next positive impression was on frequency accuracy and stability. The displayed absolute frequency appears accurate within less than 100Hz for my RSP. Besides accuracy, frequency stability is the key– otherwise any fixed ppm-corrections are useless. For my RSP I could detect no frequency drift e.g. within a few hours of receiving SSB/CW or when tuning in the next day. In complete contrast to the RTL-SDR sticks I have tested – they drift like hell.

Another positive observation is the low heat generation of the RSP (– no comparison to the RTL-SDR sticks). Maybe this also contributes to the good frequency stability of the RSP.

What is left to say: Congratulations to the SDRplay engineers who have developed this superb piece of SDR hardware! For me this little black box was worth every penny.