KiwiSDR 2 - A Standalone Software Defined HF Radio Receiver 

Congratulations on an excellent product. There are an amazing number of these from around the world accessible online (using the link provided). There couldn't be a better way to demonstrate how good it is.

I think it's a decent price for the features. I've seen SDRs with fewer features go for much more.

@@ThePrivateMan3301 Well now you have to differentiate between computer on the server-side (Kiwi) versus computer on the client-side (user/browser). For the vast majority of SDRs that generate IQ streams the server/client is effectively merged into one application on the computer. And they are single-user (some are now starting to develop server solutions). With the Kiwi you get an integrated server able to handle multiple user connections simultaneously (that can tune the entire 10k - 30M spectrum independently). Many Kiwis are placed in isolated locations due to noise issues. And some find it easier just to deploy a Kiwi versus an IQ SDR plus computer, software and some sort of screen-sharing setup with the computer (assuming there isn't a server solution for the IQ SDR). And then what do you do about multi-user if that's a requirement?

is there a way to preorder one , or at least be notified of a upcoming sale ? did not see one on the page .

price seems right for the abilities of the product .

I use Openwebrx+ with a RSPdx. just wondered if you have any issues with bandwidth changes between profiles and the waterfall sometimes going really slow. I suspect this is due to sample rate changes and the switch between different antenna inputs

@@BillyNoMates1974 correct, these are issues that the KiwiSDR does not have. I had the first version of KiwiSDR until I fried it and then it was no longer available. Tried OpenWebRX+ with an RSP duo, but does not even come close, as changing bands changes the band for everyone on the SDR

Not really to be honest. I can't see it selling well at all.

Want one! Great review

Well, i bought SDRPlay for same price. But OpenWebRX is awesome, it can decode cw,fax,ft8... And having it all in one and plug and play is worth the price for a lot of people. And i love how these projects make sdr accessible to masses, you can listen even on cheap notebook. i hope more people will get used to SDR type of thinking and stop buying into old school ham equipment paradigm..

€372, excluding taxes, import charges, and shipping cost. Which means that for someone in Greece (like me) to order it, the final cost will be almost €600, with 24% VAT, import charges, shipping, and the custom clearance charge DHL imposes, that can be €60-100. I think they should better find some local distributors in Europe...

@@SotosH65 Not sure if their production and the market are both voluminous enough to add extra profit margins for local distributors. Your calculation of all extra cost seems pessimistic to me. It looks like a great and fun thing to have, light weight, not a huge parcel to ship and I'd be happy to find out what it costs to get it here. Down under people are used to the fact that importing from far away can cost some money. We will get used to the idea too ;-)

Very welcome!

You're welcome :-)

Thank you!

My pleasure!

Then did. See 3:08.

Thanks for your kind comment :-) I think I was given the 49:1, it's rated for 400 watts, so I would image a couple of stacked FT-140 are in there.

@@TechMindsOfficial Thanks, looks like the 49:1 UnUn is used by many with EFHW Antennas. looks to be a Good Match. I was On the Kiwi site playing with the many SDRs online (WHAT FUN ☺️) I was also trying to get the (Dream DRM) version 2.2 to Work in Windows 10 ... But Nope.. (Complains something) about QT not found.. Too bad. I Don't know what to do to fix it. Being able to listen to some of those DRM Stations would be nice.. Another good reason for getting a Kiwi I guess. 73s (And waiting for your next Video)... Perhaps on how to install DREAM DRM 2.2 into Windows 10.

Zero information other than what's available online. I will speak with my contact at Analog to see if I can get some more info!

I've just read in Twitter it's soon to be available by around 1000 Euros. For a dual receiver/dual transmitter with lots of ports, 2GB RAM seems a very competitive price. However, for my preferred application - DX reception between 0 to 108MHz - , I was a bit underwhelmed by the ADC used: though it covers from 50MHz to 6GHz, delivers up to 40MHz of IQ spectrum, its bit depth is only 10 bit. Well... the world is now owned by very wide signals UHF and above, so the specs make sense... for LF, MF, HF and FM DXing, I don't think we'll see the Jupiter being used a lot.

If you hold the Control button on the keyboard, and click on the + and - icons, you can expand or narrow the filter on any mode.

A: You must zoom far in enough so you can adjust the edges of the green passband symbol to get the precise selectivity you need. LW selectivity is exactly the same as for HF.

Worth an upgrade if you have the v1? probably not. But it is nice for those that fried their v1 or just could not order a v1 because of parts shortage

Martin lynch will be stocking them soon if not already.

@@TechMindsOfficial already listed as in stock on lynches

I don't think it's "needed" as such, it's more of an option. Best place to ask would be the KiwiSDR forums as there will be folks there that know alot more. Cheers

A: Installed via SD card or Internet download. But not run off of SD like the earlier RPi's (which is a bad idea). Run off of on-board eMMC (much higher reliability).

Yup, just enter your co-ordinates slightly off from where you are etc.

You and me both!

It’s so you can use your own Reference. NTP could not be used in that way, and perhaps you might want to install at a location you cannot get a GPS signal.

@@TechMindsOfficial right shy do I always forget edge cases, my bad :?

They will have 100's in stock soon, according to their replies on other comments on this video. I know nothing of their stock levels, I simply ordered one, received it, and made a video on it. :-) Thanks for watching.

The device went out of stock before they could stock the shop ;) There was an announcement on the list that v2 would come out and everyone ordered it once the announcement went out. New ones are being build and shipped as we speak

80m through to 10m.... I have a video on this antenna but its at my last QTH, but the same antenna. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RsgdcHeP6S0.html

@@TechMindsOfficial 80 through 10 for TX, all bands on RX ;)

It's not about being better/worse; it's all about features much alike comparing a Mercedez-Benz sedan to a 8-passenger mini-van. KiwiSDR allows 4 simultaneous users that can tune any frequency between 0 to 30MHz all times; plenty of decoders for digital modes out-of-the-box; it's self-contained solution, just plug antennas, LAN cable and forget it. To offer the similar featureset with HF+, you would need 4 dongles, dozens of hours setting up the decoders and a computer to act as a server.

The original author of OpenWebRX finished his graduating studies and left the code to anyone use, IIRC.

@@hg-sx5nk KiwiSDR webif is a OpenWebRX clone which has since then been advanced and new features added. then a quarrel began between the builder of OpenWebRX and KiwiSDR, which was solved and then later on came OpenWebRX+ but it does not (yet) have all the features KiwiSDR has

KiwiSDR2 is exactly the same specs and software of KiwiSDR, with only a few changes on the antenna input connection and GPS antenna input.

@@hg-sx5nk Thanks. They are great boxes but a pity there isn't a single operator low latency mode for transceive use. I guessing the multiple slices slow it down even if you don't want them. Makes tuning very spongy. Should do well nonetheless. Built-in proxy is good news for CGNAT sites.

Who said its high dynamic range?

@@TechMindsOfficial you said in the beginning it has 14bit which provides a good dynamic range. That intends that the higher the bit resolution the higher the dynamic range, isn't it? Maybe english isn't good enough....

Ahhh yes, it's just my wording. Which is why I did not say higher, I said good dynamic range, maybe resolution would of been a better wording. Thanks

@@TechMindsOfficial Ah ok. 😄 Maybe a basic knowledge video about snr, dynamic range, sensitivity, saturation and resolution of a receiver would be an interesting topic for a video. It's almost the same with CCD sensors of a camera.

I'm sure I read somewhere in the documentation about SSH. Remember that you can just buy the "cape board" on it's own, where you have to supply your own beagle bone and install the software, so I am sure you could have SSH access if you need to.

@@TechMindsOfficial meh,,to much trouble, i wait till its available in europe, hmm, it will be more as on the kiwisite (import tax, and that),

Will be available from hamradio.com when they get stock.

@@TechMindsOfficial 498 euro in europe,, auch....

A: Yes, since the interface is browser-based it runs on almost anything, including Linux-based devices (but devices with small screens are not so good). The Kiwi's application processor itself runs Debian 11 Linux.

technically with SDRconnect, you could have one pc as a server and a client pc with SDRconnect configured to work over network and get a similar result. you just cant decode different modes or currently add your own memory bandwidths

Completely two different products catering for different solutions. That's like saying I'll stick to my push bike instead of my car. But SDRPlay devices are also one of my favorite SDRs, especially the RSPdx. However, it's a different product all together. KiwiSDR is designed for quick and easy deployment of an SDR receiver that can be reached from around the world over the internet, straight out of the box. Cheers

This is a solid product projected almost 10 years ago with absolutely no competition up to this moment in terms of features and price range. KiwiSDR2 is actually a monumental effort from the author to produce a new batch of these receivers. Its key components experimented with huge price and availability issues following the electronics industry supply chain quake due COVID-19. Including a new power option, potentially a very noisy one, would require hundreds of hours of testing and circuit revision.

The internet connects you to the device.........you still have to hunt for the signals. Nothing has changed.

I cant comment on the forum issue you have, but with regards to paying 100% for something before its built and shipped is not a problem for me, and people that want to be on the list for a relatively limited supply of a product. I have done this many times in the past, just so that I ensure I get the product I want. KiwiSDR is huge in the world of online SDR, extremely sought after, so I guess they need to make sure the buyer is a serious buyer. It also helps them get a feel of the current market requirement. IMO of course..

@@TechMindsOfficial That is a fair statement. I guess just knowing that was going to happen would be ok, but I was not aware.

@@RangerUT I thought it was pretty clear that I was paying up front before the first batch of V2 was built.

Nothing held for review and I certainly didn't remove any comments. Most likely YT doing stupid things. I have no idea why this happens

My comment also vanished

Then you won't be getting one.

An FPGA, a very good 32MHZ ADC, a Linux SBC, support for 4 simultaneous users, dozens of digital decoders, all in a plug-and-forget solution... ....and no other similar product on the landscape for the hobbyist. Perhaps USD400 is too low for other companies to engage in competition!

Anything “on the Internet” should be isolated in a DMZ…

sold out is markting stratagy 😈

@@Mr_ASIC Sure. But in our case a consequence of bootstrapping production from scratch. And not wanting to borrow money from the evil banks. So have to set build sizes that are certain to sell well to raise the money to pay the manufacturer. Every penny in profit we've made has gone back into producing larger build sizes. Eventually we hope units will begin accumulating as stock-on-hand instead of selling out every time. I recommend everyone run a small business sometime during their life. A real eye opener..

​@@Mr_ASICHave you thought perhaps it's just a great product, with no competition, made by an individual (not a large company like Icom or Sangean)?

@@Mr_ASIC except it's not. They can't produce them fast enough to keep up with demands

in what way is it overpriced? It includes the BB green and the SDR is completely custom made and in a metallic case.

KiwiSDR is a self-contained solution. You plug in your network, turn it on and you have an SDR that immediately serves up to 4 users simultaneously tuning anywhere between 0 and 30MHz and has every digital decoder of the most used modes on MF and HF. The USB module you have would need at least a PC, dozens of hours to setup the same decoders and can only support one user limited to the 2MHz slice selected at the time.

@@hg-sx5nk Yes, and four RTL-SDR units cost US$160 and cover a much wider frequency range. I say this only for the sake of comparison -- most users would want one receiver connected to one antenna for US$40. This just makes ... no sense at all.

@lutusp Even though the RTL-SDR are absolutely great SDR, they have NO comparison to the performance of this SDR at the frequencies that this covers. Everything is designed for a reason, the KiwiSDR 2 has a specific reason. Cheers

@@TechMindsOfficial > "... they have NO comparison to the performance of this SDR at the frequencies that this covers." Now *that* would be a great video (hint, hint). I say this because the RTL-SDR unit works extraordinarily well. From a scientific perspective, the unit you're describing would need to demonstrate a level of performance that, apart from merely improving on the RTL-STR, would need to do so consistent with costing over seven times as much. But what do we know? No one has made an objective comparison. All I can say is, it would be a tough test to pass. It would be like comparing a Falcon 9 to a Delta IV rocket. The Delta IV does the same thing but costs five times as much money to launch. But, notwithstanding the economics, ULA (which operates the Delta IV) is still in business. When people hear this comparison, they say, "Wait, what? How is that possible?" It's the same here. People don't always make rational choices. Nothing personal, just asking how this is even possible.

You can run this from any device that has a browser. Laptop, tablet, or phone. Also, from anywhere in the world. It's also upgradable. Maybe I don't understand your comment about bricked devices. I run the original KiwiSDR with no issues. I also have HackRF, SDRPlay, RTLSDR, etc, If I want to access my kiwi from anywhere, I have my phone so I can listen while mobile also. Can you monitor all 30Mhz of HF waterfall at once on any other SDR? The KiwiSDR can ! Yes, it's expensive, I agree with that comment.