Over on YouTube user ranickel (aka W9RAN) has uploaded a video discussing and reviewing the sensitivity of the Airspy software defined radio. In the video he uses a signal generator to generate a reference signal and shows what the effect of software decimation has on the signal to noise ratio. His results show that the Airspy is a very sensitive and low noise receiver that is comparable to some very expensive hardware.

In another new video W9RAN shows a quick sneak peak at the performance of the Airspy on the 20 meter CW band when using a prototype HF upconverter that he is developing.

The long awaited Airspy software defined radio is now available for preorder and will ship during mid November for those orders placed before November 7. It is priced at $199 USD.

The Airspy is an RX only SDR with a tuning range of 24 MHz to 1.7 GHz, up to 10 MHz of instantaneous bandwidth and a 12-bit ADC. The full list of features is shown below. If you are looking for an upgrade to the RTL-SDR and do not need TX capabilities, this is probably the SDR that will provide the best performance for price.

• Continuous 24 – 1750 MHz RX range with no gaps
• 3.5 dB NF between 42 and 1002 MHz
• Tracking RF filters
• 35dBm IIP3 RF front end
• 12bit ADC @ 20 MSPS (80dB Dynamic Range, 64dB SNR, 10.4 ENOB) – Yeah, size does matter.
• Up to 80 MSPS for custom applications
• Cortex M4F @ up to 204MHz with Multi Core support (dual M0)
• 1.5 ppm high precision, low phase noise clock
• 1 RTC clock (for packet time-stamping)
• External clock input (10 MHz to 100 MHz via MCX connector) – Ideal for phase coherent radios
• 10 MHz panoramic spectrum view with 9MHz alias/image free
• IQ or Real, 16bit fixed or 32bit float output streams
• No IQ imbalance, DC offset or 1/F noise at the center of the spectrum that plagues all the other SDRs
• Extension ports: 16 x SGPIO
• 1 x RF Input (SMA)
• 1 x RF Output (Loopthrough, U-FL)
• 2 x High Speed ADC inputs (up to 80 MSPS, U-FL)
• 4.5v software switched Bias-Tee to power LNA’s and up/down-converters

See our big comparison list of other SDRs here.