AirSpy Training
Airspy designs and sells high-performance software-defined radio (SDR) receivers and companion SDR# software, serving individual radio hobbyists, amateur operators, ADS-B trackers, and telecommunications professionals globally through a network of authorized distributors and its Itead Studio manufacturing partnership.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersAtlanta, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What AirSpy Training does
Airspy is a privately held software-defined radio (SDR) hardware and software company founded in February 2013 by Youssef Touil and Benjamin Vernoux. The company designs and sells a portfolio of SDR receivers — the Airspy R2 (24–1750 MHz), Airspy Mini (VHF/UHF dongle), Airspy HF+ Dual Port and HF+ Discovery (HF/VHF specialists with WRTH award-winning performance), plus the SpyVerter R2 HF upconverter and YouLoop passive loop antenna — built on proprietary RF front-end and DSP IP including a novel high-speed IQ generation algorithm, switched-mode double balanced mixer architecture, and oversampling 12-bit ADC techniques achieving up to 16-bit effective resolution. Hardware is tightly integrated with Airspy's flagship SDR# (SDRSharp) software, SPY Server for network/remote SDR operation, and an ADS-B decoder for aircraft tracking; the ecosystem also spans more than 15 third-party integrations (GNU Radio, SDR++, GQRX, HDSDR, Linrad, URH, FlightAware PiAware, Virtual Radar Server, Plane Plotter) enabled via an Open API and open-source libraries.
The company manufactures through an exclusive partnership with Itead Studio (Shenzhen, China), which handles financing, production, distribution, and end-user support while Youssef Touil oversees technical direction. Airspy generates revenue exclusively from hardware product sales — direct sales of receivers and accessories — distributed globally through Itead (US and Shenzhen), Wimo (Europe from Germany), AOR Ltd. (Japan), RTL-SDR Blog (worldwide via Amazon Fulfilment), and a network of regional distributors across Spain, Netherlands, Scandinavia, UK, Czechia/Slovakia, and Ukraine. End customers range from individual radio hobbyists, amateur radio operators, and ADS-B tracking enthusiasts to telecommunications professionals and a small set of mission-critical monitoring deployments such as strategic mining sites.
Airspy has received industry recognition including the WRTH 2019 Best Value Award and WRTH 2020 Award from the World Radio TV Handbook, with the HF+ Discovery cited for "stratospheric" price-to-performance and approximately 116 dB blocking dynamic range at 10 MHz. Marketing is community-driven via a groups.io forum, YouTube demonstrations, multi-language SDR# Big Book documentation, and third-party reviews in publications such as Radio User, Radio Kurier, The Spectrum Monitor, and RSGB RadCom.
AirSpy Training firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- AirSpy Training
- Legal name
- Airspy
- Website
- https://airspy.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Airspy designs and sells high-performance software-defined radio (SDR) receivers and companion SDR# software, serving individual radio hobbyists, amateur operators, ADS-B trackers, and telecommunications professionals globally through a network of authorized distributors and its Itead Studio manufacturing partnership.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
AirSpy Training industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Software-Defined Radio (SDR) Receivers
- NAICS
- Radio Broadcasting Stations (51611)
- SIC
- Radio & Tv Broadcasting & Communications Equipment (3663), Search, Detection, Navagation, Guidance, Aeronautical Sys (3812)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Microwave & RF Signal Chain ICs (Mixers/Detectors/Attenuators) (HDAHAMAL)
Keywords
Where AirSpy Training is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Atlanta
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
AirSpy Training business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Hardware Product Sales: Direct sales of SDR hardware receivers and accessories including Airspy R2, Airspy Mini, Airspy HF+ Discovery, Airspy HF+ Dual Port, SpyVerter R2 upconverter, and YouLoop antenna. Products are sold through authorized distributors globally.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels4 records
AirSpy Training product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Airspy develops and sells high-performance software-defined radio (SDR) receivers and accessories that convert RF signals across VHF/UHF (Airspy R2 and Mini) and HF/VLF (Airspy HF+ Discovery and HF+ Dual Port) bands into digitized streams for software processing. Its companion software stack — SDR# (SDRSharp), SPY Server, and the ADS-B SPY decoder — extends hardware capability with optimized DSP, network operation, and aircraft tracking. The SpyVerter R2 upconverter and YouLoop passive magnetic loop antenna expand coverage and reception quality for hobbyists and professional monitoring applications.
Product overview
AirSpy develops a portfolio of high-performance software-defined radio (SDR) receivers and companion software. The hardware lineup centers on the Airspy R2 (24-1750 MHz), Airspy Mini (portable VHF/UHF variant), and the specialized HF+ series (HF+ Discovery and HF+ Dual Port) for high-frequency reception down to 500Hz. These can be extended to HF via the SpyVerter R2 upconverter accessory, while the YouLoop provides a passive magnetic loop antenna for noise-cancelling reception. On the software side, the flagship SDR# (SDRSharp) provides signal acquisition and demodulation, complemented by SPY Server for remote/network operation and ADS-B SPY for aircraft tracking. Third-party software integration is enabled via Open API and ExtIO plugins for HDSDR, SDR-Radio, GQRX, and other SDR applications.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Airspy HF+ Discovery Compact high-frequency SDR receiver covering 0.5 kHz to 500 MHz, designed for VLF, HF, VHF, and UHF reception, sold to radio professionals and HF monitoring enthusiasts.
- Airspy HF+ Dual Port High-performance dual-port HF SDR receiver delivering Best Value performance in the HF/VHF category with preselection and sophisticated software filtering, sold to professional and serious enthusiast users.
- Airspy R2 Wideband SDR scanner receiver covering 24-1750 MHz continuously with 10 MHz receive bandwidth and a 12-bit ADC, widely regarded as a benchmark for VHF/UHF SDR scanning among hobbyists and telecom professionals.
- Airspy Mini Portable VHF/UHF high-performance SDR scanner in a compact dongle format, leveraging the R2 architecture with an oversampling 12-bit ADC achieving up to 16-bit resolution for users needing a pocket-sized receiver.
- SpyVerter R2 HF Upconverter HF upconverter module that extends Airspy R2, Mini, and compatible HackRF One coverage down to virtually DC (1 kHz), using a switched-mode double balanced mixer, 35 dBm IIP3, and 0.5 PPM VCTCXO for world-class dynamic range.
- YouLoop Antenna Ultra-portable noise-cancelling passive magnetic loop antenna using a Möbius loop architecture with balanced electric shield, covering 10 kHz to 300 MHz with no tuning required, designed for HF/VHF reception.
- SDR# (SDRSharp) Software Flagship free SDR software by Youssef Touil providing signal acquisition, analysis, navigation, and demodulation tightly integrated with Airspy hardware and supported by an extensive third-party plugin ecosystem.
- SPY Server SDR server application that converts a Raspberry Pi, Odroid, or Windows/Linux PC into a network-connected SDR endpoint, allowing multiple SDR# clients to connect to the same Airspy device over LAN or Internet.
- ADS-B SPY Decoder High-performance ADS-B decoder that turns Airspy R0, R2, and Mini into autonomous ADS-B ground stations, supporting 12 MHz, 20 MHz, and 24 MHz MLAT for aircraft tracking applications.
Quantifiable outcome
- BDR of approximately 116dB at 10MHz measured by WRTH review
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use AirSpy Training
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
AirSpy Training technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration21 records
Feature9 records
AirSpy Training partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Itead StudiocoreItead Studio is the official manufacturing partner of Airspy. They handle financing, production, distribution, and user support while Youssef Touil oversees the technical side. Itead ships directly from their local stores in the US or from Shenzhen for other regions, offering the lowest available prices and direct support from the Airspy team.
- ST MicroelectronicscoreJoint development partner for Airspy HF+ series technology. ST Microelectronics collaborated with Youssef Touil to develop the ground-breaking HF receive technology used in Airspy HF+ and Discovery models.
- Fenu-Radio.chcoreFernando Duarte, owner of Fenu-Radio.ch, followed the Airspy HF+ Discovery development since the beginning and helped define the performance standard over multiple R&D iterations.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
AirSpy Training competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- XHDATA: Chinese maker of portable shortwave and SDR radios that overlaps with Airspy's HF/VHF portable listening audience at lower price points.
- Microtelecom (Perseus SDR): Italian maker of the Perseus SDR, a high-performance HF/VHF receiver that has historically been a price and performance benchmark in the same HF monitoring market where Airspy HF+ Discovery competes.
- SDRplay: UK-based manufacturer of RSP-series software-defined radio receivers (RSP1A, RSPdx, RSPduo) covering similar frequency ranges to Airspy R2/Mini. Directly competes in the same hobbyist and professional monitoring use cases with comparable ADC architectures and pricing.
- Great Scott Gadgets (HackRF): US-based open-source hardware company that designed the HackRF One, a half-duplex SDR covering 1 MHz to 6 GHz that competes head-to-head with Airspy R2/Mini for hobbyist and security researcher use cases. Airspy even uses HackRF as a test signal source in its production testing system.
- Elad: Italian manufacturer of the FDM-S2 and FDM-S3 SDR receivers for HF/VHF/UHF. Competes directly with Airspy HF+ series in the high-performance HF receiving category used by DXers and professional monitors.
- RTL-SDR Blog: Primary retail and content publisher for low-cost RTL-SDR dongles that compete at the entry level of the SDR receiver market. Acts as both a direct competitor (dongle alternatives) and a distribution channel for Airspy products via Amazon.
Broad incumbents
- Ettus Research (National Instruments USRP): Professional-grade USRP software-defined radio platform from National Instruments, used in research, wireless prototyping, and defense. Represents the higher end of the SDR market with which Airspy competes in certain monitoring and signal intelligence use cases.
- Tecsun: Large Chinese manufacturer of consumer shortwave, AM/FM, and increasingly SDR-capable radios. Represents the high-volume, low-cost incumbent in the broader radio receiver category that Airspy targets at the enthusiast premium tier.
- AOR: Japanese manufacturer of high-end communications receivers (AR-DV1, AR-5700D, AR-5001D) covering VHF/UHF/SHF bands. Already an Airspy distributor in Japan and a reference competitor in the traditional wide-band receiver market.
- FlexRadio Systems: US-based leader in high-end software-defined amateur radio transceivers (FLEX-6000 series) for the ham radio market. While focused on transceiver functionality rather than receive-only, it represents an incumbent alternative in the broader SDR communications category.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
AirSpy Training social profiles
Digital presenceAirSpy Training financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
AirSpy Training leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
AirSpy Training funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
AirSpy Training M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about AirSpy Training
What does AirSpy Training do?
Airspy develops and sells high-performance software-defined radio (SDR) receivers and accessories that convert RF signals across VHF/UHF (Airspy R2 and Mini) and HF/VLF (Airspy HF+ Discovery and HF+ Dual Port) bands into digitized streams for software processing. Its companion software stack — SDR# (SDRSharp), SPY Server, and the ADS-B SPY decoder — extends hardware capability with optimized DSP, network operation, and aircraft tracking. The SpyVerter R2 upconverter and YouLoop passive magnetic loop antenna expand coverage and reception quality for hobbyists and professional monitoring applications.
Is AirSpy Training a public or private company?
AirSpy Training is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was AirSpy Training founded?
AirSpy Training was founded in 2013. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is AirSpy Training based?
AirSpy Training is headquartered in Atlanta, United States, in the North America region.
How does AirSpy Training make money?
One revenue line is on record: hardware Product Sales.
Who are AirSpy Training's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are XHDATA, Microtelecom (Perseus SDR), SDRplay, Great Scott Gadgets (HackRF), Elad and RTL-SDR Blog. Broad incumbents are Ettus Research (National Instruments USRP), Tecsun, AOR and FlexRadio Systems.
Does AirSpy Training have an API?
No public API is recorded for AirSpy Training.
What industry is AirSpy Training in?
AirSpy Training's product category is Software-Defined Radio (SDR) Receivers. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAHAMAL, Microwave & RF Signal Chain ICs (Mixers/Detectors/Attenuators). Its NAICS code is 51611 and its SIC code is 3663.