Current SDR software 2015

I'm wondering what the current lineup is for software choices for the RTL-SDR and NooElec Mini 2+. I've read through the posts I can find but a lot are from 2014 or even 2013.

Looking for Windows 8.2 x64, free, and on the simple side for my first exposure to SDR. The posts appear to point to SDR# for the ease of use, but CubicSDR also seems to fit the bill. The Quick Start Guide on RTL-SDR mentions AirSpy. The BIG list (also on the RTL site) has enough choices to choke a giraffe.

In short, is SDR# still the best software base to start with?

Cheers!

CubicSDR is still in it's infancy, but performance seems to be good so far, but, again, it's still in Beta.

SDR# had been around for a while, though, out of the box, is quite basic. The plugins are what make it good. In my experience, support from the author has been a tad bizarre, as he''s notably quite aggressive towards any criticism. Problems with the software though are often caused by the very third-party plugins that make it worth using at all.

Simon Brown's SDR-Radio is very good, with a considerable amount of features already present, so (pleasant) support is often direct from the author. He's fixed bugs often within a hour or so of me reporting them. Bear in mind though that it's a very comprehensive package of software, with satellite tracking, data decode etc, built it, and works with transceivers also, so will take a bit longer to get used to, but it's worth it. The CPU power required is lower than is required by SDR#, especially with multiple VFOs. SDR-Radio is what I use. It's all about the software

Flatliner said:

In my experience, support from the author has been a tad bizarre, as he''s notably quite aggressive towards any criticism. Problems with the software though are often caused by the very third-party plugins that make it worth using at all.

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I wonder how you would react if someone people were constantly blaming you for errors created by others.

I used to believe the same as you, but have since learned (through reading the support lists) that while he may seem terse, he is almost always RIGHT, too.

In my world, this situation happens almost daily. If I were to react with the obtuse, sneering manner in which he does, I wouldn't have any customers left.

He's far from almost always right. Some of the very criticism that he's been denying, (I have never been able to reduce the USB noise (SDRplay does this better, and even without shielding) yet, suddenly a "new" Airspy is being released to address that, and several other complaints.

I don't own the new Airspy yet (I plan to in time), but mine seems to work pretty well. It's night and day over the R820T2 dongles. I can't say I've noticed any USB noise, but I did add a ferrite just as a precaution.

I think you're talking about complaints about the USB connection, for one. It is possible to improve the connection even if the other one was adequate.

Chevy came out with a heavy duty pickup. That doesn't mean the standard duty model is bad. Some people are more abusive (for lack of a better word) and need heavier duty components. I plug and unplug my Airspy quite a bit, and have not noticed any of the issues some have posted. Maybe they did improve issues people have had. But that is not defacto proof the older ones were bad - just not the best. There is no guarantee the new ones are the best either. You can say that about nearly any component on nearly every receiver.

I will add that I have broken the antenna connection on two RTL dongles (not from the board - the connector itself broke). I believe they could have made a better choice of connector. That doesn't mean MCX connectors are inherently defective.

I can't help but say this so...

"Can't we all just get along?"

The Airspy/SDR#/Youssef situation needs to come to a halt, that's my personal opinion on the matter so there, I said it.

Anyway, back on topic:

I would agree with pretty much everything Flatliner said about SDR-Radio aka SDR-Console. It is without a doubt the most feature laden and complex program for SDR work on the Windows platform at this time - having said that specifically, however, with it having so many features and being so complex (because it really is) it's also the most capable software available, with regular updates and as Flatliner noted actual support from the one and only person that develops it, Simon Brown (that I know of, I don't think there's a big huge developer team, I think it's all him but I could be very wrong on that aspect).

I LOVE that program, I really do, and I hope soon to have an SDR hardware device that can make the very best of it overall and so far that's going to be SDRplay aka the RSP. I'm not faulting Airspy, really, and I'm glad it's been successful for the creator/developer just as SDR# has been, but at this point in time the pros/cons list I made for myself in deciding which device to buy 'cause I really can't afford a HackRF which is what I'd take in a split second if I could actually afford it. The pros vs the cons for the SDRplay put it well ahead of Airspy in most every respect even in spite of the recent issues with support for that device with SDR#. If it gets supported, great, if it doesn't well, I've got SDR-Radio to work with and it can do the tasks just fine too but it obviously doesn't have the kind of plugin support that SDR# has built up over the years.

I checked out CubicSDR recently when I saw it mentioned here and yes it's very basic but development is in progress as noted.

HDSDR is another one that's been around for a while but I don't find it appealing - that's my own personal opinion of it, and it's tempered by the fact that I haven't spent a great deal of time actually using it and learning the ins and outs that it's capable and not capable of. The very first time I used SDR# almost 2 years ago I had it functional in seconds, literally it was tuning in my NOAA weather frequency in under a minute of starting it up without issues so it has been the go-to SDR app for me for a long long time and still is in most instances.

There are others on other platforms too, like Gqrx (almost an SDR# style clone, it's NOT a clone but it's similar enough to get up and running in a minute or two for most people after they've gone through the somewhat involved compilation/installation process on their distribution of choice, even OSX can make use of Gqrx).

And of course there's SDR# which is the most popular (by a very wide margin I would guess) which has the largest collection of incredibly useful plugins to make it a pretty complete "suite" I suppose. It gets the job done and that's really all that truly matters when you get right down to it.

I'm hopeful that as time passes we'll find newer pieces of SDR software applications that increase the usefulness of the technology and add a lot more functionality on top of what's already possible even now, it just takes creative talented developers to imagine what they want to do and then code it up.

To the question of is SDR# the best software to start with well, whenever someone uses the term "best" it can be problematic because someone else might immediately counter that they think something else is better so, you can see how that degenerates into babbling and rambling pretty fast.

Do I think SDR# is a great starting point for people interested in SDR? Damned straight I do, it was my first point of entry into this new way of monitoring and it's easy to get working (not that other software isn't, mind you), and the wealth of plugins - even in spite of the manner you "install" plugins - make it "the best" (there, I said it) point of entry in my opinion.

It's not like you can't install any SDR software you can find for your platform and then try them all out yourself and find out what works BEST for you specifically because you're the only one that can do that. With Windows being the king of the hill obviously there is many more applications available at this time, with Linux having applications too, especially the GNURadio framework which can do most anything given the time and effort to make it happen. OSX also has capabiities too - iirc the guy that created and develops HackRF actually does all his software development for HackRF on the Mac platform using OSX and Linux as required but I might be wrong on some aspects of his particular usage so don't hate me if I am off a bit there.

Hope this helps...

It sure does.. I think I will start with SDR# and when I am comfortable with it, I will move to SDR-Radio. Sure is a lot less expensive then having to buy the different radios when you get bored with the old one!

And as I and many others note when you consider that you can get into this whole SDR side of things for basically $10 (plus a decent antenna but you can make very well performing ones with like $5-10 in parts that are amazing) AND you have more capabilities with those "cheap USB TV tuners" + the freely available SDR software to make us of them than pretty much any modern scanner or communications receiver available today, you just can't go wrong, seriously.

Simply put, and IMHO, SDR# is unbeatable for VHF and above, given the abundance of plug-ins. SDR-Console is unbeatable for HF, given its vast array of filtering that seems most pertinent to that area of the spectrum. I use the former with both the Airspy and SDRPlay (well the last usable version until that situation is resolved, anyway). I use the latter with my RFSpace NetSDR. For HF that combination is outstanding.

@br0adband: Unless you're interested in transmit, the HackRF is again IMHO not a very good receiver. Both Airspy and SDRPlay blow it out of the water in that regard. I owned one for a short period of time and sold it. As a hacking device, it's great. As a receiver, well again IMHO, not so much.

Bottom line? Both SDR# and SDR-Console (and the others mentioned as well) are offered up by their creators free of charge, and in the case of SDR# a lot of work has been done by the third parties that provide plug-ins, also for free. I think they all deserve props for that.

Flatliner said:

SDR# had been around for a while, though, out of the box, is quite basic. The plugins are what make it good. In my experience, support from the author has been a tad bizarre, as he''s notably quite aggressive towards any criticism. Problems with the software though are often caused by the very third-party plugins that make it worth using at all.

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This seems like a great use-case for transitioning this project to open source.

Just for fun, and because they are so cheap, I bought an RTL-SDR (T2), a NooElec Mini 2+, and a generic. I want to try come comparisons.. it is going to be my Winter project. I have a couple of platforms to try.. netbooks, laptops, a desktop or two (retired IT) so I can try them all and try to keep tally on what works where on which and maybe make a spreadsheet... nerds love spreadsheets.. I love spreadsheets.. I must be a duck.

blantonl said:

This seems like a great use-case for transitioning this project to open source.

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I'm sure you recall that it used to be open source. That didn't work out so well.