[Skimmertalk] Current SDR choices for CW skimmer?

[Pete Smith N4ZR]

Hi Andy - K8ND has already given you a very nice response about various 
radios commercially available. One I would add is the Softrock Ensemble 
II or II, either of which can be had for under $100 assembled from 
KB9YIB.  I tested one here, hoping that it would prove, in combination 
with W3OA'sband rotation software, to be an acceptablesubstitute for the 
QS1R in the RBN's gap-filling initiative.  Just for fun, I ran it off 
the same antennaas my QS1R, and compared a bunch of rotation intervals, 
changing bands every 2, 5, 10 and 20 minutes.  While the sensitivity on 
any given band was closely comparable to the QS1R, I found that at most 
the Ensemble only yielded about 30 percent of the number of spots 
produced by the QS1R, both during contest weekends and ordinary times.

There are a couple of other options out there.  There's a creature 
called an RTL Dongle which is a dirt-cheap TV tuner. with an 
upconverterfrom Nooelec.  N1GP has even figured out a way, with some 
Linux programming, to gang 7 of these through a single upconverter and 
an rtl to hpsdr program (see https://github.com/n1gp/rtl_hpsdr ).  He 
has run up to 7 RTL dongles simultaneously with CW Skimmer Server 
through a .dll written by K3IT to interfact Skimmer Server with Hermes.  
For that matter, Hermes would be another option.

I'll be glad to fill in more info offline if you want.  It would be 
great to have more capability in the Pacific Northwest!

73, Pete N4ZR
Check out the Reverse Beacon Network at
http://reversebeacon.net,
blog at reversebeacon.blogspot.com.
For spots, please go to your favorite
ARC V6 or VE7CC DX cluster node.

On 3/20/2015 12:33 PM, Andy (KU7T) wrote:
> Hi,
>
>   
>
> I am researching the idea of getting a CW skimmer up for the major HF bands;
> there still is a shortage in the Pacific Northwest.  I played with a
> softrock but never got it to work satisfactorily, so I am looking at a
> non-kit SDR. Looking for something reasonable that can do 5 HF bands. I know
> about the QSR1, but the cost is pretty steep.
>
>   
>
> What other options are out here for a 5 band CW skimming capable SDR? Is the
> SDR-IQ good, it not quite clear from its description.
>
> Is there a 2nd hand market for these things?
>
>   
>
> Thanks and 73
>
> Andy
>
> KU7T
>
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