RTL-SDR.COM Announces the End of the Line for Its Popular RTL-SDR Blog V4 Software-Defined Radio
An out-of-production chip means going back to the weaker RTL-SDR Blog V3 design, but work is underway on an RTL-SDR Blog V3 Lite.
RTL-SDR.COM has announced that the popular RTL-SDR Blog V4 software-defined radio dongle has reached end-of-life, following the discontinuation of its Rafael Micro R828D tuner — pointing would-be buyers to the older RTL-SDR Blog V3 while working on a replacement dubbed the RTL-SDR Blog V4 Lite (V4L).
"The RTL-SDR Blog V4 has been a very popular product that we released back in August 2023," RTL-SDR.COM explains of the device. "Back then, it was released as a 'limited edition' product because the Blog V4 relied on the Rafael R828D chip, which Rafael Micro no longer produces. We did have access to a large stockpile that we calculated could give us about a year of sales. As 2024 approached, we were very lucky that our contract manufacturing partner was able to secure a new large stockpile, which has brought us to where we are now. Unfortunately, this stockpile has now been exhausted, and as far as we are aware, no other usable stockpiles exist, so no more Blog V4 productions will be possible."
The RTL-SDR Blog V4 was, as the name implies, the fourth-generation incarnation of the company's receive-only software-defined radio (SDR) dongles — and found a home in a wide range of projects. While it remained in production for longer than expected, plans for additional manufacturing to provide stock through to the end of the year were stymied: "the last R828D chips that we could possibly obtain were all faulty in some way," the company laments.
For now, buyers who would have picked up the RTL-SDR Blog V4 are being pointed at the earlier RTL-SDR Blog V3, which provides weaker high-frequency reception, tuning, filtering, increased phase noise from its power supply, generates more heat, and costs between $5-10 more. For those who don't fancy losing the benefits of the fourth-generation design, the advice is to wait on the development of the RTL-SDR Blog V4L, or "Lite," variant, built around the also-end-of-life but stockpiled Rafael Micro R828S.
"The difference is that the R828S has only two inputs, rather than the three found on the R828D, so the additional filtering used on the Blog V4 will not be possible," RTL-SDR.COM says of the shift. "However, the same Blog V4 architecture with the HF upconverter will still be used. The lack of additional filtering also comes with a small upside trade-off, which is better sensitivity. We expect to have a small initial batch of Blog V4L dongles available for sale in the next one to two months."
More information is available on the RTL-SDR.COM blog.