I have an RTL v3 for VHF and I've been tempted by the direct sampling of HF so I've got a magnetic loop for HF listening and intend to buy a Spyverter.
Using an RTL for both HF and VHF must be quite common but has anyone devised an elegant solution for switching antennas and/or an upconverter in and out of line?
The most simple method is to use a manual two way switch with the spyverter connected to one side with my VHF colinear on the other side and add a bias T injector between the switch and the spyverter. I think I could do away with the need for an external bias T circuit by creating batch files for two copies of Sharp, one that toggles the RTL bias T on for HF, the other that turns it off for VHF work but I still need to manually control the switch.
I've found this remote antenna switch on Ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261767543884 which could be used but how to get the software controlling it?
HF/VHF spyverter and RTL
Re: HF/VHF spyverter and RTL
The Nooelec Ham-It-Up up-converter provides a pass-thru switch which leaves you just needing a normal antenna switch.
Otherwise I bet one could use an old TV A/B switch with F-SMA adaptors
Otherwise I bet one could use an old TV A/B switch with F-SMA adaptors
Re: HF/VHF spyverter and RTL
It's a shame the ham-it-up doesn't have seperate antenna inputs that are toggled with the bypass switch, I could live with that but I'm not sure there's much gained with a bypass switch on a single antenna socket. Plus the Sverter includes a case for the same price.
Re: HF/VHF spyverter and RTL
The easiest (and close to the cheapest, since well-constructed antenna switches seem to be expensive) is to simply use 2 RTL-SDR dongles, one for each antenna.
The only problem might be that the spacing of the USB ports on your computer is too close for side-by-side RTL-SDR dongles, so you'd also need a short USB extension cable or hub. Noo-lec makes some narrower USB dongles, but the one I had burnt-out, possibly because it ran hot. So now I run two RTL-SDR v3's on two different Raspberry Pi's, one for HF, one for VHF.
The only problem might be that the spacing of the USB ports on your computer is too close for side-by-side RTL-SDR dongles, so you'd also need a short USB extension cable or hub. Noo-lec makes some narrower USB dongles, but the one I had burnt-out, possibly because it ran hot. So now I run two RTL-SDR v3's on two different Raspberry Pi's, one for HF, one for VHF.
Re: HF/VHF spyverter and RTL
I hadn't even considered that option but given how cheap the RTLs are it does sound like a good plan, thanks for the suggestion. Size isn't a problem because all my SDRs are connected directly to a patch panel of switches and multicouplers to reduce the number of patch leads. I've actually got a couple of very high quality 12v antenna switches, fully shielded and fitted with N sockets that came from a rally, they have neglible loss and very good isolation right up to 2M but I'm stuck for an idea how to control them from a PC for when I'm operating remotely.