Category: HF

RTL-SDR + Upconverter vs. Portable Shortwave Receiver

Akos from the SDR for Mariners blog has put together an article doing a comparison between the RTL-SDR + ham-it-up upconverter and a Grunding G8 Traveler II Digital conventional portable hardware shortwave radio.

His results show that the RTL-SDR and portable receiver are comparable in terms of performance, with a slight edge to the RTL-SDR. He adds that software tweaks available in SDR# can improve the voice quality for the RTL-SDR. However his final recommendation for general shortwave listening is that the portable is still the better option due to it’s ease of use.

RTL-SDR + Upconverter vs. Portable Shortwave Radio
RTL-SDR + Upconverter vs. Portable Shortwave Radio

KN0CK and KF7LZE Custom HF RTL-SDR Receiver Revision 5

Update: KN0CKs products are now available at http://www.kn0ck.com/HF_SDR/.

Previously on this blog we’ve seen KN0CK release his custom modified RTL-SDR tuners which have built in upconverters for accessing the HF bands. Revision 5 of the KN0CK receiver is now almost ready for sale, and will be sold over at KF7LZE’s webstore Easy-Kits.com.

Revision 5 promises to be lower priced as it will run using the direct sampling mod instead of using an upconverter which would require more components. It will also use a Mini-Circuits MAR 8 wideband amplifier to improve weak signal performance.

Kn0CK and KF7LZE RTL-SDR HF Receiver Rev. 5
Kn0CK and KF7LZE RTL-SDR HF Receiver Rev. 5

Upconverter Comparison: Nooelec Ham it Up vs SDR Up 100

A few weeks ago Akos from the SDR for Mariners blog did a review of the SDR Up 100 Upconverter, and he promised to compare it with the Nooelec Ham-it-up Upconverter when it arrived. He has now done the comparison, and written about it on his blog.

For each test he used a gain of 0dB and the same 20 foot random wire antenna. Interestingly, his results show that the SDR Up 100 significantly outperforms the Ham-it-up upconverter. We believe that this may be as the SDR Up 100 has an LNA built into it whereas the Ham it up does not.

Update: Akos has now included comparisons with various RTL gain settings.

upconverterCompare
SDR Up 100 vs Ham It Up
Nooelec vs Up 100 comparison
Comparison Images

Review of the SDR UP-100 Upconverter

Akos from the SDR for mariners blog has written a review on the SDR UP-100 upconverter. The SDR UP-100 is a 50 USD upconverter for the RTL-SDR and similar software defined radios which is made by the same person behind the LNA4ALL low noise amplifier. Upconverters allow the RTL-SDR to receive between 0 and 30 MHz, where ham radio, military, marine and many other interesting signals exist.

In the review Akos tests the SDR UP-100 with a 6 meter random wire antenna and an RTL-SDR. His results show that the upconverter works well as expected. In the future he hopes to compare the SDR UP-100 with the Ham-It-Up Upconverter from Nooelec.

SDR UP-100

Version 5.0 of the CT1FFU Upconverter Now Available

Version 5 of the popular CT1FFU HF upconverter which is often used with the RTL-SDR and Funcube software defined radios has been made available for sale. A ready built and tested version 5 CT1FFU upconverter will cost you 55 Euros. See the circuit diagram and technical specs in this pdf file.

The upgrades include

– Smaller size PCB

– 4 new holes for screwing PCB

– MiniUSB connector

– 2 led 5V indication USB/ Phantom Power

– It runs with phantom power directly from Fun Cube Dongle’s SMA cable

– USB power for generic RTL TV dongle sticks

– Separeted antenna inputs HF/6m and VHF/UHF

– Automatic internal relay antenna switch: HF or Bypass VHF and UP

– WFM broadcast filter avoiding saturation of SDR front-end

– LED indication for converter running

– DBM diode ring mixer 7 dBm: This ensures exellent HF reception performance

– LO on 106.250 Mhz or 65.520Mhz: This avoids interference from WFM radios

– Tests made by hams worldwide reveal exceptional clean reception on HF

– Technical assistance after selling

– Either ready built and tested or as KIT easy to build by yourself

– Worldwide shipping and tracking is included in advertised price

– You can now choose the LO freq: 106.250Mhz or 65.520Mhz models

RTL-SDR Panadapter using RANVerter and Cheap Ham Radio

YouTube user ranickel and creator of the RANVerter HF upconverter for software defined radios has posted a video showing how to use an RTL-SDR dongle and RANVerter to create a panadapter for an old and cheap Heathkit HR-10 “beginners receiver” ham radio.

He connects the mixer stage of the HR-10 via a capacitor to his RANVerter which then connects to a RTL-SDR dongle.

RANVerter Panadapter

Cheap and Easy SDR Panadaptor for Older Receivers

KN0CK Miniature HF Upconverter Rev. 4 Now for Sale

Update: KN0CKs products are now available at http://www.kn0ck.com/HF_SDR/.

The fourth revision of the miniature HF upconverter for the RTL-SDR by KN0CK is up for sale, now that revision three has just sold out. Revision four has a 120 MHz oscillator, and is capable of receiving the 6m band.

Check out the release post over at KF7LZE’s blog, and the product sales page at the Easy-Kits store.

Receiver Opened Up

RTL-SDR as a Cheap Panadapter

For people already with expensive ham radios, the RTL-SDR can be used as a cheap panadapter. A panadapter is device that allows you to visually see the RF spectrum and waterfall being received by the ham radio. There are multiple (expensive) commercial panadapters available, but combined with a PC or laptop, the RTL-SDR will work just as well.

In this video YouTube user akdude47 shows a tutorial on setting up the RTL-SDR as a panadapter for a Yaesu FT-857. The setup involves connecting the IF output of the radio to the RTL-SDR, and putting in some settings into HDSDR.

How to setup a RTL SDR with HDSDR and a FT-857 for a panadapter and second receiver.