Tagged: SDR 101

TechMinds: A Brief Review of the SDR 101, a Clone of DeepSDR 101

The DeepSDR 101 V1 was a handheld software defined radio with built in LCD screen, a tuning range of 100 kHz - 149 MHz, and a bandwidth of 192 kHz. It appears to be an original design by Chinese company Hangzhou Minghong Electronic Technology Co., Ltd.

Currently the DeepSDR 101 Version 1 has been discontinued while they work on Version 2. However, recently clones called the "SDR 101" have begun appearing on various marketplace sites. 

In his YouTube video, Matt from the TechMinds video checks out one of these SDR 101 clones. Matt shows some HF reception, however has some issues with the PC USB connection. Ultimately Matt does not recommend the device, being a clone, having USB connection issues, and having mediocre performance for the price. Instead Matt would consider a Malachite-SDR instead.

SDR 101 - DSP Receiver That's Cloned More Than Dolly

Online 101 Course on RTL-SDR, DSP and MATLAB 2nd Edition Starting Soon

Back in September 2017 we posted about the start of a MOOC (massive open online course) run by Juan Moreno and some collegues from the Technical University of Madrid that aims to introduce students to DSP techniques and MATLAB using an RTL-SDR. The original course has already finished, but Juan has written in noting that the second run of the course is scheduled to start on March 12 2018. The course if free and if you are interested be sure to register on their website. Note that while the registration forms are in Spanish & Portuguese, the course itself is presented in English.

One useful improvement from the first course is that Mathworks, the company behind MATLAB have agreed to provide a free MATLAB licence to all students for the duration of the course. This should significantly lower the cost barriers to learning.

The course blurb reads:

SDR is a reality around us. It is present in a lot of systems everywhere and is a versatile technology which can be used for many things (not only academics and industrial). The purpose of this course is to introduce students into general-purpose SDR tools. The SDR hardware platform chosen for this course is the RTL-SDR. It is worldwide available, it’s cheap ($15) and there is a lot of help in the Internet. But, as far as we know, there is no other MOOC focused on an introduction to SDR as this MOOC. Here we will not only learn about SDR but also a lot of related areas like antennas, digital signal processing, radio frequency and communication electronics.

Online 101 Course on RTL-SDR, DSP and MATLAB Starting Soon

Thanks to Juan Moreno for letting us know that his online MOOC (massive open online course) on RTL-SDR is starting on September 25. The course is presented by Juan and three of his colleagues from the Technical University of Madrid. It will focus on SDR 101 knowledge such as digital signal processing with the aide of an RTL-SDR to help with practical learning. In their video they also mention that MATLAB and Simulink will be required and used for most of the course, so it will probably be a fairly technical beginners course at a University level of learning. Their description of the course reads:

SDR is a reality around us. It is present in a lot of systems everywhere and is a versatile technology which can be used for many things (not only academics and industrial). The purpose of this course is to introduce students into general-purpose SDR tools. The SDR hardware platform chosen for this course is the RTL-SDR. It is worldwide available, it’s cheap ($15) and there is a lot of help in the Internet. But, as far as we know, there is no other MOOC focused on an introduction to SDR as this MOOC. Here we will not only learn about SDR but also a lot of related areas like antennas, digital signal processing, radio frequency and communication electronics.

The website and registration forms seem to all be in Spanish or Portuguese, but the course will be presented in entirely in English. Google Translate can easily be used to help with the signup process. The course is completely free and students that complete 75% of assignments will receive a free participation certificate. A more official accomplishment certificate can be obtained for a 50 Euros.