Wanting to take on a SDR something

Sorry for another what should I buy/do but the current SDR market seems to be all over the place.

This is what I use now, Yaseu FT-920 and a lot of the time I use HRD with it. Also use a APCO scanner at times as well.

I enjoy mostly playing on HF looking for utility/air stuff most anything strange. To get my feet wet with SDR it does not have to TX, if it does great if not no worries for now. The only thing I may want to TX would be PSK31 at low power or whatever is the current mode in fashion today, as you can tell I have not kept up in the digital world.

I have been all over the map, here are some ramblings:

I like the idea of a Flex Radio but all they offer is the old 1500 that's seem to be way long in the tooth old and the new 6300 series to the tune of $2,500, not much in between.

The more I think about it, a cheap dongle makes the most sense, but from what I can tell getting to see HF is a crap shoot and well not well done, that's just my gut feeling. I see no reason to not take a flyer on something like this, New DVB T Realtek SDR Rtl SDR Receiver Tuner Stick RTL2832U R820T MCX Input | eBay

Do we have something in between the Flex and dongle that is workable. RX only is fine, I'm somewhat computer literate but really don't want to spend hours messing around with it. I built the office PBX and I know I know enough that Linux can be PIA. I want to stay in the Windozes environment.

There's lots of stuff in that in-between range - you can start with our wiki which has LOTS of links to reviews, software and much more...

Software Defined Radios - The RadioReference Wiki

and HF is most definitely not a crap shoot with SDRs. While the SDR plays a big role, I think you'll find that there are many that are quite capable (your antenna plays a big role here....). Don't forget to do a YouTube search on the ones you think you want to invest. Don't forget about Yahoo groups, either

Mike

Thanks Mike,

I have been looking at Youtube and some stuff from NooElec, I'm getting paralyzed by analysis!

Thats great to know that the Dongles will get me something in HF to play with!

I'm not sure of your budget, but I think you'll find that, in the sub-800 price class, the FDM-S2, AFEDRI and Cross Country SDRs are capable performers. Read the reviews, join the Yahoo group for the one you select, and start asking questions. That's one of the best ways to learn

Mike

My cheapie dongle has been working surprisingly well. Its the unbranded Nooelec one(8 bucks on amazon). Not much I can't pickup. Gets a little difficult around the 10 meter band but I hear they sell an up-converter that helps that.

My only gripe....not very portable. So my original idea of saving hundreds on a scanner didnt really work out too well because of mobility. So now I am on the hunt for a handheld scanner again.

Oh yea, ditching the included antenna for a sputnik antenna made a HUGE difference.

This seems to be cheap enough to get my feet wet.
NooElec - NESDR Mini HF: Bundle

Mike, budget wise if I can get something with the same RX as my FT-920 for less than $1,000 and would TX 5 watts I may bite.

I would be willing to go $400-$500 for a decent RX only unit, again it would need to have a decent RX.

The part that I'm not sure about is comparing whatever I get to my FT-920, the FT-920 is not the best rig, its old but the receiver is decent, would be a drag to go backwards.

It seem odd to me the Icom and Yaesu people have not really stepped into this market. I guess its not big enough.

I took a flyer on the NooElec kit I noted above.

Not sure about the surface soldering, eye's are not what they used to be

Anyway looks to be fun a project.

I'm using the NESDR mini HF bundle, with SDR# for the software.
Using my 40m homebrew vertical, whatever I hear on my Yaesu FT-840, I can hear on the NESDR setup.

It's nice to be able to "look" at an entire band at once. The FFT and waterfall displays makes it easy to pick out signals. No having to spin the dial, or constantly change bands on the Yaesu a bunch. Just click the mouse to change frequency

KB9ERU said:

It's nice to be able to "look" at an entire band at once. The FFT and waterfall displays makes it easy to pick out signals. No having to spin the dial, or constantly change bands on the Yaesu a bunch. Just click the mouse to change frequency

Click to expand...

This is the part I'm looking forward to the most, I like to listen in on Navair/mil, etc. this should help a lot I hope.

Good SDR performance on HF

I'm G4ABQ and have sequentially owned and used a KW2000, A Drake TR7 and an ICOM 714 spanning 40 years of working topband to 10m. I found the SDRplay RSP does give comparable RX performance to my ICOM just using off the shelf SDR#. I think if I was a lapsed radio ham wanting to rediscover HF for $300 then that's what I'd go for. I have a video on YouTube if you google G4ABQ. As mentioned already the antenna is important but the classic 66 feet of long wire can pull in a lot if several metres in the clear.