Back in June 2016 the first LimeSDR crowdfunding campaign completed raising over a million dollars in pre-orders at a cost of $249 – $299 per LimeSDR unit. THe LimeSDR is a RX and TX capable SDR with a frequency range of 100 kHz – 3.8 GHz, bandwidth of up to 61.44 MHz, 12-bit ADC and 2×2 RX/TX channels.

Recently LimeSDR have begun crowd funding for their latest product called the ‘LimeSDR Mini’. This is a smaller and cheaper unit with slightly reduced specifications. The main changes are the slightly restricted frequency range of 10 MHz – 3.5 GHz, and half the maximum bandwidth at 30.72 MHz. The mini also only has 1×1 TX/RX channels.

Currently the LimeSDR Mini is being sold on the crowdfunding site CrowdSupply for $139, but the first 500 early bird backer can get the lower price of $99. Accessories such as an acrylic enclosure and set of whip antennas are also available for $40. Crowdfunding is due to end on October 30 and the units are expected to ship on Dec 31, 2017. Note that in the last few minutes that it took to write this article the number of pledges went up by 5 (started at 41), so we’d suggest being quick to claim the early bird if you are interested.

The LimeSDR Mini looks like it could compete favorably with the PlutoSDR, which is another recently released $99 SDR with TX capabilities. Both the PlutoSDR and LimeSDR Mini are 12-bit devices, but the LimeSDR Mini has the larger 30 MHz bandwidth available, and can tune lower. In contrast the PlutoSDR only has a stable bandwidth of about 4 MHz, although it can be pushed higher with dropped samples. The PlutoSDR also has a tuning range (with hack) of 70 MHz – 6 GHz, vs the 10 MHz – 3.5 GHz of the LimeSDR Mini. Another plus of the LimeSDR products is that they are fully open source.

These are exciting times for SDR enthusiasts with cheap TX capable radios now starting to proliferate on the market!