📻 Nooelec RF Upconverter v1.3 Barebones: Enhance Software Defined Radio (SDR) with Ham It Up. Compatible with HackRF & RTL-SDR; Includes SMA Jacks for MF/HF Conversion. Review

I use a magnetic loop to transmit on HF and it takes time to adjust to different bands. With that and a cheap RTL-SDR I can see if it's worth changing the tape. I hooked it up to a short 37ft OCF dipole on my fence and it's great to be able to see activity across the band at once. I had no problems with reception on 40-10M. I also highly recommend adding Array Solutions' onboard AS-RXFEP to protect the external interface when transmitting from a nearby antenna.

If you play RTL-SDR and you are a radio amateur or interested in shortwave, you will love it. It works well and is worth the money. It's more complex, with more parts than I expected, but all the built in filters on all ports clean up the noise and hash. You would build it yourself, except the small SMD capacitors and inductors in the filters are too small to see and handle.

After trying everything to make sure I'm not the problem, I've come to the conclusion that this device emits all sorts of noise . I shared some screenshots with the company and they also concluded that there was a problem with the device. To their credit, they were very responsive and worked with me on the phone for quite a while until it was clear we couldn't fix the problem. They sent me a new device. Unfortunately, this new device is also a bum. Your NESDR Mini 2 dongle works like a charm…

The HamItUp converter does what it promises and I enjoy it very much. (I FINALLY started using this item almost a year after ordering it. The delay in use was caused by being so drained by the NooElec RTL dongle I bought at the same time.) I have one Problem with the HamItUp converter: My LF antenna is a 140ft Inverted L antenna delivering about 1.5 volts PkPk broadband power into a 50 ohm load across UNUN 9:1, mainly from local radio stations, including WTOP. This strong energy from the…

Seems stable so far. The front end seems to allow many signals to be mixed into the final output, although I can't say for sure what the circuit engineer might have done with it, or is it more of an indication that my SDR key is doing the final decoding. has problems with overload. So I would say this product does exactly what I expected it to, which is to extend the range of my cheap $25.00 SDR dongle into the RF range. I have good results - maybe even better than I expected! I absolutely…

I'm using this with the HackRF One to upconvert shortwave radio frequencies to what HackRF is better for. This shifts the frequency by around 125 MHz. The problem is that the frequency offset is not precise and can change over time. I've never had a problem getting the HackRF to stay on frequency - it's always accurate - but with Ham It Up the frequency needs constant calibration, even after a 20 minute warm up. But the signal I get from HackRF is much stronger with less noise and interference…

Loose antenna connections have been a noticeable problem on some of my NooElec products. Attempting to solder the tiny center connectors takes some skill. They also ask you to send in a video of the problem. Capturing a video while trying to fix a problem is a Spider-Man staple. This can easily outweigh the cost of the device. Don't miss it, understand me, I like NooEIec, they have interesting products. I am happy to cooperate in solving problems. However, I believe they should just trust you…

After playing around with the Noo Electric SDR and the Ham It Up converter I found that the system had too much noise. You can't just use the wall warts that come with every device, or just plug the SDR into a PC and hope there's no noise. These components are a mix of analog and digital. The solution I used was to get a 24V analog power supply and then make a dual regulator board. This board provides 5VDC for the USB hub and 12VDC for the preamp. This provides a filtered power sump for device…