[Skimmertalk] Current SDR choices for CW skimmer?

[Jeff AC0C]

Pete,

The limitation of the QS1R is 7 bands and for the other 3, I use separate 
softrock receivers here.  The 4 telnet feeds consolidate in Aggregator. 
This works OK on 80/160 but the 3rd covers 6m and it's not very sensitive.

I would be interested in seeing how that multi-dongle thing is working.  It 
may be a good alternative short of a second QS1R.

73/jeff/ac0c
www.ac0c.com
alpha-charlie-zero-charlie

-----Original Message----- 
From: Pete Smith N4ZR
Sent: Friday, March 20, 2015 1:32 PM
To: skimmertalk at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [Skimmertalk] Current SDR choices for CW skimmer?

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
>
> _______________________________________________
> Skimmertalk mailing list
> Skimmertalk at contesting.com
> http://dayton.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk
>

_______________________________________________
Skimmertalk mailing list
Skimmertalk at contesting.com
http://dayton.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk