Category: SDRplay

SDRplay Release the RSP1A: A $99 14-bit 1 kHz to 2 GHz Revision of the RSP1

Today SDRplay have released the RSP1A, a revision of the popular $99 USD RSP1 with some significant improvements. The press release is pasted below: 

SDRplay Limited has today announced the launch of a new Software Defined Radio product – the RSP1A.

The SDR-play RSP1A is a major upgrade to the popular RSP1 and is a powerful wideband full featured 14-bit SDR which covers the RF spectrum from 1 kHz to 2 GHz.

Due to its exceptional combination of performance and price, the RSP1 has proved to be a very popular choice as an “entry level” SDR receiver. Since launching the RSP1, we have learned a great deal about what people are looking for in SDR receivers, and where possible, we have incorporated these improvements and new features into the RSP1A.

The RSP1A therefore delivers a significant number of additional features which result in benefits to amateur radio enthusiasts as well as significant benefits for the scientific, educational and industrial SDR community.

Here are the main additional features of the RSP1A compared to the original RSP1:

  • ADC resolution increased to 14-bit native for sample rates below 6 MHz, increasing to 16 bits with decimation.
  • Enhanced RF pre-selection (greater filter selectivity plus 4 additional sub-bands compared to the original RSP1) for reduced levels of spurious responses
  • Improved LNA architecture with variable gain. The RSP1 had just a single gain step.
  • Improved intermodulation performance
  • Performance extended to cover 1kHz to 2GHz with a single antenna port.
  • Bias-T facility
  • Improved frequency stability incorporating a 0.5ppm TCXO (software trimmable to 0.01ppm)
  • Selectable broadcast AM/FM/DAB notch filters
  • RF shielding within the robust plastic casing

When used together SDRplay’s own SDRuno software, the RSP1A becomes a high performance SDR platform. The
benefits of using the RSP1A with SDRuno include:

  • Highly integrated native support for the RSP1A
  • Calibrated RF Power Meter with more than 100 dB of usable range
  • Calibrated S-Meter including support for IARU S-Meter Standard
  • The ability to save power (dBm) and SNR (dB) measurements over time, to a CSV file for future analysis
  • The IQ output wav files can be accessed for 3rd party applications

SDRplay has also worked with developers of the popular HDSDR, SDR-Console and Cubic SDR software packages to ensure compatibility. As with the RSP1, SDRplay provides multiplatform driver and API support which includes Windows, Linux, Mac, Android and Raspberry Pi 3. There is even a downloadable SD card image available for Raspberry Pi3 which includes Cubic SDR.

The RSP1A is expected to retail at approximately £76 (excluding taxes) or $100 (excluding taxes) For more information visit our website on www.sdrplay.com

About SDRplay:

SDRplay limited is a UK company and consists of a small group of engineers with strong connections to the UK Wireless semiconductor industry. SDRplay announced its first product, the RSP1 in August 2014

The datasheet is available here (pdf), and a the full technical information is available here (pdf).

We've had a RSP1A beta preproduction unit for a few weeks now and will be releasing a full review comparing it against the RSP1 in a day or so. For a quick review conclusion we note that we've noticed that the filters are significantly more effective on the RSP1A compared to the RSP1, and the inclusion of the MW/FM and DAB notch filters help a lot in certain situations. The increased ADC resolution is due to decimation on board the MSi2500 chip and is noticeable in some situations, but does not seem to cause a huge improvement. Overall compared to the RSP1 some overloading problems are still present with strong signals, but intermodulation and imaging is reduced significantly and in some cases the RSP1A even outperforms the RSP2.

Also, Mike Ladd KD2KOG a member of the SDRplay technical support team has uploaded a video announcing and demoing the RSP1A. 

Announcing the RSP1A

SDRplay RSP1A
SDRplay RSP1A

 

A Tutorial on Receiving HRPT Weather Satellite Images with an SDRplay RSP2

RSP2user's HRPT equipment

Over on the SDRplay forums user 'RSP2user' has put up a quality post describing how he receives HRPT weather satellite images with his SDRplay RSP2. HRPT stands for 'High Resolution Picture Transmission' and provides a much higher resolution image compared to the APT weather satellite images typically downloaded from NOAA satellites. Somewhat confusingly the picture quality of HRPT is similar to LRPT (low rate picture transmission) which is used on the Russian Meteor M series weather satellite. HRPT provides 1.1 km resolution, whilst LRPT provides 1 km resolution.

Currently there are multiple satellites broadcasting HRPT signals including NOAA 19, NOAA 18, NOAA 15, Meteor M2, Fengyun 3B, Fengyun 3C, Metop A and Metop B.

The difference in difficulty of receiving APT and LRPT versus HRPT transmissions typically occur in the L-band at about 1.7 GHz, and requires a directive high gain antenna with tracking motor to track the satellite as it passes over. This makes these images many times more difficult to receive compared to APT and LRPT which only require a fixed position antenna for reception at the more forgiving 137 MHz.

Over on his post RSP2user shows how he uses a repurposed Meade Instruments telescope tracking mount and controller to drive the tracking of a 26 element loop Yagi antenna. A 0.36dB noise figure LNA modified with bias tee input is used to boost the signal and reduce the noise figure. The signal is received by a SDRplay RSP2 and processed on a PC with USA-satcoms HRPT decoder software, which is available for purchase by directly contacting him. The HRPT signal bandwidth appears to be about 2.4 MHz so possibly an RTL-SDR could also be used, but it might be pushing it to the limit.

If you are interested, RSP2user also uploaded an APT weather satellite image reception tutorial on another post. This tutorial shows how to build a quality quadrifilar helix antenna as well.

Receiving the HRPT signal on USA-Satcoms' HRPT decoder.
Receiving the HRPT signal on USA-Satcoms' HRPT decoder.

RSP1 Metal Enclosure Price Reduced to $29.95

Recently we’ve reduced the price of our RSP1 Metal Enclosure upgrade kit from $39.95 down to $29.95 USD. You can purchase the kit from our store. The kit comes with:

  • 1x Metal Enclosure
  • 1x Carry case
  • 1x BCFM Filter with SMA Male to Male Adapter
  • 1x Accessory set including rubber feet, screws, grounding post.

On Amazon USA there are less than 16 units left, and shipped from China from our store there is less than 85. We won’t be restocking this item for a few months so please get in quick if you are interested.

We brought out this kit back in March and instructions for using the kit can be found on this post.

The RSP1 metal case kit
The RSP1 metal case kit

Tom’s Radio Room Show Tests the RTL-SDR Blog Broadcast AM Filter

Over on YouTube Tom from Tom’s Radio Radio Room Show (TRRS) has uploaded a video showing the effectiveness of our broadcast AM (BCAM) filters for cleaning up HF reception. In the video he uses an RSP1 to receive the WWV time signal at 5 MHz and shows that there is some AM signals mixing into the audio. After connecting the BCAM filter the AM signal is gone and WWV comes in clearer.

TRRS #1305 - RTL-SDR.COM MW Filter for Shortwave - Works!

Using the SDRuno EXTIO Edition with an RTL-SDR and other SDRs

Over on YouTube Mike from the SDRplay team has created a tutorial video that shows how to use the SDRuno EXTIO edition. SDRuno is the official software of the SDRplay line of products and can be freely downloaded from the SDRplay website. The EXTIO edition allows other non-SDRplay SDR units to freely be used with SDRuno. The only restrictions are that the maximum bandwidth is artificially restricted to 2.5 MHz and some DSP filters are missing.

In the video Mike shows how to set up the SDRuno workspace to work with an RTL-SDR dongle and demos reception of some signals. Note that the EXTIO dll file for the RTL-SDR mentioned in the video is the same one required for HDSDR, and can be downloaded from the dll table on the HDSDR website.

If you’re interested in more, Mike has a full SDRuno tutorial series available on the SDRplay YouTube channel which mostly focuses on usage with the SDRplay units, but could be applicable to the EXTIO version as well.

SDRuno EXT/IO Edition for a range of SDRs and dongles

ARRL QST Review of the SDRplay RSP2Pro with Independent Lab Measurements

In the latest version of the ARRL QST magazine editor Steve Ford (WB8IMY) has released a comprehensive review and set of measurements for the SDRplay RSP2 / RSP2Pro. The review is also freely available online in pdf format from the SDRplay website (pdf warning).

The review initially focuses on the differences between the RSP1 and the RSP2 units, explaining how most differences occur in the front end circuitry. WB8IMY then goes on to review SDRuno, the official software package of SDRplay units. The review is fairly brief, but the most interesting part is the lab test results which are displayed throughout the review.

WB8IMY performed several benchmark lab measurements such as frequency coverage, MDS (minimum discernible signal) levels (note MDS measured at 400 Hz instead of the standard 500 Hz for some reason), noise figure, AM and FM sensitivity, blocking gain compression dynamic range, two tone IMD tests, second order intercept points, FM adjacent channel selectivity and more. The results can be useful for comparing against other SDRs.

ARRL RSP2 Lab Measurement Results
ARRL RSP2 Lab Measurement Results (see the PDF for the full set of results)

A showcase of our Metal RSP-1 Enclosure

Back in March of this year together with Mike (KD2KOG) we brought out a metal enclosure for the SDRplay RSP1. The enclosure includes a BCFM filter as well as a nice carry case. We’ve been collecting a few images of users using this enclosure, and this is simply a picture showcase of those images.

If you’re interested in the enclosure we still have some limited stock remaining over on our store at www.rtl-sdr.com/store.

Tweet16
Share36
Reddit
Vote
Email
52 Shares

SDRplay Release the RSP1A: A $99 14-bit 1 kHz to 2 GHz Revision of the RSP1

Today SDRplay have released the RSP1A, a revision of the popular $99 USD RSP1 with some significant improvements. The press release is pasted below: 

SDRplay Limited has today announced the launch of a new Software Defined Radio product – the RSP1A.

The SDR-play RSP1A is a major upgrade to the popular RSP1 and is a powerful wideband full featured 14-bit SDR which covers the RF spectrum from 1 kHz to 2 GHz.

Due to its exceptional combination of performance and price, the RSP1 has proved to be a very popular choice as an “entry level” SDR receiver. Since launching the RSP1, we have learned a great deal about what people are looking for in SDR receivers, and where possible, we have incorporated these improvements and new features into the RSP1A.

The RSP1A therefore delivers a significant number of additional features which result in benefits to amateur radio enthusiasts as well as significant benefits for the scientific, educational and industrial SDR community.

Here are the main additional features of the RSP1A compared to the original RSP1:

  • ADC resolution increased to 14-bit native for sample rates below 6 MHz, increasing to 16 bits with decimation.
  • Enhanced RF pre-selection (greater filter selectivity plus 4 additional sub-bands compared to the original RSP1) for reduced levels of spurious responses
  • Improved LNA architecture with variable gain. The RSP1 had just a single gain step.
  • Improved intermodulation performance
  • Performance extended to cover 1kHz to 2GHz with a single antenna port.
  • Bias-T facility
  • Improved frequency stability incorporating a 0.5ppm TCXO (software trimmable to 0.01ppm)
  • Selectable broadcast AM/FM/DAB notch filters
  • RF shielding within the robust plastic casing

When used together SDRplay’s own SDRuno software, the RSP1A becomes a high performance SDR platform. The
benefits of using the RSP1A with SDRuno include:

  • Highly integrated native support for the RSP1A
  • Calibrated RF Power Meter with more than 100 dB of usable range
  • Calibrated S-Meter including support for IARU S-Meter Standard
  • The ability to save power (dBm) and SNR (dB) measurements over time, to a CSV file for future analysis
  • The IQ output wav files can be accessed for 3rd party applications

SDRplay has also worked with developers of the popular HDSDR, SDR-Console and Cubic SDR software packages to ensure compatibility. As with the RSP1, SDRplay provides multiplatform driver and API support which includes Windows, Linux, Mac, Android and Raspberry Pi 3. There is even a downloadable SD card image available for Raspberry Pi3 which includes Cubic SDR.

The RSP1A is expected to retail at approximately £76 (excluding taxes) or $100 (excluding taxes) For more information visit our website on www.sdrplay.com

About SDRplay:

SDRplay limited is a UK company and consists of a small group of engineers with strong connections to the UK Wireless semiconductor industry. SDRplay announced its first product, the RSP1 in August 2014

The datasheet is available here (pdf), and a the full technical information is available here (pdf).

We've had a RSP1A beta preproduction unit for a few weeks now and will be releasing a full review comparing it against the RSP1 in a day or so. For a quick review conclusion we note that we've noticed that the filters are significantly more effective on the RSP1A compared to the RSP1, and the inclusion of the MW/FM and DAB notch filters help a lot in certain situations. The increased ADC resolution is due to decimation on board the MSi2500 chip and is noticeable in some situations, but does not seem to cause a huge improvement. Overall compared to the RSP1 some overloading problems are still present with strong signals, but intermodulation and imaging is reduced significantly and in some cases the RSP1A even outperforms the RSP2.

Also, Mike Ladd KD2KOG a member of the SDRplay technical support team has uploaded a video announcing and demoing the RSP1A. 

Announcing the RSP1A

SDRplay RSP1A
SDRplay RSP1A

 

Tweet16
Share36
Reddit
Vote
Email
52 Shares

A Tutorial on Receiving HRPT Weather Satellite Images with an SDRplay RSP2

RSP2user's HRPT equipment

Over on the SDRplay forums user 'RSP2user' has put up a quality post describing how he receives HRPT weather satellite images with his SDRplay RSP2. HRPT stands for 'High Resolution Picture Transmission' and provides a much higher resolution image compared to the APT weather satellite images typically downloaded from NOAA satellites. Somewhat confusingly the picture quality of HRPT is similar to LRPT (low rate picture transmission) which is used on the Russian Meteor M series weather satellite. HRPT provides 1.1 km resolution, whilst LRPT provides 1 km resolution.

Currently there are multiple satellites broadcasting HRPT signals including NOAA 19, NOAA 18, NOAA 15, Meteor M2, Fengyun 3B, Fengyun 3C, Metop A and Metop B.

The difference in difficulty of receiving APT and LRPT versus HRPT transmissions typically occur in the L-band at about 1.7 GHz, and requires a directive high gain antenna with tracking motor to track the satellite as it passes over. This makes these images many times more difficult to receive compared to APT and LRPT which only require a fixed position antenna for reception at the more forgiving 137 MHz.

Over on his post RSP2user shows how he uses a repurposed Meade Instruments telescope tracking mount and controller to drive the tracking of a 26 element loop Yagi antenna. A 0.36dB noise figure LNA modified with bias tee input is used to boost the signal and reduce the noise figure. The signal is received by a SDRplay RSP2 and processed on a PC with USA-satcoms HRPT decoder software, which is available for purchase by directly contacting him. The HRPT signal bandwidth appears to be about 2.4 MHz so possibly an RTL-SDR could also be used, but it might be pushing it to the limit.

If you are interested, RSP2user also uploaded an APT weather satellite image reception tutorial on another post. This tutorial shows how to build a quality quadrifilar helix antenna as well.

Receiving the HRPT signal on USA-Satcoms' HRPT decoder.
Receiving the HRPT signal on USA-Satcoms' HRPT decoder.
Tweet22
Share86
Reddit
Vote
Email
108 Shares

RSP1 Metal Enclosure Price Reduced to $29.95

Recently we’ve reduced the price of our RSP1 Metal Enclosure upgrade kit from $39.95 down to $29.95 USD. You can purchase the kit from our store. The kit comes with:

  • 1x Metal Enclosure
  • 1x Carry case
  • 1x BCFM Filter with SMA Male to Male Adapter
  • 1x Accessory set including rubber feet, screws, grounding post.

On Amazon USA there are less than 16 units left, and shipped from China from our store there is less than 85. We won’t be restocking this item for a few months so please get in quick if you are interested.

We brought out this kit back in March and instructions for using the kit can be found on this post.

The RSP1 metal case kit
The RSP1 metal case kit
Tweet
Share37
Reddit
Vote
Email
37 Shares

Tom’s Radio Room Show Tests the RTL-SDR Blog Broadcast AM Filter

Over on YouTube Tom from Tom’s Radio Radio Room Show (TRRS) has uploaded a video showing the effectiveness of our broadcast AM (BCAM) filters for cleaning up HF reception. In the video he uses an RSP1 to receive the WWV time signal at 5 MHz and shows that there is some AM signals mixing into the audio. After connecting the BCAM filter the AM signal is gone and WWV comes in clearer.

TRRS #1305 - RTL-SDR.COM MW Filter for Shortwave - Works!

Tweet2
Share8
Reddit
Vote
Email
10 Shares

Using the SDRuno EXTIO Edition with an RTL-SDR and other SDRs

Over on YouTube Mike from the SDRplay team has created a tutorial video that shows how to use the SDRuno EXTIO edition. SDRuno is the official software of the SDRplay line of products and can be freely downloaded from the SDRplay website. The EXTIO edition allows other non-SDRplay SDR units to freely be used with SDRuno. The only restrictions are that the maximum bandwidth is artificially restricted to 2.5 MHz and some DSP filters are missing.

In the video Mike shows how to set up the SDRuno workspace to work with an RTL-SDR dongle and demos reception of some signals. Note that the EXTIO dll file for the RTL-SDR mentioned in the video is the same one required for HDSDR, and can be downloaded from the dll table on the HDSDR website.

If you’re interested in more, Mike has a full SDRuno tutorial series available on the SDRplay YouTube channel which mostly focuses on usage with the SDRplay units, but could be applicable to the EXTIO version as well.

SDRuno EXT/IO Edition for a range of SDRs and dongles

Tweet
Share22
Reddit
Vote
Email
22 Shares

ARRL QST Review of the SDRplay RSP2Pro with Independent Lab Measurements

In the latest version of the ARRL QST magazine editor Steve Ford (WB8IMY) has released a comprehensive review and set of measurements for the SDRplay RSP2 / RSP2Pro. The review is also freely available online in pdf format from the SDRplay website (pdf warning).

The review initially focuses on the differences between the RSP1 and the RSP2 units, explaining how most differences occur in the front end circuitry. WB8IMY then goes on to review SDRuno, the official software package of SDRplay units. The review is fairly brief, but the most interesting part is the lab test results which are displayed throughout the review.

WB8IMY performed several benchmark lab measurements such as frequency coverage, MDS (minimum discernible signal) levels (note MDS measured at 400 Hz instead of the standard 500 Hz for some reason), noise figure, AM and FM sensitivity, blocking gain compression dynamic range, two tone IMD tests, second order intercept points, FM adjacent channel selectivity and more. The results can be useful for comparing against other SDRs.

ARRL RSP2 Lab Measurement Results
ARRL RSP2 Lab Measurement Results (see the PDF for the full set of results)
Tweet4
Share30
Reddit
Vote
Email
34 Shares

A showcase of our Metal RSP-1 Enclosure

Back in March of this year together with Mike (KD2KOG) we brought out a metal enclosure for the SDRplay RSP1. The enclosure includes a BCFM filter as well as a nice carry case. We’ve been collecting a few images of users using this enclosure, and this is simply a picture showcase of those images.

If you’re interested in the enclosure we still have some limited stock remaining over on our store at www.rtl-sdr.com/store.

Tweet4
Share44
Reddit
Vote
Email
48 Shares

Listening to July’s Arecibo Observatory Ionospheric Heating Campaign

During July 24-31 the large Arecibo Radio Observatory in Puerto Rico (the big dish antenna that you may be familiar with from the movie ‘Contact’) ran an Ionospheric heating experiment which involves transmitting 600kW of net power up into the Ionosphere. This type of experiment is used for researching plasma turbulence in the ionosphere and upper atmosphere.

“The new Arecibo ionosphere HF heater nominally transmits 600 kW net power and has a unique Cassegrain dual-array antenna design that increases gain of three crossed dipoles for each band, using the signature 1000-foot spherical dish reflector,” explained Chris Fallen, KL3WX, a researcher at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks HAARP facility. He has reported that Arecibo would use 5.125 or 8.175 MHz, depending upon ionospheric conditions, but emphasized that these are estimates and frequencies may be adjusted slightly. On July 25, Arecibo was transmitting on 5.095 MHz.

Over on YouTube Mike L. used his SDRplay RSP1 together with our BCAM HPF to record some transmissions from the observatory.

Arecibo on 5.125 am

Tweet2
Share60
Reddit
Vote
Email
62 Shares