Your SDR Dongle/Upconverter In A Closet?

This is interesting.... MFJ created the MFJ-1708 SDR.

One of the issues commonly faced by hams is how to protect sensitive receivers in the vicinity of radio transmitters. One popular solution for those who wish to build a pan adapter or just want to protect their RSP which is operated nearby a rig is the MFJ-1708. The MFJ-1708 is a T/R (Transmit/Receive) switch which can isolate the RSP while the transmitter is being keyed.

SDR Play - The Simplified SDR Option

SDR has been a topic here on our site for some time. Many of us have tried the dongle/upconverter hassle and I am pretty sure we loved the SDR side but hated the hardware. This device takes care of that. From the YouTube channel linked below here are some basic facts..

The SDRplay RSP is the natural step up from a low cost dongle - covering 10 kHz to 2 GHz without the need of an up-converter - with high performance front end filters and 12 bit ADC, it gives outstanding general coverage RX capability. As well as supporting popular 3rd party SDR software it comes with downloadable SDRuno software.

For more information see www.sdrplay.com I also noticed it is featured in the latest QST magazine!

Here is the SDR Play YouTube Channel

My SDR Adventure

CLICK to ENLARGE

Let's start with the good stuff... It WORKS great!

I ordered the SDR Bundle from NooElec and with the custom enclosure for the Ham It Up upconverter board and the adapter it was a little over $100. Careful because when you choose the bundle, it defaults to buying ALL of the extras which I did not need. But it's easy enough to unselect the extras. Bottom line price for the USB Dongle, Upconverter and Cable to connect the two is $79 I believe. Shipping was pretty cheap via USPS and I received the shipment in less than a week.

Very happy with NooElec, with my only complaint being that there are very little instructions or help on their site as most of my info was gathered elsewhere. The enclosure is nice, A little tricky to put together but looking back it was the easiest piece of this puzzle. I only had to switch 2 of the spacer nuts to get it to line up correctly in the enclosure and from what I hear on the interwebs, the case does a nice job of shielding the upconverter board. Next time I have the case apart I might test those web stories. Not sure why because we can all believe everything we read on the www's right?