New G2 Saturn Ultra

A place for Apache HARDWARE discussions, from bare boards to the latest hardware. SOFTWARE discussions belong in the SOFTWARE sub-forums.
Trucker
Posts: 438
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2021 5:16 pm

New G2 Saturn Ultra

Postby Trucker » Thu Feb 27, 2025 8:21 pm

Found a deal too good to pass up on a new, never unboxed, G2 Saturn Ultra. It arrived just a half hour ago. First impressions, pretty solid built. I didn't encounter the problem reported with the missing wire on the power switch. Quick press of the power button brought the radio up slightly faster than my Flex 6600M.
NR2 works just the same as it does in Thetis with my 8000DLE.
I haven't setup transmit yet. I am waiting on a couple of things I ordered to get that set up properly.
James
WD5GWY
User avatar
w-u-2-o
Posts: 5924
Joined: Fri Mar 10, 2017 1:47 pm

Re: New G2 Saturn Ultra

Postby w-u-2-o » Thu Feb 27, 2025 9:02 pm

Trucker wrote:NR2 works just the same as it does in Thetis with my 8000DLE.
That's because NR2, and 99% of every other DSP feature of Thetis, is hardware independent. From Red Pitaya all the way up to the latest and greatest, the performance of our radios is almost entirely driven by Thetis.

It's important to remember that, with a few exceptions, the hardware is not a radio by itself. It is merely an "RF unit", and it's functionality starts and stops with the first, and only, RF mixer stage, that mix being done digitally in the FPGA.

The exceptions are things like the Andromeda, or a G2, but only if the client SDR software (piHPSDR, Thetis) are run on their embedded processors. As soon as you connect a G2 to a separate Thetis PC it becomes just a "dumb" RF unit.
Trucker
Posts: 438
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2021 5:16 pm

Re: New G2 Saturn Ultra

Postby Trucker » Thu Feb 27, 2025 9:30 pm

Thanks Scott. I know that the Magic is in the software. My statement was simply to say that the CM4 does just fine handling the load of the processing required. While PiHPSDR isn't as full featured as Thetis, for standalone operation it has all I normally need.
Ed made me a good deal on the radio. So, it was worth it to me to give it a go.
James
WD5GWY

Return to “Apache-specific Hardware Discussions”