<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr">Hi all,<div><br></div><div> I also found the following:</div><div><br></div><div>- This one has a 20 dB LNA that is permanently switched on (dynamic range / compression?)</div><div>- From one post/review: "The LTC2208 is a very old part and so it shows up in equipment found in the electronic scrap markets."</div><div><br></div><div>My colleague Ryan Volz, co-maintainer of Digital RF, reports:</div><div><br></div><div>- SDRC, the software which is reported to work with the boards, is closed source freeware available on Windows only: <a href="https://www.sdr-radio.com/download">https://www.sdr-radio.com/download</a>. I can't find definitive information on the driver for this thing, but it's likely also Windows-only, for now.</div><div>- No Gnuradio / OsmoCom stack exists at the moment.</div><div>- Since these radios are derived from an originally open design, it looks like the driver was adapted from the open ExtIO Windows driver as well, which can be found here: <a href="https://github.com/ik1xpv/ExtIO_sddc">https://github.com/ik1xpv/ExtIO_sddc</a>.</div><div><br></div><div>The fact that this ecosystem is based on hardware clones of another design is a concern. The NanoVNA world is now very confusing with all the clones being offered, and not all of them are well engineered or perform to spec. Caveat emptor.</div><div><br></div><div>73</div><div>Phil W1PJE</div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Sep 7, 2020 at 5:40 AM Bill Liles via TangerineSDR <<a href="mailto:tangerinesdr@lists.tapr.org">tangerinesdr@lists.tapr.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div><div><div dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"><div>No direct connect for a clock reference needed for multiple receivers. <br><a href="https://www.rtl-sdr.com/nils-reviews-the-rx-888-a-sub-200-16-bit-32-mhz-bandwidth-sdr/" target="_blank">https://www.rtl-sdr.com/nils-reviews-the-rx-888-a-sub-200-16-bit-32-mhz-bandwidth-sdr/</a><br><br></div><div id="gmail-m_817118247495878135m_2183757782519919545m_-8583556622733679358article" style="font-family:-apple-system-font;font-size:1.2em;line-height:1.5em;margin:0px;padding:0px">
<div style="text-align:start;word-wrap:break-word;max-width:100%"><h1 style="font-weight:bold;font-size:1.95552em;line-height:1.2141em;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0.5em;text-align:start;display:block;max-width:100%">Nils Reviews the RX-888: A Sub $200 16-Bit 32 MHz Bandwidth SDR</h1><div style="text-align:start;display:block;margin-bottom:1.45em;max-width:100%"><a href="https://www.rtl-sdr.com/author/rtlsdr/" title="Posts by admin" rel="author" style="margin:0px;color:rgb(65,110,210);max-width:100%;text-decoration:underline;font-size:1em;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;display:inline" target="_blank">admin</a><span style="margin:0.07em 0.45em 0px;max-width:100%;padding:0px;font-size:1em;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;display:inline"></span>September 7, 2020</div>
<p style="max-width:100%">A lot of affordable Chinese clone SDRs have been coming onto the market recently, and the RX-888 is one of the most interesting. The RX-888 appears to be an improved clone of the RX-666 which in turn is a clone derived from Oscar Steila (IK1XPV)'s <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://www.steila.com/blog/index.php?controller=post&action=view&id_post=32" style="color:rgb(65,110,210);max-width:100%;text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">BBRF103 original open source design</a>.</p>
<p style="max-width:100%">The RX-888 is based on the LTC2208 16-bit ADC chip which is capable of streaming the entire 1 kHz to 32 MHz frequency range to the PC over USB 3.0 with direct sampling. Frequencies from 32 MHz to 1.8 GHz can also be received via an R820T2 tuner which is on the board (the same tuner used in most RTL-SDRs). Due to the bandwidth restrictions of the R820T2 silicon, the bandwidth above 32 MHz is restricted to 8 - 10 MHz. The main change when compared to the RX-666 appears to be that there is an LNA which improves medium wave and small antenna performance which was a problem on the RX-666. The RX-888 also adds several heat sinks to the enclosure, as excessive heat generation of the LTC2208 ADC appears to also be an issue.</p>
<a href="https://www.rtl-sdr.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/rx888_1.jpg" style="color:rgb(65,110,210);max-width:100%;text-decoration:underline" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.rtl-sdr.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/rx888_1-1024x683.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="683" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0.5em auto 1.15em; height: auto; display: block; clear: both; font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 1.4em; text-align: start; font-family: -apple-system-font; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65);"></a>The RX-888 Software Defined Radio
<p style="max-width:100%">Recently Nils Shiffhauer (DK80K) <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://dk8ok.org/2020/09/04/rx-888-32-mhz-16bit-200-us-pricks-up-your-ears/" style="color:rgb(65,110,210);max-width:100%;text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">wrote up a great review of the RX-888</a>. In the review he covers the specs, shows a few screenshots of some signals he's received and also provides multiple audio samples of signals received.</p>
<p style="max-width:100%">The RX-888 is currently available on marketplace sites like Aliexpress and eBay priced at around US$180. In the past SDRs that could receive the entire HF band at once were rare, with the only affordable SDR with this capability being the KiwiSDR. So it is good to see that we may now be entering a stage of new advancement in affordable SDRs.</p><p style="max-width:100%;clear:both"><ins style="max-width:100%"><ins style="max-width:100%"><ins style="max-width:100%"></ins></ins></ins></p>
<p style="max-width:100%">One thing to note is that this design can be considered a clone. However the original design by Oscar is open source and from <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://www.steila.com/blog/index.php?controller=post&action=view&id_post=32" style="color:rgb(65,110,210);max-width:100%;text-decoration:underline" target="_blank">this post on his blog</a> he seems happy and accepting of the clones.</p>
<p style="max-width:100%">We note that we have ordered a unit and will be uploading a review once we test it.</p>
<a href="https://www.rtl-sdr.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/rx888_2.jpg" style="color:rgb(65,110,210);max-width:100%;text-decoration:underline" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.rtl-sdr.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/rx888_2-768x1024.jpg" alt="" width="768" height="1024" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0.5em auto 1.15em; height: auto; display: block; clear: both; font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 1.4em; text-align: start; font-family: -apple-system-font; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65);"></a>The RX-888 PCB
</div></div></div><br><br><div id="gmail-m_817118247495878135m_2183757782519919545m_-8583556622733679358AppleMailSignature" dir="ltr">Sent from my iPad</div></div></div>
</div>
-- <br>
TangerineSDR mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:TangerineSDR@lists.tapr.org" target="_blank">TangerineSDR@lists.tapr.org</a><br>
<a href="http://lists.tapr.org/mailman/listinfo/tangerinesdr_lists.tapr.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://lists.tapr.org/mailman/listinfo/tangerinesdr_lists.tapr.org</a><br>
</blockquote></div><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature">----<br>Phil Erickson<br><a href="mailto:phil.erickson@gmail.com" target="_blank">phil.erickson@gmail.com</a><br></div>