NooElec NESDR Smart XTR SDR - Premium RTL-SDR w/Extended Tuning Range, Aluminum Enclosure, 0.5PPM TCXO, SMA Input. RTL2832U & E4000-Based Software Defined Radio

Enjoy listening to random frequencies?, don't always care what you find? Well with this handy little tool you can search all frequencies you want.. well tiny limits. Add the Ham it up kit and you have a magical Shortwave Radio that will outshine anything you could find in RadioShack during the 90s lol. I highly recommend making a simple ground wire antenna (Google it) and use a 9:1 Balun and listen to the world rather than playing on your phone! The Shortwave functions include SSB, AM, FM and all other modes for everything else! Well worth the price if you are a frequency nut like me!

I own two basic NooElec SDRs which I'm pleased with, but was drawn to the specs on this one. I'm giving a couple operating tips later in this review. I hear a noticeable difference in noise level and sensitivity. I am not hearing anything I haven't heard on the other two, however - just better. Better antennas in lower noise locations can make this difference in the cheaper radios... There is unmet potential, however, brought out by a poor choice in printed circuit boards. Flexing the USB connector alters the frequency by up to several Hertz. I'm not talking about stressing it, something like setting something light on the coax where it pulls the end of the dongle down slightly is all it takes. The change in frequency is slight, but enough to affect copy of some digital modes. I connect the dongle to a USB Type A extension cable. I have burned in the oscillator now by keeping it connected to a laptop running my favorite SDR program since receiving the radio 10 days ago as of writing this review. It only drifted slightly (except for what I mentioned above) when new, and now even that has improved at room temperature. If you use an upconverter, you need to take it into account if you experience drift. I turn off AGC on any SDR software I use as it always cranks the gain much higher than needed. I find it every bit as sensitive as I want without all the spurious reception. Calibrating SDR dongles so WWV or your time/frequency standard stations of choice reads out to the exact frequency down to one Hertz is impossible due to how the radios tune. Over all, I am very happy with this SDR radio as its E4000 tuner is significantly better than the R820T2 tuner in lesser radios. The bottom line is this: If you're under impressed with the SDR dongle you're using now and improving your antenna doesn't help and changing software doesn't help (or playing with the software settings), then the investment into this one may be what is needed. Note that this radio does have a gap in coverage around 1 GHz that is listed in specs and the online description.

Good sensitivity and works well with Ham it Up. Gets warm and not hot to the touch. Small size makes using headphones or earbuds possible with jack next to usb port. Wayne

Why did you pick this product vs others?: robust, works as specified

Depending on what frequency your on and a high sample rate, it does get warm but not hot to the touch. Great for Aircraft monitoring and FM radio 📻

DOES NOT HAVE BIAS TEE. Caution product names are simmer and I bought wrong item. This unit cannot power a LNA. Produces large artificial signal in center of sdraharp waterfall( apparently this is normal for some sdr’s ) however my Rtl-sdr did not do this. I did not have equipment to test upper frequencies but it tuned well on FM broadcast stations and local air band AM as well as 2meter USB station. If you do not use above 1ghz I would stick with the cheaper and slightly more user friendly Rtl-sdr the silver one..

Compared to a ~2015 Nooelec NESDR Mini 2+, the ~2017 NooElec NESDR Smart XTR SDR seems to gain about -5dB (at the least) to -10dB (at best) signal strength over the previous ~2015 Nooelec NESDR Mini 2+ RTL device. In layman's terms, a +5dB signal improvement compared to the older model. Or, the difference between hearing or detecting an RF signal and not hearing a signal. Also more commonly termed as RF sensitivity and selectivity. This being 2024, getting really irritated with the newer SDR devices Linux drivers being less stable and extremely less tolerable of the older more stable software. (eg. gqrx)

Muy buen producto con acabado en aluminio que da fortaleza y calidad, cumple a cabalidad con todas sus expecificaciones, altamente recomendado.

veramente un bel prodotto. dimensioni ridottissime, l'ho fatta funzionare sul PC in pochi minuti e funziona anche su cellulari Android. visto il consumo, se volete utilizzarlo sul cellulare, collegatelo tramite un hub OTG alimentato da un powerbank, non ho neanche provato ad alimentarlo direttamente da cellulare, non penso che ci riesca, ma con il powerbank hai di fatto uno scanner radio portatile per meno di un decimo del prezzo. come antenna ho preso una Diamond per radio portatili, veramente economica ma fa il suo lavoro, ricevo la radio dell'aeroporto della mia città senza problemi.

I have two of the XTR E4000 receiver. Great receivers, stable. Mine are on 24/7 and no issues. I threw on some heat sinks just to be on the safe side, but I don’t know if that was technically necessary (I just felt a bit better, knowing they are always on).

Nunca funcionou

Works flawlessly and reduces so many of the noisy signals seen in my cheaper rtl-sdr dongles. SMA connector is strong. Not much more to say other than it's a great product

Clef SDR ok. En effet, il y a bien une atténuation de reception vers les 1100 MHz. Stabilité et calage en fréquence très bon par rapport a une clef RTL-SDR basique.