REQ: Any PCI-slot SW cards?
 

The WinRadio WR-303i and 313i models are both PCI based RX's
aimed at the SWL user. The WR-305i and 315i are wider freq range
units that are marketed as "VHF/UHF scanning receiver", but they
also cover the SW range.

As a multiple Winradio user I think they make a good product.

But why do you want a PCI based answer? A PCI RX is going to
have the same noise problems that the ISA products had. Inside
a computer case is just a very noisy environment for a radio.

I have two identical RX's, the Winradio WR-1550e and the
WR-1550i. The only difference between these two is one is
inside a PC and the other is mounted in an external housing. The
cards are identical other than how/what they are mounted in. The
external model (WR-1550e) is much more quiet. It is a better
performer because of that.

After having used a couple of inside the case (both PCI and ISA)
radios I would not again buy one. The externals are quite small,
and seem to produce a much better result, IMHO.

I recently got the RF-Space SDR-IQ. It is half the size of a
paperback book and is a _VERY_ impressive performer. It
often performs on the level of my Yaesu FT-2000. It connects
to the PC via USB and is not a soundcard dependant SDR.
The SDR-14 is supposed to be even better, but the $500 price
on the SDR-IQ is hard to beat, particularly when you look at the
real world performance.

If you have room for the mouse on your PC you have room for
the SDR-IQ..

C!

"OM" wrote in message
...
...Anyone know of any PC-based Shortwave Listening peripherals that
are worth looking at and possibly purchasing? I looked at a couple
about 10-12 years ago that were for ISA-slot PCs, but those didn't do
a great job of isolating RF harmonics created by the CPUs approaching
the 300MHz clock speeds, which seemed to be a major problem according
to the few reviews I read in "PC Rag" and "Computer Shopper"(*). I've
been getting this urge to get back into SWL since losing a leg and
being quite a bit more apartment-bound these days, and figured I'd see
about recycling an old PC into a decent SW rig if there's a good card
to buy.

Hey, it's either that, or get a Cobra CB rig that's been modded for
export sales and rig the mike up to a Sound Blaster...:-)


(*) Back in the days when it was worth reading, and a single issue
could line a birdcage for six months with a twice-a-day change!
OM
--
]=====================================[
] OMBlog - http://www.io.com/~o_m/omworld [
] Let's face it: Sometimes you *need* [
] an obnoxious opinion in your day! [
]=====================================[

REQ: Any PCI-slot SW cards?
 

On Nov 27, 5:38*pm, "Colic" wrote:
The WinRadio WR-303i and 313i models are both PCI based RX's
aimed at the SWL user. *The WR-305i and 315i are wider freq range
units that are marketed as "VHF/UHF scanning receiver", but they
also cover the SW range.

As a multiple Winradio user I think they make a good product.

But why do you want a PCI based answer? *A PCI RX is going to
have the same noise problems that the ISA products had. *Inside
a computer case is just a very noisy environment for a radio.

I have two identical RX's, the Winradio WR-1550e and the
WR-1550i. *The only difference between these two is one is
inside a PC and the other is mounted in an external housing. *The
cards are identical other than how/what they are mounted in. *The
external model (WR-1550e) is much more quiet. *It is a better
performer because of that.

After having used a couple of inside the case (both PCI and ISA)
radios I would not again buy one. *The externals are quite small,
and seem to produce a much better result, IMHO.

I recently got the RF-Space SDR-IQ. *It is half the size of a
paperback book and is a _VERY_ impressive performer. *It
often performs on the level of my Yaesu FT-2000. *It connects
to the PC via USB and is not a soundcard dependant SDR.
The SDR-14 is supposed to be even better, but the $500 price
on the SDR-IQ is hard to beat, particularly when you look at the
real world performance.

If you have room for the mouse on your PC you have room for
the SDR-IQ..

C!

"OM" wrote in message

...

...Anyone know of any PC-based Shortwave Listening peripherals that
are worth looking at and possibly purchasing? I looked at a couple
about 10-12 years ago that were for ISA-slot PCs, but those didn't do
a great job of isolating RF harmonics created by the CPUs approaching
the 300MHz clock speeds, which seemed to be a major problem according
to the few reviews I read in "PC Rag" and "Computer Shopper"(*). I've
been getting this urge to get back into SWL since losing a leg and
being quite a bit more apartment-bound these days, and figured I'd see
about recycling an old PC into a decent SW rig if there's a good card
to buy.

Hey, it's either that, or get a Cobra CB rig that's been modded for
export sales and rig the mike up to a Sound Blaster...:-)

(*) Back in the days when it was worth reading, and a single issue
could line a birdcage for six months with a twice-a-day change!
OM
--
* ]=====================================[
* ] * OMBlog -http://www.io.com/~o_m/omworld* [
* ] * * * *Let's face it: Sometimes you *need* * * * * [
* ] * * * * *an obnoxious opinion in your day! * * * * * [
* ]=====================================[

It makes substantially more sense to get a radio outside the PC, if
only to avoid obsolescence. PCI will go the to PCIE eventually. Should
USB become history, there will be legacy converters for a while. But
converting PCIE to PCI is expensive.

I'm not a fan of black boxes. I like a dial and knobs, not sliders. I
occasionally listen in the field, so now my play time is determined by
the notebook battery life.

REQ: Any PCI-slot SW cards?
 

On Fri, 28 Nov 2008 01:38:23 GMT, "Colic" wrote:

But why do you want a PCI based answer? A PCI RX is going to
have the same noise problems that the ISA products had. Inside
a computer case is just a very noisy environment for a radio.

....As I stated, it's a space issue. The real concern is whether
someone managed to come up with a slot solution that somehow addressed
the various bleedover and harmonics issues.


OM
--
]=====================================[
] OMBlog - http://www.io.com/~o_m/omworld [
] Let's face it: Sometimes you *need* [
] an obnoxious opinion in your day! [
]=====================================[

REQ: Any PCI-slot SW cards?
 

On Nov 27, 7:43*pm, wrote:
On Nov 27, 5:38*pm, "Colic" wrote:



The WinRadio WR-303i and 313i models are both PCI based RX's
aimed at the SWL user. *The WR-305i and 315i are wider freq range
units that are marketed as "VHF/UHF scanning receiver", but they
also cover the SW range.

As a multiple Winradio user I think they make a good product.

But why do you want a PCI based answer? *A PCI RX is going to
have the same noise problems that the ISA products had. *Inside
a computer case is just a very noisy environment for a radio.

I have two identical RX's, the Winradio WR-1550e and the
WR-1550i. *The only difference between these two is one is
inside a PC and the other is mounted in an external housing. *The
cards are identical other than how/what they are mounted in. *The
external model (WR-1550e) is much more quiet. *It is a better
performer because of that.

After having used a couple of inside the case (both PCI and ISA)
radios I would not again buy one. *The externals are quite small,
and seem to produce a much better result, IMHO.

I recently got the RF-Space SDR-IQ. *It is half the size of a
paperback book and is a _VERY_ impressive performer. *It
often performs on the level of my Yaesu FT-2000. *It connects
to the PC via USB and is not a soundcard dependant SDR.
The SDR-14 is supposed to be even better, but the $500 price
on the SDR-IQ is hard to beat, particularly when you look at the
real world performance.

If you have room for the mouse on your PC you have room for
the SDR-IQ..

C!

"OM" wrote in message

.. .

...Anyone know of any PC-based Shortwave Listening peripherals that
are worth looking at and possibly purchasing? I looked at a couple
about 10-12 years ago that were for ISA-slot PCs, but those didn't do
a great job of isolating RF harmonics created by the CPUs approaching
the 300MHz clock speeds, which seemed to be a major problem according
to the few reviews I read in "PC Rag" and "Computer Shopper"(*). I've
been getting this urge to get back into SWL since losing a leg and
being quite a bit more apartment-bound these days, and figured I'd see
about recycling an old PC into a decent SW rig if there's a good card
to buy.

Hey, it's either that, or get a Cobra CB rig that's been modded for
export sales and rig the mike up to a Sound Blaster...:-)

(*) Back in the days when it was worth reading, and a single issue
could line a birdcage for six months with a twice-a-day change!
OM
--
* ]=====================================[
* ] * OMBlog -http://www.io.com/~o_m/omworld*[
* ] * * * *Let's face it: Sometimes you *need* * * * * [
* ] * * * * *an obnoxious opinion in your day! * * * * * [
* ]=====================================[

It makes substantially more sense to get a radio outside the PC, if
only to avoid obsolescence. PCI will go the to PCIE eventually. Should
USB become history, there will be legacy converters for a while. But
converting PCIE to PCI is expensive.

I'm not a fan of black boxes. I like a dial and knobs, not sliders. I
occasionally listen in the field,

- so now my play time is determined by the notebook battery life.

You don't have a 12 V DC Power System
for the NoteBook Computer ?

REQ: Any PCI-slot SW cards?
 

In my experience with both PCI and ISA based receivers harmonics
are not a problem, at least not any more so than with any other design.
Bleedover is also not a problem, or again not any more so than any
other type of RX.

The basic problem is that inside a PC there are all kinds of native
signals. The various clocks in the system. PCI itself has a 66.666
MHz clock that is divided as needed to do latching/clocking/
synchronization. The FSB of the computer has a clock. The video
card has a clock. The sound card has a clock. etc, etc

No matter what you do to the radio if it is inside the PC case it is
going to be bathed in those frequencies, their harmonics, the
images, etc. You can attempt to shield it, and with enough effort
it can be somewhat successful, but remember that many of those
"problem" frequencies are at or very near frequencies you will be
wanting to receive, ones that you have intentionally made the
receiver very sensitive to. It is always better to _not_ start
with a problem of this nature.

Keeping the RX out of that noisy environment is a good starting
point. LOL However, here at the house I have three radios that
are cards, two ISA's and one PCI, all three are Winradios, one
WR-1000i, one WR-1550i, and one WR-315i. Sometimes they
are the right answer.

C!

"OM" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 28 Nov 2008 01:38:23 GMT, "Colic" wrote:

But why do you want a PCI based answer? A PCI RX is going to
have the same noise problems that the ISA products had. Inside
a computer case is just a very noisy environment for a radio.

...As I stated, it's a space issue. The real concern is whether
someone managed to come up with a slot solution that somehow addressed
the various bleedover and harmonics issues.


OM

REQ: Any PCI-slot SW cards?
 

OM wrote:
On Fri, 28 Nov 2008 01:38:23 GMT, "Colic" wrote:

But why do you want a PCI based answer? A PCI RX is going to
have the same noise problems that the ISA products had. Inside
a computer case is just a very noisy environment for a radio.

...As I stated, it's a space issue. The real concern is whether
someone managed to come up with a slot solution that somehow addressed
the various bleedover and harmonics issues.


OM
Not in an older computer. The newer ones use lower voltages and higher
frequencies and therefore have less RFI inside. If you can locate the
board all the way at the bottom of the case, with a couple empty slots
above it, that might help as well.

REQ: Any PCI-slot SW cards?
 

On Fri, 28 Nov 2008 13:49:37 -0800 (PST), wrote:

Notebook operating time specs are very much a matter of craftsmanship.
The assumption is the backlight is on and you are running some simple
tasks. This is not the same as operating a radio via PC.

....This is true. The biggest drain on battery power isn't the CPU or
the RAM, but the Hard Drive and any USB peripherals. Hence the big
push to go to SSD Drives that consume far less power than your
standard spinning platters. Even then, the most any notebook can be
coaxed to operate hour-wise is about 9 hours, even with tweaks such as
dimming the LCD, setting standbys to 1 min, and even tweaking the CPU
to run slower.

....Hmmm. A USB Keyfob that's a full-feature SWL rig. That would be
taking miniaturization to ridiculous levels, no? :-)

OM
--
]=====================================[
] OMBlog - http://www.io.com/~o_m/omworld [
] Let's face it: Sometimes you *need* [
] an obnoxious opinion in your day! [
]=====================================[

REQ: Any PCI-slot SW cards?
 

On Nov 28, 10:09*pm, OM wrote:
On Fri, 28 Nov 2008 13:49:37 -0800 (PST), wrote:
Notebook operating time specs are very much a matter of craftsmanship.
The assumption is the backlight is on and you are running some simple
tasks. This is not the same as operating a radio via PC.

...This is true. The biggest drain on battery power isn't the CPU or
the RAM, but the Hard Drive and any USB peripherals. Hence the big
push to go to SSD Drives that consume far less power than your
standard spinning platters. Even then, the most any notebook can be
coaxed to operate hour-wise is about 9 hours, even with tweaks such as
dimming the LCD, setting standbys to 1 min, and even tweaking the CPU
to run slower.

...Hmmm. A USB Keyfob that's a full-feature SWL rig. That would be
taking miniaturization to ridiculous levels, no? :-)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * OM
--
* *]=====================================[
* *] * OMBlog -http://www.io.com/~o_m/omworld* [
* *] * * * *Let's face it: Sometimes you *need* * * * * [
* *] * * * * *an obnoxious opinion in your day! * * * * * [
* *]=====================================[

I think if you are signal processing on the CPU, it would be drawing
considerable power. It is not like editing email. You also realize
LIon batteries have both a shelf life and limited cycles. If you used
your notebook on the battery on a daily basis, you would get maybe 3
years out of the battery. After about 5 years, the battery is greatly
compromised.

This is as good as any analysis on the net:
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

Set up something like acarsd on your notebook and see how long it
lasts on battery power. I would venture acarsd is a small fraction of
the horesepower needed to demod a radio. Most of the time acarsd is
just sampling the data and waiting for a trigger. Radio demod is a
constant load.

REQ: Any PCI-slot SW cards?
 

OM wrote:
On Fri, 28 Nov 2008 13:49:37 -0800 (PST), wrote:

Notebook operating time specs are very much a matter of craftsmanship.
The assumption is the backlight is on and you are running some simple
tasks. This is not the same as operating a radio via PC.

...This is true. The biggest drain on battery power isn't the CPU or
the RAM, but the Hard Drive and any USB peripherals. Hence the big
push to go to SSD Drives that consume far less power than your
standard spinning platters. Even then, the most any notebook can be
coaxed to operate hour-wise is about 9 hours, even with tweaks such as
dimming the LCD, setting standbys to 1 min, and even tweaking the CPU
to run slower.

...Hmmm. A USB Keyfob that's a full-feature SWL rig. That would be
taking miniaturization to ridiculous levels, no? :-)

OM
You'd just need a front-end and an IF; the computer could do the rest
in DSP.