Software Defined Radio Bella Vista Radio Club 1 February 2018
Agenda for Software Defined Radio (SDR) What is it? How does it work? Demonstration. How do you hook it up? What hardware is available (Cost)? What software is available? What else can you do with it?
SDR What is it? Conventional Amateur Receiver
SDR What is it? Simplified SDR Receiver LPF Q ADC 90 LNA VFO Soundcard Signal Link FPGA SOFTWARE MAGIC LPF I Analog Baseband ADC
SDR How does it work? Simplified SDR Receiver Example Rf Input
SDR Demonstration
SDR How do you hook it up? Simple Receiver Load SDR software Connect SDR to USB port Install the driver Hook up the antenna Enjoy
SDR How do you hook it up? Receiver with IQ Output Amateur Receiver With IQ Output Elecraft KX3 Icom IC-R8600 (firmware update) Alinco DX-SR9 DJ-X11 DX-R8T CommRadio CTX-10 And Others Analog USB Signal Link OR OR PC USB Sound Card USB
SDR How do you hook it up? Receiver with IF Output Transceiver With IF Output Kenwood TS-830S 940S 850 820 870 120S 130S 440S Yaesu FT-950 FTDX-5000 Ten-Tec Orion And many others. CAT Control IF Output USB RS232 SDR OR PC USB USB RS232 or USB Dongle * Note: Depending on the radio, the IF output may or may not be filtered. If the IF output passes through the roofing filter, you will limit the bandwidth to the filter passband. Also, the SDR will be limited to monitoring the same band as the radio.
SDR How do you hook it up? TR switch and Receive Antenna Transceiver With separate receive antenna Kenwood TS-2000 590SG Icom IC-7600 Many others PTT TX Ant RX Ant TR Switch Splitter PC SDR USB CAT Control USB RS232 OR USB RS232 or USB Dongle * Note. Some radios (e.g. IC-7600) have a receive in and a receive out antenna. The receive antenna out can be connected to the SDR so you can eliminate the splitter. Also, you can just connect the TR switch to the SDR and not use the receiver side of the transceiver.
SDR How do you hook it up? Dxengineering RTR-2
SDR What hardware is available (Cost)? USB Dongles Cost $10 - $50. Stolen technology from the European television system. Based on the RTL282U and R820T chip. Typically cover 24MHz to 1766MHz. Requires an upconverter to cover all the HF bands (see the next slide).
SDR What hardware is available (Cost)? Upconverters Upconverter Clock Bias Tee? LNA? Architecture Enclosure? Extras? Price (USD) Spyverter 120 MHz, low phase noise Yes No H-mode mixer inspired Yes, in metal box by default. Three SMA adapters. $59 $49 Ham-It-Up 125 MHz No No ADE-1 (v1.0) / ADE-1 Reversed (v1.3+) Available as extra add on for $21.95. Optional noise source circuit (but not populated by default) $44.95 + enclosure $21.95 Nobu 100 MHz No No ADE-1 Reversed Available as extra add on. None. $56 + enclosure $25 SV1AFN 200 MHz No Yes ADE-1 Reversed None available. None. $57
SDR What hardware is available (Cost)? SDRplay Cost $99 - $169. 3 inputs (2 Coax and 1 Differential). Starts out at 1kHz (good for listening to bugs and bats). Bella Vista bats like to hang out on 40kHz to 60kHz Works well with the SDRUNO free software.
SDR What hardware is available (Cost)? Airspy HF+ Name Freq. Rage Bandwidth Technology Price Airspy HF+ DC to 31 MHz 60 to 260 MHz 768 khz - 18 bit Polyphase Harmonic Rejection $199
SDR What software is available? Tons of free software available. Here is a small sample. SDR Linux software www.gnuradio.org www.cubicsdr.com www.sourceforge.net/projects/gqrx www.skywavelinux.com SDR software for Windows www.sdrplay.com www.sdr-radio.com www.airspy.com www.rtl-sdr.com/big-list-rtl-sdr-supported-software Mac OS SDR software www.gqrx.dk/download www.cubicsdr.com www.sdrplay.com
SDR What else can you do with it? Some Available Plugins ADS-B Get aircraft heading, airspeed, altitude, tail number (1090MHz). Decode trunking radio systems. Decode pager systems. Checkout the meter readers. Weather satellite maps. FM and AM radio receiver. Short wave receiver along with DRM decoding. Track ships via AIS transmissions. Listen to the airband with multiple watch for tower and ground operations. Decode VOR and ILS signals. Track down RFI sources. Many more.
SDR What else can you do with it? GNUradio Open Source SDR Design Program Free software for developing SDR applications. Creates a flowgraph with a series of signal processing blocks connected together. Easy to reconfigure the radio or tweak the signal block parameters. Provides gui windows for signal display, debugging and parameter manipulation (e.g. VFO or equalizer control). Many tutorials and examples on the internet.