Software Defined Radio

portable SDR

According to a recent blog post, the portable SDR is a little bit more solid than vapourware

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1703258614/psdr-pocket-hf-sdr-transceiver-with-vna-and-gps/posts/1422592

It's not really my cup of tea, heck, I struggle to run simple CW rig properly! Will be interesting to hear some reviews when it eventually appears.

For the past couple of days I've been dreaming up direct conversion crystal controlled rigs I discovered that I had the RockMite hex file, so I won't even have to pay out for a keyer.

Regarding the KX3, I lusted after one for quite a while but I tend to think that the FT817 would survive a bit longer in the field. I think that if Yaesu brought out an updated QRP field radio, it would sell very well. I remember a friend that had to have the latest IC706 model, so the first one got replaced by a mk2 and then that got replaced by a mk2g. I think owners of the FT817 would want to trade up in the same way, given some nice 'carrots'.

Technology has moved on quite a bit in the 15 or so years that the FT817 has been for sale, I'm sure there's lots of little tweaks that can be done.

Homebrew SDR mcHF transceiver

LD-5 Transceiver

LD-5 Transceiver

One of the hottest new QRP Transceivers on the market. This powerful unit packs in a ton of features at an incredible value. This rig has a sleek design with a simple interface that you will want with you at all times. Just wait until you hear the amazing receive!

http://www.lnrprecision.com/store/#!/LD-5/p/39885476

Transmitter

Input Power:	10.5-13.8 VDC
Output Power:	3.5 – 8W
Measurement:	SWR and Power:Numbers or Bar indicators on display
	Supply Voltage:Real voltage on display
Two Modes CW:	Select Straight Key or Paddle

Receiver

Receive sensitivity:	0.2uV Preamp
Ant Preamp:	+12 dB
Spurious Response Rejection:	IMD3 -48Db/ 5W
	IMD5 -43dB
ATT:	-6db

Specifications:

Frequency Range:		7000 kHz – 22 MHz 40, 30, 20, 17 and 15 meter operation
Modes:		USB, LSB, CW, CW-R, DIGITAL DATA:CAT –USB jack : CW, PSK, RTTY, SSTV – 3.5mm jack
Power:		5W output in CW / SSB
Frequency Stability:		+/- 3 ppm (Si570 defined) typical over 0-50 deg C
Supply Voltage:		10.5V min to 15V max 350mA receive and 1.5 to 2A typical in transmit
LO temp. Stability:		+/- 2.5
Antenna:		50 ohms BNC
Dual VFO
Memory:		100 memory storage per band Memorize frequency, mode, VFO’s
Built-in speaker:		0.2 watts
Dimensions:		4.724”L X 3.937”W x 1.957“H
Weight:		19oz/0.54k/excl. mic.
Iambic key:		Mode A and Mode B
Pitch CW:		Controls CW offset. The sidetone pitch is automatically set to equal the offset
Notch Filter:		Automatic Heterodyne filter for SSB from -6 to -40 db
Noise reduction:		Level of attenuation of the noise from 1 to 50- use minimal necessary
Noise Blanker:		Adjusted in the range from value 4 to 12 readings depending on interference
CW VOX:		Break in delay in CW – adjustable from 0.1 seconds to 5 seconds
CW memory keyer		Choose Iambic Mode A or B
VOICE VOX		VOX Delay adjustable from 0.1 seconds to 5 seconds
SSB VOX Level:		VOX GAIN 10-100 10 IS MOST SENSITIVE
8 Different filters (incl):		4 of 4 for CW/ SSB - 1-3 factory presets – No.4 adjustable for CW/50-1000Hz/ and SSB/250-3.6KHz
Compressor SSB:		0-20dB
SSB TX MUTE		Enable= no monitor Disable= monitor

1 Year Factory Warranty

http://www.examiner.com/review/tech-review-ld-5-hf-ham-radio-qrp-transceiver

Software Defined Radio (SDR) - SWL-Ham Radio Intro

An introductory look at Software Defined Radio (SDR) - that allows you to tune radio signals by way of software and DSP (digital signal processing) hardware. I plan on exploring this area of the hobby, and plan on making more videos in which I will examine hardware and software, and techniques.

Software Defined Radio - An Introduction

Software Defined Radio - An Introduction

An introductory overview of Software Defined Radio (SDR) is given by Schuyler St. Leger at Desert Code Camp at Chandler-Gilbert Community College. The hour-long talk covers what SDR is and how it differs from hardware radio, SDR hardware available today, software tools to use with SDR HW, and live demonstrations of how to use SDR.
http://oct2014.desertcodecamp.com/ses...

How To Set Up an SDR Radio

Here is a tutorial for setting up the DVB-T Stick SDR dongle from Adafruit.

Watch as I walk through the installation of driveres and software and get the radio running. I have edited out the waiting for files to download, unzip and install.

If you are not interested in watching the install skip ahead to 11:20 to see what it looks like and hear it working. Or jump clear to 20:30 if you want to see how we can intercept the digital data from aircraft transponders as the planes fly over head.

Software show here is:
SDR#
ADSB#
ADSBScope