New RTL-SDR BLOG V4 DONGLE

BM82557

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I am not affiliated with RTL-SDR.Com , just want to give everyone an heads-ups on their new dongle --

 

dave3825

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More About the V4 Design​

The R828D​

The core change on the RTL-SDR Blog V4 design is the change from the R860 tuner chip to the R828D tuner chip. The R828D was previously a more expensive chip, however with the huge price increases on the R860 which came in effect at the beginning of the year we have decided to make use of existing R828D stock which is now cheaper that the R860.

The R828D is very similar to the R820/R860 and shares much of the same circuitry. However, instead of just one input, it comes with three switchable inputs. We have used these three inputs together with a triplexer to create a dongle with some extra input filtering. In the past there have been some R828D based dongles on the market, but all designs are based on TV receiver circuits. Because our design is different, you will need to use our RTL-SDR Blog driver branch which has added compatibility for our R828D design.

Also please note that because the R828D chip stock is limited, and R828D is no longer in production, the V4 design is also a limited design which we expect to be able to sell for about a year.




What size of stable bandwidth does the V4 support?
Since there is no mention of it being more than the v3, it should be the same of, what they claim, 2.4 usable.. They also do not have a full data sheet available for it yet.
 

PDXh0b0

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I don't want to have a missing spot between v3 & v5 😀
Lambdaprog says it should work with SDR#
 

Dirk_SDR

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Also please note that because the R828D chip stock is limited, and R828D is no longer in production, the V4 design is also a limited design which we expect to be able to sell for about a year.
I fear, that the limited R828D stock means for me in Europe, that I will not get a V4. ☹
 

morfis

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I fear, that the limited R828D stock means for me in Europe, that I will not get a V4. ☹

No use for one but I don't have a black-cased V3 so ordered V4 anyway.... stock cleared UK customs this morning.
 

morfis

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For this it is fine not to be in the EU ... 😉
Ah, so now you are referring to the European Union rather than Europe as in your earlier post?

Is it really harder to get items like this into the EU than it is into Europe?
 

Dirk_SDR

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Yes, if I would order the V4 from the US, I would have to pay additional EU import taxes, I think. 🤐
 

devicelab

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FWIW, I got my v4 yesterday. It works great on SDR# 1919. No PPM correction -- frequency stability is perfect. Can run maximum gain with no overloading. Sample rate works at 3.2 MSPS.

Construction is very nice. Solid metal body.
 

ewijkamp

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.

Received mine too, happy with it.
After copying the new rtlusb.dll file to the sdr-sharp folder, the V4 now receives shortwave signals from SDR-Sharp version 1919.
The 1732 version I use most and that one works too, with the new driver.

I wrote some info about the V4 (and other models) on the Dutch forum:

The V4 has slightly less basic noise on several bands than the V3 version, when receiving air band and 2m band signals.
I see less spikes, but Gain should be adjusted a little bit higher than V3. There's less interference from local FM stations.
There are a few FM BC stations in about 2 km around my QTH.

My V4 is PPM -1 and my V3 is PPM -2, both are stable and stay on frequency.
I also own a blue China RTL-USB, PPM +79 and two black ones that I have modified to -2 with extra capacitors inside the case.
Those were the ones I started with, years ago.

These are the cheapest devices to start with the radio hobby, they do a good job.
With the V4 I could receive overseas signals on 20m band (I am in the Netherlands) from CA and USA.
Couldn't operate them because my antenna was knocked over by a plum tree and now it's not working optimally for TX.
For RX with the v4 it does it's job fine and weeks ago I used the RSP1a instead for HF signals.

.
 

Dirk_SDR

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No chance to get the V4 in the EU.
Amazon EU, eBay and Aliexpress don't have it, RTL-SDR Blog Shop doesn't sell to the EU because of high import taxes.
Lokal sellers in the EU don't have it.
 
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