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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
KA8DJN Rating: 2016-01-20
GREAT SDR for the money Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Purchased one of these units from HRO and have been extremely satisfied with it. Had a problem with a software program and even though the issue was not a SDRPlay problem Steve from SDRPlay was very responsive and was able to diagnosis the software issue and stayed in touch with me until resolved. Great customer service.
For the money this is an excellent SDR receiver. My only wish was that it was mounted in an aluminum case in case of RFI but I can say that at this point it has not been a problem.
DB2MJ Rating: 2016-01-02
Excellent addition to my shack! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
My main rig is an oldtime Kenwood TS830S. To add the niceties of modern times, I played with cheap 8bit dongles to get an pan adaptor for it. This wasn't too successful. After reading a lot about this inexpensive 12bit SDR with a frequency range from 100kHz to 2GHz I ordered one from England and was positively surprised. A few minutes after connecting the SDRPlay to the IF output of my TS830S I had an excellent pan adapter display using HDSDR as software. Much recommended!

Additionally, I checked the performance as a direct receiver on my ham antennas. Superb results on all ham bands and a SWL'ers dream... excellent price/performance ratio.
WZ2P Rating: 2016-01-01
Excellent addition to my station Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've had the receiver for 2 months. I have used it primarily as a pan display for the TS590S. Connecting the SDRplay to the 590 is well documented on the Internet and pretty simple. This combination really enhances the already good performance of the 590 and brings me features found in much more expensive radios. Also the SDRplay can be used in sync with the 590 or as a completely separate receiver, which is a bonus. At $150.00 it's well worth the money. In my own research on the SDRplay, I was confused by how several reviewers claimed the performance wasn't to expectation for a device at this price point. That has not been my experience thus far.
AB4D Rating: 2015-12-25
Just Average Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently set up an SDR Play in my station. In comparison, I have previously used HDSDR, and a RTL dongle/up-converter from Noo Elec. My test radio is a Yaesu FTDX-3000.

I hoped that based on the significantly higher cost of the SDR Play. The performance would be much better, than the less costly dongle. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

My main use for these type of devices, is to add a panadapter and a IF tapped second SDR receiver to a traditional analog radio. In the case of the SDR Play, I did not see any significant performance difference between the SDR Play and a Noo Elec RTL dongle. Performance is similar as a pan and second receiver.

Setting up either device with HDSDR is about the same process. The only difference I noticed between the dongle and the SDR Play. The virtual S-meter with the SDR Play may be a bit more accurate/linear, and the receiver seems every so slightly brighter than the dongle. The only additional benefit, at least in the case of the FTDX-3000, no up-converter is necessary.

I attempted to use the SDR Play with another program, SDR Console. However, there were a lot of "Birdies" displayed on the pan adapter that seemed to be generated internally. When I changed bands from 80 meters to 40 meters, I couldn't decode the SSB signals on the band, regardless of the mode I tried. Then SDR Console began to lock up and crash. My resource monitor showed that SDR Console was using nearly most all of the system's resources in my older laptop computer running Windows 10. HDSDR seems better in that regard.

I believe, for the cost in relation to my application. The Noo Elec RTL dongle with TCXO is nearly as good of a device.

I will experiment with other applications and see if the SDR Play can become a viable addition to my station. However, as a second HF receiver and Pan, it really did not provide any additional performance benefits. An RTL Dongle is sufficient.
N0AH Rating: 2015-12-06
Affordable SDR Technology Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
First, my hat is off to Brian at the Denver HRO for helping me get set up after purchase!! I have mastered the FM side- but there are two sides of the coin here- the SDRPlay huge in potential, and the associated software you can download for it that can drive you crazy- thus, effecting the potential- Also, SDRPlay website self install did not work well at all with Windows 8- But was a champ and an easy install with Windows 7 for me- What a great learning tool this will be for our RF curriculum at AB0BX STEM School and Academy- Using SRD Console- I tried contacting the SDRPlay via email with questions, but no response to issues after several days- I did join the SDR Console Yahoo user group, all FB ops! There are things in manuals just not covered- the user group is essential when learning about this SDR receiver - I'd give it a 5 with a better manual, and an easier time to use the SDRPlay self install-
K6TLA Rating: 2015-11-23
It's neat! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've had the SDRPLAY for about 3 weeks now and am very pleased. It works well with SDR#, HDSDR, SDR console etc. I'm using it with an old AMD based machine which is fast enough to talk to the box without any issues. For $149 SDRPLAY is highly recommended.
SWL2002 Rating: 2015-11-07
Not good Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I thought I would give one of these a try and compare them against my other more expensive SDRs. The dynamic range and performance is not good at all. The comments a previous reviewer made about the AGC is spot on. The ADC used in these type of cheap SDRs just does not have enough dynamic range for serious work. I guess if you never tried a SDR you might be pleased with this, but when you experience the performance of a decent SDR, you will be disappointed that you did not put your $150 towards a better one. Overall, I don't recommend.
VE6DO Rating: 2015-11-06
Amazing Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Having not used an SDR before other than a FunCube I did not know what to really expect. However, once I got it .. it was amazing. The sensitivity beat (or tied) any other radio that I have. We tested it .. 0.05 uV across the band above 88 MHz except for the area where there used to be a gap. It was a respectable number there, though the exact number escapes me but no worse than my scanners. But on air band the only radio that matched the SDRPlay was my Icom IC-R7000 which we measured at 0.04uV. Pretty darn impressive. In real world testing it was up to the task. It was able to receive signals that my Uniden Homepatrol scanner would not even stop on. So this thing is great. However .. if you are expecting it to replace your scanner, no. It is not a scanner and does not pretend to be. It is great for searching the spectrum but if you want to scan a range of frequencies, (especially quickly) stick to your scanner. I really think it would be great on HF, but on VHF/UHF .. the software needs to be improved. But the hardware is great. The hardware for an SDR is only as good as the software, and lets face it, these things are best on HF or just snooping around in VHF/UHF. I am using SDR# ver 1361 *before the developer started crippling the software to not work with the SDRPlay.
KB9RZ Rating: 2015-11-03
Not Good for SSB Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've had an SDRPlay RSP for several days now. Using the HDSDR software and the drivers and DLL that SDRPlay recommends.

The audio and filtering are nice.

Notch filter work as expected are handily blank out offending signals, like guys tuning up in the middle of your passband. Multiple notches at a time are very effective.

Audio quality sounds very good on AM, FM, and SSB.

THE PROBLEM: AGC ON SSB

In fairness, SDRPlay has a PDF on their website that describes how their AGC works compared to a conventional analog AGC.

Conventional AGC is adjustable with your RF Gain knob which raises the voltage level, quieting the receiver by rejecting weaker signals. This is very desirable when working strong stations and you want to reject all the weaker signals and noise "underneath", making a very quiet, FM-like experience.

SDRPlay's AGC does not work this way. They essentially just decrease the overall sensitivity of the receiver, which is fine for AM and FM, but not for SSB, as described in the previous paragraph. In short, their AGC is unacceptable for SSB reception. Very disappointing. This is something fixable in software, and I hope they do it. If they do, it will be well worth the $150.

I'll use the SDRPlay RSP for some things, but not SSB reception. I'll have to wait and see what the new ICOM-7300 does. If that's a dud, then I'll just get a Flex or a Yaesu 3000 and be done with it.






HAMMYGUY Rating: 2015-10-25
OK but for a little more you can buy better performance Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
After owning the SDRplay for several months I have had plenty of opportunity to compare it to the other small SDR receivers I own such as the FuncubeDonglePro, Afedri, SDR-IQ etc. The receiver is fairly easy to set up and most difficulty is with the software. I use SDRradio almost exclusively as I have found there is none easier and it handles a wide range of radios.

The SDRplay is definitely worth the money for being an inexpensive way to introduce people to the fascinating world of SDR. But don't expext it to be as good of a receiver as a full blown SDR transceiver such as the Anan or Flexradio series. Where it falls short in my experience is the sensitivity on higher HF bands. No amount of adjustment could seem to bring the signals up to compare to my FunCubeDonglePro or others. They seemed to be about 10-15db weaker. 20 meters and on down it was excellent.

There is a large center line spike that couldn't be eliminated. To the developers credit they were very responsive and offered suggestions on how to help eliminate it. No amount of adjustment would get rid of this spike. My other receivers have little or none. This was on other computers also, not just my main one. I realize that this could be an issue on my setup, but since the other receivers are OK, perhaps it might be something in the plugin supplied by the developer.