Keep in mind I am not defending the Perseus, I am just trying to find what your value of “better” was. Without a doubt I think the FDM-S2 is the better value of the two, but not necessarily the “better” of the two in every way or for every application. When I chose to replace my failing Perseus I chose an FDM-S2, so obviously I thought it a better value for what I wanted it to do. The areas that I consider the FDM-S2 to not be better than the Perseus were outweighed by the sum of the whole.
If for no other reason this discussion will lay out the issues for other potential buyers, and that is the purpose of a review or review thread, I think. However it is also important, to me anyway, to separate opinion and preference from fact, and to indicate why the opinion or preference exist.
It's better because its almost half the price of the perseus. why pay 1000 dollars for it when for less money you get the FDM-S2. With the FDM-S2 I can run two complete 384K channel independent radios (ie listen to 8mhz and 13mhz spans, 4 vfos on each span for a total of 8)
The dual window is a native software capability, not the radio itself. And with the native software the Perseus has capabilities the FDM-S2 does not, such as remote operation. I did not ask about software features, I asked why the radio, the FDM-S2, was better and what first hand comparisons you made to decide that.
Yes, I realize the FDM-S2 can be used with SDR-Radio and get remote capability, but that is third party software. If a third party software developer writes the code the Perseus will do dual window operation also, although likely with reduced bandwidth by comparison to the S2. When the Perseus was first released, indeed when I bought mine, it would only do 400 kHz of bandwidth, software leveraged the hardware to bring it up to the 1600 kHz it has today.
The price delta and the wider DDC bandwidth are a given, they exist without doubt, and are heavy drivers all by themselves.
Not only that but it will do FM radio which on the Perseus requires a 400 dollar converter (the FM+)
That makes it “better” if you are interested in FM radio, which as an HF listener I am not. I would rather have a more robust, out of band signal resistant, front end, which the Perseus does appear to have. I like the lower apparent (I have no direct ability to measure this, but have looked at the available information) phase noise of the LO in the Perseus.
I have never spent the 400 dollars for the Perseus FM converter, and have no interest in doing so, even if it were only 10 dollars.
There are reports that compared to the FDM-S2 the Perseus is less sensitive on the higher HF/VHF frequencies. There is lots of interesting stuff in the 29-50 Mhz to listen to due to sporadic E, etc..
Leaving other peoples reports out of it, I have actually measured both receivers sensitivity on the bench. The FDM-S2 is indeed more sensitive, across the bands, not just at the upper end (in use the upper end is where it shows up for most people). With the two examples (one Perseus and one S2) I measured, the FDM-S2 tested out pretty much at the advertised numbers (measured 0.2 microV, CW, 500 Hz BW, 10 dB S+N/N), with the Perseus very slightly better than the advertised numbers (measured 0.5 microV, CW, 500 Hz BW, 10 dB S+N/N). Both measurements checked at 15 MHZ and spot checked across the HF band to see variations. However, I also realize exactly what that delta means.
If you plug in your antenna on 40 MHz (for example) and the noise floor goes up with no signal present, then you probably could not use the added sensitivity.
In general I would not benefit from the increased sensitivity, so I do not see this as a “better”. That is opinion.
I do not see the value proposition of the Perseus, I am surprised that Microtelecom has not introduced something new yet.
FPGA/ADC's technology has moved forward quite a bit since they first introduced their product.
Ahhh, value is a different thing. Yes, the FDM-S2 does appear to be a better value, anyone who would argue that has probably never used either one. That does not, in my mind, make it a “better” radio. The RTL Dongles are a far better “value” than the WinRadio G39DDC, but they are not better in any other way.
I also am surprised that Microtelecom has not had a new product in a while, however that does not meant the existing product is not very good. The issue I have right now with the Perseus is the price point. It is no longer competitive at its performance level. The same could be said for the SDR-IQ, and yet they still sell, often to very informed users. The NetSDR is not more sensitive than the FDM-S2, it does not have a wider DDC bandwidth, it tops out at only 40 MHz in its native configuration, it sells for several times the price of the S2, and yet it is a far better device for certain types of applications.
I guess what it comes down to is that in your opinion the FDM-S2 is the better radio, not in bold fact it is better in every way or for every need.
And I have to say, I agree with the opinion, particularly for the casual listener. In my opinion the FDM-S2 is the better choice, for almost any listeneer, unless they have a need that the Perseus fills better, such as it native interaction with analysis software like Hoka Code 300.
T!
