RX888 MkII has arrived

[David Doler Jr]

I am pleased to say that the RX888 MkII has arrived to my QTH in Philadelphia from opensourcesdrlab.com in China. 

The order was placed on 2/13/26 and arrived today 2/28/26. Routing was SF Express > GOFO exEpress > FedEX local. Tracking was via 17Track. 15 days from order placed to device received. The RX888 price was $150.02. Shipping was $30.00. 

I will schedule time this week to test the device with my newly configured Ubuntu Server-WSPRDaemon instance. But I am confident/hopeful that is in proper working order, and if so, has given me confidence to purchase from this vendor again.

Dave K3DFD

[Victoria Hill]

Kia ora Dave,

How did you go with that RX88 MkII? I'm looking for retailer that ships to NZ, so keen to hear.

Vic

[Alan Reeves]

David, Victoria.

Fairly recently I bought another RX888, this time from OpensourceSDR as I'd seen the seller recommended.

It did come in a very nice box.

But the actual RX888 was nothing special.

It was the v2 with the HF biasT jumper facility.

But the heat pad underneath was very small and not fitted properly, the exposed copper was not fully covered.

I've been fitting fans and larger heat pads, Have a look at KA7OEI's pages especially https://ka7oei.blogspot.com/2023/08/improving-thermal-management-of-rx-888.html

I have several RX888s, have always gone for the cheapest with good feedback. I do not know but I suspect they all come from the same source. 

73 Alan G4ZFQ

[David G. McGaw]

We do have a retro-fit kit that is recommended at TAPR:  https://tapr.org/product/rx888-clock-kit-and-thermal-pad/

You may not need the external clock connection, but the thermal pad will improve the reliability of the RX888.

73,

David N1HAC

On 6/23/26 10:41 AM, Alan Reeves wrote:

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[Victoria Hill]

Thanks David and Alan.

Unsure if you're the right people to answer this question but what specs/features mean that this is the recommended SDR? Airspy has been recommended to me (for this part of the world) but I'm hoping to make sure that wherever I throw my money
hopefully it gets the job done.

Vic

[David Doler Jr]

Alan, fortunately the unit I received is working well. There is a TAPR kit you should get that has a full sized thermal pad along with the GPS DO connector.

I have a 40mm fan on the heatsink and the temp is quite acceptable 

Dave

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[Robert Hipple]

Hi All,

I thought I would add to this thread. I was originally going to buy an RX888 MKII from Elekitsorparts, but they were out of stock. I came across opensdrlabs and when I did some searching for recommendations, I found this thread. So I will document my experience here as well. I just placed my order on 8/18/2026 and we will see how it goes.

Thanks,

Robert KE8UQV

[David Doler Jr]

Robert, let me know when it arrives. Prior to building my PSWS, I tested the 888 using SDR Console. It works quite well 

Dave K3DFD 

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[Robert Hipple]

I will do that, Dave.

On the evening of 8/18/2026, just received notification that the order has "shipped", which could mean anything.

Robert KE8UQV

[Victoria Hill]

If it's helpful, I had one arrive from opensdr about 3 weeks ago. It took ~10 days to arrive from the 'shipped' email (to New Zealand).

Vic

[Robert Hipple]

The RX-888 from OpenSourceSDRLab arrived today 8/29/2026 which tracks with what Victoria predicted. The contents of the box was a USB 3.0 cable and the RX-888 itself. Zero documentation so it looks like it is time to reinvent some wheels. I will record my progress in case future travelers pass this way.

Robert KE8UQV

[Chuck Smyder]

It’s probably already known but I’m tossing it out there in case it’s not. Ubersdr is based around the RX-888. If you aren’t aware it’s worth checking out. 

https://ubersdr.org

Chuck de KK4HP 

[Robert Hipple]

Thanks, Chuck KK4HP! I will try that now and report back the results.

Robert KE8UQV

[David Doler Jr]

That's good news. Happy that OpenSourceSDRLabs is proving reliable