[Skimmertalk] Current SDR choices for CW skimmer?

Bob Wilson, N6TV n6tv at arrl.net
Thu Oct 15 20:20:35 EDT 2015 

It's really up to VE3NEA which SDRs he decides to support.  At present, the
QS1R is the only one with the hardware necessary to scan up to seven bands
at once.  There are no signs or credible rumors indicating that N8VB is
planning release a "QS2R" or any successor product.

Other SDR manufacturers don't really seem interested in adding the hardware
required to support skimming more than a few bands at a time.  So indeed,
if no mfr. steps up to the task, and the QS1Rs slowly deteriorate and
become impossible to repair, we're only going to be left with expensive or
inferior options involving multiple single-band or duo-band skimmers.

What we can we do?  We can contact SDR vendors, preferably in person at
conventions, hamfests etc., and explain our needs, and the limitations of
their hardware.

Unfortunately, Skimmer Server users don't really add up to a big market,
maybe they could sell three hundred multi-band SDRs, world-wide from people
like us who want to run Skimmer Server?

73,
Bob, N6TV

On Thu, Oct 15, 2015 at 3:12 PM, GW8IZR <gw8izr at gmail.com> wrote:

> It is imperative that we begin to look for a suitable replacement for the
> QS1R as it is not far from end of life, yes we will be able to keep it
> going until spares are no longer available but let's face it it's not going
> to be viable for ever.
>
> Even if we find a suitable receiver, such as the DVB dongle type we will
> need to convince the software authors to support it. That is a fairly long
> roadmap and we need to start thinking about it now.
>
> I would like to add some extra bands and certainly some VHF band to my
> station but I'm faced with trying to buy an old and expensive QS1R and
> integrating it with some converters which is expensive and not a long-term
> viable prospect, or hoping that maybe we can standardise on a sensible
> price receiver and obtain support.
>
> Unless we undertake to standardise across the network then the poor
> software authors need to be convinced to support many product.
>
> 73 de Paul LA/GW8IZR
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> > On 15 Oct 2015, at 22:56, Pete Smith N4ZR <n4zr at contesting.com> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Prasad - thanks for bringing this up - I hadn't heard about it
> before.  At a first glance at the specs and description, I don't think it
> will work with Skimmer Server, because Skimmer Server uses a Field
> Programmable Gate Array of some considerable size to simulate the
> individual receivers. It looks as if perhaps, W3OA might be able to modify
> his SkimScan software yet again to work with the SDRplay API and scan
> different bands on a schedule, but at that point it becomes much more like
> an Ensemble II or an Afedri USB-HS, with the limitations imposed by the
> architecture.  At least it doesn't require a sound card, unlike the
> Ensemble, and it is a good deal less expensive than the Afedri.
> >
> > I'm sort of hanging in to find out what N8VB might have up his sleeve
> for a successor to the current QS1R. It has been so successful that it's
> hard to imagine his just dropping it, though I imagine that the ADC and
> FPGA ICs in the current version must be getting long in the tooth and
> perhaps hard to obtain.  We just have to wait and see. In the meantime,
> Jeff's Softrock solution isn't a bad idea at all for adding a band or two.
> >
> > 73, Pete N4ZR
> > Download the new N1MM Logger+ at
> > <http://N1MM.hamdocs.com>. Check
> > out the Reverse Beacon Network at
> > <http://reversebeacon.net>, now
> > spotting RTTY activity worldwide.
> > For spots, please use your favorite
> > "retail" DX cluster.
> >
> >> On 10/15/2015 10:56 AM, Prasad VU2PTT wrote:
> >>
> >> Just reviving this old thread.
> >>
> >> I have now got my hands now on an SDRPlay receiver ($150) and seems to
> be a good candidate to cover 3 adjacent HF bands in one device.This one can
> cover 8 mhz at a time between 100 kHz to 2 Ghz and uses a 12-bit ADC -
> frequency accuracy is pretty good and frequency seems to be stable. I am
> using this as a wide band pan adapter for the TS-590SG and sensitivity
> seems to be on par if not better than the radio.
> >>
> >> See www.sdrplay.com <http://www.sdrplay.com> - if we can now get
> Skimmer Server to work with this would simplify matters to cover all bands
> at once - or even have a couple of these to cover 6 bands at once :)
> >>
> >> Shipping speed from the UK was amazing and I received it within a week.
> >>
> >> 73 de Prasad VU2PTT
> >>
> >>
> >> On Sat, Mar 21, 2015 at 2:54 AM, Jeff AC0C <keepwalking188 at ac0c.com
> <mailto:keepwalking188 at ac0c.com>> wrote:
> >>
> >>    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 <http://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 <mailto: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
> >>    <http://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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> >>
> >>
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> >>
> >
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