Choosing a "Step Up" Software Defined Radio (SDR) 

Nice review of these SDRs. Since this was recorded, SDRTrunk now includes support for the SDRplay RSP1A.

I've been really enjoying your videos! Thank you for compiling so much useful information!

Hoping Airspy puts the R2 on sale again this year for Black Friday.

Thank you for showing me what to buy myself for Christmas! I liked the long wave stuff.

good review long time in coming . thank you . hope things are going well for you and your's , happy holidays

What a great video! This is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you

Well Rob you've convinced me! Since watching this video a couple days ago I've been tossing around the idea about purchasing an Airspy HF+ Discovery. Watching again, and the comments, (plus being on sale, I'm on a frugal budget), I just made the purchase. Thank you for all you do for this radio hobby, I truly appreciate it.

This series has been better produced and written than anything else I've found. You deserve LOTS more subscribers than you have! Thanks!

As someone who owns both an RSP1A and a HF+ Discovery, the airspy is simply outstanding! It is my primary HF listening device. The sensitivity, selectivity and dynamic range is unparalleled in this price range. The RSP1A however, has insane sensitivity at L-band frequencies and I use it almost everyday for SATCOM listening. Both are fantastic SDR's and get a recommendation from me!

Excellent video, thank you very much.

Fantastic video as usual. Thanks 👍👍👍

Great review/information, thanks for that. Also the RSPdx is an excellent SDR with plenty of immediate tech support ( as long as its a genuine device, not a clone/knockoff) and the SDRuno console which is regularly updated and more free plug-ins coming on stream all the time.

😍 Love it, thanks! If MOBILITY is important, would you recommend Malachit? I'd like to listen VHF / UHF as well. How is the Malachit's sensitivity compared to the RSP1A? Thank you 👍

Very good. I purchased an Airspy HF+ Discovery. Thanks!

Excellent contribution as always, friend !. I would like you to tell us about the Kiwi SDR and its comparison with the other SDRs that you have presented in a future. Thanks a lot.

I would love to see you tinker with the KrakenSDR and maybe some content on passive radar usage

Great information!!! I have always been considering the RSP1a and RSPDX (in the back of my mind) but have always been put off by the lack of support of most of the other interface programs (as you mentioned) and the fact that I can't really find any problems with my RTL-SDR v3 dongles (at least in the way that I use them). I will continue to keep these upgrades in the back of my mind!!! Thanks so much for the great videos and information you provide!!!!

I bought an HF+ Discovery earlier this year. It’s an excellent radio. For the price it’s spectacular.

Thank you Rob, fine intel.

A ham from long ago, stumbling onto SDR a couple days ago when looking for an inexpensive receiver. I had no idea this came about. Watching demos, reading specs, then interpreting either no or maybe marginal performance in the LW/MW/SW area I care about without up-converters, pre-amps, filter add-ons, who knows what else, I see here the HF+ Discovery. Single antenna input? A coax switch is simple, unless they're too dinosaur today. I haven't seen anything like this SDR-wise so far, expect I won't. Thank you so much for this video!

Thanks for this great review. I decided for a SDRPLAY which is a huge improvement compared to the cheap dongles. Enjoying decode of ACARS now.

Great Review, So much useful information... I own two RTL-SDR V3 dongles and i've been playing with them for more than a year now. I'm really into weather satellites and satellite communication. So i've been saving up for a upgrade... I'm thinking about getting a Adalm Pluto because it full duplex and would be able give QO-100 a go... Thanks for the information, keep up the good work...

your videos are the BEST

0:39 Up on top of Black Mountain ! Hi from Belfast :) Great vid as always

I'm currently using a rtl-sdr blog v3 with a mla-30+ in q branch mode, Just ordered hf+ discovery and the youloop yesterday, hoping the increased sensitivity will be noticeable. Thanks for all the great videos,

Tnx for the information :) Helped me allot

Thank you for your excellent videos. I find them very helpful. I have an SDRPlay RSPdx and have been using it primarily on HF and VLF frequencies. It's a great radio for sure but wished there was greater software compatibility for it. If you had your choice of any SDR to use for monitoring trunked emergency services on 800 MHz what SDR or SDR(s) would you choose and with what software? My head has been spinning with so many different combinations of SDRs and software and I'm having a tough time figuring out which combination is best. Thanks for any help you and/or others can provide.

Overall RSP1A is an excellent SDR but the lack of software support really hurts it. They have been talking about releasing SDRconnect software that will eventually run on multiple platforms eventually including Android, but by that time some other SDR will come on the market.

G'day Rob & welcome back I've missed you. So I run the 2 × RTL-SDR's for trunk tracking MPT1327, whilst I have Nooelec SDR time & life havnt allowed me time to "Play" just yet, I also own the SDRplay RSPduo & finally the Airspy HF Discovery +. Here's the GO the Airspy HF Discovery +. leaves everything else behind on H.F. & VHF, nothing even get close to it I've tested it time & time again & the result is the same if its H.F. & VHF ( Air Band ) that you want then the Airspy HF Discovery + has it over every thing else you will not be disappointed. The Airspy HF Discovery + is EXTEREMLY difficult to get in Australia for a number of reasons. I'm hoping over the Australian Christmas break to get time to play. Keep up the great work. Rgs Wayne.

Thank you. Thank you.

tbh i wanted to stepup from RTL-SDR V3 to some LimeSDR mini but after i found out that it got replaced by a v2 and priced at 399$ i had a change of heart and now looking for an alternative, and the airspy ones looks so promising, and i'm really thinking about getting the HF+ bc my RTL V3 is disappointing on HF airband even tho i got wspr contacts from japan and australia from here in north-africa, and south-america on FT-8, and finnish OH9TEN on CW, i think i picked Shanwick once but it wasn't repeatable, strange how i pick irish ATC and volmet but nothing from Gran Canaria's Santa Maria, well it's DX HF mysteries. thanks for the reviews, i watched lot of others, and most of them can't even be called reviews, bc so little details in them, you rock man!

I would like to hear about that splitter for the antenna. Looks like something everyone will end up needing soon.

Great video Rob as always! The negative on Airspy devices for me is they appear to be a PIA to order in Canada. The US source seems to be a bit difficult to determine availability from and I'm not sure I want to order direct from China either. The non-airspy devices are much easier to obtain from multiple reliable sources. Would love to try one of these some day, the R2 in particular would be a great addition for me. Cheers

nice demonstration..thanks alot.I ask about sdrs like : Dragonfly , TRX-DUO ,and others Chinese sdrs that appear in ebay ,what do you think about them ? ...Thank you

Excellent video! Just thought I would add my $0.02 worth. I own the SDRPlay RSP2 (discontinued), the Nooelec NESDR SMART and the Airspy HF+ Discovery SDR receivers. The Airspy unit is the finest of the lot in my opinion since A live a mile from a 50kw AM BCB station and listen to the ham bands. Overloading and image rejection properties are awesome! FD was last weekend and the Airspy unit made for great reception on the band despite its relatively narrow spectrum display properties. The RSP2 is good but not nearly as good as the Airspy - at least for us city dwellers, I think that SDRuno is my favourite software package, however, it is for Windows only and I really don't do Windows if I can help it. A cross platform version is supposed to be released at the end of 2022. I also like SDR# on W10 but use SDR++ on Ubuntu as it 'feels' very much like SDR# and I use it for all 3 receivers.

In the case of the AirSpy HF + Discovery I agree with its disadvantages, which are minimal in relation to its advantages; although it would be good if its developers did the increase in bandwidth. I am very satisfied with its performance from VLF to HF, in VHF it does not convince me much. The antennas I use are homemade T2FD, MLA 30+ loop and the MFJ-1868 discone. 73 of XE1007SWL in Mexico.

Great and informative video. I'm brand new to Amateur radio and am going for my license soon. Could you please tell me what software you are using at time code 8:32. Is this your favourite software. It looks really good too me. Thanks.

I wanted to get an Airspy HF+ Discovery for monitoring HF as well as use with dumphfdl but sadly I was unable to purchase one where I live so I ordered the consolation prize of an SDRPlay RSP1A instead. It should arrive by mid-December. I hope it performs similarly to my old Kenwood R-1000 general coverage HF communications receiver or even the Sony ICF-6500W portable I used to have and also lets me finally see HFDL messages, which none of my "budget" dongles (NESDR SMArt, NESDR SMArtee, FlightAware Pro orange dongle with a built-in LNA) have been able to do so far.

Great review, thank you. I'm presently using the RTL-SDR with CubicSDR and Gqrx on my MAC-OS 12.0.1 It works great but I am looking to upgrade. Would the SDRPLAY RSP1a or AIRSPY HF+ Discovery also work in my present configuration ? I'm trying to keep the upgrade process as traumatic free as possible as I needed to install a number of plug-ins just to get the RTL-SDR to run. Thanks again

Because P25 Public Service scanners are so expensive I would like to know which SDR (from user experience) have proven to work better in the 800MHz range receiving P25 transmissions. I would also like to know if any of the different software made a difference SDR+ etc. My only experience with decoding P25 is with DSD+. I have a early and cheap RTL-SDR dongle. I use SDR+ to control the dongle and DSD+ for digital modes. I can listen to DMR fine, just can't get more than a couple words in a row with P25. Thanks

Very interesting I have a few dongles, I would love a RSP but I am very put off by the fact it wont connect to SDR Sharp software

I started this with an RTL2832U which claims to be a RTL-SDR v3 but pretty sure it's a clone .. but cheap. Had so much fun. Made my self a dipole coffee pot on a 4m pole (actually my sons old cheap fishing pole) and get great reception. Wanted to step up and this has been really useful. Mostly listen to the aircraft. Saving for a Airspy HF+ Discovery

Any thoughts on a step-up to the step-up.. in particular a $200-$300 sdr that can also do transmit, like the LimeSDR, PlutoSDR, or HackRF? I've been itching to get the LimeSDR, but it doesn't seem like there's AS MUCH software support for it so I'm kinda on the fence. For example, some of the software I'd like to try it with.. gqrx , cubicsdr, audacity w/sdr plugins, rfcat , wireshark (filter Gsmtap packets). And then the tons of cool applications I've seen people using SDR for: Tracking planes (Ads-B) using XPlane/XHSI or SDRAngel/Maperitive Morse Code CW Transmission (NFM and AM/USB) and decoding/Receiving (CW Skimmer, CWGet , morsecode scphillips translator, etc) Reverse Engineer an RF keyfob ( clock-recovery (michael ossman?), analyze protocol (Universal-Radio-Hacker), transmit ) HAM applications: trunk (SDRTrunk / Unitrunker), or the many digital-modes listed on MultiPSK (DMR, D-Star, System Fusion/C4FM, NXDN, P25 , POCSAG, (YSF? FT8?)) , convert modes on the fly (i..e use DMR radio to talk on C4FM). Decoding/Visualizing Weather Satellite data (noaa-apt, sdrglut) GPS Decoding/Plotting ( GNSS-SDRLIB, RTK-NAVI) ATSC Video Receiver/Transmitter (SDR-Angel, GRC) Reverse Engineering Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum Local GSM/LTE cellular network (GPRS) (gr-gsm, Kalibrate, IMSI-catcher, srsLTE-Sniffer, rtl-sdr-LTE dedsecimsi, FALCON)

Would love to see a follow-up video similar to this but covering options above $200. What about HackRF, ADALM-PLUTO (or the upgraded "Pluto+"), bladeRF 2.0, limeSDR mini 2.0, etc.? How do these compare to the SDRs in the "step-up" category? Do they offer any advantages for RX or are they simply more expensive because they add TX capability?

Hi Rob great video. Can I ask if I just want to monitor VHF (air-band) just to listen to aircraft flying in and out of my local airport what would you suggest? I think it would be easier with a radio than a SDR but finding radios on this frequency are often way more expensive. I am an ex commercial pilot so I have the radio operators licence. I just found your other video which you recommend UBC125XLT...thanks will check it out

I am heavily in to Shortwave DXing as well. While my RTL SDR is on its way, I would like to ask if I should also buy any Airspy SDR while it's on black Friday sale ? If so which would be great for HF along with UHF / VHF ? HF+ discovery or the R2 ?

How about a showdown between the DX-Patrol MK4 and these devices?

LNA belongs as close to the antenna as possible

Just my experience with sdr radio ; I have : airspy R2 , RSP1A, RSPDuo plus several economic dongle with the discone D130 antenna . The experience with airspy R2 and discone was terrible , it is completly deaf.. infact I believed that it was broken .... but when I put a FM stopper between antenna and airspy every things apeared . RSP are very usefully due to the software very easy to usa instead of new version of SDR# very unusefull complication windows...

Hi Great series but I cannot find Episode 10 ...Was there one ?

I'm just getting started. What do I miss with the 31-60 mHz gap? Do I want to receive beyond 260mHz?

I want to setup as a remote SDR and I know that we can do that with remote SDR functions. But the issue is that I have internet connection with multiple NAT(Network Address Translation). As I don't have a private IP address. Therefore the port forwarding doesn't work. Is there any solution to the the above challenge? Thanks in advance...

How can I monitor private conversations on a NEXEDGE system? I am hearing the talkgroup conversations but not the private conversations. Thanks

I've been thinking about the RSP1A. I run Linux and from what I've found online, I think that shouldn't be a problem. Does anyone know differently?

Is there an SPR Mac M1 compatible version? How is the software?

So if you were looking for an SDR to cover mainly UHF / VHF and you live in an RF noisy environment.. Which SDR would you go with?

Thanks for the videos Liked and subbed from KLWWORLDNEWS