SignalSDR Pro: An Upcoming SDR with 70 MHz to 6 GHz, 12 Bit ADC, 61.44 MHz Bandwidth and 2TX/2RX Channels
Over on CrowdSupply, a new software-defined radio called the 'SignalSDR Pro' made by Hong Kong company Signalens has recently been announced. The SignalSDR Pro is roughly the size of a credit card or Raspberry Pi and has a 70 MHz to 6 GHz tuning range, 12-bit ADC, 61.44 MHz of bandwidth, and 2RX/2TX channels.
The SDR is based on the AD9361 chipset, used by several other SDRs, including the PlutoSDR and Ettus USRP B210. It also comes with an AMD Zynq 7020 FPGA. Of note is a feature that allows the device to emulate a PlutoSDR and USRP B210, instantly making it compatible with software written specifically for those devices.
In the video below, creator KaiJern Lau introduces the SignalSDR Pro and explains the motivation behind creating it.
The project is currently in the pre-crowdfunding stage, and you can sign up for updates on its Crowd Supply page.
It is a great SDR I believe. But….
This is just another clone of the b210. And there have been a lot of clones on the market since quite few years back.
Maybe they have a better Community that add a lot of new features to the software part of the project. But that is just speculations.
For those who need the range, this is a blessing. For anyone else, it’s overkill – and expensive to boot.
Those wanting 2m / 70cm cover are paying for microwave, those wanting microwave rarely need VHF.
The only potential customers I see, are using K band or higher (18+ GHz), with a downconverter.
Starts at 70 MHz?? Not useful for me at all then. I’d expect it to start around 400 KHz or even less in order for me to use it. The small size seems unnecessary to me.
Does the small size really matters?
The hardware might be interessting due to USB3 and more GPIO compared to similar concepts if the price is reasonable but i always ask myself if a small design might have negative impacts on the RF-part compared to a slighlty larger PCB layout.
I can’t see any personal benefit having such a kind of hardware in a Raspberry sized format.
If they can handle it without flaws on the RF part, it would be OK for me but i would expect it will be to expensive for me to buy it without knowing that the performance is OK.
Whats the expected price though? That’s what’s important.
$899