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Nigeria, Abuja
1 Level
706 Review
33 Karma

Review on NooElec NESDR Nano 3: Premium Tiny RTL-SDR with Aluminum Enclosure, 0.5PPM πŸ“» TCXO, SMA & MCX Input, and Custom Heatsink. RTL2832U & R820T2-Based Software Defined Radio by Tom Childress

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Great design, no extra space. Getting hot

I'm impressed by the tiny size and power of this device. Love the fact that they were designed to fit the Raspberry Pi's USB port dimensions so they're perfect even for 4 installed (not sure if that's possible due to power requirements though) although I know , that 2 are possible. The radiator shows you get 2 which would be nice as these puppies get hot with use. I found a way to dissipate even more heat by using a solid FLIRC aluminum case and running a piece of thermal pad/tape between the FLIRC case and the radio's aluminum case at the joint. It's designed to very tight tolerances so it works very well, almost as it should! This way you get a little more heat dissipation. Just search Amazon for the FLIRC Raspberry Pi Case and you will find it. Anyway, this is IMO the best Nooelecs SDR design yet. Some people have mentioned that the screws holding the case can easily break and come loose, I haven't encountered this, but it makes sense considering how small the surface area is to thread and how soft the aluminum is, so be careful with that or add a drop of a threadlocker or two or superglue if you like and you should be fine. MCX-SMA adapter included, MCX type NI snapped in although tight and won't wobble. That's reassuring compared to some previous models that wobbled occasionally.

Pros
  • Fingers crossed
Cons
  • I vaguely remember