Introduction
In many applications, where ac power is not available, equipment must be operated off battery/solar systems. In these case, knowing your power requirements are critical. Recently, small inline USB power meters have become available and they can give you an immediate answer to this question (Ref.1).
RTL-SDR – V1/2/3 Power Measurements
I did a test of the various versions of the RTL-SDR and the associated USB DC power draw. Table 1 summarizes these results.
RTL-SDR Configuration | USB Power 5VDC @___mA |
Version 1 (plastic)/mcx conn. | 324mA |
Version 2 (metal)/sma conn. | 319mA |
Version 2 + NanoUpConvrtr. | 392mA |
Version 3 (metal)/sma conn. | 187mA |
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References
#1. – “MakerHawk USB Power Meters”
https://www.makerhawk.com/
#2. – “RTL-SDR for AIS Shortcut”
https://jeremyclark.ca/wp/telecom/rtl-sdr-for-ais-shortcut/
#3. – “RTL-SDR for ShortwaveRadiogram”
https://jeremyclark.ca/wp/telecom/rtl-sdr-for-shortwave-radiogram/
#4. – “RTL-SDR Front End Scicos Simulation”
https://jeremyclark.ca/wp/telecom/rtl-sdr-front-end-scicos-simulation/
#5. “RTL-SDR Antennas & Connectors”,
https://jeremyclark.ca/wp/telecom/rtl-sdr-antennas-connectors/
#6. -“RTL-SDR for VHF Air & Marine Bands”,
https://jeremyclark.ca/wp/telecom/rtl-sdr-for-vhf-air-marine-bands/
#7. – “RTL-SDR for EPIRB”,
https://jeremyclark.ca/wp/telecom/rtl-sdr-for-epirb/
#8. – “RTL-SDR for LF Beacon”,
https://jeremyclark.ca/wp/telecom/rtl-sdr-for-lf-beacons/
#9. – “RTL-SDR for HF 0-30MHz”,
https://jeremyclark.ca/wp/telecom/rtl-sdr-for-hf-0-30mhz/
#10. – “RTL-SDR for Marine HF Weather Fax”,
https://jeremyclark.ca/wp/telecom/rtl-sdr-for-marine-hf-weather-fax/
#11. – “RTL-SDR for AIS”,
https://jeremyclark.ca/wp/nav/rtl-sdr-for-ais-2/