The FunCube is one of the original ‘dongle’ based SDRs made for hobbyists. Preselectors: Yes 11 switched SAW filters or internal expansion headers for electronics experimenters. ( Link) ( Store) FunCube Dongle Pro+įrequency Range: 150 kHz – 260 MHz and 410 MHz – 2.05 GHz The Mini has a smaller maximum bandwidth of 6 MHz compared to the 10 MHz on the Airspy R2, and doesn’t have external clock input. It is basically the same performance, but in a smaller dongle style package. The Airspy Mini is the little brother to the Airspy R2. It uses the RF tracking filters on board the R820T2 chip which is used in its design and it has a very high claimed (80 dB) dynamic range. ( Link) ( Store) Airspy Mini
#Hackrf one p25 upgrade
Many people see the Airspy as their upgrade to the RTL-SDR, with its wide 10 MHz bandwidth, 12 Bit ADC (10.4 ENOB) and higher precision clock.
#Hackrf one p25 software
Youssef is also known as the programmer of SDR#, one of the most popular SDR software programs. This SDR is designed by the Airspy team who are Benjamin Vernoux & Youssef Touil. It also adds multiple antenna input ports, a Hi-Z HF input for end fed wire antennas and external clock in/out ports. ( Link) Airspy R2 However the RSP2 is an iterative improvement over the RSP1 as it has more preselectors as well as broadcast AM and FM notch filters. The RSP2 is similar to the RSP1 in that it uses the same core technology and chips. The SDRPlay also has a much larger bandwidth compared to the FunCube which is a major advantage, but a similar bandwidth to the Airspy. The Funcube also uses similar filters to the SDRPlay but the Funcube also has some extra sharp SAW filters. Though, the difference between the SDRPlay and Airspy seems to be that SDRPlay uses a bank of preselection filters, whereas the Airspy focuses on using the R820T2’s IF tracking filters and naturally higher dynamic range to overcome aliasing. We consider the SDRPlay to be a competitor to the Airspy and perhaps Funcube Dongle Pro+ as well. It has 8 built in switched preselectors that cover selected ranges over the entire bandwidth.
The SDRPlay RSP is a SDR that uses the Mirics MSI3101 SDR chip and a MSI001 tuner. If you’re on a budget or are just starting out with SDR or radio this is the one to get. While it was never designed to be used as a general purpose SDR in the first place, its performance is still surprisingly good. The RTL-SDR is still the best ‘bang for your buck’ software defined radio out there. Preselectors: Uses tracking RF filters on the R820T2 chip. Max Bandwidth: 3.2 MHz / 2.4 or 2.8 MHz max stable.
24 MHz – 1766 MHz (below 24 MHz available on V3 dongles) R820T RTL2832U a.k.a RTL-SDRįrequency Range: approx. We define general use SDRs as ones with a wide frequency range and with no focus on any specific frequency band. Preselectors: Analogue filters on the front end to help reduce out of band interference and imaging. RX/TX: Can the radio receive and/or transmit. Instantaneous Bandwidth: The size of the real time RF chunk available. Some SDR’s give their resolution in ENOB which stands for effective number of bits. More resolution means more dynamic range, less signal imaging, a lower noise floor, more sensitivity when strong signals are present and better ability to discern weak signals. New software defined radio (SDRs) products are popping up every few months these days so we thought we’d compile a big list of available SDRs as there are a few people who were bitten by the RTL-SDR bug and are now looking to upgrade.įor each SDR we compare the cost, frequency range, ADC resolution, maximum instantaneous bandwidth, whether or not it can TX and if it has any pre selectors built in. Here is a quick guide to what some of these metrics mean.įrequency Range: The range of frequencies the SDR can tune to.ĪDC Resolution: Higher is better.