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Reviews For: SDRplay RSP2 and RSP2pro

Category: Receivers: General Coverage

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Review Summary For : SDRplay RSP2 and RSP2pro
Reviews: 32MSRP: $170.00
Description:
The SDRplay RSP2 and RSP2pro Radio Spectrum Processors are software defined receiver covering 1khz - 2Ghz. They 2 variants are electrically identical to each other apart from the RSP2pro being housed in a rugged metal case instead of a screened plastic box.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.sdrplay.com/rsp2/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00324.7
HB9OAB Rating: 2017-04-09
100% good! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
A great great SDR (SDRplay RSP2)

Services/preformance/price are excellent!!!!

They went from several SDR-RTL to a DXPatrol... and all of these were seriously deficient, ELAD for the BAND/frequency.

The ones on the market low price from 1 KHz to 2000MHz, so I made this choice and I was very very very happy.

I wanted to try this SDRplay RSP2 for NOTCH BC/FM, Power for ext LNA, 3x three antenna outputs (software switch), I do not have to unscrew to change antenna then also for a nice TCXO!!!!

Purchased to Home and 23 hours (amazing!!!) was delivered to me and I was already using.

Immediately ease of use also of the various soft:
-SDRconsole 2
-SDRconsole 3
-HDSDR
-SDRuno

All programs that already used it previously so was all very simple in using this SDR.
I connected to the output of my RFout RTX + USB makes me duplex SWITCH and RL antenna.
I must say that the programs used NOT always are very stable, sometimes if exploited MULTI receivers (24 with SDRconsole and 15 with SDRuno) but SDR is attacked by a month to my server dual I7 win10/64bit and I use it every day without problem or to having to reset the PC or CRASH driver or otherwise...

I noticed some CRASH but not the RSP2 but the SDRconsole software, SDRuno and HDSDR.
Then stable compared with the SDR-RTL driver.

Evidently that struggles with computer configurations misconfigured will not be happy (not the fault of SDRPLAY RSP2 ...) but if you have a stable and good PC, play it safe!

7-24x receiver with 10% CPU/GPU...

Check here http://www.qrz.com/db/hb9oab

LIKE ALL THE SDR is not that you turn on and use it as a transceiver, get the most out of setting made with the software.
I likened here with several receivers and also a FTdx3000/5000 I have to say that is outstanding compared to this price/performance.

I opened several receivers simultaneously sending them audio to splitted applications as SSTV, RTTY PSK JT etc ... with no problem.

On my site I have some pictures of 7-24 multiRX made with SDRPLAY RSP2...

Check here http://www.qrz.com/db/hb9oab

Regard's
Franco, HB9oab
W5CHA Rating: 2017-03-29
RSP@/SDRuno Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I recently acquired an RSP2 to use as a panadapter, integrating it with several other pieces of software. The RSP2 worked great but I had a real problem getting all my digital interconnections to play nice. I contacted the support service and we went round and round tracing issues. I must say that these guys wouldn't give up and we finally found a solution that works incredibly well. I just want to publicly thank them for having the patience to work me out of a frustrating problem.
K3TEE Rating: 2017-02-12
Outstanding! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought the RSP2 to use as a wide spectrum, general purpose receiver and a panadapter for my transceivers. It's performance has exceeded my expectations. I have really enjoyed using it.

When I first got it, I downloaded the SDRuno software to run with it. I found quickly that I had to contact SDRplay by email with several questions to get the SDRuno software up and running. The software is definitely not intuitive to use. The good news is that I got impressively, fast responses to my questions from SDRplay and subsequently got things up and running pretty quickly.

Now there is a good YouTube video about SDRuno that will help you learn the basics before attempting to use it. The features and capabilities of SDRuno are wide and deep. It will take me a good while to learn enough to get the most out of it, but I think it will be worth it in the end.

I've recently downloaded HDSDR software to try it out. I found it was very easy to use albeit less capable than SDRuno.

I use my RSP2 as part of a panadapter system with both my KX2 and TS-590S. I use the MFJ-1708 T/R switch in this setup and control it with the transceivers' PTT circuits. The RSP2 hasn't been damaged by excessive RF doing so. Again, finding the right YouTube videos that show the connections, cablings, and T/R box modification needed will be a big help if you want to do something similar with your transceivers.

Bottomline, I think the RSP2 is a real winner. If you are a new to SDRs, I'd recommend you start out using HDSDR software first and then transition to SDRuno if you want more sophisticated capabilities.
W8RMV Rating: 2017-02-07
Great but beware... Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
SDRPlay really needs to better emphasize the very limited front end protection on this device. If you have it inline or on a receiving antenna and transmit anywhere near it, you may fry the frontend like I did. If you want to try & repair it like I do, there is very little info out there to do so. If you get one or are thinking of getting one, get on a few forums to see what others are doing to protect the device. If you only SWL, it should be fine. I've been a ham & a SWL'r for years & I have never had this issue with any other receiver. If you are a ham with more than one antenna, exercise caution and religiously disconnect the RSP2 or protect it. I got distracted & forgot it was still connected. An expensive distraction. Otherwise the RSP2 worked great on SDRConsole s/w. It's performance is top notch and rates a 5 for the price. It's protection from nearby RF is not and that I would rate a 2. This is an update to my first review.

----------------------
Earlier 3-star review posted by W8RMV on 2017-02-01

SDRPlay really needs to emphasize the very limited front end protection on this device. If you have it inline or on a receiving antenna and transmit anywhere near it, you may fry the frontend like I did. If you want to try & repair it like I do, there is very little info out there to do so. If you get one or are thinking of getting one, get on a few forums to see what others are doing to protect the device. If you only SWL, it should be fine. I've been a ham & a SWL'r for years & I have never had this issue with any other receiver. If you are a ham with more than one antenna, exercise caution and religiously disconnect the RSP2. I got distracted by the family & forgot it was still connected. An expensive distraction. Otherwise the RSP2 worked great on HDSDR & Uno. It's performance is top notch. It's protection from nearby RF is not.
G3VDS Rating: 2017-01-25
Best General Coverage Receiver I've ever owned! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I first bought an RSP1 last year and it worked well. I traded up to the RSP2 recently because I wanted the filters, software switcheable antenna inputs, and the TCXO.
I am running it with a Chinese fanless PC. I5 processor, 8Ghz ram, 120Gb SSD. Windows 10. This loafs along quite comfortable with an 8Mb displayed bandwidth at 35-40% processor load.
I've had no software issues at all getting it to work.
Prospective buyers should be aware that this little black box and it's software is a very complex and powerful piece of kit and requires a lot of time and effort learning how to use it. If you do this it's magical and has taught me a lot. It has its quirks but my first Rx was an Eddystone S640 valve job and in 50 years I've had lots of others and they all do!
I've also got a Flex 1500 which I like a lot. The Flex and the RSP2 are both good but in different ways and I'm keeping them both.
I think the RSP2 is good value for money and with my new noise generator I'm playing with it as a poor man's spectrum analyser.
It is important to RTFM and 'think' about what it shows you.
KC3NG Rating: 2017-01-23
SDRplay RSP2 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The radios are great, I've had one RSP2 and it failed and I immediately ordered a second. I love the panoramic display.

With the first, I began with a laptop with no audio. You can imagine my surprise when I moved the rig to my extreme, to find that it has audio!! My next is on order and I plan to take a real good look at it. For one thing. a 50 KW AM station is nearby. The internal filter was necessity and it really helped.
W0FAA Rating: 2016-12-27
Great hardware, some software installation issues for me Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I also have a Flex 3000 transceiver and an RTL-SDR USB unit. I am experienced with both SDR and computers.

It's difficult not to be underwhelmed when first holding the RSP2 (or 1) hardware in your hand, even after seeing the pictures. It's just a plastic box with a few connectors and a small piece of paper directing you to a web site. It doesn't even include the USB cable. I suppose us older folks have a couple of the big sturdy old USB type B cables laying around, but others will be left waiting for a delivery to arrive before they can try it out. The aesthetics aside, this hardware is a significant step up from my previous 8-bit toy, and seems very capable indeed.

SDRuno is full-featured but you really must read the manual, period. Download the SDRuno Cookbook too. Follow the steps with your radio as you read them and in 10 minutes you will be fine. Some reviewers have wrongly stated that the software doesn't have a particular feature because they couldn't find it. Well there are many features I couldn't find until I thoroughly read the manual. Some tiny user interface elements will reveal an entire new function window when clicked.

I had trouble during installation on 2 of the 3 computers I installed it on. I may still have had trouble with the drivers on my Windows 7 SP1 system had I left them installed. The first time I followed the installation procedure on the web site and everything appeared to install correctly. I started the program and clicked to open the SP1 window. Windows 7 then displayed the "whirlygig" hourglass-equivalent over the SDRuno window and although I gave it many minutes, nothing happened. I attempted to terminate the program with task manager, but had no luck there. Eventually a reboot was required. This behavior can be caused by the USB driver. They hang waiting for input and have no provision for stopping. After the reboot my RSP2 was not recognized when plugged in. I attempted to uninstall and reinstall program and drivers. The program unistalled, but the drivers seemed not to respond when asked to uninstall. I rebooted and tried again. After uninstalling the drivers, then reinstalling software and drivers everything worked correctly and I happily played with the unit for a few hours. I returned from lunch to find that my usually very stable Win 7 machine had restarted from a Blue Screen with a driver power state exception. Huh... well it happens. A few minutes later it happened again with SDRuno closed while I was writing some emails. Ok, that's enough of that! I uninstalled all SDRplay software and drivers and reinstalled them in a Windows 7 virtual machine. No more BSODs have occurred in the several days since, either on the host machine or in the VM.

On my main machine, a quad-core 3.5 GHz i7 with 16 Gig of ram and an SSD, I was able to get good performance at the full 10 MHz bandwidth setting with only 10% CPU usage. In the VM I can only run at 5 MHz bandwidth before CPU usage nears 100%, but that is enough to make me happy for now. I am actually surprised it runs even that well in a VM. I read in the blogs that most people have no trouble whatsoever with BSODs, but a few like me, do.

I was able to install the unit on my Windows 8.1 laptop which is working perfectly at the full 10 MS/s setting. I wanted portable operation and will probably use this configuration the most.

I am delighted with the hardware, the software is very good and other software will be compatible soon. It seems as capable a receiver as my other HF radios, and of course having a 10 MHz window into any frequency band between 1 KHz and 2 GHz is great fun! I found I could improve the already very good S/N ratio by using the decimation settings. Although information in the manual is sparse on this feature, it is a way of trading bandwidth for dynamic range and S/N.

I took one point off for my installation issues, and the steep learning curve of the SDRuno user interface. I am very happy with my purchase.
KG7QYJ Rating: 2016-12-09
Excellent SDR Rx unit Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Feature packed Rx for the money. Had it connected thru my 75ft feed line to a PAR endfed SWL longwire. Excellent reception, selectivity and sensitivity. The flexibility of features like multiple simultaneous monitoring of widely varied frequencies is quite a statement on the future of radio. Great build quality even without the RSP2Pro metal case. Lots of fun. Well worth it. I highly recommend downloading the SDRUno cookbook. The production user guide is a bit lacking.

As a product, this is 5 stars. Not sure how I feel about the tactile experience of radio work disappearing.
MBOTT Rating: 2016-12-09
Great HF Receiver Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This review is on the SDRplay RSP2, but performance wise the RSP1 is its equal from 1500 kHz to 30000 kHz. The way I have my listening post set up, I have a split feed from my Pixel RF Pro-1B that goes to my RSP2 and also to my physical radios: Kenwood R-5000, Icom IC-R75 and a Yaesy FRG-7. I have yet to come across a HF signal on any of the radios that I cannot receive on the RSP2. The ability to see a 10 mHz of the spectrum is fantastic, especially when hunting those more difficult signals. I can't imagine DXing without using the RSP2 as it help so much.
GM1FLQ Rating: 2016-12-07
Best value for money spent in a long while Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I'm with G1HBE on this and agree with his conclusions.
On VHF/UHF I've compared the RSP2 simultaneously via a professional grade antenna multicoupler.
I have found it broadly speaking to be near enough on a par with my Uniden UBC800XLT, UBC780XLT and BC785D for sensitivity.
Looking forward to trying it with other software whenever it becomes available and whatever tweaks come along with SDR Uno.
It has rekindled my listening interest and has me exploring parts of the spectrum I normally wouldn't.