Sr. Citizen With Followup Quests of SDRPlay Units

[BOBRR]

Hello,

Thanks for previous help and opinions on the SDRPlay RSP1 A
Thought it would be best to start another thread.

Not too sharp with this "stuff" anymore.
Will blame it on old age now, so please bear with me a bit. Grateful for help with my dumb questions.
But really looking forward to playing with SDR again.

Was about to order the unit (about $ 120) from Ham Radio outlet in Salem, N.H., when I took
another look at their web site and noticed the RSP2 for about $ 50 more.

It has 3 antenna inputs, but otherwise I think the specs are about the same.
True ? Am I missing anything ?

I was somewhat bothered by the RSP1A having only a single input, and I even started
looking at coax switches in Amazon for a way around this limitation.
I really want to be able to tune below 30 MHz.

Questions, please:

a. Think it's worth going to the RSP2 for around $ 170 ?
b. Easy to use unit ? Any caveats, etc. General opinions on ?

c. Does their software, HDSDR, or any others offer a way of "incorporating" a database like eibi, or your personal selections, so that with a single click on a listing in the program, it automatically goes to that frequency ?

d. Does SDRPlay also require an additional download of a Driver (like I think HDSDR does from Bonito) ?
Is it easy to install; how ?

BTW: Ham Radio Outlet in Salem, N.H. "good" to deal with ? Or,...?

Again,
thanks for help,
Bob

 

[rbrtklamp2]

I don't know much about SDRPlay but I do own two Airspies and spyverters for HF and I absolutely love them. They work great with SDR Sharp which is a free program and DSDPLus fastlane which is a one time fee of 25 dollars for a lifetime subscription I believe. Also the AirSpy when used with SDR Sharp or DSD it will allow you to view about 8 to 10 MHz of the spectrum at once which is nice for frequency hunts and searches also it is very good for mapping out trunked systems like Cap and Con plus systems and NXDN systems which need you to find LCNs or rest/ control channels. I don't know if you are looking for the ability to TX but if your not the AirSpy is rop quality product.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[KE5MC]

Questions, please:

a. Think it's worth going to the RSP2 for around $ 170 ?
Yes, With the switchable antenna ports done with the software (SDRUno) it has a more flexible antenna setup. Filter setup is different which is important in a direct conversion radio and improves on this version.

b. Easy to use unit ? Any caveats, etc. General opinions on ?
SDRUno user interface is very different than SDR# or the other typical ones. It uses multiple panes each one for a different broad control function. You will see what I mean when you bring up the software if what I've written doesn't make sense. They have several links to tutorials to learn how to use all the features. I think their software leverages the hardware better.

c. Does their software, HDSDR, or any others offer a way of "incorporating" a database like eibi, or your personal selections, so that with a single click on a listing in the program, it automatically goes to that frequency ?
I have created my own favorites list and as I recall it uses a csv file format.

d. Does SDRPlay also require an additional download of a Driver (like I think HDSDR does from Bonito) ?
Is it easy to install; how ?
Driver is part of the software download. I use Window 7 and it was straight forward.

 

[BOBRR]

From OP:

Hi,

Much thanks.

I'll be going with the -2 version, like you suggested.

Regards,
Bob