Hi - I was really excited to get my LimeUSB only to get a defective unit. I have had bad boards before but ready through the groups it seems quality production is a problem. I am trying to decide to get a refund or an exchange.
My purpose for this board is for experimentation in VHF UHF and above. Although HF and SW listening is important to me also. Was it a dream to think I could have it all in one board or should I go back to thinking about different boards for each segment? A single board to rule them all for Ham radioā¦
My question - if you had it to do all over again would you buy the LimeSDR or something else.
I did. I fried the USB/EXT power switching chip. This happened because of fluctuations of the external power supply. I got it bypassed & power it with the USB3 power.
If a ā12V Power supplyā is used, there is chance of damage. I only suggest 8VDC for external power.
Well, since I screwed that up, I bought a basket case SDR-USB & repaired a trace & the matching networks.
Both are is projects I am doing, slowly :
One as a ham radio with 1.5KW 1MHz to 144 MHz & 500W 200-700 MHz. All this and more is getting stuffed into a G5 MAC case.
The other is a 10" screen forklift computer with a Yaseu FT-857 PA board & filters.
I have abused the hell out of both limes & the only failure was too much voltage.
Request a fully tested unit.
I need a spare to just play withā¦
I have been working 6 10-12 hour days for a couple months & now, they are on hold. And, as things have come my way, the plans have evolved. Retiring in November down to Florida. I will resume building then.
As for the RFE board, it sounds great. I just happen to have a bunch of stuff that I collect from ham swaps & other sources that replace the RFE & then some.
Mobile unit is in a Honeywell VX9 forklift computer that I gutted. Stuffing the LineSDR USB, Udoo X86 Ultra & the Yaseu FT-857D RF board (PA/LPFs/BPFs). There will be several SMA coaxial relays & all Lime ports will be accessable externally, too. I will have a small 4 port USB hub & a couple of RTL dongles, too.
The home unit is still all in my head, but I have all the junk to build it.
I couldnāt help myself on this oneā¦So sit back, relax and enjoyā¦
First off, Iāve been with this project for over three years now - - from the VERY beginning. Steadfast, loyal, supporting the Lime from the VERY beginning when I was contacted by the (then) VP of IoT at Ubuntu, Maarten Ectors, about blogging on the LimeSDR - and I did so with the first betas they shipped me. Itās been a wild ride, but I continue - still with strong commitment - to support the LimeSDR and itās variants.
I would certainly buy a LimeSDR again - without hesitation.
While the application development for Amateur Radio use has been fairly dismal (weāre on year 2 now of SDRConsole transmitting and receiving on HF, SDRAngel is giving up and folding its tent now, and SDR# is hit and miss) I still think that the LimeSDR affords anyone the opportunity to use it, with decent dynamic range - better than the HackRF, over the widest bandwidth available and most affordable cost. When I see all the side development that users have posted over the past three years, itās gratifying that this remarkable SDR hs been used for so many different applications - some even used for radio astronomy.
My biggest gripe with the LimeSDR is that the gateware keeps changing and it keeps breaking the applications that are out there to support it. Itās as if the things that would perform the most fundamental functions of tuning, bandwidth, and such keep getting shoved around in the register mapping and soon, apps end up broken with the application developers scrambling to fix them or completely giving up altogether. It hurts the Lime to have this kind of firmware strategy. Certainly functionality will be added to give the Lime even more features than originally thought, but it always comes with a gateware change and then things breaking what works - - that really has to be replanned to put the base functionality in ONE PLACE that you wonāt change and then just add things to the top of the stack. Maybe thatās the way it is, but one would ask: āā¦Why is the app broken nowā¦ā. So, come onā¦Letās get with the program and fix this. GQRX is totally broken and Alex has moved onā¦The Lime needs to be stable to keep the audienceā¦Okay? (STRONG HINT).
Would I buy again - Iām going to reiterate it - - HELL YESā¦! But letās make better decisions about features and additions and keep the functions we know are never going to change in ONE PLACE TO BE UNTOUCHED SO THE APPS ARE UNAFFECTED.
Off soapbox, and planning to be with the Lime until I croakā¦
One thing to note Martyā¦
Mainstream for Lime is femtocell, G4, G5 and similar public
networking market. All in effort to attract more chip level users.
HAM and general communication is only sort of spin off, secondary
market for us old dinosaurs
I am still able to live with thatā¦
Awhile back (early June) on the Groups.io forum for SDRAngel Edouard mentioned that heās getting tired of maintaining āAngelā for Windows and was looking for a new development project - he didnāt elaborate but Iām sure heās looking forward to some other newer approach to the same work (SDR). The Github repository continues to be kept up with maintenance releases for both Linux and Windows and he recently added another radio - KiwiSDR (and it looked like it may have re-energized him some). But I got the sense that he was tired of adding features to 'Angel that break the code and that some other architecture was on the horizon that heās thinking of or working on - but there are no details.
Well, this is unusual and Iām starting to wonder if there is physical damage to transformers, but then from what you report, you have the same result with any LNA path, so that would mean damage to all their transformersā¦
This sounds possibly a bit close for comfort, if weāre talking about power levels for a 2m band ham and CB radio transceivers. But then if LNAs were damaged this would show up in LimeQuickTest results.
Letās do a few more checks via your other thread and failing which, might be time to look into RMA.
Yes i would buy one again. I have the big LimeSdr, not the mini. I use it to receive weather sats on X band.
(X band downconverted to L band)
Just look my tweeter page: Jean-Luc Milette
My Lime works well with HDSDR up to the specified 60Mhz bandwidth. The Lime needs amplification before the internal LNAs.
People complaining no signal at all are not aware the Lime needs low noise amplifiers external to get full dynamic range.
It is sad that a few people i know had bought the firsts units and they were defective.
But i am satisfied with mine.
Yes in the price range Lime has a great feature set and quality. I had realistic expectations of having some challenges getting everything working. I went with a Lime A primarily for the ability to change antennas via software and possibly use the gpio. I had a bit more difficulty than anticipated with the software. LimeSuite has worked out of the PPA every time but 3rd party radio software seems to require building from git repositories. Its a hobbyist toy for me but education was part of my Lime goals too. I really enjoy signal spotting, demodulating, making antennas and being nosy. Iām finally going to get my HAM license. Iām not using my Lime for its primary intended use as a cellular radio. Its capable of more than I will use, its my glorified scanner so far. I would probably get a Lime mini for portable use once I have a bunch of antennas plugged in the Lime A. Maybe I can tune ATSC 3 soonā¦
Well, news of SDRAngel folding its tent was met with surprise a couple of weeks ago when the activity became normal again and seems to be continuing development as usual. But thatās not the HUGE newsā¦keep readingā¦
The latest versions of Simonās SDRConsole are now working for the LimeSDR USB and the Lime Mini on HF through SHF and I can confirm that it is working exceptionally well from 80m to 6m and beyond in transmit and receive and all modes (AM, FM, SSB, CW, and Digital Modes). A fellow Ham in the Netherlands requested the fix for HF and Simon worked it to completion. So now, SDRConsole is fully functioning with the LimeSDRs. I am not certain if SDRConsole is working with the LimeRFE on HF, but the side app seems to be fine that works with the RFE - I confirmed that awhile back.
SOā¦Thatās the latestā¦Itās been three years, but now HF is supported by SDRConsole and SDRAngel and (presumably soon) LinHPSDR for transmit and receive applications. Happy Days are truly here againā¦!
I concur with Marty. A whole new horizon.
I have had Flex owners complementing (The most critical on signal) at 25% drive on 80 meters with the LineSDR-USB.
Of course, I just got a new job, so my further building of my transceiver is going to go slow.
It is, Simon was kind enough to provide me with a beta copy of the new release and LimeRFE support seems to be working well. If you leave the panel for this open, as you tune around the bands you see the LimeRFE configuration tracking accordingly, accompanied with the occasional relay click
