AFE822x arrives with everything you would expect. Ordering and shipping is fast. You will be using the radio in no time! 

When I decided to purchase the Afedri AFE822x, I contacted Alex by e-mail. We discussed what I wanted and he made sure to get the order right. I used PayPal to make the purchase, and paid a bit extra for the EMS mail shipping and insurance. Alex shipped the radio within three days, and it arrived at my house a week later.

Most of my long distances purchases arrive from China or Hong Kong. This time, Israel, which was something different. Also new was the use of EMS or Express Mail Service, a cooperative venture between international post offices. My first experience with EMS was just fine.

When your AFE822x arrives, you will find a large envelope with a well-packed box inside. Lots of bubble wrap. The box contains the radio, CD, start-up instruction sheet, USB cable and a coaxial power plug of the right size. All good.

The connections and purposes of the LED displays are explained well in the manual. About the only thing missing was labeling the two BNC connectors. In the picture above, Radio 1 connection is on the left side.

On the start-up instruction sheet was information about the default IP address and how to change it, a warning about using correct external power (7.5 to 10 VDC) and a point to the web site for more information and updates.

Afedri AFE822x Arrives with a Full CD

Afedri’s CD is full of documentation and software. Start by reading the documentation, especially the manual for the radio and the SDR Control Box. The control box runs stand-alone or as a plug-in with certain SDR programs. The control box connects to the receiver by USB and is used to configure the radio.

On the software side, AFE822x arrives with customized versions of CuteSDR and HDSDR software radio programs.

Just copy the CD contents into a folder on your PC. All in all, more than enough software and documentation to get started using the radio. Which is what I will do next.

A few words about USB power for the AFE822x. Make sure you use 2 USB cables to power the radio. It draws around 580 ma. and a single USB cable is not enough. Alex provides a Y-adapter cable. I had a brain freeze and initially powered the radio with only one USB cable. This caused some power up problems and Windows was not able to properly load the drivers for the radio.