Using the SDRuno EXTIO Edition with an RTL-SDR and other SDRs
Over on YouTube Mike from the SDRplay team has created a tutorial video that shows how to use the SDRuno EXTIO edition. SDRuno is the official software of the SDRplay line of products and can be freely downloaded from the SDRplay website. The EXTIO edition allows other non-SDRplay SDR units to freely be used with SDRuno. The only restrictions are that the maximum bandwidth is artificially restricted to 2.5 MHz and some DSP filters are missing.
In the video Mike shows how to set up the SDRuno workspace to work with an RTL-SDR dongle and demos reception of some signals. Note that the EXTIO dll file for the RTL-SDR mentioned in the video is the same one required for HDSDR, and can be downloaded from the dll table on the HDSDR website.
If you’re interested in more, Mike has a full SDRuno tutorial series available on the SDRplay YouTube channel which mostly focuses on usage with the SDRplay units, but could be applicable to the EXTIO version as well.
My hackRF doesn’t work with SDRuno. Why?
Unless I’m doing something wrong, I can’t save the settings and windows layout (aka “workspaces”) using SDRUno V1.22 EXTIO with an RTL-SDR dongle. SDRUno storage of workspaces seems to be tied to RSP serial number. It is a hassle to reconfigure all your window layouts and settings from scratch with each invocation. This may be a bug or an incentive to buy a SDRPlay RSP not just for the hardware features but also to unlock SDRUno software features. Not being able to save workspaces, or even a single workspace, is kind of a big deal.
To save a workspace, hold the keyboard control key the entire time you do this: Left click the workspace name, then in the window that pops up, left click that same workspace name again.
Has SDR-STL Direct Sampling Mode (Q-Branch) been enabled yet to allow reception below 28.8MHz in the SDRUno EXTIO version , or is some dll available to enable it? Thanks!
Ah hah – I found an answer: https://www.rtl-sdr.com/extio_rtlsdr-modified-extio-for-sdruno-hdsdr-with-direct-sampling-mode/
To use a RTL-SDR dongle, you must put the ExtIO_RTL2832.dll file in your My Documents directory. I messed around putting the file in the same folders as SDRPlay, SDRUno etc but it will only work in your Documents folder.
@ Byron. Same for USRP also. Confused the hell out of me too.
I was setting up my RTL, without realizing the USRP was connected to the hub. When I launched it, USRP fired up! Sweet. I’ll play with that then.
Oddly, the RF sounds better than with HDSDR. Less background noise. Better s/w? Or am I losing my mind?
Thank you thank thank you!!! Same thing happened to me.