New Mini RTL-SDR Dongle Available from Nooelec
The Nooelec store have recently come out with a new small RTL-SDR model called the Nano 2, which appears to an improved version of the old tiny square dongles. These new ones are sized at 24mm x 21mm x 8mm and come in a new plastic case with vent holes to prevent overheating. They also come with the newer R820T2 tuner chip. This appears to be a good improvement over the older models which were reported to have overheating and thermal frequency drift issues.
These small dongles look to be great for embedded or mobile phone applications that have space restrictions.
The new dongle is currently selling for $24.95 USD + $1.99 shipping.
why do they always use those crappy mcx-connectors?!? there is enough space for sma
I doubt those ‘vent’ holes were put there for thermal reasons. They are more likely to allow for that massive IR receiver, which has no purpose in RLT-SDR applications. Based only on those pictures, it looks like it uses a TCXO instead of a crystal, and that alone would solve most of the frequency drift issues.
From the Amazon listing:
“The enclosure was also re-designed to assist in maintaining lower temperatures than the previous generation. ”
That may help but for those of us who like to put heatsinks on everything having one chip partially under the usb shield is going to be a pain. Can remove it I reckon. That could be a TCXO but I think they would advertise the fact if it was.
The oscillator appears to be the same as the previous Nooelec Nano, which I don’t think was a TCXO, it was just an SMT version.
This Nano 2 looks great, but if they put out a Nano 2+ with a TCXO, that would make for a perfect travel/mobile RTL-SDR. I have several of the first Nano’s and they really come in handy.
Hey ‘rtl-sdr.com folks’, how about getting a TXCO on this one as well?