Well, I was more talking about a general device to assist in reverse engineering various RF protocols (and that was before I found the price for this device :) ). Now knowing the price, it puts it up with the YardStick One, which is probably out of my price range (I'm cheap). The CC110L + ESP8266 setup that I'm working with currently cost me about $12 shipped, combined (eBay as well).
The selling point on using the CC11xx vs. generic rtlsdr is the scanning speed. The particular protocol that my electric and water meters speak is spread spectrum with 400kHz channel spacing and 25 channels. I'm able to park my rtlsdr on a frequency and get about 1/4 of the packets (luckily there is no change in channel during packets). I've tried scanning, but the dongles I have just aren't quick enough. The meters themselves actually use the TI chips, so I know they're up to snuff.
The selling point on using the CC11xx vs. generic rtlsdr is the scanning speed. The particular protocol that my electric and water meters speak is spread spectrum with 400kHz channel spacing and 25 channels. I'm able to park my rtlsdr on a frequency and get about 1/4 of the packets (luckily there is no change in channel during packets). I've tried scanning, but the dongles I have just aren't quick enough. The meters themselves actually use the TI chips, so I know they're up to snuff.