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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
DEANQ Rating: 2019-06-23
Amazing what I've been missing! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Hooked up the RSP-1A, with SDRuno & Omnirig, rig control and MFJ-1708B switch.Having a waterfall and spectrum display is amazing. I'm finally into the 21st century :) It was really easy to set up and use, lots of references if you need them. It's a pleasure "seeing" the stations and having the program control the rig (TS-2000) and then make the contact! This is my first experience with an SDR, so maybe It's a bit of "this is new" awe. Time will tell.
VE3PTC Rating: 2019-05-21
excellent Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
picked up the rsp1a at xenia. i was uncertain as to how easy set up would be, due to trying one of the cheaper chinese sdr units. spent more time trying to get it working than playing radio with it !
however, i had the rsp1a up and running in less than 5 mins, with uno. i think hdsr is probably better, but for now, with my learning curve, im sticking with the standard set up.
for $104 dollars, this is the bees knees ! very sensitive, and with well chosen filtering. the nr and nb functions are very impressive.
so far tested on am broadcast (500khz to 1700khz). fm broadcast (88 to 108mhz) some shortwave bands on am and syncronous am, and of course, 160m thru 70cms. i did listen on 1,2ghz, but no activity there !
on hf, excellent performance, and air band, marine band, and 2m and 70 cms, all very fb.
for a receiver, at this price level, you are getting a lot of performance!
highly recommended if you do a lot of rxing, like me!
if you are unhappy with using the mouse to tune, or keyboard input, i believe you can also purchase a stand alone vfo knob! nice.
5 star all the way!
WI4G Rating: 2019-04-29
Lots of Fun Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Picked up a RSP1A from HRO and having a kick with it. Helps with the noise and conditions that we are having this time of year. It took some time to get it to talk with my microham III usb interface but once I had the com numbers mapped out it works nice; I can link the software with MMTTY, HRD, FT8 etc. with out any issues. SDRuno is a nice software at the moment and does everything; Once you get the software running I recommend walking through each window with the manual and also the great support videos from SDRPlay. 73 de Mark
WB8VLC Rating: 2019-04-03
RSP1 great HW, but srd uno SW is junk Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I picked up a RSP1 on the cheap used from HRO to use as a scanner at first but after considerable frustration with SDR UNO software I now only use it with SDR Console as a Spectrum scope and 2nd receiver with my HF transceivers. Interfacing to my radios as a spectrum scope was easy and no issues experienced, the RSP1 tracks my Hf transceivers vfo fine.

On the software side things didn't go that good, I initially desired to use my RSP1 with SDR UNO software to explore the new scanner feature but I found it to be horrible, SDR UNO SW reminds me of old Motorola RSS for programming their 1980's vintage radios, very cluttered with a terrible GUI that appears to be written by RF engineers.

On 3 different PC's, SDR UNO's memory scanner locks up after just one cycle thru the memory channels and the scanner stops without reason never to start again unless I press scan to restart repeating the whole start/stop scan nonsense over again.

As a result of SDR UNO's failure to work I now use SDR Console software which is a joy to use and I only use my RSP1 as a spectrum display and 2nd receiver for my HF transceiver which works great.

The RSP1 is wonderful on the hardware side but on the software side, do yourself a favor and stay far far away from SDR Uno and stick with SDR Console or something else unless you are a sadist and enjoy abuse.
N3HKN Rating: 2019-04-03
A Good Product Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have had an RSP1A for several months and use it everyday as a source for a panadaptor display sync'd to my Icom 7300. Until the recent update, the SDR Uno indigenous software was marginal. However, I never really adopted that but opt't for the panadoptor utility.

I do not agree that people are migrating to a "no internet" profile. That assumes that their video entertainment is provided on a little cell-phone screen versus a 60" 4KTV. I seriously question that premise. I submit that the internet is as pervasive in the home as cable TV was 10 or 15 years ago thus the RSP1A product's requirements are not a liability. Note: 5G may have an impact here on both TV and internet services, how they are offered and used.

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Earlier 4-star review posted by N3HKN on 2018-08-02

First how I use the RSP1A. It is fed by an amplified loop antenna on my deck. This is to reduce local condo noise. The RSP1A is managed by HDSDR. HDSDR also manages my Yaesu FT-450D which is exclusively used for transmitting via a tuned attic dipole.

All reception is via the RSP1A/HDSDR equipment. It works very well. I have seen some impacts from very strong commercial stations during a rare band opening. Not harmful-noticeable.

I was going to buy a 7300 for the SDR receive performance. But, this system offers performance, in the critical receive area, that "possibly" rivals that of the 7300. Certainly my cables and software setup could be in one box but for $129 versus $1,000 I see no outstanding need for a 7300.

I also add to the mix the DXLabs PSK31 messaging (real digital QSOing) software through virtual software "cables" and all of the stuff starts in the morning and has no weird glitches "yet". One more Windows10 update and that could change.
N3HKN
BURGERLOVER65 Rating: 2019-04-02
What no one tells you Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
What no one tells you is this device is impossible to setup for use without computer internet connection. Why would SDRPLAY and all reviewers not mention that whatsoever? A $120 convenient bargain device becomes very expensive. In the U.S. many people have cut the cable which eliminates cable tv and computer internet connection. Sensibly most Americans have replaced computers with cell phones. Perhaps in Euro countries the government gives all these away free but not here. An SDRPLAY technician in New York says it would take the company much technical work to be able to make setup possible without computer internet connection. My next search is to find an SDR-IQ which I owned ten years ago. No fuss, no socialism, no security loops to jump through to get a little (so called inexpensive) box to work properly. I give RSP1A two stars for customer service which is good in theory but it didn't help me.
KC8HXO Rating: 2019-03-29
SUPERB. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
OUTSTANDING. Product. Software. Support. A+ on all. Sure, software could use a little tweaking yet..... but there are other flavors, if you don't like playing UNO.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by KC8HXO on 2016-01-22

Best investment I have made in radio in quite some time. Having a ball with this thing. Has exceeded my expectations in every way. Been putting off "dipping your toes" into the SDR world? Get one. You won't be sorry.
ON5HB Rating: 2019-02-19
Excelent value for money. Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have 4 of these boxes.
3 for my online websdr at http://www.heppen.be:8091 and 1 for testing purposes.
They are really good and on par with most expensive Ham-radio receivers.
If you need a good and stable receiver this tiny box is the one to buy.
Also the support and help of SDRplay is excelent.
Well done!
KD8CGH Rating: 2019-02-18
Great performance Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This SDR with a 14 bit ADC, switchable prefilters and a preamp provides great performance at a low cost. I plan to use mine for satellite work. Meanwhile I have downloaded its spectrum analyzer software and am using it on the workbench.
https://www.sdrplay.com/spectrum-analyser/
With a white noise generator I can check filters and with an RF bridge I have an inexpensive way to tune VHF and UHF antennas.
7Z1SJ Rating: 2019-01-01
Great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
It's receiving window opener
Effective and easy to set up