At the beginning of this month, we posted about SkyRoof, a new software program by VE3NEA for receiving and tracking ham radio satellites with an RTL-SDR and other SDRs.
Recently, Matt from the TechMinds channel uploaded a video on YouTube testing out SkyRoof. In the video, Matt explains the software's various sections and features, such as Doppler correction. He then goes on to demonstrate various audio voice signals being received with the software.
SkyRoof - A Brand New Satellite Tracking Software With Built In SDR Software - This is awesome!
Over on YouTube Baltic Lab has recently uploaded an unboxing and review video of the SDRplay nRSP-ST. The nRSP-ST is the latest offering from SDRplay, and it is a networked software defined radio (SDR). This means that the SDR is designed to be mounted remotely and accessed over a network connection.
The video Baltic Lab unboxes the SDRplay nRSP-ST and then shows the setup and it receiving a voice signal from the International Space Station's (ISS) amateur radio repeater. During the test, the nRSP-ST is set up outdoors, powered via a portable battery, and connected to the network over WiFi. This shows how versatile the unit can be, allowing you to set it up in whatever location is best, without worrying about long coax runs.
He goes on to show some advanced settings, such as enabling public access, and how you can access the SDR via the SDR Connect software or simply in a browser on a PC or mobile device.
SDRPlay nRSP-ST Networked Receiver: Unboxing and Testing
Recently, we have heard news about a new upcoming SDR called the HydraSDR RFOne, created by Benjamin Vernoux, who also worked on the design of the Airspy. The HydraSDR RFOne appears to be very closely based on the Airspy R2 design, and it has very similar specs, including a 24-1800 MHz RX range, 12-bit ADC, and up to 10 MSPS sampling rate output, giving 9 MHz of spectrum.
While HydraSDR is very similar to the Airspy R2 in design, as it uses the same main LPC4370 and the same overall design and layout, there are a few minor changes. The HydraSDR RFOne uses a Rafael R828D tuner chip, instead of the Rafael R820T2 tuner. The R828D has three input pins; however, it appears that only one pin is connected to the SMA input port. The other two ports are connected to uFL connectors on the PCB, which are inaccessible from the metal enclosure.
A second interesting feature is that it comes with a much larger enclosure that can house up to three HydraSDR boards in one. Also, a USB-C connector is used instead of the microUSB (we note that the device would still be USB2.0, not USB3.0).
Another differentiating point is that HydraSDR will be made in the USA, versus China, where the Airspy R2 is made. This may be good for US customers now that the Trump-China tariffs have been implemented. But we have recently seen that iTead, Airspy's Chinese manufacturing partner, recently opened a US store with US stock. So it seems that the retail price of the Airspy will not appear to be affected by tariffs.
HydraSDR with a Single BoardHydraSDR with a Three Boards
You can find more information about the HydraSDR at https://hydrasdr.com. This is still a 'coming soon' landing page; however, if you enter your email, you will be sent a PDF file with the full spec sheet and multiple photos. Pricing for the HydraSDR does not yet appear to have been released.
Over on X, a few early reviewers have already received samples, as we can see some early tests in these posts.
Over on YouTube, Matt from Tech Minds has uploaded a video in which he demonstrates and tests an unofficial fork of the popular SDR++ software called "SDR++ Brown."
SDR++ Brown has some unique features such as the ability to connect to remote KiwiSDR WebSDRs directly within the UI, built-in FT8 and FT4 decoders with PSK reporter, a built-in DSD decoder allowing for DMR, P25 and NXDN to be decoded directly in the software, Hermes Lite 2 support, and various Android UI improvements for small screens.
Matt also notes a few bugs with the software, such as PSK Reporter and Multi-WebSDR waterfall display features being broken.
Over on X, Alexandre Rouma, creator of the original SDR++, has expressed concern about this fork. He notes that this is an unofficial fork that is not up to his standards and that support requests for SDR++ Brown should not be made to him. Instead, support requests should be made directly to the fork owner, Sanny Sanoff.
SDR Plus Plus - Brown Edition Adds New Features Including DSD!
Thank you to user theckid from our forums for submitting news about the release of his latest project called "RadioTranscriptor". RadioTranscriptor can be used for real-time speech-to-text transcription, which is especially useful when you want to log radio communications and create searchable text files. theckid writes:
I just released an open-source Python tool that does real-time radio transcription using OpenAI’s Whisper model. It uses voice activity detection to only transcribe when speech is actually happening — great for monitoring radio chatter or voice nets on HF/VHF/UHF.
It’s designed for use with SDRs (Software Defined Radios) where audio is routed into the script. It performs:
Live microphone or SDR audio monitoring
RMS-based voice activity detection (VAD)
Automatic transcription with Whisper
Timestamped logs saved per session
It’s perfect for:
Ham radio operators
Emergency scanners
Broadcast archiving
Signal analysis enthusiasts
The AI model used is Whisper by OpenAI. The software uses NVIDIA CUDA GPUs when available and defaults back to CPU if none are available.
Recently, we've seen news about the release of a new Windows program by "Majic Mushroom" called SDR-Sharp Converter. This simple software converts SDR# XML Frequency Lists to SDR++ format and vice versa. It is helpful if you use both programs and want to maintain identical frequency lists.
A few days ago, we posted news that NOAA-18 was to begin decommissioning steps effective immediately due to a recent transmitter failure. Multiple reports have now confirmed that NOAA-18 has indeed shut down as of 1740 UTC 06/06/2025.
We're happy to announce that we have released a new USB-C version of the popular RTL-SDR Blog V3 and V4 dongles on our store at www.rtl-sdr.com/store!
Many members of the RTL-SDR community have been requesting a USB-C version for some time now. The dongle circuitry is identical to your favorite V3 and V4 models, but the USB-A plug has been replaced with a USB-C female plug instead.
The new V4c RTL-SDR Blog V4 with USB-C Plug
Please note that you will need a USB-C cable to use the dongle (not included); however, we always recommend using a USB cable with the dongle anyway to avoid strain on your USB ports and to get the dongle further away from the RF-noisy PC. Also, please note that the dongle is still USB 2.0, as simply changing to a USB-C plug does not change the USB spec.
So far, we have only produced a small batch of these USB-C dongles as a trial to test the market. If they prove popular, we will increase the number of dongles manufactured.
For now, we are only shipping these new units worldwide from our warehouse in China. They can be purchased at www.rtl-sdr.com/store. Amazon USA will be stocked with a few hundred of these dongles within about a month.
