Testing DAB Decoders: SDRAngel versus Welle.io
Thank you to the team from DXing.org for submitting their video where they compare the DAB decoding performance of SDRAngel and Welle.io using an RTL-SDR Blog V3 dongle.
Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) is a digital replacement for analog broadcast FM. It provides high quality digital audio at the expense of higher cost receivers, and possibly greater difficulty with reception in weak or challenging RF environments. DAB is mostly only used in Europe and Asia Pacific regions, and is not found in the USA. SDRAngel and Welle.io are both RTL-SDR compatible programs with DAB decoding capabilities. Both can run on Android, PC, MacOS and Linux devices.
In their tests they find that the Welle.io DAB decoder works perfectly without issues, however the SDRAngel DAB decoder struggles and has difficulty with decoding. Given that Welle.io is a dedicated DAB decoder, and SDRAngel is a multipurpose tool this could be expected. But we are unsure what is wrong with the DAB implementation in SDRAngel.
The team note that the test was carried out in Sofia, Bulgaria, Europe, using a Serbian DAB+ signal from Yastrebac, with a distance of 175km.
Try setting the gain properly!
A novel approach to getting help on how to use software I guess…
Please first watch clip. Logo (pic) is available with SDRAngel, but It has difficulty with decoding audio.
You can see in the clip at 1:00 and 6:09 the SNR calculated by the DAB decoder is too low. (Aim for above 10).
You can see 1:02! Picture is full, no “Scratches” on the received photo. But audio has difficulty!
I don’t use welle.io, which is incompatible with my hardware (SDRPlay RSPDdx), but I tested SDRAngel with the DAB and wasn’t convinced. My favorite is QIRX, which I think is better than SDRAngel and more complete than welle.io, with excellent spectrum visibility. It has the advantage of displaying all the “Tii” allowing exact identification of transmitters, which in DX can be numerous for a single-frequency multiplex (SFN). The impulse response panel also lets you see signals even when decoding is impossible, a feature not available on SDRAngel. All this is particularly useful in DX, my record with QIRX having been a transmitter in the Austrian Alps over 930 km away ( https://tinyurl.com/4djj543s ). Unfortunately, the latest version of QIRX has become payware, so I’ve stuck with the previous versions.