News

RDS Spy finally supports RDS decoding from MPX or RDS signal connected directly to the sound card.
Choosing that option the entire connection becomes as simple as on the picture:

The RDS Spy provides complete DSP processing of the input signal, including 57 kHz band-pass filtering, subcarrier synchronization and demodulation via Costas Loop equivalent structure, RDS clock regeneration, biphase symbol decoding and differential decoding of RDS data. Thus the RDS Spy entirely removes a need of any external RDS processing circuit.

If your FM tuner does not provide MPX output and no such modification is possible, use the audio line output instead. Although typical FM tuner suppresses RDS signal on the audio output, there are usually some RDS signal residues remaining so the RDS decoding is still possible. Connect both audio channels, right to right, left to left.

Please note that the direct RDS decoding  is applicable only if your sound card supports 192 kHz sampling rate for recording. Most of sound cards do not provide this key facility. Follow the sound card’s documentation or visit the forum. SDR users may connect thru a VAC (Virtual Audio Cable) as well.

You may still decode RDS data with standard non-192 kHz sound card if you connect RDS Clock and Data signals into the Line-in socket. For complete list of RDS sources available click here.

The RDS Spy application development finally results in the first official version 1.00. Until now we register more than 7000 downloads of the version 0.9x. The RDS Spy already has a position in the professional field as well as in worldwide DX community.
What’s new in the version 1.00?

• New RDS synchronization algorithm brings even better sensitivity for Data and Clock signal input.
  Previous simple synchronization searching for the same PI, which is suitable especially for mcu-based devices, has been replaced by a synchronization continuously searching for the best sequence of offsets. The algorithm holds complete map of offsets calculated for each bit position received in last two seconds.
• Optimized size of the basic plugin windows.
  On the most common desktop with a resolution of 1366×768 there’s now enough space for all three windows after basic installation.
• Improved conversion from EBU ASCII to Windows ANSI coding.
  The conversion between extended EBU set and your Windows coding should work correctly for all language variants of the Windows.
• Support for direct remote monitoring of the new P132 RDS encoder.
• About 10 of other small improvements.

Probably the most important improvement in this version bears on sound card input. Many users have reported compatibility problems due to 11.025 or 22.050 kHz sample rate used by the application. Low sample rates have a sense due to native low pass filtering and low CPU usage. Unfortunately it has been found that these sample rates are not accurate on some sound cards, moreover some sound cards do not allow these sample rates at all. For this reason there’s a new option setting standard 44.100 kHz sample rate, downsampling is made inside the application.

Dear RDS Spy users, thank you for choosing this application. Now is the time to think about removing zero from the beginning of the version denomination and release the version 1.00. Before doing this I welcome any comments, reports and suggestions that may help to create stable and easy-to-use application which will be a good base for future enhancements.

RDS Spy now supports rewind when playing a file.
Moreover about twenty of user requests have been implemented.

This version has been made especially for improving reliability and user experience.

• Simple install on any Windows system using a few clicks of mouse
• Status window helps to identify potential problems like broken wire in the connection
• Sound card source module now automatically detects and corrects improper wiring of the Clock and Data signals
• A few small improvements made