Tagged: arinst

Arinst Dreamkit V2D Reviewed by Fenu-Radio

Back in August of 2021 we posted about the release of a Russian made portable software defined radio receiver called the "Arinst Dreamkit V1D". The Arinst SDR consists of a portable LCD screen and enclosure, with 16-bit ADC, 5 MHz of bandwidth and 1 - 3100 MHz tuning range. It was released for sale in September 2021 and was priced at only $230 + shipping.

It did have some drawbacks involving a lack of preselector filtering, and there being no digital decoding capabilities implemented in the software.

Fenu-radio is a popular tester of various software defined radios and has recently posted a review of the Arinst Dreamkit V2D. Initially he notes how in 2021 he first received his V1D model from Kazakhstan, and noted some problems with the lack of preselection, but other than that it worked well. His unit also had a display defect, however the manufacturer replaced the entire unit with the newer V2D model.

Fenu-radio notes that a battery is no longer included due to restrictions involving the transport of batteries through airmail, so he had to order a separate battery from Aliexpress.  He importantly notes that the polarity of the battery is reversed from what the radio expects, so this has to be manually adjusted by changing the pins on the battery. If this is not done the battery or radio itself could be destroyed.

Other than that, Fenu-radio is impressed with the outer design of the V2D. He goes on to note how the V2D makes use of the R820T2 tuner, the same tuner used in standard RTL-SDR dongles. An up and downconverter is used to expand the range. 

Fenu-radio then goes on to show the features of the radio, shows how it is operated, and provides a few audio examples of some stations received. He concludes positively:

The Arinst V2D is almost a "dream kit". It offers amazingly good reception on long, medium and shortwave without immediately clipping. And that on domestic active antennas. If you work with the manual gain control, you largely avoid intermodulation products and noise. The variety of functions is enormous and of high quality. At that point, you realize how hard Arinst has put in. The V2D can also convince above shortwave. What it particularly lacks here is a search function (scanner).

The case is sturdy and of good quality. But unfortunately there is criticism here. The housing shells were painted in places that shouldn't be painted! The painted flanks of the housing significantly worsen the shielding effect, which becomes noticeable with strong interference in reception if the V2D is operated with a telescopic antenna. The interference is particularly strong in the VHF range. Not only that. During the development of the V2D, far too little attention was paid to decoupling the display to prevent interference radiation in the reception branch. The approx. 4 hours Battery life was unfortunately never reached. After almost 3 hours of operation it was over.

Otherwise, the V2D is great fun. Especially with a remote antenna.

Arinst showed itself to be a very committed manufacturer when it came to correcting errors in the software and implementing suggestions.

At the time of this post the Arinst website and their sales platforms on Aliexpress and eBay does not appear to feature the 'Dreamkit V2D' product and we have no further info on the release date or pricing.

Fenu-radio's image of the Arinst Dreamkit V2D
Fenu-radio's image of the Arinst Dreamkit V2D

Arinst Dreamkit SDR now on sale for $230 + Shipping

About a month ago we posted about the Arinst Dreamkit, which was an unreleased Russian made portable receive only SDR with 16-bit ADC, 1 - 3100 MHz tuning range, up to 5 MHz instantaneous bandwidth, and very fast scanning capabilities.

Reader 'sunny' has written in and informed us that the Arinst Dreamkit is now released and available for sale on both eBay and Aliexpress. The pricing is $230 + shipping costs. Sunny notes that the manual is only in Russian, and currently it does not have any digital decoding capabilities, and no preselector on the input.

The Arinst Dreamkit

Arinst SDR Dreamkit: A Portable RX SDR with 16-Bits, 1 – 3100 MHz Range and 5 MHz Bandwidth

Thank you to reader 'sunny' who has written in to share a new software defined radio that he has found being previewed on YouTube. The SDR is the Arinst SDR Dreamkit, a Russian made portable receive only SDR that will have a 16-bit ADC, 1 - 3100 MHz tuning range, up to 5 MHz instantaneous bandwidth, and have very fast processing which can scan the spectrum at 20 GHz per second. It also comes with a built in 3.9" touchscreen and loudspeaker.

Arinst are a Russian company that designs, produces and sells affordable portable spectrum analyzers, vector network analyzers, power amplifiers and antennas.

The Dreamkit is not yet available for sale but reader sunny has indicated that the pricing will be ~$250, although we cannot confirm that information. In a YouTube comment the developer only writes that it will be slightly more expensive than the Malachite SDR, for which an original non-clone unit sells for around $200. 

The Arinst SDR Dreamkit

We have not seen any announcement of the product on their website, but on their first YouTube video for the product they write some specs (translated from Russian):

  • There is no preselector.
    • Possibility to supply preselectors and source repeaters via SMA antenna connector. It also provides for the generation of a code message for each frequency range by pulse modulation of the supply voltage supplied to the antenna connector.
  • Operating frequency range - 1-3100MHz
  • Input impedance 50 Ohm.
  • ADC capacity - 16 bits, effective 13 bits.
  • Instant scan bandwidth - 5 MHz, sampling rate: 2 IQ channels at 6 MHz.
  • Scanning speed over 20 GHz per second.
  • Audio: built-in loudspeaker, headphones, bluetooth (optional).
  • Battery life up to 3 hours.

From the English demo video shown below, the interface looks very slick, customizable and with a very responsive refresh rate. The video shows off the features which include all the standard demodulation modes, an RDS decoder, 12V 100mA bias tee, and the ability to connect to a PC and run it on HDSDR.

It appears that they plan to sell additional preselectors and LNAs that will be powered via the 12V bias tee. An interesting point is that it appears that they will control the external devices via a some sort of modulated pulse on the coax.  

Arinst SDR Dreamkit V1D