Stand Alone SDR Receivers

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radio3353

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What is the current market of non-dongle SDR receivers? I am talking about stand alone SDR receivers that do not need a PC to operate them (like the upcoming Icom IC-R8600.) I have been having trouble determining everything that is currently out there. Thanks for your help.
 

natedawg1604

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What is the current market of non-dongle SDR receivers? I am talking about stand alone SDR receivers that do not need a PC to operate them (like the upcoming Icom IC-R8600.) I have been having trouble determining everything that is currently out there. Thanks for your help.

AFAIK there is currently no hardware box in existence that would offer anything close to what you get with DSD+ and a few dongles (at least in terms of trunking-tracking DMR, P-25, Nexedge/Idas etc).
 

ka3jjz

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Well the CR1A is still out there, and there's evidently a new QRP transceiver that's also SDR...but how long the CR1A is going to remain is anyone's guess. Mike
 

ka3jjz

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Not in this case. Go read the reviews and you'll understand - to my knowledge, the CR1 series was the first hobby-level SDR that doesn't need to be tied to a computer

Mike
 
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KS4JU

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Right now there are not a lot of choices in the standalone SDR area besides the CR1A. However there are a couple of others you might consider. The Elad FDMDuoR is a receive only version of the Elad FDMDuo. Having used the the FDMDuo, it is an excellent little radio in standalone mode. The controls are very simplistic in the standalone mode and it requires an external speaker for better sound. One nice thing is that you can connect it to a computer via USB and use the very powerful included FDMSW2 software to take advantage of higher bandwidth, waterfall / spectrum display and many other powerful features.

The other possibility is the Icom 7300 transceiver which is a complete standalone solution. The built in touch screen gives you a waterfall / spectrum display and it has very nice audio. The 7300 has been a favorite with Hams and SWL listeners. The only downside is that it currently doesn't support much in the way of external SDR software. I have used the 7300 pretty extensively and can say it is an excellent HF SDR receiver.
 

jwt873

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A non-computer SDR? Isn't that just called a radio?

Most radios today have superhetrodyne receivers. The signal gets converted to an intermediate frequency before it is filtered, detected etc..

An SDR receiver digitizes the incoming analog signal from the antenna and processes it with a programmable gate array. It doesn't use any of the conventional superhetrodyne tehnology.

SDR radios do need a computer. Those that don't use an external computer have an internal computer built-in to their circuitry. Flex radio has made a display called the Maestro so you can use their radios without a conventional computer. Maestro – FlexRadio Systems

Just to add.. AOR has introduced a stand alone SDR radio.. AR-DV1 | RECEIVERS | AOR U.S.A., INC. Authority On Radio Communications
 

Token

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What is the current market of non-dongle SDR receivers? I am talking about stand alone SDR receivers that do not need a PC to operate them (like the upcoming Icom IC-R8600.) I have been having trouble determining everything that is currently out there. Thanks for your help.

This is not an answer to your question, just a clarification.

Just to be clear, "dongle" SDRs generally refer to a specific set of SDRs, things like the R820/R820T2, Funcube Dongle, etc. These are many peoples entry into the SDR world. However not all SDRs are "dongles". The majority of models (not numbers) of SDR are not Dongles. Things like the Peresus SDR, NetSDR, SDR-IQ, etc. But these other SDRs all still require a computer.

Many radios are stand alone SDRs today, no external computer required, however the majority of these are transceivers (like the KX2 and 3, IC7300, FTdx-5000, etc), not just receivers. There have been a few prototype stand alone SDR receivers shown around, however they have typically been DIY things or commercial projects that have not gotten off the ground yet.

On the DIY side of things, there are a few guides out there to doing a stand alone SDR based on RaspBerry Pi and an SDR. as well as a couple based on less common boards.

On the production side of things, the already mentioned CR-1A, AR-DV1, and the upcoming R8600 seem to be the only things out there either in numbers or with good prospects of sales. Items like the StampPFL just never see to go places.

While SDR has been around for a while now we are still pretty early on the cycle of it. I expect over the next 5 years you will see more and more stand alone SDR receivers on the market, however at the same time the market for receivers might be dwindling, so it could be a slow pull.

T!
 

ka3jjz

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Right now there are not a lot of choices in the standalone SDR area besides the CR1A. However there are a couple of others you might consider. The Elad FDMDuoR is a receive only version of the Elad FDMDuo. Having used the the FDMDuo, it is an excellent little radio in standalone mode. The controls are very simplistic in the standalone mode and it requires an external speaker for better sound. One nice thing is that you can connect it to a computer via USB and use the very powerful included FDMSW2 software to take advantage of higher bandwidth, waterfall / spectrum display and many other powerful features.

The other possibility is the Icom 7300 transceiver which is a complete standalone solution. The built in touch screen gives you a waterfall / spectrum display and it has very nice audio. The 7300 has been a favorite with Hams and SWL listeners. The only downside is that it currently doesn't support much in the way of external SDR software. I have used the 7300 pretty extensively and can say it is an excellent HF SDR receiver.

As far as I can tell, after doing a brief Google search, I don't believe the FDMDuoR has received FCC approval, so it's not here in the US yet. But it looks awfully good, and may be a challenger for the CR1A. Time will tell, I guess...Mike
 

alex2x572b

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sdr gear

hi
the icom ic-7300 is no more a sdr than a ts-2000 or ic-756pro
you only need to look at the schematics to see
yes its new and has lots of "new features" in it but that does not make it a sdr !
and its not a direct sampling radio by any measure of the word !

its just a new and modern if dsp radio like all the others

flex thats a sdr and direct sampling radio !
 

KS4JU

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Well, I guess that is why I have not seen it for sale on the Elad USA site only the Italian site. The other thing is it seems that the DUOr is not a whole lot cheaper than the DUO.

The DUO has some neat tricks under software control like dual independent receivers. Plus with a couple of menu settings changes on the radio and a simple software hack to the FDMSW2 software it can receive in the FM broadcast and VHF range. However to work well in this area it needs an external preselector. The FM broadcast reception is not bad.

There is also a approximately a $25 external Bluetooth interface you can build that can be used with the BluDuo Android software that allows you to use the DUO standalone with an Android tablet / phone. The Android device allows for waterfall / spectrum display tuning and control on the Android device touch screen. Sort of like the Flex / Maestro combo. This turns out to be a nice combo for the standalone user. You can use the DUO without the computer but still have the ability to monitor the spectrum on the tablet.
 

slicerwizard

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Most radios today have superhetrodyne receivers. The signal gets converted to an intermediate frequency before it is filtered, detected etc..

An SDR receiver digitizes the incoming analog signal from the antenna and processes it with a programmable gate array. It doesn't use any of the conventional superhetrodyne tehnology.
Not true. SDRs convert signals down to only a few MHz. There is no way they can digitize the raw VHF/UHF/700/800/900/... signals coming off the antenna.


SDR radios do need a computer. Those that don't use an external computer have an internal computer built-in to their circuitry.
Just as most radios these days also have a built in processor. So if you want to claim that all SDR radios need a computer, then most non-SDR radios also need a computer - which isn't true, is it?
 

Token

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hi
the icom ic-7300 is no more a sdr than a ts-2000 or ic-756pro
you only need to look at the schematics to see
yes its new and has lots of "new features" in it but that does not make it a sdr !
and its not a direct sampling radio by any measure of the word !

its just a new and modern if dsp radio like all the others

flex thats a sdr and direct sampling radio !

The argument of “is an IF digitally sampling receiver an SDR” has been done. I have even taken the side of the argument you have here, an IF digitized radio is not really an SDR. However, where do you draw the line? An RTL SDR (or any other SDR) working at 1 GHz must mix the RF down to something within it’s A/D’s range, so it is not direct digital sampling, it is also an IF digitizer, the IF is just a little higher in frequency than some "DSP" radios. Personally I have come to the internal agreement that if it digitizes the IF then it is at least SDR technology, if not actually SDR, while if it digitizes the AF it is not.

More pure SDRs may be DDC for their entire frequency range, but in those cases you will hit the top frequency that is affordable someplace in the VHF / low UHF range.

However you are wrong about the IC-7300, it is indeed a direct conversion SDR. The only thing between the A/D and the antenna is a set of band pass filters. It is as much an SDR as the Flex radios, RFSpace NetSDR, Perseus, WinRadio G33, etc. However it is an SDR that requires no external computer for operation, it is stand alone.

T!
 

EricCottrell

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Hello,

The AOR AR-Alpha and AR-DV1 are direct sampling receivers below 18 MHz.

I assume even if the Icom R-8600 is based on the IC-7300, that it will only be direct sampling in the HF and possibly up to 6 Meters.

73 Eric
 
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