The KiwiSDR2 finally shipped from New Zealand and is in my possession. I’ve had it running in burn-in/test mode at my home QTH for a few weeks now. Current receive antenna is an MLA-30+ loop mounted off the roof of the house and nulled for local noise.
It can be accessed here: http://21185.proxy.kiwisdr.com:8073/
The MLA-30+ is on the left with a rotor. Found the rotor to be completely unnecessary as you only need to adjust the antenna to null noise and leave it alone. The center picture is a multi-coupler used to distribute the receive antenna to ALL the receivers… of which I have too many 🙂 Right: is the Kiwi plugged in next to my SDRPlay RSPdx my second best receiver.
This Kiwi project is not a ‘cheap’ endeavor. After getting the receiver (small batch built) and other parts including the super-quiet power supply (Hi-Fi stereo favorite) for the Beagle Bone pc that runs the unit, GPS and receive antenna, cooling fans, and power back-up, OH! and high speed gigabit internet service to the remote woods….. so I hope this brings some value to the HAM/SWL community that has given me so much. If anything, I’m having fun with it so it’s justified in my eyes 🙂
Even though I am at elevation and in the woods; Starting out the antenna will be an MLA-30+ Active Loop. I have noticed some electrical ‘hash’ from the old buried power system (I suspect). I will experiment throughout the season with other options until the ultimate winner of an antenna is found. I have room for a lot of wire.
The radio will be plugged into a power conditioner and a CyberPower 1500va/1000w battery back-up (UPS). Another consideration is that I hear the FPGA chip on radio board runs a bit warm. I have designed some 3D prints to add a brushless AC cooling fan to the top of the well-ventilated unit. If it gets hot and I’m not there, I may need a way to shut it down. Looking at some automation ideas that will work with the internet service. I’m hoping none of this doesn’t add noise… we’ll see…. and correct. Our electrician is designing me mechanical (noiseless) high heat shutoff in case the ambient air in the trailer hit’s a high temp yet to be established.
Antenna will be re-located to the rear of my cabin as far away as possible from the power and internet router equipment. I have also created a 3D printed mount for the GPS antenna to be on the same mast as the MLA-30+ loop antenna.
Feel free to give it a try. It will be back online sometime Saturday and hopefully receive a lot more than at home.
Works Great! Thanks for putting it up!