Fake, Clone or Genuine? That seems to be the question people ask when looking at SDR devices on online market places.
So the question is what does each of these terms terms mean?
Fake: an item passing itself off as another by using its name etc when in fact it is a completely different device.
Clone: an item that is exactly the same as another in all respects.
Genuine: An item produced and developed by the originator.
How does this apply in the SDR world?
Well lets take a popular device The SDRPlay RSP1.
This next image shows a device that uses the same Mirics chipset as the RSP1
Now nowhere on this device is any mention of SDRPlay or RSP1, so what is it, is it a Fake?
Well no it isn't a Fake because it isn't pretending to be something it isn't.
Is it a Clone? Well no because quite evidently the device isn't identical to the RSP1.
So is it Genuine? Yes it is a genuine five port SDR device. No it isn't a RSP1, but it doesn't imply it is either. In fact these new devices are superior to the RSP1, containing many improvements over the original.
A lot of people say these devices steal the intellectual property of SDRPlay because many people use SDRPlay's software to run them, but you don't have to. There are free open source alternatives available.
