Airspy R2 Receiver 24Mhz – 1800MHz (10Mhz-spectrum)

Airspy R2 SDR receiver 24Mhz – 1800Mhz

This is one of the best known SDR receivers on the market. It offers a continous reception range from 24 to 1800 MHz, which makes it suitable for analysis and reception of a large number of VHF and UHF signals. To receive the entire HF band (plus long and medium wave) an optional up converter is offered, which is perfectly tuned to match the receiver. With the spectrumcope from 10Mhz bandwidth it is great for broadcast receiving.

Airspy R2 sets a new level of performance in the reception of the VHF and UHF bands thanks to its low-IF architecture based on Rafael Micro R820T2 and a high quality Oversampling 12bit ADC and state of the art DSP.

In Oversampling Mode, the Airspy R2 applies Analog RF and IF filtering to the signal path and increases the resolution to up to 16-bit using the software decimation. The net result is Spectacular Performance!

The coverage can be extended to the HF bands via the SpyVerter up-converter companion.

The Airspy R2, like its predecessor is 100% compatible with all the existing software including the de facto scanning standard SDR#, but also a number of popular software defined radio applications such as SDR-Radio, HDSDR, GQRX and GNU Radio.

For a more complete list of supported software, check the download page.

Typical Applications

VHF/UHF/SHF Radio Monitoring
Coherent Receiver Array
Direction Finding
Passive Radar
ADS-B, ATC
Radio Astronomy
Satellite IF
Telemetry Radio Receiver
Wide Band Scanner
Education
Ham Radio, etc.

Technical Specifications:

• Continuous 24 – 1700 MHz native RX range, down to DC with the SpyVerter option
• 3.5 dB NF between 42 and 1002 MHz
• Maximum RF input of +10 dBm
• Tracking RF filters
• 35dBm IIP3 RF front end
• 12bit ADC @ 20 MSPS (10.4 ENOB, 70dB SNR, 95dB SFDR)
• 10MSPS IQ output
• Experimental 2.5MSPS IQ output for low power devices (Raspberry Pi, Odroid, etc.) – Not recommended for high performance applications.
• Up to 80 MSPS when using custom firmware
• Cortex M4F @ up to 204MHz with Multi Core support (dual M0)
• 0.5 ppm high precision, low phase noise clock
• 1 RTC clock (for packet time-stamping)
• External clock input (10 MHz to 100 MHz via MCX connector) – Ideal for phase coherent radios
• 10 MHz panoramic spectrum view with up to 9MHz alias/image free
• IQ or Real, 16bit fixed or 32bit float output streams
• No IQ imbalance, DC offset or 1/F noise at the center of the spectrum that plagues all the other SDRs
• Extension ports: 16 x SGPIO
• 1 x RF Input (SMA connector, up to 30kV ESD protection)
• 1 x RF Output (Loopthrough, U-FL, 15kV ESD protection)
• 2 x High Speed ADC inputs (up to 80 MSPS, U-FL, DC coupled, 15kV ESD protection)
• 4.5v software switched Bias-Tee to power LNA’s and up/down-converters
• 8 x programmable high speed gpio’s up to 100MHz
• 3 x programmable synchronized clock outputs up to 160MHz
• 1 x core CPU clock output
• 1 x reset pin
• 2 x regulated +5.0 and +3.3v pins
• 1 x JTAG header
• No drivers required! 100% Plug-and-play on Windows Vista, Seven, 8, 8.1 and 10
• Operating temperature: -10°C to 40°C

A long wire antenna can cause an electric discharge due to static electricity building up between the PC and the antenna.
It is not recommended to connect these antennas to any SDR directly. An RF isolation transformer is required to prevent the destruction of the RF input of the SDR, the USB port of the SDR, the USB port of the PC, or all of them.
Also, the same thing could happen with a Discone or any other VHF/UHF antenna if it is not grounded to the same GND point as the computer. Keeping the antennas “electrically floating” creates static electricity and you get a discharge when you try connecting the RF input or the USB.
Another important parameter to take into account is the RF leakage to the receiver from a powerful TX. The maximum RF power at the input of SDRs should not exceed +10 dBm. Leaving the antenna connected while transmitting in another antenna a few meters away will create more than +23 dBm and can destroy the RF circuitry. A proper antenna switching mechanism should be installed in case of TX.
If in doubt, ask a specialist or ask in our mailing list: https://airspy.groups.io/g/main/messages