Finally, A Best ADS-TECH Product!
(NOTE: I realize now that this is the older product, superceded by the NooElec NESDR Mini 2+ version. These "2" versions have a frequency tuning error of at least 62 PPM, and tends to drift as the unit warms. I have just acquired the "2+" version and will be returning this "2" version.)
The design casing gave me a surprise when I first opened the product packaging, and realized this device oddly looks similar to other ADS TECH USB radios. (For which I gave a test run and has been laying in a shoe box for several years now.) But this is the first device, for which I'm finding extremely useful!
As with other software defined receiver enthusiasts, I'll be using this hardware for analyzing frequencies.
Pros
1) Best bang for your buck. A device allowing users to fully exploit hardware's capabilities, using computer software.
2) Can likely be utilized and extended with up-converters.
Cons
1) Difficult to find exactly which software utilities and which drivers you need to using as a computer software defined radio for analyzing frequencies. This product was engineered for use with European DVB-T over-the-air transmissions, but can be utilized within the US for receiving over-the-air FM modulated or other modulated frequencies.
2) No RTL2832 chip specifications are published. (ie. Read forum posts dated approx 2014, read reddit.com forum post, "RTL2832 datasheet / deep info?")
3) Device's tuning crystal is susceptible to temperature fluctuations. As such, users need to constantly recalibrate the device for accurate frequency usage. Easy method is to tune and center to a known strong signal and adjust the device Frequency Correction PPM value to match the signal's commonly known frequency. Adjusting either the device's "Frequency Correction PPM" or "Input Sample Rate" will effect the value of the other's value. Currently my values are Frequency Correction 57.0 PPM & Input Sample Rate 96000Hz or 96k. Another example, Frequency Correction 67 PPM and Input Sample Rate 1,000,000 or 1MHz. Even after entering this correction, since Frequency Correction PPM value does not accept a float values within SDRSharp or GQRX, manual fine tuning is still required except for maybe wide band FM. The more difficult and more accurate method of calibrating or tuning, is using a GSM signal.
4) For most people living outside the city, requires both hardware and tuner AGC to be active, in order to obtain any really usable signal, especially when utilizing digital signals or operating digital speech decoders. (Without hardware and tuner AGC, you'll have some static.) SDSharp (Windows) has both hardware AGC and tuner AGC options, and GQRX has hardware AGC top right menu tick box and a variable tuner(?)/software AGC slider on the bottom right menu. RTL-SDR rtl_fm has a tuner gain (or AGC?) via "-g" option, so being digital to speech decoding requiring a very strong local signal, this is not going to be available to most people except for inner city folks.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2016
Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2015
Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2015
Other reviews complained about poor build quality, however that wasn’t the case with my unit. No solder balls or broken components, though there was some leftover flux from the hand soldering of the LED and IR receiver, but that was easily to take care of with an anti-static brush and some 91% Isopropyl Alcohol.
There have also been some concerns over heat, which I share. NooElec could easily help cool the tuner and receiver ICs by simply soldering applying solder paste to the bottom ground paddles; the board already has the required vias, so I’m not sure why they don’t do solder them…
At any rate, I took care of the heat issue by applying some two tiny 15x15mm heatsinks to the chips. (You can find these here on Amazon; just search for “Raspberry Pi Heatsinks” and get the small aluminum ones [not the larger versions designed for the SoC].)
I also bought one of the extruded aluminum cases from NooElec, which should help with heat issues as well.
So yeah, aside from that minor issue (which in practice might not be an issue at all, but as an electrical engineer it worries me) this is a great little SDR dongle. Since NooElec has these custom made, specifically for SDR use, the component quality and layout are much better than the cheap $7 dongles (designed for DVB-T) you can buy; spend the extra $13 and go for the Mini 2, you won’t be disappointed!
There have also been some concerns over heat, which I share. NooElec could easily help cool the tuner and receiver ICs by simply soldering applying solder paste to the bottom ground paddles; the board already has the required vias, so I’m not sure why they don’t do solder them…
At any rate, I took care of the heat issue by applying some two tiny 15x15mm heatsinks to the chips. (You can find these here on Amazon; just search for “Raspberry Pi Heatsinks” and get the small aluminum ones [not the larger versions designed for the SoC].)
I also bought one of the extruded aluminum cases from NooElec, which should help with heat issues as well.
So yeah, aside from that minor issue (which in practice might not be an issue at all, but as an electrical engineer it worries me) this is a great little SDR dongle. Since NooElec has these custom made, specifically for SDR use, the component quality and layout are much better than the cheap $7 dongles (designed for DVB-T) you can buy; spend the extra $13 and go for the Mini 2, you won’t be disappointed!
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Top reviews from other countries
Henk Os
AIR & Music stations. So much fun! Also buy the XHDATA AN-80 FM SW antenna
Reviewed in the Netherlands on August 3, 2023
Henk Os
Reviewed in the Netherlands on August 3, 2023
Just follow the instructions for this device on the Nooelec website and you are good to go. I do receive my FM music stations with great quality and I also receive the communication of the towers of the Airport nearby (20km). However, I did spent an extra 11 euro to a 'simple to attach and use' antenna. Check it out, it is the XHDATA AN-80 FM SW, which you can also buy on Amazon. Connect (clip on) it to your out-of-the box antenna (that came with the device) and connect the other side to the curtain rail before your window. That side you can also just clip on. Now you have a much better antenna and it makes all the difference!
I use the easy to use (after some playing and Youtube watching) software SDR++, and I downloaded the beta (nightly built) version. It is important you use that one! Get in on the sdrpp.org website. It works great and after some time you learn how to master it as a pro :) Again, read the instructions on the Nooelec website. Also refer to the SDR++ manual, which you can download from the SDR++ website.
In order to improve the quality of the FM radio stations, I enabled RTL AGC but left Tuner AGC disabled. I manually set the Gain to 40.2 dB. I also enabled IF Noise Reduction. Last but not least, I set the bandwidth for each stations to 200Khz. Each station can be stored in the Frequency Manager for quick access. This all together (and combined with the XHDATA AN-80 FM SW antenne) delivers more signal and sound quality then any of the radio receivers I have. And all of this while I sit inside behind a desk, between walls and 4 meters from the window.
PS: On your first usage, after installing the driver. Select (under source in the sidebar) your device and set the sample rate to 2.4Mhz. Don't forget to press PLAY in the upper left corner and make sure you have Radio enabled in the sidebar and Squelch disabled (on start). Then you will hear a sound (noise). Now type in a FM radio station (put the mouse on the left digit of the frequency) and when entered, you will see it's working. Also be aware that you can not zoom out the display more then 2.4Mhz. This is the limitation of the device as it samples 2.4Mhz a time, like almost all of these devices. So, just scroll left or right to explore all frequencies.
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Stu
Good reciever
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 28, 2023
Stu
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 28, 2023
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Sandro Alessi
Solide Leistung mit finanziellem Verbesserungspotenzial
Reviewed in Germany on November 5, 2023
