RANT DON’T BUY NOOELEC PRODUCTS

R

rmillis

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Jul 18, 2014
Messages
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Kelowna, BC
Delete if not permitted. I didn’t see anything that would not allow this but correct me if I’m wrong please.

DON’T BUY NOOELEC PRODUCTS HERE IS WHY:



Ordered the Following:

Here are the details and the full story. Please help spread the word!



  • Order date Apr 23, 2024
    Order # 702-7859015-2928252
    Order total CDN$ 67.14 (1 item)
  • Delivered
Delivery Estimate:

Thursday, April 25, 2024 by 8:00pm

41bIUWXuqKL._SY200_.jpg

Nooelec RTL-SDR v5 Bundle - NESDR Smart HF/VHF/UHF (100kHz-1.75GHz)

$59.95

Qty: 1

Manufacturer: Nooelec Inc., Nooelec Inc. 3-250 Harry Walker Parkway N. Newmarket, ON L3Y 7B4 Canada

Sold By: Nooelec Canada



**Product Review:**



I would not recommend this product to anyone. Here’s why:



1. **Poor Quality:** The magnet fell off the first antenna, which they replaced. Another antenna was improperly threaded and didn’t fit, which they also replaced.

2. **Unreliable Performance:** The SDRs kept cutting out on two brand new laptops (one Mac, one PC), regardless of whether I used an extension cable or plugged them directly into multiple USB ports that work perfectly with other peripherals.

3. **Overheating Issues:** The radio dongle gets extremely hot.

4. **Ineffective Support:** Despite sending dozens of emails back and forth with Support for weeks, there has been no resolution. I’ve sent 62 emails now.

5. **Lack of Customer Service:** You can’t even call the office; every number I’ve tried goes straight to voicemail. Email is the only support option, and it hasn’t helped.

6. **Unhelpful Retailer:** Amazon.ca will not assist me, nor the vendor leaving me with a non-functional SDR that I wanted to take on a trip.



Overall, I’ve wasted a ton of time and experienced a lot of frustration.
 
websherpa

websherpa

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Hamilton, ON, Canada
I have a number of items from Nooelec and no problems whatsoever. Most dongle SDRs get quite hot, thats why people build USB Hubs with fans to hold them. Amazon generally gives you a 30 day window to return your item no questions asked (at least they do here in Canada). You should ahve simply returned and exchanged for another one from the first go, rather than try the direct support route. Chat Amazon Support and usually if you make a good enough case they will set up a return authorization for you.
SDR dongles in general are somewhat frustrating in that there is a learning curve and they can be finicky. I ended up buying an SDRPlay unit but will still re-purpose the Nooelec dongles for specific purposes such as local air band.
(You probable already know this but those initial antennas are ok to experiment with but of limited use. Plus you still need a ground plane to get anything better than FM.)

No time is wasted experiencing frustration, that's just the way you learn not to make the same mistakes twice! lol
 
PDXh0b0

PDXh0b0

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Mar 31, 2020
Messages
742
Location
Woodland, WA
I'll just chime in that I've lots of Nooelec products, without an issue with the products. Like you I first bought the combo & quickly tossed the antennas in a drawer.

Other than the antenna, I think you need to change/add some settings. Like usb power.. my newer laptops with windows did not even have a usb power option(usb would disconnect randomly) , I had to add it, and then set it to not turn usb power off.

Starting into sdr can be frustrating, maddening, when I started, info and utube stuff was years old, people would make snarky replies like "read the Read Me"
Long time radio enthusiasts will assume you know basic or that your a waste

Software creators & youtubers will forget everything they had to install to get things working, assuming you have those dependencies already....

You are mad, been there, take a break, if it isn't fun, it isn't worth doing
 
RaleighGuy

RaleighGuy

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Raleigh, NC
rmillis said:
I would not recommend this product to anyone. Here’s why:
Click to expand...
rmillis said:
1. **Poor Quality:** The magnet fell off the first antenna, which they replaced. Another antenna was improperly threaded and didn’t fit, which they also replaced.
2. **Unreliable Performance:** The SDRs kept cutting out on two brand new laptops (one Mac, one PC), regardless of whether I used an extension cable or plugged them directly into multiple USB ports that work perfectly with other peripherals.
3. **Overheating Issues:** The radio dongle gets extremely hot.
4. **Ineffective Support:** Despite sending dozens of emails back and forth with Support for weeks, there has been no resolution. I’ve sent 62 emails now.
5. **Lack of Customer Service:** You can’t even call the office; every number I’ve tried goes straight to voicemail. Email is the only support option, and it hasn’t helped.
6. **Unhelpful Retailer:** Amazon.ca will not assist me, nor the vendor leaving me with a non-functional SDR that I wanted to take on a trip.

Overall, I’ve wasted a ton of time and experienced a lot of frustration.
Click to expand...

I'm currently using 5 Nooelec dongles and they work great for me.
1. The quality of all products I've gotten have been excellent quality
2. There performance has been excellent, I used to run a feed and three of them ran 24/7 for over a year
3. All dongles get hot when used over a short time, over heating hasn't caused any issues with performance
4,5,6. I had one issue with a dongle (out of 10 purchased) about 6 months after purchase. After some trouble shooting Nooelec replaced the dongle without issue

I would highly recommend their products.
 
PDXh0b0

PDXh0b0

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20240926-124856.jpg
Dang I even took a picture but forgot to add it
 
S

sempai

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Joined
Jul 21, 2006
Messages
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Location
Iowa City, IA
i sheltered in place for a couple months when covid restrictions took hold not sure how long we would be waiting. canceled a vacation, etc.
when i got back to my primary residence i learned some fun trivia: the sealing rubber that nooelec uses on those barrel antennas are like fat fluffy lines of cocaine to house mice. they gnawed them down to metal. i'm still mad about it, but i just ordered and received my RTL-SDR v4 last week for my portable RasPi \o/ quite fond of the company, in spite of catering to the culinary preferences of rodents.

SDR isn't trivial stuff, there are a lot of mistakes that are easily made!
 
maus92

maus92

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I've had good results with Nooelec SDRs although I don't use their antennas except for temporary setups. Most of mine are 4-5 years old - I think I still have 4 of them. Only one failed due to a melted part, lol.
 
jwt873

jwt873

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I've had a Nooelec dongle for a few years now. I don't use it a lot, but it fills the bill for what I need it for. It gets a bit warm, but I've never had problems with it.

On the antennas that come with the kit... You're not going to hear much using them. (Especially on HF). Get a decent antenna and connect it with a PL259 to SMA jumper https://www.pcboard.ca/sma-male-so239-8-inch . (Not sure what you listen to, so I can't recommend an antenna, but ask and many here will help).
 
R

rmillis

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Joined
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Messages
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Location
Kelowna, BC
AB5ID said:
I'm happy with my noelec version 3 been running 24x7 for 5 years. I had some initial seating problems with the USB connector. I put it on an extension cable it's been rock solid ever since.
Click to expand...
Support specifically told me to plug it in directly to rule out the two cables they sent me as being culprits.

vagrant said:
I would recommend a different manufacturer that costs more, but the possibility of 62 emails is something they don’t need.
Click to expand...
Care to make suggestions?

Either way, I appreciate everyone's input on this.
 
a727469

a727469

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425
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Maine
I am no expert on these sdr’s but if I received a product type that I had no experience with versus other brands I would hesitate to tell anyone not to buy even if it did not meet my needs but within a week or so I would have known and quickly returned it and tried something different. I am not defending the manufacturer, but with many happy users I really see no reason to trash them without more experience…Maybe I am too kind, but that is my philosophy.
 
R

rmillis

Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2014
Messages
7
Location
Kelowna, BC
jwt873 said:
I've had a Nooelec dongle for a few years now. I don't use it a lot, but it fills the bill for what I need it for. It gets a bit warm, but I've never had problems with it.

On the antennas that come with the kit... You're not going to hear much using them. (Especially on HF). Get a decent antenna and connect it with a PL259 to SMA jumper https://www.pcboard.ca/sma-male-so239-8-inch . (Not sure what you listen to, so I can't recommend an antenna, but ask and many here will help).
Click to expand...
Right now I'm just exploring 2 m and 70 cm for the most part which I have a comet mag mount attached to a pizza pan inside my second-floor apartment window. I haven't been able to really do much more than that because of the issues I've been having. I'm not sure how we would do a job on my balcony has that sort of thing is prohibited.

a727469 said:
I am no expert on these sdr’s but if I received a product type that I had no experience with versus other brands I would hesitate to tell anyone not to buy even if it did not meet my needs but within a week or so I would have known and quickly returned it and tried something different. I am not defending the manufacturer, but with many happy users I really see no reason to trash them without more experience…Maybe I am too kind, but that is my philosophy.
Click to expand...
I contacted their support immediately and this has been going on and on and on.
 
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