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Reviews For: MRP40 Morse Decoder

Category: Ham Software/Apps - Other than logging

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Review Summary For : MRP40 Morse Decoder
Reviews: 43MSRP: 49.90 Euro
Description:
Morse code send receive program, runs under Windows.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.polar-electric.com/Morse/MRP40-EN/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
10433.9
N4SRQ Rating: 2012-01-09
Good if you have poor CW skills Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Works for me. It has been a great program to help me in the CW environment. Until I become more proficient in my own copying skills I will depend on this program to make up for my shortcomings. As a frequent computer upgrader, my email requests for a new unlock key have always been provided within 24 hours. Yes, it is expensive but it can help the CW weary in building their skills. Hopefully when I retire I can dedicate the time to to getting off of this nice program.
N5EP Rating: 2011-09-15
A bit pricey, unacceptable licensing scheme Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I tried the 30-day free trial and found that the software does a pretty good job of decoding CW signals in a variety of HF band conditions. It certainly does a better decoding job than Fldigi.

(Incidentally, over the course of the 30-day trial period, the software imposes a gradually-increasing delay in how long it takes for the software to load and then be available for use. Toward the end of the trial I had to wait three minutes after double-clicking on its start-up icon! This feature won't affect those who purchase the software, but I found that it only served as an annoyance that hindered my purpose of evaluating the software. What was the point of doing that?)

I was mainly interested MRP40 for use with some DX operators who are real speed demons, so I wasn't planning on using it on a regular basis as a substitute for increasing my own copying ability (currently about 15-17 wpm). So I found the price (currently 49.9 Euros, which is about $79 U.S.) to be more than it was worth for me personally.

The real negative for me is the way it is licensed. From what I've read in other reviews, any time you need to reinstall it, or if you upgrade or reconfigure your PC (e.g., get a new PC, or replace the hard drive or other important part in your existing PC) you have to email the software author to get a new software key). I find that unacceptable since there is no guarantee that the author will be around forever. One should be able to uninstall the software and install it on a new PC without having to check with the mother ship!

For those two reasons, I decided not to make the purchase. Nevertheless, others might not care about those factors, and it is a good Morse decoder. I did not attempt to use it to send CW, since I'm not interested in doing that.
STAYVERTICAL Rating: 2010-08-09
Over-rated Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Having tried this program and compared it to many other decoders, I can say it is better than most, but not cwdecoder, a freeware application.
Although cwdecoder is an old and inelegant application, it still has a great cw decoder.
MRP40 works about the same as cwdecoder, but the ridiculous paranoid licensing scheme and the outrageous price makes this program dead in the water for me.
Cwget is not a good comparison program as it is hopeless trying to decode weak rapidly fading signals in any case, another overblown program.
If you want to spend money on a cw program, put it on cwskimmer, it has a great decoder and gives you a lot more utility.
If you put your qso in the decoding area of cwskimmer it will decode the entire text as well.
So in summary, too expensive, ridiculous hardware based licensing scheme.
Just move on - nothing to see here.

AC4AV Rating: 2010-03-21
Best CW Decoder on the planet! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Like many others, I had tried them all. Hands down, MRP40 is the best. This is particularly true with very weak signals and/or a lot of noise. Even after a year of using Norm's software, I'm astonished at how well it works. Test MRP40 against others with several audio files and in real-time on all bands, including satellite ops. Please do not let cost prevent you from purchasing this product. It is WELL worth it. Norm is very quick to respond if you need to transfer a key to another computer. Never needed any other support, because it works so well.
W5GW Rating: 2009-01-19
A very good CW decoder Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was looking for a good CW decoder as I typically copy just in my head, but like to get a 'fill' every now and then. CWGet does okay, but at times falls short on weak signals. MRP40 is much better in my opinion, especially on weak signals. The key to using almost any CW decoder is to disable AGC in your rig, if at all possible, and this program is no exception. Set audio level to a normal range and then use RF control to establish a good level of signal detection threshold. The included oscilloscope display provided helps some in performing this adjustment, but one can usually do it by listening to the volume of received CW audio levels. What I would like to see is an easier way to load multiple instances of the S/W, but the author was gracious to provide me a second key. I'd probably use it for sending if it had a WinKey interface like MixW does. SO for now, I use MixW as a typing buffer and this program to receive with - hey, it gives me an excuse to get dual monitors!
IM0QMA Rating: 2008-08-09
Try it. Great software ! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Very nice software.It helps me a lot for DX and contesting is I'm not very able to decode CW at high speed and also is useful to test if your decoding is correct or not. Try it and you'll buy.
When I nedded help for a new installation Norbert answered me in one hour !Great ! 49,90 € spent very well.
KZ3DX Rating: 2008-07-24
The Best CW Decoding Software You Can Get Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have tried every CW decoding / keyboard CW program I can find. I did about 6 months worth of research. There is nothing that even comes close to MRP40. It is a military communications quality program. You can download it and use it free for 30 days. I can't say enough good things about this product.
N4QA Rating: 2008-04-02
It decodes too? Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Have been evaluating MRP40v61 for a couple of weeks. But Morse decoding doesn't interest me all that much.

I wanted an excellent Morse keyboarding program for use with my Top Band Warbler project for those frequent occasions when I use the rig on 160m CW.

Essentially, the TBW is a LSB rig which accepts audio from either a mic, or, as in this case, audio from a notebook PC's soundcard output.
It also uses the PC's Com port RTS signal for t/r switching.

MRP40v61 handles both chores brilliantly!

I noticed a minor anomaly in the action of the transmitted characters' buffer and wrote Norbert about it. In 24 hrs time, he emailed to me a new .exe file which eliminated the bug.
And, I wasn't yet a customer!

With this level of service *before* the sale, did I then purchase a license for this software?
Yes, I did!

And, I happily accept the bonus of the excellent Morse decoding features!

72!
Bill, N4QA
KE7HPV Rating: 2008-01-04
Unbelievable performance for CW decoding Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have been using MRP40 (v4060 now) for the last 2 years and I am very satisfied with it. I have tried MixW, MultiPSK, CWGet, PK-232, ERA Microreader, SkySweeper and Hoka and it is better than all of these for decoding Morse Code. No question. CWGet can come close sometimes on well sent Morse but the ability to instantly adapt to speed changes and QSB makes MRP40 superior.

I have had to request a new unlock key twice due to changes in my computer hardware and have always received a quick and nice reply from Norbert.
The program costs a little more than many of the other programs I listed but if you demand the best CW performance then it is worth every penny.
N3JNX Rating: 2007-07-26
Excellent CW De-Coder Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I've been using MRP-40 for 5-6 months now. It works better than many other CW de-coding programs I've tried. Had to build an interface for my transceiver which was simple to do. It has de-coded many weak, close together signals that would be hard to do in your head. Yes, its not cheap but it works excellent for me. N3JNX