The software operated radios seem to be getting more and more
affordable. One version seems very nice for the money, the SDRplay, for
150 dollars US.

The new version has continuous coverage from around 20 KHz to 2 GHz.
Does anyone have hands on experience with this? How does it compare to
the 320 from TenTec on the shortwave bands?

Any insights appreciated.


mike

--
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In article , says...

The software operated radios seem to be getting more and more
affordable. One version seems very nice for the money, the SDRplay, for
150 dollars US.

The new version has continuous coverage from around 20 KHz to 2 GHz.
Does anyone have hands on experience with this? How does it compare to
the 320 from TenTec on the shortwave bands?

Any insights appreciated.


mike

I think it is electronically better than the 320, but the plastic case
is a problem. I think I will find a metal case to put mine in, it picks
up noise that no other SDR or any other receiver I've used does. My old
40" LCD TV's CCFL backlight seems to really tear up HF on it from 10
feet away. It's sensitive to..well, a LOT of stuff. I put foil around it
and it's tolerable, but for it to work correctly, I have to turn off
everything in my house that could possibly generate RFI to keep it
happy. The clock on my stove can be heard pulsing 1X per second on many
frequencies on the SDRplay.

I have a CrossCountry Wireless SDR4+ too, and it's immune to most of the
noise problems of the SDRplay, but it doesn't seem to be as clean (If
the noise isn't raising the noise floor to an S7+) and on top of that
it's got a broken solder joint on the antenna lead that I need to fix.

I like a lot of the SDR features, but it seems like all of the cheaper
ones have to be messed with/modded or are too compromised. They are fun
though. At this point I might sell a bunch of radios and buy an Icom
IC7300, it's a self contained SDR, and seems to be immune to all the
hassles.

--
BDK: Head Government Shill, Psychotronic World Dominator. Master of
Remote Viewing. Level 6 expert in kOOkStudies.
Former FEMA camp activities director. Head Strategic Writer. Former
Black Helicopter color consultant.