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Reviews For: Pi-SDR+ for Flex Radio SDR-1000 / SoftRock / Ensemble SDR

Category: Transceivers: HF Amateur HF+6M+VHF+UHF models - non QRP <5W

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Review Summary For : Pi-SDR+ for Flex Radio SDR-1000 / SoftRock / Ensemble SDR
Reviews: 12MSRP: 275 +
Description:
The Pi SDR IQ Plus is a high end sound processor and cat control featuring the AK5394A ADC giving 123dB of Rx dynamic range and a 192K panadapter for your SDR-1000 or Softrock/Ensemble SDR.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.pi-sdr.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00125
W4HIJ Rating: 2022-10-18
Part of a Low Cost SDR station Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I should have done this sooner but I've been away from the hobby a bit. I got my Pi SDR+ a couple of years ago to go with my Hobby PCB RSHFIQ. I'm familiar with Power SDR from having owned Flex radios and I feel like I'm at home using it. I don't know about the other radios this unit works with but with my RSHFIQ, I have a nice and comfortable to listen to receiver and that's a very big deal for me. I get what I call "receiver fatigue" with some of the lower level Japanese offerings. I've recently added a Hobby PCB HardRock-50 amp to my setup and have a very capable SDR station now. Very pleased with the Pi SDR+!
73,
Michael , W4HIJ
N8LI Rating: 2022-10-17
Excellent solution -very well designed, executed and supported Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is a great solution to put SDR-1000 back on the air. Works perfectly. Support from Christos SV1EIA is great.

FlexRadio SDR-1000 is a great transceiver. Unfortunately the original rig depends on some special (now obsolete) sound cards and related software on MS Windows. Solution by Christios helps to bypass this problem.

Highly recommended !
EA7JNI Rating: 2021-02-11
Excellent device and best after-sales service.. Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
After spending almost a year with the PiSDR IQ Plus on my old FlexRadio SDR1000, I want to state that the set works wonders for me and I am very happy to see it fly into "youth". I recently had some problems with the transmission and brought to the attention of Christos (SV1EIA), he provided me with all the necessary information to solve the problem and with a lot of patience on his part, since I am not very skilled in these tasks. Thanks to your advice, the problem that was in my hardware was solved and after replacing the OMPT cable, everything returned to normal without the need to touch the PiSDR.
In short, the PiSDR IQ Plus works very well for me and the after-sales service, unbeatable due to the human and technical treatment of Christos / SV1EIA.
AI6B Rating: 2020-09-02
Do not hesitate to purchase this processor/CAT control device. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is a fantastic product. I am using it with another great product: The HobbyPCB RS-HFIQ. The two devices work seamlessly and with PowerSDR resulting in a very capable top quality SDR transceiver for a cost of around $500. It took me a bit of effort to set up with Windows 10, but with the great support from Christos SV1EIA and Jim WA2EUJ I was quickly on the air. Emails to either of them were returned with the needed information, usually within minutes. I find PowerSDR easy to use and the manual supplied with the Pi-SDR is clearly written.

I have two other SDR radios that I use: Elecraft KX3 with PX3 and Elecraft KX2, which if not QRP portable, I generally operate with my SDR Play RSPdx. The PX3 is somewhat limited in spectrum span, so is not terribly useful. SDRuno shows the full band on SDRPlay, but requires a T/R switch which is a bit of a nuisance.

Power SDR shows less spectrum than SDRuno, but is easier to navigate, and the settings are maintained by band. Plus, with the RS-HFIQ, I don't need the T/R switch. The RS-HFIQ receiver seems to be at least as sensitive as Elecraft radios. For these reasons, the RS-HFIQ/Pi-SDR is my preferred rig.
N0URE Rating: 2020-07-09
Avoid Windows 10 Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Used my plus unit for a number of years with Genesis G-11 but last month, June Windows updates rendered setup inoperable. PowerSDR software in the PC cannot find the Pi unit on the network. The unit will still work Stand-alone.

Support has not responded for some time.


July-- With help from Christos SV1EIA, I found the source of my problems were three 8-port Ethernet switches. Switches were optimized for camera aggregation and would pass data port to UP-link but not port-to-port.
JC


VE3GVW Rating: 2019-03-22
Pi-SDR IQ Plus for Genesis G59 and G11 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I got my PI SDR IQ Plus a couple weeks ago and I have used it with my Genesis G59 and G11 since.

There are no drivers or sound card requirements on the Pc. You can connect it directly to your pc or to a network switch on your home network.

After reading the hardware and software manual
i connected the Pi SDR IQ plus to my G59 (and later to my G11 ).
I connected mine to the Pc directly as i don't have a home network.

The software setup of PowerSDR 2.5.3 ( Updated by Christos SV1EIA ) was easy.

It took me 1-2 hrs including configuration of Power SDR 2.5.3 and i was ready to get on the air.

The received audio was very good and i got good signal and audio reports.

The PI-SDR IQ Plus can easily be moved to another Windows Pc or notebook with PowerSDR 2.5.3 installed on it.

73 Doug VE3GVW


WB8SQJ Rating: 2019-03-18
Pi-SDR+ for Genesis G11 Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have two G11 the one I have on the PI SDR IQ has the multi band filters, And is running on a windows 10 computer.
The other G11 has three filters 80,40 and 30 and is runing on a old windows XP computer with the sound card interface.
Some day I may buy the PI SDR IQ for the other G11 .
This is great interface for the G11 it takes away all the setup problems that you have with the old sound card setup.
I am very impressed with the Pi-SDR IQ
VK2KRN Rating: 2018-10-04
Pi SDR IQ Plus puts new life for my RS-HFIQ Transceiver Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just recently purchased a Pi SDR IQ Plus and hooked it to my RS-HFIQ SDR. It is a remarkable combination. Excellent performance and got it working in my first attempt. No more worries with sound cards and drivers.

Setup is straight forward if you follow directions carefully.Combined with my Tokyo Hy-Power HL700B, I get around 200W output.

Support from Christos (SV1EIA) for the PiSDR IQ Plus is just amazing! He is extremely knowledgeable and his responses to queries is really fast. I am still new to SDR and PowerSDR software & have learnt a lot with the great support offered by Christos.

Great product & I am a happy customer. For details visit https://pi-sdr.net/pi-sdr

73's
Nan
VK2KRN
N1OFZ Rating: 2018-10-02
Still available Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After posting my review I received a response from Christos SV1EIA. There must be a problem with his web form as he said he didn't receive either message I sent, though I did get a confirmation when submitted. Anyway I give him credit for reaching out to me and advising that these are in fact still available. The deal is that once ordered it takes 2 weeks to assemble and another 2 weeks in travel time from Greece to the US.

My initial hesitation was that when you order through IGG you take the full risk that if the product is never delivered there is no recourse. This is why I wanted to confirm with Christos and when I had not heard back I was concerned. As a owner of a small business myself it can be detrimental to have a bad review so I'm following up with this one to clear things up. Since having a couple conversation with Christos I'm going to order one and can't wait to get my SDR-1000 running on a modern OS!
WA2EUJ Rating: 2018-05-08
Amazing SDR Performance Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
If you've ever used a soundcard based SDR like the Softrock or RS-HFIQ, struggling with HDSDR, cables, groundloops and USB issues, you know these devices offer a lot of performance at a minimal cost, but you pay for it in complexity.

Enter the PI-SDR+. The PI-SDR+ handle all of the interfaces to the radio (in my case a HobbyPCB RS-HFIQ), mictophone, PTT, speaker and CW key and provides a single Ethernet interface to your PC. The PC now runs PowerSDR software with almost no latency, better control, dual receive, TX audio processor. Best of all it works every time you turn it on and is impervious to changes in your PC.

The PI-SDR+/RS-HFIQ combination may not have the raw performance of a >$4000 SDR but at under $500 for the combination, this is a truly exceptional radio value.