Category: News

Integrive-100: A Standalone MIMO SDR for Real-Time Precision

Thank you to Jayoung from HTWAVE for submitting news about the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for their "Integrive-100" software-defined radio. The Integrive-100 is an AD9361 based SDR with 70 MHz – 6 GHz tuning range, 2x2 MIMO TX/RX channels and up to 56 MHz bandwidth per channel.

They note a defining feature is a pre-built and validated FPGA-based PHY baseline with API access, allowing researchers to skip the basic infrastructure development steps and move straight to developing onboard DSP algorithms on the AMD Zynq-7020 FPGA/ARM CPU.

They write:

SDRs have long served as flexible testbeds for wireless communication research. Their ability to define functions through software makes them ideal for rapid prototyping. However, many SDRs struggle with non-deterministic latency caused by relying on a host PC for real-time signal processing where samples must traverse a communication interface and be handled by a non-real-time OS. This makes it difficult to accurately measure real-time performance, a fundamental requirement for 5G/6G research. This challenge is exactly why we decided to build our own SDR from the ground up.

By leveraging FPGA acceleration, we offloaded real-time signal processing entirely to the board, eliminating host PC dependency. While PC connectivity remains an option for monitoring and logging, the critical signal processing is handled on-board, ensuring that jitter is minimized and allowing you to test your algorithms in the most precise environment possible. Furthermore, by integrating an ARM processor and Embedded Linux, we’ve enabled high-level resource management and seamless compatibility with existing SDR software stacks.

In MIMO environments or scenarios involving high mobility, phase noise and phase synchronization are significant hurdles. Since our goal was industrial-grade deployment, we focused intensely on phase coherence. Unlike low-quality oscillators that degrade RF signal quality, we utilized high-performance components to achieve ultra-low phase noise and synchronized dual oscillators to ensure inter-channel phase consistency.

The best indicator of this stability is our OFDM 256-QAM constellation, which demonstrates the superior phase stability and synchronization our platform can achieve. Furthermore, our real-time video streaming demo, successfully transmitting high-throughput data with zero errors, stands as a testament to the integrity of our synchronization and phase noise control.

Finally, we provide robust API access (C, C++, Python), allowing users to control the system through simple function calls without needing deep FPGA expertise. By supporting standard software frameworks, researchers can easily port their existing projects to our hardware. Our goal is to eliminate the days or weeks spent on infrastructure setup. We want you to achieve productivity from Day 1.

HTWAVE MIMO SDR Video transmission

Left: Integrive-100, Right: OFDM 256-QAM constellation Stability Demo
Left: Integrive-100, Right: OFDM 256-QAM constellation phase stability demo

Discovery Drive Campaign Now Live!

We're extremely pleased to announce that our campaign for our Discovery Drive automatic antenna rotator is now live on Crowd Supply! Pricing is reduced during the campaign period, so check it out soon!

Discovery Drive is an automatic antenna rotator designed for use with our Discovery Dish product, as well as similarly sized antennas such as Wi-Fi grid and Yagi antennas.

A motorized rotator, such as Discovery Drive, enables precise tracking of fast-moving polar orbiting satellites using a satellite dish or directional antenna. Examples of polar orbiting weather satellites include METEOR-M2, METOP, and FENGYUN. Depending on your location, you may also have access to other interesting satellites that dump data over specific regions.

In addition to public weather data, operators and enthusiasts might be interested in using Discovery Drive to track CubeSats, and amateur radio operators may wish to track amateur radio satellites.

Amateur radio astronomy hobbyists can map the galaxy in the hydrogen line spectrum using Stellarium, or custom software to aim a Discovery Dish with H-Line feed, allowing you to scan multiple parts of the sky in one night.

Discovery Drive - A Motorized Antenna Rotator Engineered for Discovery Dish

xSDR Crowdfunding Campaign Now Live

Back in January, we posted about the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for Wavelet Lab's M.2 form factor xSDR software-defined radio product. The campaign went live a few days ago, with the xSDR priced at US$549 and a delivery date of July 15, 2026.

xSDR is a compact, single-sided M.2 software-defined radio designed for seamless integration into modern computing platforms. The “x” stands for extended; xSDR delivers extended bandwidth in the same minimal footprint as our previous model, uSDR. With 2x2 MIMO RX/TX channels, a wide 30 MHz–3.8 GHz tuning range, and up to 122.88 MSPS sampling and an updated FPGA, xSDR is a flexible platform for embedded RF, wireless research, signal intelligence, and rapid prototyping.

Designed to fit the M.2 2230 A+E-key form factor (30 mm × 22 mm), xSDR plugs directly into laptops, tablets, smartphones, and embedded computers. When paired with the wsdr.io web platform, it enables instant creation, control, and sharing of RF applications right from a browser, with no complex drivers or software setup required.

We note that sSDR, their higher end software defined radio product is due to be released for crowdfunding in March.

xSDR - A tiny, single-sided M.2 software-defined radio with 2× RX / TX channels up to 3.8 GHz

New Upcoming Crowdfunded SDRs from Wavelet Lab: xSDR and sSDR

Thank you to Andrew from Wavelet Lab, the original creators of uSDR and xMASS SDR, for writing in and sharing news about two of their soon-to-be-released SDR hardware products, xSDR and sSDR

If you are unfamiliar with Wavelet Labs' previous products, uSDR is a small M.2 SDR board based on the Lime LMS6002D chip. It has both TX and RX capabilities, a 300 - 3700 MHz tuning range, and up to 28 MHz of bandwidth. xMASS, on the other hand, uses multiple modular 'xSDR' boards to create an up to 8x8 MIMO receiver. Previously, xSDR was only available for purchase with an xMASS board, but the new crowdfunding campaign makes xSDR available as a standalone product.

Andrew summarizes:

xSDR - a compact SDR module derived from the xMASS SDR (2 RX / 2 TX). We’ve seen many requests for the module itself, so we decided to make it available as a standalone product.

We add that xSDR has 2x2 MIMO RX/TX capabilities, an extended tuning range of 30 MHz to 3.8 GHz, and a channel bandwidth of up to 90 MHz. It retains the same M.2 connector and form factor as the uSDR. 

sSDR - an M.2 form-factor SDR covering up to 11 GHz. This is our most ambitious bet so far, as there’s currently no comparable alternative on the market in this price range (~$1k).

sSDR has even higher rated specs, with 2x2 MIMO RX/TX capabilities, a tuning range of 30 MHz to 11 GHz, and a bandwidth of up to 120 MHz.

Andrew notes that xSDR is due to be released at the end of January, and sSDR in March.

xSDR (top) and sSDR (bottom)

New RTL-SDR Blog Forum Active

We've just activated a brand new RTL-SDR Blog forum based on the Discourse platform, and we will be retiring the old phpBB boards. If you have any questions or want to share anything relating to RTL-SDRs, SDRs, or the radio hobby in general, please feel free to log on and make a post.

For troubleshooting questions, please be sure to include as much detail as possible about the issue, such as exact error messages, what you are trying to achieve, and ideally add screenshots showing your settings. Also, please remember that for questions relating to specific software, you will probably get the best help by asking in discussion groups specifically for that software, or by emailing the authors of those programs directly.

We've decided to retire the old phpBB forums due to excessive spam that has proved extremely difficult to combat. phpBB has limited plugins available that actually work for spambot detection. We've tried adding captchas, technical barrier questions, using spambot block lists, spambot blocking services, and setting a high security setting on Cloudflare. But nothing has been able to stop the new ChatGPT/AI powered spambots.

These spambots are particularly insidious because they ask legitimate-sounding questions to start a discussion and may even reply with legitimate-sounding responses. Later, once trust has been established with humans and the forum spambot detection software, they will start posting spam links, and editing old posts to include subtle spam links.

The new forums are based on Discourse, and are available here https://rtl-sdr.discourse.group/

Based on our previous experience, Discourse is a much more modern platform and has much better natural spambot protection, so spambots shouldn't be a problem on that platform.

If you've been a fan of these forums, please make an account on our Discourse forum. Thanks!

As usual, for inquiries relating to RTL-SDR Blog product faults, or shipping issues, please email us directly at [email protected] with your order ID number included for direct help.

The old forums will stay up for archival reasons, but they will be locked from now on.

An Overview of 2025 SDR Black Friday Deals

Below, we're collating the best Black Friday sales we could find on SDR and related products.

If you find any other good sales for SDR or related products, please post in the comments!

RTL-SDR Blog

We're currently offering $5 of V3 dongles (including the V3c) on Amazon. The sale will last until Monday 1 December, and only while stocks last.

RTL-SDR Blog V3 Dongle + Antenna Kit: US$47.95 US$42.95 (Link)
RTL-SDR Blog V3 Dongle Only: US$37.95 US$32.95 (Link)
RTL-SDR Blog V3c Dongle Only: US$39.95 US$34.95 (Link)

We also want to add that in December, the price of V4 dongles will be raised, due to rising chip costs, and dwindling R828D stockpiles, so buying now is purchasing while essentially on sale.

We're also participating in the Airspy 25% sale with the YouLoop listing on our store. The sale takes the price down from $39.95 to $29.96.

Airspy

Airspy offers low-cost RX-only SDRs. Airspy is holding a 25% off Black Friday sale. Black Friday is usually their biggest discount of the year. The sale is offered by their official iTead store and by most resellers. Links to their sales are platforms available here https://airspy.com/purchase

Airspy R2: US$169.00 $126.75
Airspy Mini: US$99.00 US$74.25
Airspy HF+ Discovery: US$169.00 US$126.75
Airspy SpyVerter R2: US$49.00 US$36.75

SDRPlay

SDRplay offers low-cost RX-only SDRs. There do not appear to be any direct Black Friday deals from SDRplay, but on Ham Radio Outlet, the SDRplay nRSP-ST and DUO units are on sale. The RSPdx-R2 and RSP1B appear not to be on sale.

SDRplay nRSP-ST: $499.95 $399.95
SDRplay DUO: $299.95 $249.95

FlexRadio

FlexRadio offers high-end SDRs aimed at ham radio users. They are currently running a Black Friday deal as shown in the screenshot. https://www.flexradio.com/products/categories/black-friday/

Ham Radio Prep Course

While not physical SDRs, some people interested in getting their amateur radio licence in the US may be interested in this study course, which is discounted for Black Friday. https://hamradioprep.com/black-friday

They have various course bundles on sale, but this screenshot is of the full bundle.

Two YouTube Reviews of the new PortaRF – A New HackRF Portapack Combo

Recently, OpenSourceSDRLab, a Chinese store and lab that sells existing SDR products, and some unique products of their own design, has started taking pre-orders for their new "PortaRF" product

The PortaRF melds the HackRF and Portapack into a single PCB. They advertise it as an evolution of the PortaPack H4M, which is their popular clone of the original PortaPack, upgraded from the original. The PortaPack H4M has become one the most recommended HackRF PortaPack options on the market, even surpassing the original HackRF PortaPack, due to its high quality, excellent features, and significantly lower cost compared to the original.

The PortaRF features several improvements, including a larger 4" IPS screen compared to the 3.2" non-IPS screen on the H4M, increased flash storage from 1MB to 2MB, a higher internal battery capacity of 3000 mAh, and the addition of a new joystick control. Interestingly, OpenSourceSDRLab has also indicated that the production version may come with an AI module, which will allow the PortaRF to respond to voice commands.

The PortaRF is expected to ship around November 20, and it costs US$220, shipped from China. In comparison, the PortaPack H4M sells for US$165, shipped from China.

Recently, two reviews of the PortaRF were uploaded to YouTube. The first is by TechMinds, which provides an overview of the features and opens it up, showing the internals.

PortaRF - A NEW HackRF PortaPack Combo In One Single Board

The second review is from sn0ren who also reviews the features, and shows the internals. Sn0ren also makes some notes about his likes and dislikes with the new design.

HackRF Portapack Evolved? This is PortaRF

VU GPSDR: An RTL-SDR Expansion Board for the Vivid Single Board Computer

Thank you to Shawn from UUGear for writing in and sharing with us news about the release of "VU GPSDR" an RTL-SDR expansion board for the "Vivid Unit" single board computer. The Vivid single-board computer (SBC) is based on the RK3399 CPU (same chip used on the Orange Pi 4), and comes with a built-in 5.5" touchscreen.

The VU GPSDR is an expansion board for the Vivid Unit that, when combined with a VU Extender board, sits on the back of the Vivid Unit, transforming the computing platform into a portable SDR capable of running software like their fork of SDR++ or an OpenStreetMap display of live ADS-B aircraft positions.

The VU GPSDR also integrates a GPSDO (GPS disciplined oscillator), with a built-in GPS patch antenna, for precise frequency tuning. It also comes with a built-in HF upconverter and two encoder wheels, presumably customizable, but primarily for tuning and volume control. Finally, they have also integrated a software-controlled frequency output port for experimenters.

The Vivid Unit costs €99.00 (approximately US$115) on its own. The Vivid Unit Extender, which is required for using expansion boards, costs €25.00 (approximately US$29). The VU GPSDR itself costs €65.00 (approximately US$75). So, in total, for a complete RTL-SDR system, you are looking at a total cost of €189 (US$220).

Shawn has also recently sent us a review sample, which we will be testing out and writing a review for within the next week, so stay tuned for that!

The VU GPSDR Expansion Board for the Vivid Unit Single Board Computer
The VU GPSDR Expansion Board for the Vivid Unit Single Board Computer