Airspy Vs RTL-SDR on VLF and Broadcast FM

Over on YouTube user Mile Kokotov has uploaded two videos showing a comparison between the Airspy and RTL-SDR software defined radios. The Airspy is a high performance SDR that costs $199 USD.

The first video shows a comparison between the two SDR’s and two hardware radios on receiving a very weak broadcast FM station amongst several very strong ones. Mile first tested his hardware radios and found that his Onkyo radio was able to clearly receive the weak station, whilst his Pioneer radio could not at all. Then he tested his SDR’s and found that his Airspy was able to receive the station, but the RTL-SDR could not and suffered from intermodulation when the gain was turned up because of the nearby strong stations. This shows how the 12-bit Airspy ADC vs the 8-bit ADC on the RTL-SDR can make a difference.

The second video shows a comparison between the RTL-SDR and Airspy on a VLF time signal at 60 kHz using a ham-it-up upconverter. His video shows that the Airspy signal is about 8dB stronger the the RTL-SDR.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgU7Gv3lca8#t=118