tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56332484944806299512024-03-14T10:58:23.377+01:00SA5BKE - ham radio blogA blog about Amateur Radio, Medium Wave DX-ing, Electronics and Technology in general by Eric, SA5BKE.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18292915581347370293noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633248494480629951.post-54474451751458239012012-03-23T06:27:00.000+01:002012-03-23T06:27:11.999+01:00CW keyerI have built a CW keyer. I can not copy CW very well but the main use for this one is for a beacon. I also added the 'paddles' to the circuit, but that is just for testing it out and not so practical to use. I searched around a bit to try to find a suitable software. I wanted it to be open source software and use an Atmel MCU. So I found <a href="http://lategahn.2log.de/index.php?yack-yet-another-cw-keyer">http://lategahn.2log.de/index.php?yack-yet-another-cw-keye</a>r . It is basically just a few components, Attiny45, voltage regulator and a piezo buzzer . Here is a video:<br />
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The user interface is via CW and I have not yet programmed it for beacon use. When I put it that service I can just move the chip over. We will see when that happens. So many interesting projects going on at the same time. This is a fun hobby!</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18292915581347370293noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633248494480629951.post-90888905792665947842012-03-15T23:43:00.000+01:002012-03-15T23:43:05.703+01:00Equipment Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguc4KWTUFEuvFKmypIq2Ut9Iy68pJL20oVjOOWZMUvmhvA2o6qmVhdROIEI-U_Z-qbTLdnW6R7TAtzVX1Fg9qa-Ryj68m4tBZqVIVN3ig6gxnhZYifpYAYxConnZio-Y4D-oecZfVkvvk/s1600/equipment_update_sa5bke_120315.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguc4KWTUFEuvFKmypIq2Ut9Iy68pJL20oVjOOWZMUvmhvA2o6qmVhdROIEI-U_Z-qbTLdnW6R7TAtzVX1Fg9qa-Ryj68m4tBZqVIVN3ig6gxnhZYifpYAYxConnZio-Y4D-oecZfVkvvk/s320/equipment_update_sa5bke_120315.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Just a small post about two recent purchases. First a 3 Ampere lab power supply and then an oscilloscope: Rigol DS1052E 50 MHz digital scope. And if you wonder, the black box between them are the QS1R SDR, 0-62 MHz receiver and spectrum analyzer. I starting to feel quite well equipped.. :-)</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18292915581347370293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633248494480629951.post-25547147436884152532012-03-01T19:34:00.000+01:002012-03-01T19:34:26.406+01:00Building Ham Radio Subway style<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I saw the above video by Tom AK2B where he shows what he calls subway style of building. I wanted to try it so I bought a drill bit that is supposed to be used for wood and modified it a bit so that when making the 'islands' the drill bit will not go through the PCB. Below is an image of the latest project, an audio amplifier where I tried this. The image is taken in the middle of the build process so you can see some unused pads.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiujoE8z8J-605Tu7oh3oBgratk2DtuFQ1939HfQA8dRZcGwrjdMA_8kCSpf1bQSi3v-GjhCP_LvQWxougSwGFhzx6jrMHIra3WPrc88sL_dtUAfJ-aOWs_VUpTQ62JcqFgPCjs4LmsB_8/s1600/sa5bke-subway-style-building.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiujoE8z8J-605Tu7oh3oBgratk2DtuFQ1939HfQA8dRZcGwrjdMA_8kCSpf1bQSi3v-GjhCP_LvQWxougSwGFhzx6jrMHIra3WPrc88sL_dtUAfJ-aOWs_VUpTQ62JcqFgPCjs4LmsB_8/s320/sa5bke-subway-style-building.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The result was very good and I will probably continue to use it. Here is a video with the audio amp is being tested:</div>
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BTW, the music is <a href="http://www.myspace.com/motorcitydrumensemble">Motor City Drum Ensemble</a> with Stuttgart Nights!</div>
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I just got this kit in the mail. It is a simple and quite handy PCB holder from Ken WA4MNT. Get more information and buy at <a href="http://qrpbuilder.com/">http://qrpbuilder.com/</a> .</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18292915581347370293noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633248494480629951.post-23602306944090643612011-12-02T16:14:00.001+01:002011-12-10T23:51:19.101+01:00Unfinished and ongoing projects 2011I haven´t posted in a while. I usually have posted when something is more or less done. So the conclusion of that would be that I got a few projects going now that I have not finished. So just to have something to post here on the blog I thought that I could describe a few of them. The main project right now seems to be the remote RX I have online and we are a group of people sharing it. That project deserves a separate post.<br />
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These are a few of the projects that I have started and not finished yet. I think I list them in priority order below.<br />
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<b>A step attenuator</b><br />
The first project is a step attenuator. I use 1206 resistors. I have measured the SWR through it (without any attenuation on) and see a rising SWR and at 30 MHz it is 1:13. Quite high? Any readers could give a comment on what could be wrong. Is it just the switches and the zigzag between them that changes the impedance?<br />
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I use a box that used to have Mackerel fillet in tomato sauce in it.. :-)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3549602/sa5bke-step-att-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="190" src="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3549602/sa5bke-step-att-01.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Step attenuator progress</td></tr>
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<b>HF Test set</b><br />
This is a kit that I bought a while ago. It is from the 4 State QRP Group. It will become Frequency Counter, Crystal Oscillator, Wideband Noise Generator, Audio Oscillator, 50 Ohm Dummy Load, RF Probe and Time Domain Reflectometer. I started to build and finished about up to 50% of it and then got diverted into other projects. A got a nice enclosure and a back lit LCD here to be used for the project.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.wa0itp.com/tscounter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://www.wa0itp.com/tscounter.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">NB6M HF Test Set (not built by me)</td></tr>
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<b>Watt meter</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3549602/sa5bke-watt-meter-lcd.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3549602/sa5bke-watt-meter-lcd.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AVR with LCD for the AD8307 Watt meter</td></tr>
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This project is also finished to about half. The AVR is soldered to the board and LCD is tested as seen in the picture. I was happy that the first time ever I soldered a TQFP32 was success!<br />
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I have also done the input part and measured it with the VNA. Next step is the AD8307 IC. I am following the guide here:<br />
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<a href="http://lategahn.2log.de/index.php?A-minimalistic-500MHz-Wattmeter">http://lategahn.2log.de/index.php?A-minimalistic-500MHz-Wattmeter</a><br />
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<b>10m CW beacon</b><br />
I got the PCB for the Genesis Radio Q5 transmitter some year ago. What I did not have was the final transistor but I received one of those last month. My idea is to build a beacon for the 10m band. I have built and tested the oscillator. The PA stage is built as can seen on the image, but not tested yet. To be built is the LPF and the beacon keyer. I think I will use an attiny45 together with the code from <a href="http://yack.sourceforge.net/">YACK</a><br />
I could probably run it on my balcony if I come up with an antenna. Might be a loop.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhenZVvgz2HHQboec5lkywZgQW6lEZGiOY5iSdACh4Rk0pb8E92nWQQ1doGTZGWt5JpEadwPa47dAW2m6h7zw5zhdvJcLgXs6WZ2krx1iW6Vr5YEukyfqlvJ-hHSThcqT-N1LmAaix5kqM/s1600/genesis-q5-10m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhenZVvgz2HHQboec5lkywZgQW6lEZGiOY5iSdACh4Rk0pb8E92nWQQ1doGTZGWt5JpEadwPa47dAW2m6h7zw5zhdvJcLgXs6WZ2krx1iW6Vr5YEukyfqlvJ-hHSThcqT-N1LmAaix5kqM/s320/genesis-q5-10m.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Genesis Radio Q5 CW transmitter</td></tr>
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<b>30m QRSS beacon</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">QRSS transmitter for 30m</td></tr>
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This projects started earlier this year. I bought a few ATTINY13 IC:s and programmed to IC, I thought. When testing the oscillator it was ok, but no keying from the attiny. I then thought I should get another programmer. I have it here, but I have not got back to the build. It will be later.... Together with this I also started to build a DCTL antenna after reading about it a <a href="http://draaggolf.blogspot.com/">http://draaggolf.blogspot.com/</a> . I also got some good advice from Joachim but have not finished it either......<br />
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<b>MKARS80</b><br />
I bought the kit quite a while ago and started the build. Then I thought it would be more fun to build simpler things and not necessarily kit. As the build instuctions did not include any testing along the way, everything just felt like a soldering practice. But I have to finish it. Might be good to have a goal set for summer 2012 so I can run it portable.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18292915581347370293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633248494480629951.post-24157903453635445642011-10-16T22:22:00.000+02:002011-10-17T08:35:44.210+02:00Softrock Ensemble II VHF<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I finally started to build on one of my Softrock kits that I got lying here. My wife and son was away one Friday night and I could start building and continue uninterrupted for a few hours. It went smooth, apart from a problem soldering the Si570 where I thought that all three pads on each side where to be soldered together. No contact from the AVR to the Si570 so I just had to use the wick to remove some solder. Two build sessions after that and I could listen to the local repeater! A big thanks of course to Tony <a href="http://kb9yig.com/">KB9YIG</a> for providing the kits and Robby <a href="http://www.wb5rvz.com/sdr/ensemble_rx_ii_vhf/">WB5RBZ</a> for excellent build instructions. I still have some tweaking to do as the image rejection is not 100% but for now I consider this project done. I will now start with a Softrock receiver specially aimed for the Broadcast AM band. I will later make the same kind of enclosure to both these receivers.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18292915581347370293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633248494480629951.post-51318401872341217692011-08-30T22:29:00.000+02:002011-08-30T22:29:14.336+02:0080m BPF<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM737Soek3v5qtO3ugcuv-zAJY-LQLaWmaN7p-9QhZ8zbV5YtfiykB7UXGOgPmZ2hpNZRGPga4Yf00xp7Ai_mfMrUbg_ZkaHfCuM_6-dTWm1oAjfI5iyP45HmWmUd6sGbNA05t7_IHkx0/s1600/80m-bpf.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM737Soek3v5qtO3ugcuv-zAJY-LQLaWmaN7p-9QhZ8zbV5YtfiykB7UXGOgPmZ2hpNZRGPga4Yf00xp7Ai_mfMrUbg_ZkaHfCuM_6-dTWm1oAjfI5iyP45HmWmUd6sGbNA05t7_IHkx0/s320/80m-bpf.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A band-pass filter for 80 meter band.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The simple direct conversion receiver I built a while ago works great when used daytime but on the evenings it will get overloaded by broadcasters. Maybe I can cure that with a better Band-pass filter. So I built one. I used the values that I found at <a href="http://www.kitsandparts.com/bpf2.php">W8DIZ</a> site, but with some variation to fit what I had in the junk box. As you can see it is built 'ugly' on a PCB. I am using SMA connectors as I was able to buy a large number that probably will last for many years to come.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tuning and measuring the band pass filter with the MiniVNA Pro</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span">Now using the miniVNA pro and the VNA/J software a can tune and align the filter as I want to have it. The nice thing is that you run the VNA continuously so I see right away on the screen how to filter looks like. This was the end result: </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPHURQG-x_eEG_St9JPnONQNtV12duCeSAE5_MJwAtmDe-JlriK6GLYd2wTA91f9h-81x1CWwLe9TpBc55GciALBtLQOIAtlVVVWHcjKSmJ15fiSFRfc_8Qyy7jjy_C8HmedCyA_8vGqA/s1600/80m-bpf-mini-vna-pro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPHURQG-x_eEG_St9JPnONQNtV12duCeSAE5_MJwAtmDe-JlriK6GLYd2wTA91f9h-81x1CWwLe9TpBc55GciALBtLQOIAtlVVVWHcjKSmJ15fiSFRfc_8Qyy7jjy_C8HmedCyA_8vGqA/s320/80m-bpf-mini-vna-pro.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">VNA/J showing the 80 m BPF curve</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18292915581347370293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633248494480629951.post-16671736739637522542011-08-30T21:51:00.001+02:002011-08-30T23:38:43.326+02:00Summer 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
A long time since last entry in this blog. A summer with vacation and nice weather is now behind us. Some radio activity also and other news to mention.<br />
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<i>Portable:</i> I have been portable a few times during the summer. I have been participating in the <a href="http://smff.sk6aw.net/">Swedish Flora and Fauna</a> activity. If you activate a Nature Reserve you might get a pile up on you which I now have tried for the first time. I also realized this summer that this contest and dx chasing part of this hobby is not a thing that I find important. It is the technical things and building stuff that is fun! But being portable has of course been a good time to try new antennas. I have built a few and I hope to write about them in later blog posts.<br />
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<i>Oscilloscope</i>: Some months ago I bought my first oscilloscope. It is a portable called <a href="http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/dso-quad-4-channel-digital-storage-oscilloscope-p-736.html">DSO Quad.</a> I have not used it enough so I can give a review, but according to the support forum it does not deliver according to the specification. Hopefully software patches can solve the problems...<br />
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<i>Mini VNA Pro: </i>I got a really nice birthday present some months ago, the <a href="http://www.miniradiosolutions.com/miniVNA_PRO.php">Mini VNA Pro</a>. An instrument that can measure on antennas, filters etc. The good thing with this one compared to other offerings is that I can use the VNA/J software in Linux.<br />
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<i>Others: </i>I have a few projects running now, like some more SDRs and maybe some rx / trx, but still not enough to tell anything about. I also play around with the Atmel AVR microprocessors, that is fun!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18292915581347370293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633248494480629951.post-46192822213362580432011-04-03T21:36:00.003+02:002011-07-15T22:08:18.343+02:00Simple direct conversion receiver - MRX-80<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have built my first analog receiver! This is maybe one of the simplest ones you can build ( a crystal radio might be simpler depending on how you count). The direct conversion receivers basically mixes the incoming signal with the local oscillator and the result is within frequency for our ears. The classic basic combo of ICs, NE602 and LM386 are used. The circuit is from the book "More QRP Power" from ARRL and is called the MRX-80. As you might guess it is for 80 m. </div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIwyJclGm_tTucgqOCJZbCLPr8pQSo5UyUogRooYm3GK0G14MHBXBsaEaPHQqPTcP9LuTJhYbtGqsSeZSqMARM9mTwoKD6MqwNUHqMN3Dh1PMaeuTEPzf7z2l-I0s5GoAq_ijD2U3FQso/s1600/simple-direct-conversion-receiver-mrx-80-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIwyJclGm_tTucgqOCJZbCLPr8pQSo5UyUogRooYm3GK0G14MHBXBsaEaPHQqPTcP9LuTJhYbtGqsSeZSqMARM9mTwoKD6MqwNUHqMN3Dh1PMaeuTEPzf7z2l-I0s5GoAq_ijD2U3FQso/s320/simple-direct-conversion-receiver-mrx-80-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh3d93CfjiTywxR0SXkWJvoVfKvcmmNuoM8u-3fcVHvoVIKveQy_R96yd3YjBxhwEmhOCiPydTkO5CDeqgsEjGU96ygfmuRoaWjIMwXxcxlnX8_VZy0XUq66SV29jamvHkSsZhcvK8q70/s1600/simple-direct-conversion-receiver-mrx-80-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh3d93CfjiTywxR0SXkWJvoVfKvcmmNuoM8u-3fcVHvoVIKveQy_R96yd3YjBxhwEmhOCiPydTkO5CDeqgsEjGU96ygfmuRoaWjIMwXxcxlnX8_VZy0XUq66SV29jamvHkSsZhcvK8q70/s320/simple-direct-conversion-receiver-mrx-80-2.jpg" width="320" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The build is done inside an old box used for an Ethernet network hub. The BNC connection hole was already there but I had to to use a side of PCB material so I could mount the pots for gain and tuning. Yes, talking about the tuning, it is somewhat limited. I can change crystals and a diode is used as a varactor so a small swing of frequency is allowed, but I have not yet measured how big this is, maybe 1 kHz or so. The build is a mostly with leaded parts built ugly/Manhattan but all resistors are tiny 0805 smd, just because I wanted to try and see if it works. Maybe it does or probably not completely. The build is not the prettiest, but if you see any bad choices of building other than aesthetic, please comment or if you have any other comments.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When I turned it on, the first thing I did was to measure the voltage out from the regulator. OK! I then turned my small Degen 1103 radio on and listened for the local oscillator. It was loud and clear so OK on that too! Then I connected my <a href="http://sa5bke.soederman.com/2010/11/simple-signal-generator.html">signal generator</a>, but nothing heard, apart from noise. I started tapping on some connection and I heard them. So I guess the audio amp was working too. Hmm, I started double checking other connections and soon found that I had connected earth connections between antenna and gain pot but not to the real earth on board. Then my test signal could be heard. When put in S9 mode it was OK, but not in S1. I wonder about what to expect from this simple thing. The real test will of course be when I try it with a decent antenna and see if I can hear any real on the air signals. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I might have heard some today, or maybe not, because I never checked if they were present on another receiver. Next weekend I will go out to a 'quiet' place and listen. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Below is a audio recording. Some signal can be heard, but QRM level is high so much noise. It does not sound as what I am used to what a radio should sound like. Either this is what a direct conversion receiver sounds like or I have some construction errors. I will bet on the last one. </div><br />
<embed flashvars="audioUrl=http://sites.google.com/site/sa5bke/files/mrx80.mp3" height="27" quality="best" src="http://www.google.com/reader/ui/3523697345-audio-player.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400"></embed><br />
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<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The sum up, a good build I think. Fun to do and easy. First small steps and more experience in radio homebrewing!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Update 2011-07-15:</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The receiver has worked fine and the signal on the recording is <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">SL0FRO by the way SM5-1252 Ullmar told me. </span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18292915581347370293noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633248494480629951.post-59820144290377855342011-04-03T08:59:00.000+02:002011-04-03T08:59:31.904+02:00Softrock Linux softwareI have been using my little Softrock lite II SDR receiver on 30 m now for a while together with the SDR-Widget. I can only say that this little setup works great! Initially I tested it with Windows software (see <a href="http://sa5bke.soederman.com/2011/02/softrock-lite-ii-receiver-for-30-m.html">previous post</a>) but I want be in the Linux world. There are different software available to use with the Softrock receiver and the SDR-Widget. So far I have tried two, <a href="http://james.ahlstrom.name/quisk/">Quisk</a> and <a href="http://openhpsdr.org/wiki/index.php?title=Ghpsdr3">GHPSDR3</a>. As the SDR-Widget is cable of running in different setups (USB Audio version 1/2 and HPSDR) it was a great step forward when a unified firmware was released so that I can flip between them with just a 'reboot' of the SDR-Widget, compared to doing a real reflashing of firmware.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjREBaOqTNCpy9ZdzULkLW6QxQU43weSJJqZ5pT6q0qrS6KI-VbrFIPE4WCiRgCvu7N0Q5DN8p8o0FbenSeHMjciBBv1nJfp1yjtY9YmHmNOZxfeWZyv2xJ7uVD-ZEoJzi97OYFB4INns/s1600/softrock-linux-1-sdr-widget.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjREBaOqTNCpy9ZdzULkLW6QxQU43weSJJqZ5pT6q0qrS6KI-VbrFIPE4WCiRgCvu7N0Q5DN8p8o0FbenSeHMjciBBv1nJfp1yjtY9YmHmNOZxfeWZyv2xJ7uVD-ZEoJzi97OYFB4INns/s320/softrock-linux-1-sdr-widget.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SDR-Widget control software</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Below is a screenshot of Quisk with 192 kHz sample rate.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKkRupOvFF8c7loyTxRxWihbf08QgL5haX94D-F37ioswFeeut5X8TOcYE2OfO70pWW0miF57DZuQugg3JqgU0uagpajJ-5-hxJm1hxW4UN7U78XE9srvzpI4I5nkqkNQrCgWmJmH3-U8/s1600/softrock-linux-2-quisk.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKkRupOvFF8c7loyTxRxWihbf08QgL5haX94D-F37ioswFeeut5X8TOcYE2OfO70pWW0miF57DZuQugg3JqgU0uagpajJ-5-hxJm1hxW4UN7U78XE9srvzpI4I5nkqkNQrCgWmJmH3-U8/s320/softrock-linux-2-quisk.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quisk</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I have also tried the HPSDR protocol and the gHPSDR3 suite of software. The first screenshot is QtRadio, which I think is the most recent software in this still developing suite of software. The great thing with this is that is built for network use. A software called dspserver is running on one computer and the GUI on another (but they could of course be on the same box). Over the network the audio and screen updates is sent. I have also let others try the minimal GUI called jmonitor over the Internet! I will try these software a lot more in the future.<br />
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In this case I was using just a wire inside my apartment so a lot of QRM but there are a few CW signals that I am able to listen to.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ_OXHELhSO1RC0G9Xpy2r3hbcX36pQHqsh2yXiWf8vpX8W96sAYRxC6cj20KrjXn20Fw2gBjWZd8hkgbwlSjr6K7Q5XjYXHVQK9RqbK9owWzJV6iV5r6Dz6EPZMvLMf9gYqc8ufI0Iko/s1600/softrock-linux-6-qtradio.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ_OXHELhSO1RC0G9Xpy2r3hbcX36pQHqsh2yXiWf8vpX8W96sAYRxC6cj20KrjXn20Fw2gBjWZd8hkgbwlSjr6K7Q5XjYXHVQK9RqbK9owWzJV6iV5r6Dz6EPZMvLMf9gYqc8ufI0Iko/s320/softrock-linux-6-qtradio.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">QTRADIO</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Ghpsdr is another software:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTsEI1y76pmVOg61ld510rCGbIZT7xrNuF1a9LqGzQPKUckhliRlHZ93VkJUpufOSiLctQPdpJ5DiqxrbOVdCcyqkMb5xxlV5A_aLAu0doDg8bnYfalYJs8VznJNpLcql-4RQUz10UZDU/s1600/softrock-linux-3-ghpsdr.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTsEI1y76pmVOg61ld510rCGbIZT7xrNuF1a9LqGzQPKUckhliRlHZ93VkJUpufOSiLctQPdpJ5DiqxrbOVdCcyqkMb5xxlV5A_aLAu0doDg8bnYfalYJs8VznJNpLcql-4RQUz10UZDU/s320/softrock-linux-3-ghpsdr.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GHPSDR3</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Finally some pictures of the Softrock in a box (Ikea as usual):<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwaCIn0aR8KqH81LVEzsvTkk3u1rr8ToUJ2bfXTfaHy2ItpIN9IthA9Ri9tYclwYgwpKXAinSgLneeY3ggAnFCaWlkX1O6_n0ZUBNR0hiaY32ORmW-33-NsDekPRIgBcfAXlOWk3Wx2ak/s1600/softrock-linux-4-liteii-boxed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwaCIn0aR8KqH81LVEzsvTkk3u1rr8ToUJ2bfXTfaHy2ItpIN9IthA9Ri9tYclwYgwpKXAinSgLneeY3ggAnFCaWlkX1O6_n0ZUBNR0hiaY32ORmW-33-NsDekPRIgBcfAXlOWk3Wx2ak/s320/softrock-linux-4-liteii-boxed.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
This is when I tried it at the <a href="http://sk5bn.se/">club station</a>:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGrsgWyRiqS9zblLUZ2fcvbyiBP5N2ebTOpMPWCefom9t2AGLkpxJ-Mo6hlgtv1N9FyAF25Hawzq3dca0QSXPTocPVtL8l4FnUanWR8btJIxX8vz-nrOig0OVE3Y7v3CIQubR8L_BTYEw/s1600/softrock-linux-5-liteii-testing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGrsgWyRiqS9zblLUZ2fcvbyiBP5N2ebTOpMPWCefom9t2AGLkpxJ-Mo6hlgtv1N9FyAF25Hawzq3dca0QSXPTocPVtL8l4FnUanWR8btJIxX8vz-nrOig0OVE3Y7v3CIQubR8L_BTYEw/s320/softrock-linux-5-liteii-testing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18292915581347370293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633248494480629951.post-29752088162981396472011-02-21T23:14:00.003+01:002011-02-23T07:37:28.279+01:00Softrock Lite II receiver for 30 m<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Finally. I´ve had this <a href="http://www.kb9yig.com/">SDR kit</a> in my drawer for over 1 year, but now it´s built and seems to be working fine.<br />
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Below a few pictures. As it´s late and my antennas is nothing to talk about here in the apartment, 30 meter is dead. So I´m using the signal generator that I described earlier. I of course want to use Linux but as Rocky seems to be the software suggested to start with I wanted to lower the numbers of 'unknowns' and get it running. And it did! The mirror images was easily suppressed. Below is a picture of WRPlus that I tried after Rocky:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsi7H2UGLJeuEJBZ_A371xL3DdgEe6LhiC91BsW1PlAhCI4yczmN1v8QI8TCFa8KAIMxuW5M46KNNVnHdiW7PN9bZC8n9YmSpJ1a-AvKUu3Csyp6XODqMKwTY1KOC9yP38JqeiuFOgkM4/s1600/lite-ii-30-wrplus.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsi7H2UGLJeuEJBZ_A371xL3DdgEe6LhiC91BsW1PlAhCI4yczmN1v8QI8TCFa8KAIMxuW5M46KNNVnHdiW7PN9bZC8n9YmSpJ1a-AvKUu3Csyp6XODqMKwTY1KOC9yP38JqeiuFOgkM4/s320/lite-ii-30-wrplus.gif" width="320" /></a></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here are two pictures of the temporary test setup...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhwBIQ2v_x0oi9sJjpo7xkxgkj1ZeRvgGYrvqQrkNFqTfUFoX9GS3DxYdlPy5haYbL1UJWCQczxSIvvpGsfoAwQ6vJ6-EybL5kh2SoqQ9Es5e3CYUoS_IIXvQ5Sbv1Ke6sZn2dZzB4Bkc/s1600/liteii-30-test1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhwBIQ2v_x0oi9sJjpo7xkxgkj1ZeRvgGYrvqQrkNFqTfUFoX9GS3DxYdlPy5haYbL1UJWCQczxSIvvpGsfoAwQ6vJ6-EybL5kh2SoqQ9Es5e3CYUoS_IIXvQ5Sbv1Ke6sZn2dZzB4Bkc/s320/liteii-30-test1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9xJiSGqY0Bzb2vgVGtLeQDkbunjBKitFE76V-K6vOEwDXDY-02ClwIxPdKGm34FxeIa_kASdudK5sI15yrtQTEFRTpTCFqsMymCIoWSJMPjK8XUEoyG6J342YFkDy0sGoLYM_2oHxZb8/s1600/liteii-30-test2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9xJiSGqY0Bzb2vgVGtLeQDkbunjBKitFE76V-K6vOEwDXDY-02ClwIxPdKGm34FxeIa_kASdudK5sI15yrtQTEFRTpTCFqsMymCIoWSJMPjK8XUEoyG6J342YFkDy0sGoLYM_2oHxZb8/s320/liteii-30-test2.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdRK8-tGHG5U77wLW9dPYca89LbBIhrbHkPkPasPiOZUoQ58w62JzFD_45I-TSeBYffkUbVXpTCjvxozn1WMB5AtiH8yY7J6pPzHPryi3lNOJeCjyrNYFPOGlzu_xVd15rkG1zRO6z_CQ/s1600/liteii-30-sdr-widget.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdRK8-tGHG5U77wLW9dPYca89LbBIhrbHkPkPasPiOZUoQ58w62JzFD_45I-TSeBYffkUbVXpTCjvxozn1WMB5AtiH8yY7J6pPzHPryi3lNOJeCjyrNYFPOGlzu_xVd15rkG1zRO6z_CQ/s320/liteii-30-sdr-widget.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9xJiSGqY0Bzb2vgVGtLeQDkbunjBKitFE76V-K6vOEwDXDY-02ClwIxPdKGm34FxeIa_kASdudK5sI15yrtQTEFRTpTCFqsMymCIoWSJMPjK8XUEoyG6J342YFkDy0sGoLYM_2oHxZb8/s1600/liteii-30-test2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>The <a href="http://sa5bke.soederman.com/search/label/sdr-widget">SDR-Widget</a> is now housed in a box, temporarily. I have not flashed the firmware yet to allow 192 kHz usage. Will do that later, when I will try to get it running in Linux.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And to end with, some close up pictures on the board. The coax connection isn´t the prettiest, but it seems to work while testing. I will have do redo that when I put in a permanent box.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiluDYZk_2l9dIQbtA_sPZkoPUm-tn4FQveuVrkl7wG5uw-TBnxnxJzes0Ih0cBCXx9b6nrxxAxhgMJNAHwj9PjwpKQ9n8hco4dQa9Xkggo0x7L3lYtF-MAshkdKAH_y1SoP-cbMg3Ajoo/s1600/lite-ii-30-top.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiluDYZk_2l9dIQbtA_sPZkoPUm-tn4FQveuVrkl7wG5uw-TBnxnxJzes0Ih0cBCXx9b6nrxxAxhgMJNAHwj9PjwpKQ9n8hco4dQa9Xkggo0x7L3lYtF-MAshkdKAH_y1SoP-cbMg3Ajoo/s320/lite-ii-30-top.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJD_gZmBlF4GCmNm8LfBfCnF0RqWvRb_gCm_2lvfZRjP3_YAKlzUU7PwCDr5pbZbjZbyEP9Qu3FXy348OulR8VhwGNvlsix2FWfZKHrSRroI2ZeYdXKdYp918IunYmp4Q3f5WuDk7JJFw/s1600/lite-ii-30-bottom.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJD_gZmBlF4GCmNm8LfBfCnF0RqWvRb_gCm_2lvfZRjP3_YAKlzUU7PwCDr5pbZbjZbyEP9Qu3FXy348OulR8VhwGNvlsix2FWfZKHrSRroI2ZeYdXKdYp918IunYmp4Q3f5WuDk7JJFw/s320/lite-ii-30-bottom.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">My SMD soldering skills has been improved and now I feel confident to go ahead with other bigger project. </div><div><br />
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18292915581347370293noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633248494480629951.post-55392917346350560702011-01-31T14:49:00.001+01:002011-02-21T23:10:31.810+01:00SDR-Widget arrivedThe <a href="http://sa5bke.soederman.com/2010/10/sdr-widget.html">SDR-Widget</a> that I wrote about some months ago arrived today. I just unpacked and here is a few pictures:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrw1TQ4nE64HWMIKWhs2jMT-mAefnjpSFZcPGd6dYhBbyGaixLhTkQIWjzAjSs0aGZ048J-aV4mpmzGF3Nb-Y5YItOO0La-rrMQLrtXEvuQVrW0XVL8mPl1lxREW_66S7v2n40P9bvnh4/s1600/sdr-widget-arrived-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrw1TQ4nE64HWMIKWhs2jMT-mAefnjpSFZcPGd6dYhBbyGaixLhTkQIWjzAjSs0aGZ048J-aV4mpmzGF3Nb-Y5YItOO0La-rrMQLrtXEvuQVrW0XVL8mPl1lxREW_66S7v2n40P9bvnh4/s320/sdr-widget-arrived-1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimtgYKbD8nF9nQXnTjx5V2lurRxoZVgzUTfBUiYZ7cmhfDOlx2CE578Ensyrqf7fQxEtgbWH5RlStDqpmsqQLwkmESZtwbbGPaf99vrpCVHiMjgdWR9g2c6LowUSuWiUt4PjXwmlQTTDQ/s1600/sdr-widget-arrived-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimtgYKbD8nF9nQXnTjx5V2lurRxoZVgzUTfBUiYZ7cmhfDOlx2CE578Ensyrqf7fQxEtgbWH5RlStDqpmsqQLwkmESZtwbbGPaf99vrpCVHiMjgdWR9g2c6LowUSuWiUt4PjXwmlQTTDQ/s320/sdr-widget-arrived-2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJFn6QNk_C7CbWgz5D-YI5BZDM5aDoV3zCo-MoojXlS6BqAB7K7QrG0y79TKcpMIuoLkmjLXbh61v541JcroP3_Bp0Ygp7i_lrctbyxauSsf-uH5H519XMucQ64BtfiswevybwIKpz2QY/s1600/sdr-widget-arrived-3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJFn6QNk_C7CbWgz5D-YI5BZDM5aDoV3zCo-MoojXlS6BqAB7K7QrG0y79TKcpMIuoLkmjLXbh61v541JcroP3_Bp0Ygp7i_lrctbyxauSsf-uH5H519XMucQ64BtfiswevybwIKpz2QY/s320/sdr-widget-arrived-3.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZxWGd1-kNALma319gn6GaUNZlIJK2G9TXlljEyOlpzUJx4660dqWN0_FYBWylHur1-2eFgyhqWSW-1obi4sxt1DaFHkcXibRKugpeIDJTMlZ1f9vp9KwELoulJYdAcc9WlqXP_WsfCH8/s1600/sdr-widget-arrived-4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZxWGd1-kNALma319gn6GaUNZlIJK2G9TXlljEyOlpzUJx4660dqWN0_FYBWylHur1-2eFgyhqWSW-1obi4sxt1DaFHkcXibRKugpeIDJTMlZ1f9vp9KwELoulJYdAcc9WlqXP_WsfCH8/s320/sdr-widget-arrived-4.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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I am really looking forward getting into this. The little problem I got is that I do not have any Softrock SDR to use it with right now. So it will be used as a normal sound card for a few days.<br />
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But I actually have both the Softrock Lite II and Softrock RXTX 6.3 here to be built. They have been in my drawer now for more than half a year but some days ago I started building again on the lite for 30m and no problems so far. I even managed to solder the SOIC chips ! I have been using the QS1R receiver that is some what more expensive SDR than these for some years now, but I really looking forward to use a radio that I have built myself and using only open source software !Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18292915581347370293noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633248494480629951.post-12636931605103938772011-01-22T23:46:00.000+01:002011-01-22T23:46:08.231+01:00A 20 W Dummy LoadThis time I have built a dummy load. I got this design from <a href="http://www.elecraft.com/">Elecraft</a>. It is 8 100 ohm resistors rated for 3 W each. 4 in parallel first that gives 25 ohm and then in serial with another batch, so in total 50 ohm. I can also measure the voltage and use a graph to find the corresponding power. Max power should be 20 W.<br />
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Here is a few pictures:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0kJajsXldtb21XkOpS3HJ_u1XI0F1e3VQVh0KnVKweYJdQzsutk5fmbbHCvE2qTzvCUMkvYCYi5MfWw6e1z2NzCHbQv6WjVJGUIfU8O6JyuZ7xN-McPINU48BeseWjR1Q8zllCLHkkro/s1600/DSCN5491.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0kJajsXldtb21XkOpS3HJ_u1XI0F1e3VQVh0KnVKweYJdQzsutk5fmbbHCvE2qTzvCUMkvYCYi5MfWw6e1z2NzCHbQv6WjVJGUIfU8O6JyuZ7xN-McPINU48BeseWjR1Q8zllCLHkkro/s320/DSCN5491.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVNAbXaX7JekK7KF24JDozf7M_k-Kgfvm0TDaaml7-7hVpCzsIRhM8EFeD5_KM9l-Z8vJp5Hdz0V5KL5LcjL1k-S0RF6OiWKr5WhKMlHZj1QaCj4aJbhXD12SQgV9d_WZlHHKLXyCqltU/s1600/DSCN5493.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVNAbXaX7JekK7KF24JDozf7M_k-Kgfvm0TDaaml7-7hVpCzsIRhM8EFeD5_KM9l-Z8vJp5Hdz0V5KL5LcjL1k-S0RF6OiWKr5WhKMlHZj1QaCj4aJbhXD12SQgV9d_WZlHHKLXyCqltU/s320/DSCN5493.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2MMk4QQ7FZdwxlxl5Q9McVA_1_bDgQE4ga8EAh_7syE1aZafpr8JnSXcKHDiF25kD8Iy4JTyJBn13eKA_MeWVvb9bgsj9FkDW_9HPOP8bI-EZoTQKBjgXIHBHOem7g3Faubq1n0ztkKg/s1600/DSCN5497.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2MMk4QQ7FZdwxlxl5Q9McVA_1_bDgQE4ga8EAh_7syE1aZafpr8JnSXcKHDiF25kD8Iy4JTyJBn13eKA_MeWVvb9bgsj9FkDW_9HPOP8bI-EZoTQKBjgXIHBHOem7g3Faubq1n0ztkKg/s320/DSCN5497.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And by the way, the box is from <a href="http://www.ikea.com/se/sv/catalog/products/70089697">IKEA</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18292915581347370293noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633248494480629951.post-85730890770736643482011-01-17T12:27:00.001+01:002011-01-22T23:31:38.595+01:00Test equipment - LC and multi<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKqYRV0JpHoV6SZxdTrSeH7cJtjItV9ZDRdA3V_CiGtO4XIZrmIjqblevhvVK98QVim-8B8lOCM6NcQfgXzbMRJ9PRH0UTTtbKGMmvD3N-ep3MacuO8MuuozNNy_HD6hTzpyOhD0gz5ho/s1600/lcmeter2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKqYRV0JpHoV6SZxdTrSeH7cJtjItV9ZDRdA3V_CiGtO4XIZrmIjqblevhvVK98QVim-8B8lOCM6NcQfgXzbMRJ9PRH0UTTtbKGMmvD3N-ep3MacuO8MuuozNNy_HD6hTzpyOhD0gz5ho/s320/lcmeter2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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The number of test equipment here continues to grow. This time it is a LC meter. The circuit I built is more or less similar to this one:<br />
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<a href="http://ironbark.bendigo.latrobe.edu.au/~rice/lc/">http://ironbark.bendigo.latrobe.edu.au/~rice/lc/</a><br />
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A big thanks to Göran SM5AWU that had a kit with components that I bought. He also had done the PCB and drilled the holes for me.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitedF53FnJxVFTLQmN2KQjPZSyvjo3_xMUyAurPeNYIEyPlQKWHw-WmGLe8hP0WpeZI6-ArlDavR8S8v8PrNEQiYeGx5Q9cak4ybe6uf6DR5-NhdGaVVw74RaGhHV3_o9RFfmN9xKFL_A/s1600/lcmeter1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitedF53FnJxVFTLQmN2KQjPZSyvjo3_xMUyAurPeNYIEyPlQKWHw-WmGLe8hP0WpeZI6-ArlDavR8S8v8PrNEQiYeGx5Q9cak4ybe6uf6DR5-NhdGaVVw74RaGhHV3_o9RFfmN9xKFL_A/s320/lcmeter1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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I have also bought me a new multimeter. It´s the Vichy VC99 made in China. I bought it on Ebay for $30 including shipping. It has a few more features compared to the one I had before, like auto ranging, frequency counter, transistor and diode testing etc. It´s a little bit too plastic to feel really good, but at a good price I guess. I have not used it so much so far, but already found some minor issues, like it beeps very loud when it auto shut downs and the continuity tester is slow compared to the old multimeter. Maybe I can change the first behavior if I read the manual. I will continue to use both of them. A good buy overall!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bearmountainbull.com/images/0608/vc_99.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.bearmountainbull.com/images/0608/vc_99.jpg" width="301" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18292915581347370293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633248494480629951.post-56758591178725191852010-11-22T16:47:00.001+01:002010-11-22T16:48:28.381+01:00Simple signal generatorWith a little bit of inspiration from the blog of <a href="http://m0xpd.blogspot.com/2010/05/s9-generator.html">M0XPD</a> I have built a simple signal generator. The original design is from NorCal QRP club and can be found <a href="http://www.norcalqrp.org/files/NorCal_S9_Assy_V1.pdf">here</a>. I´m able to create a S1 or S9 signal (more about the s level <a href="http://www.gqrp.com/s_units.pdf">here</a>) that I can listen to if I´m going to test a receiver. I can change between 4 different crystals/frequencies. As there is no low pass filtering in the circuit there will also be harmonics. Here is two pictures and you can see that it´s been a while since I built it but haven´t documented it until now.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYrlkz2bCAwmoC7_1vZJdH2eh9F7gPK7IrUbtyu4aNzOmaoisYodi_nTkD3QJl5rx6YPX5wp8g7KVhqMbsS5jGCgtd1b4zoLBDbsoCEkSjRZ1x-0x9-VZzS8G-P1HifPRyTWURwO_1kkk/s1600/DSCN5209.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYrlkz2bCAwmoC7_1vZJdH2eh9F7gPK7IrUbtyu4aNzOmaoisYodi_nTkD3QJl5rx6YPX5wp8g7KVhqMbsS5jGCgtd1b4zoLBDbsoCEkSjRZ1x-0x9-VZzS8G-P1HifPRyTWURwO_1kkk/s320/DSCN5209.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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The box by the way is bought at IKEA. I think it was 7 different boxes in one set and quite cheap. Next test equipment in the blog will use one from that set too.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18292915581347370293noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633248494480629951.post-71046729084717211362010-11-21T21:33:00.001+01:002010-11-21T21:34:39.569+01:00Linux and LTspice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9JYPt3xxBYlpxCoDeiyn7zV4uUNQXPy1ZtiKjTY7e6lbFxdpP3M-DItS6X-d1e3VzIxvAMvFoi0heyFXyoKYyVM7QtqGztzJ3s2cibYHY3e5ILHYpD45t-8z_AUXri4jdvWPnKtGNNa0/s1600/Screenshot-fusion-ubuntu-maverick-101121-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9JYPt3xxBYlpxCoDeiyn7zV4uUNQXPy1ZtiKjTY7e6lbFxdpP3M-DItS6X-d1e3VzIxvAMvFoi0heyFXyoKYyVM7QtqGztzJ3s2cibYHY3e5ILHYpD45t-8z_AUXri4jdvWPnKtGNNa0/s400/Screenshot-fusion-ubuntu-maverick-101121-1.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />
I finally changed over (or should I say back) my main desktop to Linux. This time it is 64 bit Ubuntu 10.10. I have been running Linux for the last 15 years or so, but changed to Windows some year ago and one of the reasons was that the SDR software I wanted to use was only available for Windows. But now I felt it was time to go back. I have not run Ubuntu earlier, previously it has been Slackware, Debian and OpenSuse (in that order in time), but I can only say that I am impressed with Ubuntu today. Everything worked "out of the box". No fiddling with drivers as it has been in the past.<br />
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This Saturday I attended a meeting in the ham club with the topic <a href="http://www.linear.com/designtools/software/">LTspice</a>. If you have not heard about it earlier, it is a software that can simulate circuits. A very good tool I think. The introduction was held by Volker SM5ZBS. You can check out his <a href="http://elektronikbasteln.pl7.de/">homepage</a>. It is in German but I think it is interesting and can be translated if needed. On the screen above you see my new Ubuntu desktop and LTspice which is a Microsoft Windows software is running. You may ask how that works? It is running in Wine, a tool in Linux that makes it possible for some Windows software to run in Linux. Works great!<br />
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By the way, the circuit that I have laid out is a audio filter I found in chapter 15 in the book <a href="http://www.qsl.net/k3pd/book.html">CRYSTAL SETS TO SIDEBAND</a> by Frank W. Harris, KØIYE. It a free download as everything I mentioned in this post!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18292915581347370293noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633248494480629951.post-37460297498293584702010-11-15T23:15:00.000+01:002010-11-15T23:15:52.259+01:0020m antenna and remote listeningI´ve been having some fun during last couple of days. I live in an apartment where I don't have that much of space for antennas and regular radio activity. But at a relatives house where a lot of trees is available I´ve been playing around a bit. I have been here some year ago and at that time I was laying out BOGs (Beverage on ground) antennas and I was DXing for AM stations in South America, but this time I wanted to focus on the amateur radio bands and in this case the 20m band. One easy antenna to build is a vertical using stubs to get a good match that I learnt about from <a href="http://deimert.se/se5x/">SE5X</a>. The radiator element was around 10 meters that I throw up in a tree.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtiTu_Ydx1e8nLIzXc0V898Z3HvyD_TM5e4cLamDMNaka79ww8CSFSpwYxHEEYwwPXcVddr2r1M4n9rJFQuHC3eR0Un_XyxVvKOt4vb1KJRP4Yna9Z-yeLAvFxn8wjENL7zRB9vxMGdGw/s1600/stubb-antennen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtiTu_Ydx1e8nLIzXc0V898Z3HvyD_TM5e4cLamDMNaka79ww8CSFSpwYxHEEYwwPXcVddr2r1M4n9rJFQuHC3eR0Un_XyxVvKOt4vb1KJRP4Yna9Z-yeLAvFxn8wjENL7zRB9vxMGdGw/s400/stubb-antennen.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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If you would like to build this antenna, this <a href="http://radio.thulesius.se/PDFs/7_Band_vertical.pdf">PDF</a> from SM0JZT describes the lengths of each segment. It´s in Swedish but I think you will understand if you are interested. Otherwise let me know via the comments.<br />
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When everything was installed last Monday it had went dark so 20m started to close and I never got a QSO. Instead I setup the QS1R and prepared for remote listening via<a href="https://secure.logmein.com/"> LogMeIn Pro</a>.<br />
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Below is a capture taken on my home computer. I have connected to the LogMeIn server via the web browser so this is the experience I got. The connection is a quite slow ADSL so I set the update rate of the waterfall to a slow setting. As this was done late when 20m was dead, this is 40m.<br />
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<object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5vS8fgqNmdo?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&hd=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5vS8fgqNmdo?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />
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I went back on Thursday lunch last week and had one QSO with <a href="http://www.qrz.com/db/M3GFQ">M3GFQ</a> on 20m. I got 59 and I think that was a true report. :-)<br />
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Hopefully soon the new software for QS1R will be available. This will make it possible to run the server part remote and the GUI at home and be able to record RF to disk. I actually don´t feel so good about paying for this remote solution from LogMeIn, but as this opportunity to have the remote QS1R came up and I didn´t have time to setup streaming audio (open ports in firewall etc.) the Logmein solution is really working well. With new QS1R software I can hopefully use Linux instead of Windows. Remote QTH saga will continue...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18292915581347370293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633248494480629951.post-65253862953495509852010-10-22T12:36:00.003+02:002011-02-21T23:11:15.453+01:00SDR-Widget<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 15px;">I just preordered the </span></span><b style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">BETA </b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 15px;">version of the upcoming SDR-Widget. This is basically a sound card designed by a group of radio amateurs specifcally to be used in Software Defined Radios based on the quadrature sampling detector scheme, i.e. a souncard is needed in opposite of the Digital Down Conversion scheme where an special ADC chip is doing the analog to digital conversion. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">I am excited about this and hope this will be a great success!</span><br />
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</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.yoyodyneconsulting.ca/images/SDR_Widget_Lite_Alpha2_w_LCD.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.yoyodyneconsulting.ca/images/SDR_Widget_Lite_Alpha2_w_LCD.JPG" width="247" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An early alpha version of the SDR-Widget</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Hardware Features:</span><br />
<ul style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><li style="margin-left: 15px;">Compact 3" x 2.5", 2 board stack. 3.5mm audio connections.</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Powered from the USB port, no external power supply needed</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">24-bit AK5394A ADC - the premier audio ADC in commercial use today</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">CS4344 24-bit DAC</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">I2C control bus</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">16-bit LCD panel interface (configured for 4-bit) with drivers for HD44780 based 4-line displays</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Connector for quadrature rotary encoder input (with push switch)</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">3 optocoupler buffered inputs</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">3 mosfet 'contact' outputs</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Firmware update via USB port</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">JTAG port (connector not mounted)</li>
</ul><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Software Features (either present or coming soon)</span><br />
<ul style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><li style="margin-left: 15px;">USB composite device with audio I/O, control and CDC channels</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Supports USB Audio class 2 (480mbs) on the latest Linux kernel as well as the latest Mac OS</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Support 24-bit 48k/96k/192k sample rates on Linux and MacOS</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Support USB Audio class1 on Windows at 48k sample rate. NOTE: Windows does not support UAC2</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Has an integrated CDC, Communications Device Class, channel for debug messages</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">A superset of the DG8SAQ control interface</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">4-line LCD message engine</li>
<li style="margin-left: 15px;">Menu system with selection control via external rotary encoder and switch.</li>
</ul><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 15px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 15px;">Go here: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><a href="http://groups.google.com/group/sdr-widget">http://groups.google.com/group/sdr-widget</a> to get more details!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br />
</span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18292915581347370293noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633248494480629951.post-42187122903914276862010-09-19T21:14:00.001+02:002010-09-19T21:15:33.114+02:00Active on the HF bands<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieCYH9-W-pwXlBH_gLJzmHaUHFC9rnFS9WTM360aV7URlwF-HAvRO08F38N58nix2n9gbPt7Tdtw6vIhpMsg9l6XbBJkRqHzc2qAhH3pJnmxebDCEYEFkKSODmCR-kF_v-QNhx1wYqLXA/s1600/DSCN4893.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieCYH9-W-pwXlBH_gLJzmHaUHFC9rnFS9WTM360aV7URlwF-HAvRO08F38N58nix2n9gbPt7Tdtw6vIhpMsg9l6XbBJkRqHzc2qAhH3pJnmxebDCEYEFkKSODmCR-kF_v-QNhx1wYqLXA/s320/DSCN4893.JPG" /></a></div><br />
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During last week of August me and my second operator visited my parents and there was a Icom 707 for me to borrow, so why not try some QSOs on the shortwave bands for the first time ever. I operated as SA5BKE/4 and made around 15-20 QSOs around Europe on 80 m up to 17 meters. Great fun! I also promised to send out some QSLs but haven´t made any attempts yet. I am thinking about making some custom ones with this <a href="http://www.swharden.com/blog/2009-02-07-how-i-cheaply-created-custom-glossy-double-sided-qsl-cards-in-1-day/">method</a>. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL8o3gbb30Voz4RbHIQTILCFxFbhKuxmsTxv2WtAHTVQAfRCPoD66mCnEGFil_nNVeluVZGLtAjy4cBEGgaOekRnytwAJfGn0K5DZCbpS66D8NIwSFQnLsFmi5GdG90VR3GwVi2dR_m1g/s1600/DSCF0005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL8o3gbb30Voz4RbHIQTILCFxFbhKuxmsTxv2WtAHTVQAfRCPoD66mCnEGFil_nNVeluVZGLtAjy4cBEGgaOekRnytwAJfGn0K5DZCbpS66D8NIwSFQnLsFmi5GdG90VR3GwVi2dR_m1g/s320/DSCF0005.JPG" /></a></div><br />
Some week later I saw a <a href="http://www.rigpix.com/kenwood/ts450s.htm">Kenwood TS-450SAT</a> for sale at a good price. As it was only 30 minutes drive from here I went there and took a look. Seemed to be a nice rig so I bought it! On 12 September I could try it with my 15,5 m longwire on 4 m height with my home made 9:1 unun. I only made 2 QSOs on 80 m and 17 m, but everything seemed to be fine business. I used a car battery but I now started to look for a power supply. Maybe I find a good one on the upcoming <a href="http://www.sk5bn.se/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=73&Itemid=76">ham radio flea market</a> here in Norrköping in a couple weeks or maybe try to convert a PC power supply?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18292915581347370293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633248494480629951.post-74654309346048352372010-08-29T23:02:00.000+02:002010-08-29T23:02:59.685+02:00Summer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWI7hZX4LOFLvReCJID0A06cf6W7QW2-SC3ABWv1n5ekr9k4YDES13WDpVzlWBBVShI1GlzeXR-ZzTXLtsQEjbqMA7U06ElmLwXkuEKG8P8PfKlDJd9hyBT-h6LKALVL2-F1EBquBLCs0/s1600/badvatten.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWI7hZX4LOFLvReCJID0A06cf6W7QW2-SC3ABWv1n5ekr9k4YDES13WDpVzlWBBVShI1GlzeXR-ZzTXLtsQEjbqMA7U06ElmLwXkuEKG8P8PfKlDJd9hyBT-h6LKALVL2-F1EBquBLCs0/s320/badvatten.JPG" /></a></div><br />
Summer of 2010 has been one of the better ones. Very pleasant weather and I have been home with my son for a couple of months. It has not been that much time for radio. I have done some listening and few times been working on some test equipment, but that will be covered in a post within a few weeks. I have also had my HF band debut, but I give a report on that within in some day or so.<br />
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Here are some other points from the last months:<br />
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I have mentioned earlier some interference problem when using the QS1R SDR receiver. One easy solution that I tried and seemed to work was to solder a connector to the 5 V connection in the PC power supply. A lot cleaner than the switching power supply I used earlier. Old PC power supplies can be had for free so maybe I should take use of them more. I also plan to make a 12V->5V regulator to try to run the QS1R from batteries together with the laptop.<br />
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A 9:1 un:un for random longwires has been made. See image below. No transmitting with it yet.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhefb6FYaXEfg_2lA-ROiA_gtr_aAFOYSpx4Wmvdf_sSSgwidjCrFYyGp30YA_8LSut3pNUwns-_qQyHRDgCzuf0pMYSSehUIg5xK4GDHsOsIR01YDahemWZCBiR-3QvO2vX82H70t5BoQ/s1600/unun1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhefb6FYaXEfg_2lA-ROiA_gtr_aAFOYSpx4Wmvdf_sSSgwidjCrFYyGp30YA_8LSut3pNUwns-_qQyHRDgCzuf0pMYSSehUIg5xK4GDHsOsIR01YDahemWZCBiR-3QvO2vX82H70t5BoQ/s320/unun1.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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Texas Instruments has released a micro controller development board called <a href="http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/MSP430_LaunchPad_%28MSP-EXP430G2%29?DCMP=launchpad&HQS=Other+OT+launchpadwiki">Launch Pad </a>. It was available for $4, so I ordered one. Maybe they want to compete with <a href="http://www.arduino.cc/">Arduino</a> ? The package came and below is a photo of the content. I have not played with it much yet.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJcqfmEzrikZHqWscLeZmPSa_hrnT2q7EaiN6IaTm5fDa8JeM2EN1b6l69r59_u_2AKNTUssJ0KfLzb7NsfVG6_mSyWMSBtGhrdI6j-bqQkhCwHyn7TFo7B48OTNJKp8nwRm2VHf9YuRs/s1600/launchpad1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJcqfmEzrikZHqWscLeZmPSa_hrnT2q7EaiN6IaTm5fDa8JeM2EN1b6l69r59_u_2AKNTUssJ0KfLzb7NsfVG6_mSyWMSBtGhrdI6j-bqQkhCwHyn7TFo7B48OTNJKp8nwRm2VHf9YuRs/s320/launchpad1.JPG" /></a></div><br />
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I do some shopping on Ebay and mostly from far east. My understanding has been that when I order cheap stuff with low or no shipping cost I take the risk if it gets lost. I ordered some parts from <a href="http://stores.ebay.com/Thai-Shop-Etc">Thai Shop Etc</a> and when I hadn´t received it within a month I started to think I was "scammed". But when I contacted them they said they either will refund me or send the stuff again. I choose the latter and within a week I had it in my hands. Very good service! So I would say that I recommend them.<br />
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and last:<br />
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The Medium Wave DX season 2010-11 has started when I received some common stations from North American on the 21 August. 1130 WBBR, New York as always the strongest.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.j-hawkins.com/wbbr/lwbbr_head.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.j-hawkins.com/wbbr/lwbbr_head.jpg" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18292915581347370293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633248494480629951.post-9811636593362296752010-06-21T13:12:00.001+02:002010-06-21T22:32:05.839+02:00Shack update and OS choicesA shack is what someone interested in radio usually calls where they have their radios permanently installed and used. I´ve never had a shack like that as I live in an apartment and all radio use from here has been temporary and the serious DX chasing has been done at the <a href="http://ndl-dx.se/">DX listening club</a>.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQKWTsqyz2c20NmEfzRY4PTK7Nlw7uM-SQUWWKjRNWY4-roD6fffz8J2Vnh8gGsaoxE08_o0VZt4UivKGbGk36B6z8I25wYDtblWI_WXklqcBmpcqOdToBLLutH1B6ZcnWJq_GU-Y4i7Q/s1600/IMAG0115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQKWTsqyz2c20NmEfzRY4PTK7Nlw7uM-SQUWWKjRNWY4-roD6fffz8J2Vnh8gGsaoxE08_o0VZt4UivKGbGk36B6z8I25wYDtblWI_WXklqcBmpcqOdToBLLutH1B6ZcnWJq_GU-Y4i7Q/s320/IMAG0115.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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Now I start to have something that could be called a shack in my wifes parents summer house where I recently installed a 15,5 M longwire antenna. The receivers you see on the picture here is a borrowed Icom R-70 and the QS1R. I struggle with some interferances but I think I will be able to solve them very soon (more about that in later blog post).<br />
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I also got a computer on the bench. It´s actually one of my older main PC:s from a couple of years back. It´s an AMD Duron 1300 MHz with 768 MB RAM and 120 GB disk. It runs Windows XP and soon will have <a href="http://www.kubuntu.org/">Kubuntu</a> on it too. I actually have been a Linux user since the early days of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slackware">Slackware</a>, and then Debian (used when I and a friend set up the first email system at our school) via OpenSuse (chosen because we use Novell Suse Enterprise at work for database servers) and now I think I will try Ubuntu (or actually Kubuntu to give it an european touch). I see Ubuntu being mentioned on the ham radio groups and mailing lists so it might be the best choice now.<br />
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I gave up with Linux and changed to Mac when I got the opportunity to be a Campus representative for Apple at my university a few years ago. I liked MacOS very much as it gave me both Unix and some fancy software like iLife. Something I learned during this period was that I will not work with sales in future careers!<br />
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I moved to Windows again and it was actually because of radio. My first SDR was the SDR-IQ from RfSpace and the software, SpectraVue, could only run on Windows. But I would like to go back to Linux and if recording capabilities in the new QS1R software arrives I might be able to do that.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18292915581347370293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633248494480629951.post-55162240352171000872010-05-18T17:52:00.000+02:002010-05-18T17:52:20.314+02:00MKARS80 - via the West Indies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN9nbxze5tO8d5-foWJX8TCxF_W-kUVvMYzAFSCh-gAH55ZQ1aQ8DJutUKJA_PgT_K-lSiwCfXV8IvNcrmgftqT-hNKqIplWaUjnh2H0GrX26TYjzKdnc2BjQy45evciA3_G-dKaHw6_Y/s1600/mkars80_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN9nbxze5tO8d5-foWJX8TCxF_W-kUVvMYzAFSCh-gAH55ZQ1aQ8DJutUKJA_PgT_K-lSiwCfXV8IvNcrmgftqT-hNKqIplWaUjnh2H0GrX26TYjzKdnc2BjQy45evciA3_G-dKaHw6_Y/s400/mkars80_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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I ordered a MKARS80 transceiver kit a month ago and when it didn´t sbow up here I started wondering. But given that there has been and still is a ash cloud over Europe I understand that it could be delays. Today it came. Take a close look at the package above to see where it went!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18292915581347370293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633248494480629951.post-86795288846723220462010-05-17T20:52:00.003+02:002010-11-22T16:33:15.928+01:00Small steps......to the goal to be active on the HF bands are what I´m taking. But I´m in no hurry.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuSS0Bq4N60IW1IFhmPlAmeBzUi-iiJTa8dLJVBI0mY_a1f_OTENB4yWr1vMeL1NtawVlgVxgnUnBmwcW7W4zWvS2nM0Lvnmj89c6Wydfhg8UuWjDUUl7qkQzq4-7a2I3gRzn3lPIa_YA/s1600/tuner1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuSS0Bq4N60IW1IFhmPlAmeBzUi-iiJTa8dLJVBI0mY_a1f_OTENB4yWr1vMeL1NtawVlgVxgnUnBmwcW7W4zWvS2nM0Lvnmj89c6Wydfhg8UuWjDUUl7qkQzq4-7a2I3gRzn3lPIa_YA/s320/tuner1.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Last week I found someone that sold "a lot of radio equipment". It seemed to be mostly CB equipment but I went there and took a look and see if I would find anything interesting. I stayed there for 2 hours! I had to stop myself from dragging home too much, "maybe good to have" things.<br />
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The best thing I bought was a manual tuner from MFJ, 941E. I also got a HT for 70 cm by Kenwood and a scanner AOR AR-1000XLT (seems dead....) and an amp of unknown kind (probably CB) and two SWR meters. I do not have any antenna for 70 cm with BNC connector, so I might try to homebrew something like some of these: <br />
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<a href="http://blog.g4ilo.com/2010/05/satellite-antenna.html">http://blog.g4ilo.com/2010/05/satellite-antenna.html</a><br />
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<a href="http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/05/collapsible_fabric_yagi_antenna.html%20">http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/05/collapsible_fabric_yagi_antenna.html </a><br />
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I also received an order from <a href="http://kitsandparts.com/">kitsandparts.com</a> . I´m very impressed with their range of stuff, both parts and kits.. ;-) He got building blocks called RF Toolkit so you can add them together to form a transceiver or receiver of different kinds. Really cool. I will definitely be a returning customer! This is what I got:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfQ1N7rRIb-0egCP6B68DTvAuafVSw_RQqPofzHoJpDJDZDt4aFchsF28SgMfnEzAmZ-VwaWhrHW7y1DCXnm9XDDiMvZcm0weiCI4-rJsBt5dVdYVQ5IHZklYPlaV-P7GmsiOB_YqC-To/s1600/kitsandparts1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfQ1N7rRIb-0egCP6B68DTvAuafVSw_RQqPofzHoJpDJDZDt4aFchsF28SgMfnEzAmZ-VwaWhrHW7y1DCXnm9XDDiMvZcm0weiCI4-rJsBt5dVdYVQ5IHZklYPlaV-P7GmsiOB_YqC-To/s320/kitsandparts1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
The T130-2 toroids I will use together with longwire antennas. The ferrites are for a receiver and good to have in the future. The 30 m LPF I will use with the <a href="http://www.genesisradio.com.au/Q5/">Genesis Q5</a> probably in <a href="http://knightsqrss.blogspot.com/2010/01/getting-started-with-qrss.html">QRSS</a> mode but have to get a 10.140 MHz crystal first. Probably will be from Genesis if I don´t get any other option? The <a href="http://www.kitsandparts.com/bridge.php">SWR bridge</a> will go together with two ampere panel meters that probably is on it´s way from China right now.Also got 5 NE602 mixers to use with the receiver (more on that later).<br />
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During last week I tried to build a dipole, with <a href="http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&source=imghp&q=slinky&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=">Slinkys</a>! I really didn´t have any time to evalutate performance (and it was also hanging maybe too low to be a good antenna) but I kept it on receive on the WSPR system.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCenFqRhir2n5B0aCqAc8Fmev5sXKNILzZas85dantaZB8xwheHZ2z0tMZ196zZwsW-BxvHAGS53Y4NFrNM2GFzQtxyxwLABZSOZEv2X9cQSE_ydSmrIIp6lhvMVE6ekpEC5d7l_YEd9U/s1600/slinky_dipole1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCenFqRhir2n5B0aCqAc8Fmev5sXKNILzZas85dantaZB8xwheHZ2z0tMZ196zZwsW-BxvHAGS53Y4NFrNM2GFzQtxyxwLABZSOZEv2X9cQSE_ydSmrIIp6lhvMVE6ekpEC5d7l_YEd9U/s320/slinky_dipole1.JPG" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18292915581347370293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633248494480629951.post-75825406838603334182010-05-12T10:49:00.000+02:002010-05-12T10:49:52.241+02:00Make: Electronics<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.makershed.com/v/vspfiles/photos/9780596153748-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.makershed.com/v/vspfiles/photos/9780596153748-2.jpg" width="262" />I </a></div>I got a nice gift from my wife, Make: Electronics. A well illustrated book on basic electronics. I think I know a bit about the subject, but I thought that it would be good to go through all the experiments to make sure I really understand the basic theory. It also includes some chapter on digital logic which I have not played with at all. I might document some of the experiments in future blog posts.<br />
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Here is a blog that documents all the experiments:<br />
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<a href="http://handsonelectronics.blogspot.com/2010/01/welcome-to-hands-on-make-electronics.html">Hands On - Make: Electronics</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18292915581347370293noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633248494480629951.post-21039673719127409062010-04-30T19:13:00.000+02:002010-04-30T19:13:54.885+02:00WSPR receive and flea market<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxqCh9jXP7OR4qFXhvKbqwF7dqcQVat7ZFmVQsfD9OTnFs366ePM2g-pbMMW3oXcF-RqJLfkrXeYGTX5U86tEo8tQNWeb5lMgfjqCeOCL8mzTVVyjSrV4UCC197TEsWXRg9c1G_ACTgiM/s1600/wspr1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxqCh9jXP7OR4qFXhvKbqwF7dqcQVat7ZFmVQsfD9OTnFs366ePM2g-pbMMW3oXcF-RqJLfkrXeYGTX5U86tEo8tQNWeb5lMgfjqCeOCL8mzTVVyjSrV4UCC197TEsWXRg9c1G_ACTgiM/s400/wspr1.jpg" tt="true" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Using the same equipment and QTH as last time I now finally tried the WSPR system that I´ve heard a lot about lately. I only run with receive but I hope to be able to transmit sometime soon. Basically WSPR is a narrow digital mode to be used as a beacon. When you receive and decode a WSPR station, which is done automatically in the software, it uploads the spot to a central database and can be tracked by other users.<br />
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Here are a few links to get more information about WSPR:<br />
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<a href="http://wsprnet.org/drupal/">http://wsprnet.org/drupal/</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/K1JT/wspr.html%20">http://www.physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/K1JT/wspr.html%20</a><br />
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Here are the 2 most noteworthy catches in terms of power and distance:<br />
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G4PEC 30m 0.001W 1060km<br />
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RA9CUA 17m 2W 2710km<br />
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The complete log can be found here:<br />
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<a href="http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tAOYpYPenGFJIePvEJldyaA&single=true&gid=0&output=html">WSPR log SA5BKE 20100417</a><br />
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This weekend I also went to some flea markets to look for interesting equipment. I came home with these things:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8hnMe55kJBZ75YOkO5Obz-N5JIavyar2BtxFXAMdJ2bZS3CoCjrdLscSGHv2jofXRFuXXboYQw_BnQp-fyxTdUbwCrJE6tb-gcGngDGKB8EzGqn-YViIimiKA_44eTIeFkd_vr2aVfow/s1600/DSCN3846.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8hnMe55kJBZ75YOkO5Obz-N5JIavyar2BtxFXAMdJ2bZS3CoCjrdLscSGHv2jofXRFuXXboYQw_BnQp-fyxTdUbwCrJE6tb-gcGngDGKB8EzGqn-YViIimiKA_44eTIeFkd_vr2aVfow/s320/DSCN3846.JPG" /></a></div><br />
2 Valve radios that of course included variable capacitors, an old box with big variable resistors, some kind of alarm controller (atleast a box for other project) and an equalizer. Also got some telescopic antennas and cables (twin lead and speaker cable). I didn´t pay much, so I think it was a bargain!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18292915581347370293noreply@blogger.com0