Running Two SDR-IQs On An MSI Wind

The MSI Wind is one of the new generation of "netbooks" - small laptops with Intel Atom processors and 10" or smaller displays. My Wind worked well with the Perseus, running at 800 kHz.

The ultimate portable reception setup would be a Wind and two SDR-IQs, since you don't need external power supplies for the IQs. This evening I tested this setup, and I was pleased (but not very surprised) to see that the Wind copes admirably with two SDR-IQs. The screendump to the left shows two instances of SpectraVue running. The CPU load was 60-75%. Luckily SpectraVue is resizeable, so the two windows can match the small display reasonably well.

Now, the current 3-cell Wind doesn't have much to brag about in terms of battery capacity, so you should either buy the 6-cell Wind or a replacement battery if you plan to spend a few hours on the beach. The two IQs take their toll on battery life.

New Season - New Logs

Time to list what is heard. To the right you will find a link to a Google spreadsheet comprising my 2008-2009 loggings. In the beginning all stations ID'ed will be listed, but the most common ones are likely to disappear, leaving only the better catches.

The log so far is very modest. It will improve in both quantity and quality as the season progress.

Sept 6: A Few La Plata Stations

Not much to hear with A-indices near 30. The last half-hour before sunrise did bring a few La Plata stations though, some with good strength. The strongest being the rather common ARG stations Radio América 1190 and Radio Provincia 1270. Buenos Aires 1350 was weak. I also heard a Spanish-language station on 1450. Morada do Sol (new for me) was strong on 1260, and a few others from Brazil were also heard. Lots of carriers but too weak for audio.  Time: 01:45 - 02:15 UTC. Receiver: Perseus. Antenna: Backlobe of my 600-m Far East beverage.