SiLab digital radio for low price.

[MasterT]

Have noticed abnormal increase in price for digital radio IC recently, Si47XX and Si48XX series in particular. The only one I can find in $2 range is Si4825.  It doesn't have an I2C com link and no  RSSI, have to think what I could measure with this chip over audio output. -);
https://www.digikey.com/products/en/rf-if-and-rfid/rf-receivers/870?k=si4825

[Yansi]

Si4361 for mindbogling prices at aliexpress. It seems the chips works pretty fine.  Currently designing a custom application with it (dual CAN datalogger / telemetry).

However the Silabs is one hell of a nasty mess regarding documentation of these chips. They seem to think that everyone just needs a single specific configuration for a radio, generated by a PC tool, and then the binary puked into the chip byte by byte. What a bullshit!  I have found zero to none documentation as how to make your own initialization of the radio. When we wanted just a simple RF CW tone for testing purposes, we have to reverse engineer the binary crap produced by "the tool" (I cant remember the name), as the tool sets hundred of registers for a stupid simple task,  where just only like only a few of them really need to be set.

They also have some kind of library available for that Si4461, but I hate it too for some reasons, so currently we are writing a specific our own, that will fit our requirements of being versatile for high end applications, no expenses spared. 

There is also a metric shitton of other "makers libraries" but stay away of those. These are mostly single purposed, inefficient low throughput ones, usually for some kind a toy kit like arduino.

To sum up my experience with Silabs digital radio transceivers so far: They are very capable nice chips wit a LOT of features built in. However the documentation sucks big time, if ones requirements aren't fulfilled by a pregenerated binary crap.

//EDIT: BTW, your link to digikey links an analog audio tuner, so why the "digital" in the title? I do not quite get your intentions here.

[MasterT]

From my point of view,  Si4825  is a digital radio ( PLL, IQ, ADC->FIR->DAC ) for receiving analog AM/SW/FM modulation. Superheterodynes are pure analog, or it's changed?

I had played in the past with Si4432 modules from ali, transceivers with full coverage 240-960 MHz.  They are nice as CW sources, adjustable power in 3dB steps, and not so difficult to interface with arduino and such. I was thinking to combine via mixer two tones, in order to get 0-240 MHz sine source, some kind of home lab SG, but adjustment freq. steps is slightly big for universal SG- 160 Hz or so. 

[Yansi]

I have overlooked, as the chip you have posted is "analog tuning" hence I though of it being some junk like TDA7000. My fault there.

I was specifically talking about Silabs digital data transceiver radios.

Well, a software defined radio is almost always superheterodyne, even if processed using software.  Typically, the first mixer is implemented standard analog fashion due to various reasons and then the IF is processed digitally and typically there may be a second down conversion in software.