Bruce, now I'm confused. You mention that the G31 software cannot do spectrum recordings. Spectrum recording capability is my primary reason for looking to go the SDR route.
While doing my research into different models I ran across a review of the Excalibur and the G31 software on swling.com. It was a quite comprehensive write-up written in October last year and one of the conclusions by the reviewer was (and this is a cut and paste from the review) "It is, quite simply, the best SDR I have used to-date. And if, like me, recording functionality is a high-priority, then the Excalibur is your best choice, hands-down." Your comment and the reviewer's comment, regarding spectrum recording, are180 degrees apart. Thus, my confusion! Can you or anyone else in the group comment or shed further light on this? Clearly, I don't want to plunk down the cash only to find it cannot fulfill my principal need! Many thanks Anthony R Gargano n...@n2ss.com On Jul 13, 2013, at 1:19 AM, irca-requ...@hard-core-dx.com wrote: > ------------------------------ > > Message: 6 > Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2013 21:30:02 -0700 > From: Bruce Portzer <bport...@comcast.net> > To: Mailing list for the International Radio Club of America > <irca@hard-core-dx.com> > Subject: Re: [IRCA] SDR Recommendations? > Message-ID: <51e0d7ca.8030...@comcast.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > > Nick > > For the record, I'm running the Excalibur (G31) using the software > written for the Excalibur Pro (G33). A couple of years ago, someone on > the Winradio YG wrote a dll file that allows you to use this lashup and > take advantage of features that are in the G33 software that aren't in > the G31 software. One of the differences between the two is the ability > to do spectrum recordings. The G31 SW only allows you to schedule > recordings for single frequencies. I've been using the G33 version of > the software so long that I'd totally forgotten about the limitation in > the G31 version. > > The other possibility is to use third party scheduling software with the > G31 software, like the guys in PEI did. I tried that approach with > mixed success when I first started using the Excalibur. For a while, my > antivirus software thought the scheduling software was malicious and > deleted it on several occasions! I solved the problem by switching to a > different antivirus package. > > The Perseus native software seems to lack any scheduling function, but > third party software has been written to take care of that limitation. > At least that's my conclusion after using the receiver for the past > three days. Hopefully one of the Perseus owners on this list will > clarify that point. > > Bruce > > On 7/12/2013 20:10, Nick Hall-Patch wrote: >> >> Now that I'm a bit more awake Bruce, I believe that I recall that the >> Excalibur >> was only unable to do timed unattended recordings, but that the pricier >> Excalibur Pro can. What is your experience there? Two of the DXers at the >> PEI >> expedition last fall were jumping through hoops using Splinterware or some >> such >> in order to record while they caught a few moments of sleep. It wasn't a >> computer issue. >> >> Meantime, dead simple Spectravue was reliably performing that service for the >> remaining two DXers who were using RFSpace radios. >> >> Do I recall that Perseus' native software has some difficulties in that >> direction also? Simon Brown's SDR Console now handles Perseus I've heard, >> but >> I haven't any experience with its timed recording capabilities, and if I >> did, it >> would be out of date, as that software is constantly developing. >> >> best wishes, >> >> Nick >> >> >> Quoting Bruce Portzer <bport...@comcast.net>: >> >>> Hi Anthony >>> >>> I've owned an Excalibur for the past two years, and very recently added >>> a Perseus to my radio collection. Both are quite good receivers. I'm >>> not aware of any Mac software to run either radio, although there may be >>> third party software I don't know about. >>> >>> I've been generally happy withe the User Interface that comes with the >>> Excalibur. I'm much less impressed with the Perseus UI, but I've only >>> been using it for a couple of days and may need to give it more time. >>> >>> I haven't run into the recording issue Nick mentions. I routinely use >>> the Excalibur to record 2 MHZ sections of spectrum (MW & SW) with no >>> problems. That's with a quad core (i5) CPU in my PC. The problem could >>> nonetheless occur with older, slower PCs (single CPU and possibly some >>> low end dual core PCs). >>> >>> Bruce >>> >>> >> ----- End forwarded message ----- >> _______________________________________________ IRCA mailing list IRCA@hard-core-dx.com http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org To Post a message: irca@hard-core-dx.com