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SoftRock Ensemble RX II How to use?
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You can use it couple different ways , standalone , or as a panadapter. In
either case you need a stereo sound card with a flat response curve . M-Audio cards seem to work the best but they are out of production and need the older PCI slot. The higher the sampling rate the better. You can use most any I and Q spectrum software , but not all will control the Softrock for standalone. If your using it as a panadapter you can just set it with the softrock software to a frequency close to your receivers IF frequency , Ideally the software your using will allow you to set an offset . Of course as panadapter you connect it to your receiver's IF out. There are several spectral display programs available , most of the ones I 've seen are based on GNU Radio , or you can roll your own with GR. You can also try Quisk and Rocky. On Mon, Mar 24, 2025 at 6:03?AM James Dale via groups.io <jd2dale= [email protected]> wrote: I have an SoftRock Ensemble RX II and do not know how to use it. Can any |
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I use a Soundblaster SB1095 sound card. It plugs into USB and you use a
stereo 3.5 mm cable to connect to the Softrock Ensemble. You can still get the SB1095 from various places. I think Rocky is one of the favorite software programs for the Softrock SDR's. But it also works with HDSDR. 73, Zack W9SZ On Tue, Mar 25, 2025 at 2:18?AM Clinton McClure via groups.io <cmclr123= [email protected]> wrote: You can use it couple different ways , standalone , or as a panadapter. In |
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I setup my Ensemble II Rx last year with the in-built sound card of a very cheap Dell Windows 10 Laptop and also with a Behringer UCA202 USB sound card in a desktop Linux PC w/o in-built sound card. Both work well for me, providing a 96kHz slice of spectrum (these are 48kHz sound cards). I experimented with the Startech 7.1 USB sound card, which worked but not as well. No super-duper sound card at present, but I will probably try upgrading to a Behringer 96kHz USB sound card soon. Performance is impressive, I mainly snoop on the ham bands in the evening and occasionally listen to the few SW broadcast stations still transmitting that reach the US east coast. There is an AM broadcast station about 1/2 mile from my house, and I seem to have few issues with overloading/images.
I use the Ensemble II Rx with HDSDR in Windows 10 and with Quisk SDR software in both Windows and Linux, but personally I prefer Quisk. Jim Ahlstrom (Quisk author) is active in 开云体育 and that FW is still being updated. It was easier for me to set things up for the sound card in Linux, but eventually I stumbled my way through the Windows settings. Alan's notes were a great help setting things up. If you use windows, I suggest to start at "First-time installation with a Softrock-type soundcard SDR" on his page. I found I really needed CFGSR to verify that the Ensemble was talking over USB before setting up the SDR software, Alan explains how (and why) to install it. I believe it is important that the antenna provide close to 50 ohms impedance to the Ensemble II input across the HF band, and for that reason I use a Magnetic Loop (the amplifier has a controlled output impedance). I started with the Cross Country Wireless magnetic loop () and am experimenting with other simple magnetic loop amplifiers. I also have a mini-whip antenna to try, but have not yet turned that on. I found the Cross Country Wireless loop amp just works, no fuss or fooling around. There is a null with magnetic loops, it can help to rotate the antenna if you are pulling in a weak station. Once I got the SDR software working, I had to tune the I/Q offset and gains especially for the Behringer, which was pretty easy. The Behringer sound card has a 1 sample fixed offset, but my (newer technology) laptop did not. After configuring out the 1 sample offset, I tuned into a strong station and varied the "analog" offset and gain until the image more or less went away. Aliexpress was great for all the BNC to SMA adapters, RG-318 coax with connectors, DC power adapters and splitters, RCA to 3.5 mm cables, USB cables and so forth. I just bought a bunch of that stuff and threw it in a shoe box which I dig into regularly. I power the Ensemble Rx with a small 12V wall wart and have had no issue with DC switcher noise. I saw no difference when I ran the receiver and antenna from 12V worth of AA batteries. I only check into this groups once or twice a week, but I did take a lot of notes and can walk you through the setup of either HDSDR or Quisk by email. Mike W |
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