SDR Radio - Headaches

I like the idea of  SDR radio.  I even like what it delivers - provided it does actually work.

I have a very simple RTL SDR box that is widely available on the internet for a reasonable price.

Using SDR#, this dongle was a bit of a headache to install, but it did eventually come home and it was pretty sensitive, to be fair.

After a few weeks, the software simply won't work any more.  Nobody really seems to have a coherent solution, and none I've tried have worked.

I then came across SDR-Radio, which looks very swish.  After downloading a fairly big 89MB, given that I have a monthly 15GB allowance (living in the countryside is not for those addicted to the internet!), it reported a driver file missing.

To try and resolve this, off I went to the Microsoft website to download the necessary Visual Studio and C++ updates.  After a few minutes, it was clear the updates would be very big - probably several hundred MB. 

At this point, I had it reinforced in me that the reason why I like 'rice box' radios is that you just switch them on, and they work.  If they break, it's usually pretty simple to repair.  You can update the firmware over the internet, if you like, but it's often not critical.

Some, of course, like playing with computers all day.  I don't, and I certainly don't like the sheer complexity of trying to resolve what might be wrong, only to find the same damned error message at the end of it all!

So, whilst I appreciate the benefits of SDR, the disbenefit is being wedded to an external computer and all the software updates.  Despite all the patronising looks from IT people, the fact is that computers remain tools that far too often fail to do what they should in a sensible and stable way.  

A rice box for me, every time!

UPDATE: I like it when someone else has produced flawless software that proves me wrong on the possibilities of SDR.  I eventually came across Cubic SDR, which has none of the above problems.  What's more, it provides much better signals than SDR# was giving.  For example, an RAF base about 7 miles away was barely audible on SDR#, whilst the audio and signal strength are full strength through Cubic SDR.