8 May 2014 radiouser
■ Mike Richards reviews the ELAD FDM-S2 direct sampling SDR receiver
■ All diagrams and images supplied by the author
review
A
lthough the original Elad
FDM-S1 arrived quietly on the
software defi ned radio (SDR)
scene, it was a surprisingly good and
very compact SDR receiver. While
the new FDM-S2 has many similarities
because it is a direct sampling design,
the new model has some signifi cant
technical advances, hence the higher
price tag. The FDM-S2 is USB powered
and provides continuous coverage
from 9kHz through to 52MHz and an
undersampling range that extends up
to 160MHz. I’ll explain a bit more about
undersampling later. The receiver comes
with its own bespoke software package
that supports two independent in-phase
and quadrature (IQ) channels, with
each IQ channel supporting up to four
receivers.
Connecting-Up
Although larger than the FDM-S1, the
FDM-S2 is still a very compact receiver
measuring just 40 x 110 x 90mm. As you
can see from the photos, the receiver
is housed in a rather swish anodised,
brushed aluminium case. The front
panel is very simple, with just two light
emitting diodes (LED) indicating power
and the USB connection. The rear panel
housed the external connections. There
were two SMA sockets for antennas,
one HF and the other for VHF. Antenna
switching was managed in software,
with the HF socket used for the 9kHz to
52MHz range and the VHF socket used
for the undersampled VHF coverage.
Both antenna connectors were excellent
quality and SMA to BNC adapters were
supplied in the box, which was handy if,
like me, you use BNCs for general shack
interconnections. The USB connection
employed a standard USB A connector
and was used to supply power and to
transfer the 16-bit IQ samples to the
computer software for processing and
demodulation. This makes for a very
neat and compact installation that’s good
for use in the shack or with a laptop
Mike Richards takes a look at
the next generation of direct
sampling receiver from Elad,
the FDM-S2.
Elad FDM-S2
The Elad FDM-S2 with supplied accessories.
The FDM-S2’s rear panel.
Elad FDM-S2 Review.indd 8Elad FDM-S2 Review.indd 8 02/04/2014 12:2502/04/2014 12:25
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