I don’t want to be a pessimist here but…
Will LimeSDR be available to buy in case where $500k goal is not met?
I have similar concerns 
500k USD seems to be really too high goal for something as specialized as SDR. E.g. Kickstarter for Nuand bladeRF got $191,422. Kickstarter for HackRF got $602,960, but people who already got bladeRF or HackRF most likely will not be ordering LimeSDR (maybe only some people with HackRF, because HackRF has much worse parameters).
I am advertising LimeSDR campaign wherever I can, but looking at numbers, it doesn’t look much optimistic ($100k in first 24 hours has been fast only because of great $199 Early Bird offer, but second day it has been only $15k and since then only few hundred dollars).
I really hope you will produce it even if 500k goal is not met…
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I think it’s up to those of us who write software to get the support in place. When this happens a LimeSDR in a metal enclosure at a more realistic price with good support could sell well. The market is becoming a tad saturated, myself I’m really looking forward to the new Lime chip.
Of course, a lot depends on the actual performance of the chip, I have quite a few SDRs and compare them on 103.7 MHz with a station in the channel isles - marginal reception, strong signals nearby, a good test.
@SimonG4ELI I think you misunderstood me. I am not worrying about support. I am worrying I won’t be able to get LimeSDR at all and I really really want to have a chance to buy one.
I was wondering the same leoha, if the goal of 500K isn’t met, will the project stop and no LimeSDR’s will be shipped???
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This is directly from the CrowdSupply FAQs if the campaign fails to meet its goal:
What happens if a campaign does not meet its funding goal?
Credit card transactions are not processed until after a campaign has met its funding goal. If a campaign does not meet its funding goal before the end of the campaign, no transactions are processed and your credit card will not be charged.
So we’ll have to see what happens in 50 days…Let’s hope that they sell everything to meet the goal…
I know how Crowd Suppy campaign works, but I would like to know from LimeSDR authors themselves if they have some plan B if campaign fails to meet its goal or if they simply cancel whole LimeSDR project. Because I am really concerned this scenario has pretty high probability. I am regularly checking Crowd Supply site and in last 2 days no more than $2k has been pledged. At this rate it would take more than a year to meet campaigns astronomical $500k goal
I will continue to advertise it in my circles, but I am afraid it doesn’t help too much…
Similar concern here - I’ll be investing a lot of time getting the LimeSDR supported, it would be a great shame were the project to become unobtainable.
I hope there’s a plan B - maybe just make the bare boards available.
I’m also very interested in the PCIe flavour.
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Ugh, this is depressing.
As of 13:38 MST, with $118917 pledged, we would need 26 pledges a day for the $299 units. If the other pledges are selected, they we need less than 26 pledges a day.
We are not seeing 26 pledges a day, it’s closer to eight a day since the early bird units pledged out.
I really want my boards. I posted to both G+ and Facebook again, but I don’t want to spam my accounts advertising the campaign.
(Edited - oops noticed my math was missing a digit)
If someone like Dara Ó Briain or Neil deGrasse Tyson sent out one tweet about the board, it would probably hit the funding goal in a day. Or some famous ham, maybe not Priscilla Presley(N6YOS), but someone with a strong social media following got an early prototype and used it. Or if Tim Peake held a picture of the board. It is all about the marketing campaign and that is up to the people behind limesdr and anyone who wants the board to be a success. If you stare at the number today it does not look good, but one or more social media incidents could flip that totally around.
Well, I just sent notes to both “Ham Radio Now”, and “Ham Nation” video shows asking them to look at and consider promoting the LimeSDR.
Maybe it is also worth checking how and where HackRF was promoted/advertised during their crowd funding (they raised >$500k). I am a little bit surprised that pledges rate is so low. LimeSDR is very capable - similar to USRP but only fraction of the price (costs similar to HackRF during their capaign).
HackRF has been first relatively affordable SDR (BladeRF is much more expansive). And has range to 6 GHz, which covers 5.8G band. It has been marketed extensively to hacker communities, hackerspaces, hobbyist. Many people who bought HackRF would IMHO not buy another SDR, simply because HackRF fulfils their needs and both HackRF/LimeSDR are still too expansive to have both.
HackRF might cover 5.8 but is only 8 bits ADC and half-duplex. LimeSDR is way better with its MIMO full-duplex. That’s why I am hoping project won’t cancel and I still be able to obtain it even when crowd funding will not succeed. Maybe someone from the creator would shed some light on it - is there a “plan b”?
If they increase early bird limit to 1000 then within a day they can reach >200k.
@leoha I know the differences and I would be really sad if LimeSDR would not be available at the end… I am just pointing out that for many people who bought HackRF it fulfils their needs, so they don’t have incentive to buy another expensive SDR (maybe for somebody $299 is not expensive, but for many hobbyist from around the world it definitely is).
Yet yesterday the amount was $393k (79%) and now only $298k (60%) 
Yep, I’m a little bit worried too. But if there’s one sponsor maybe there would be another and eventually crowd funding be successful (fingers crossed).
11 days since the last post in this forum.
326k USD pledged (100k EE).
I really hope that they will make it …
But it will be very hard without another 100k sponsor.