Software-defined radio (SDR) is a radio communication system where components that have been traditionally implemented in hardware (e.g. mixers, filters, amplifiers, modulators/demodulators, detectors, etc.) are instead implemented by means of software on a personal computer or embedded system.

A basic SDR system may consist of a personal computer running SDR software that interfaces with analog-to-digital converter over USB or ethernet, preceded by some form of RF front end with RF amplifiers, filters and attenuators.

Whilst the Red Pitaya STEMlab has a huge amount of functionality, it is very easy to set up and use. Instructions are available on the Red Pitaya website.

The following essential items needed to start are already included in each RedPitaya kits available from our  WEB store

New Red Pitaya Beta OS v1.03 is released for all Red Pitaya products. Besides general improvements, we have implemented SCPI server support for SIGNALlab 250-12.  The new OS can be downloaded for free.

STEMlab 125-10 is more affordable compared to the 125-14 version, but that doesn’t mean it is lacking any important features or performance that is required for educational use.