SDR with HF Coverage Recommendation

[kingpin]

Hey gang,

I've got the NOOELEC blue dongle and ham it up converter which works great for HF. I bought this
2 years ago and I figured there would be some dongles available by now that do HF without an upconverter. Does anyone use one they would recommend? The upconverter is just one more thing to
lug around on the road when I travel.

Thanks all,

 

[br0adband]

If you want it all in one small very useful package, I wouldn't recommend anything but SDRplay myself.

 

[ka3jjz]

The Funcube dongle v2 does HF as well, and lots of people use the SDRPlay (they just came out with a version 2...); there are many others, and we have a good selection of them, along with links to reviews right here in our wiki;

SDRs with HF Coverage - The RadioReference Wiki

Mike

 

[moonbounce]

I have an RTL-SDR v3 but you better have a good HF antenna.


New RTL-SDR Blog Units Now Available in Store: HF via Direct Sampling, Software Switchable Bias Tee, Less Noise/Spurs - rtl-sdr.com

 

[PeterTrent]

I would buy the sdrplay2 super device for the money.

 

[LubeckTech]

SDRplay works well for me and if you watch there are probably some good buys on used ones with the introduction of the RSP2.

 

[mbott]

SDRplay works well for me and if you watch there are probably some good buys on used ones with the introduction of the RSP2.

+1 on the above.

I'm keeping my SDRPlay RSP1 as a back-up to my RSP2, but there does seem to be a few RSP1s hitting the market at the moment.

--
Mike

 

[mehdi_asgari]

If you need a versatile all-in-one device, you can't go wrong with SDRPlay.

 

[Flatliner]

SDRplay RSPv2. It goes down to almost DC, and everything is in one box. And an absolute bargain, IMO.

 

[dsalomon]

The Airspy R2 + Spyverter is a fantastic little unit. Also, Youssef, the creator of Airspy and SDR# is creating a new, higher end unit with the following preliminary specs:

RX range: 0 .. 30 MHz (HF) and 60 - 270 MHz (+)
Architecture: Hybrid (Direct conversion + DDC) using 2 x sigma delta ADC's @ 36MSPS
Front end: Tracking Filters (all bands), High Dynamic Range LNA's and Mixers
AGC: Smart AGC controlled by the DSP
DSP: CIC, CFIR and a final (programmable) channel FIR - 18bit resolution
Final bandwidth/resolution after DDC: 18bit @ 600kHz - Scaled and streamed as 16bit
Image rejection: better than 120dBc
Blocking DR: 108 dB
Separate HF and VHF RF inputs - with option to use one multiplexed input if desired
USB 2.0 with Plug and play - No drivers needed
The RF section resides inside a metal shield
Aluminium enclosure about 60 x 100 x 15 mm^3

I don't know when it will be delivered. It's expected to have a very reasonable price. It will also have an 18 bit resolution!! That's better than most high end SDRs. I've read that the target price will be < $200 USD.

I have an Airspy R2 and IMHO it performs better than my SDRPlay RSPv2.

The only real downside to the Airspy line of SDRs is that their full features can only be accessed when using SDR#. SDR# is excellent SDR software, with lots of plugins. However, you need to decide for yourself if you want to be tied to specific software.

73 - David, AG4F