Expanded view of the shop service bench. Center shelf, right to left. 1.) Beckman Model 2050 RF Generator, next BK Precision Model 2005B RF Signal Generator, next BK Precision Model 3017 Sweep Function Generator.  Top shelf, right to left BK Precision Model 3025 Sweep Function Generator, next Heathkit Im-4180 Fm Deviation Meter.  Above the Model 3015 Sweep Generator is an MFJ 202B RF Noise Bridge. On the bench top left corner, Elenco Precision Model XP 720 AC/DC Power Supply, next Mercury Electronics Model 501 Component Substitution Box. Other instruments are Tripp-lite 20Amp Linear Power Supply and B&K Precision Model 277 Multimeter.

Here is the far end of the shop service bench.  1.) Parts Storage Cabinets(Yellow & Red) 2.) Spare Test Gear, below the parts cabinets. 3.) To the right of the parts cabinet is the CD & DVD library for Manuals and \Software. 4.) Corner Rack houses Tektronixs CDM 250 3 1/2 digit Digital Multimeter, Home Brew Power Supply(center rack), HP 5314 Universal Counter, Tektronix 465 100Mhz Dual Trace Scope. 5.) Cabinet to the left of the CornerRack houses small tools and parts used daily.( On Going Project  )

WA3UVP's First CQ From The New "Boat Anchor" Station

Looking for my first contact with the new station, using the Johnson Viking Valiant and the Hammarlund HQ 170 !  160 meter AM contact you ask?  Of Course !

New AM/CW/SSB Station

After two long years of work, the new station is finally on line !  The station has about 95% of the equipment placed and operational.  Missing from the left side tranmitter stack is a Heathkit DX 100B, which when it comes off the service bench, it will be placed above the Johnson Viking Valiant and will be matched up with the SX110, visible on the right side receiver stack above the Hammarlund HQ 170.

STATION OVERVIEW

Thge new station lives on a 6' operating desk which was part of my in shop area service bench.  A new service bench was placed in service this past winter, (STUDIO G) making room for the current "boat anchor" station.  The station is set up in three sections.  The left side transmitter stack.  The center receiver section. The right side receiver stack.  Starting with the right side tranmitter stack, the bottom transmitter is a Johnson Vking Valiant.  The transceiver above it is currently a Kenwood TS 820 with remote speaker.  Above that is a Heathkit HM-102 watt meter, Electric Radio tuning meter, and a Heathkit SB 610 monitior scope.

The center section starting at the bottom houses a Rack Rider Power Conditioner, Model RR-15NL.  The receiver above the Rack Rider is a restored Radio Shack Model DX-160, with matching speaker. The 19' panel above the DX-160, contorls antenna and audio feed for the DX-160 and the Drake 2C receiver / 2-CQ Q multiplier.

The right side receiver stack starting at the bottom, is a restored Hammarlund HQ 170 receiver.  Above that is the Hallicrafter SX 110 and matching speaker.  The receiver stack will also be getting a SX 71 receiver sometime later this summer.

The D104 microphone with a grip to talk stand services the Johnson Valiant, as does the Heathkit HD-1410 electronic keyer. The Turner 454C SSB microphone services the Kenwood TS 820 transceiver..

The Block Diagram is taken from the Flex Radio Opeating Manual 2007. The diagram shows the Personal Computer, interface cables, 1000D transceiver, to include additional accessories which can be added to the Flex Radio System.

The Diagram gives you a good overall view and understanding of the interconnections required. Note that the standard input and outputs on the Personal Computer are used, this makes interfacing the outputs from the 1000D compatible with the inputs of the PC. This holds true for the outputs on the PC being compatible with the inputs on the 1000D.

The Diagram also shows that there are alternate sources for audio output, one output on the PC, the other on the 1000D. The second source is a polled keyer paddle input, one on the PC, the other on the 1000D. This added some flexability when determining a location for 1000D hradward housing.

Power SDR Test & Measurement Area

I am very fortunate to have a special area with in the "shack" which is separate from the HF operating console, as well as the test bench area. This small area, is were I am able to setup and do some software testing and hardware interfacing and not tie up the test bench, or the operating console. However, the area in the photo is just behind my HF console and close enough to the test bench if needed!


As you can see, I use a three level oversize rack to do the hardware setup. The top shelf holds the 19" Envision monitor. The monitor has dual video (AVG, DMI) inputs. On either side of the monitor are the two stereo Inland, Pro sound 2000 series multi media amplified speaker system. The speakers are connected to the output of the PC which is fed by the Delta 44 audio interface from the 1000D. These speakers work very nicely, as they are small and produce a very good quality audio for initial setup and testing. In addition, to the right of the monitor is a standard PC wired mouse, as well as the Griffin knob. The Griffin knob allows the operator to tune the transceiver, as if it were a hardware tuning dial, as opposed to using the mouse to tune the transceiver.


The second shelf (center) holds the "hardware box" 1000D, which is not visible because of the keyboard drawer being extended. I have placed the 1000D out of the way, as there is no need to have it visible, as there are no controls on it, except the power switch. The Delta 44 audio interface is also at the rear of the shelf and out of the way. To the far right is the desktop Acer AXT mid tower. The configuration of the tower is as follows: (1)Processor-Athlon AMD 64- 3800(+) 2.4Ghz, with 2GB of Ram, running Windows XP Pro version 2002 and service pack 2. (2)Dual DVD drives. (3)Hard Drives- dual 250GB drives, primary drive running windows operating system, second drive running Linux operating system. (4)Audio card- M-Audio Delta 44 with external interface. (5)Video Card- dual channel video output with standard VGA and DMI outputs. (6)Dash Board- front panel, with several USB, and firewire ports. (7)Power Supply- 350Watt standard.

The third shelf (lower) provides space for the power supplies. The primary supply for the system is an Ashtron 35 Amp linear supply with metered outputs. The secondary supply used for other items not associated with the flex system, is a Pyramid Phase III Model PS-25, also with meters for voltage and current.

SDR 1000D Audio Interface to PC

Here is a closer look at the M-Audio interface or breakout box shown in the photo from the last post. M-Audio refers to this breakout box as their Delta series, which is this particular model.

As you can see there are 4 inputs and 4 outputs to the interface. Inputs 1 & 2 are line inputs. Inputs 3 & 4 are microphone inputs.

The outputs 1 & 2 are used to drive a pair of amplified speaker, as would be used for audio from your PC. Outputs 3 & 4 are the line outputs, which I referenced from the last post.

Flex-Radio use M-Audio as one of several "approved" audio interfaces along with an audio card which is installed in the PC. This particular M-Audio interface came with the 1000D when I purchased it, as both the Flex 1000D, and the accessory item were all pre-owned.

The audio interface does not come with any of the old or newer Flex systems, they must be purchased separately, along with the other items required for a complete operating system.

I currently use the speaker outputs to feed a pair of amplified Inland Pro Sound 2000 mulit-media speaker systems. They are moderately priced and have a very good sound quality for HF AM and SSB operation.

On the back side of the interface is the PC type "D" connector which connects to the rear panel of the PC.

SDR 1000D Rear Panel Connections

Here is a rear view of my 1000D on the upper shelf, showing the minimum primary connections required to get the system up and running.

On the far left, you can see the power input cable from the Astron 35 amp power supply, which is located on the lower shelf. The 1000D requires 13.8Vdc @25amps The Astron RS-35M is a linear type power supply, as I am not a BIG fan of switching supplies! (Note: I use a 35 amp power supply, as my 1000D has a 100 watt linear amplifier built into it. 1 watt is the normal output power without the linear amp.)

Next to and just below, to the right is the antenna input connector, BNC type. I'm feeding a 1/2 wave 160 meter inverted "V" cut to my operating frequency of 1885khz with RG58X.

On the right side of the panel there three black cables which come from the Delta 44 audio interface, they are; line input- to the sound card(Blue color-coded), line output -to speaker output on the sound card(Green color-coded), and external speaker- to amplified speakers or (high impedance) headset. You will be able to see a better photo of the Delta 44 interface in the next post.

The gray cable below the black audio cables is a standard parallel port connector. A standard parallel cable is used for this interface with no problem!

Ok, that is pretty much it as far as the rear panel cables and interface is required to get things running. Of course you will need a microphone, and or key, paddles or a bug depending on the operation mode you choose. I will cover that in a later post.

SDR 1000D Operational Overview

The RECEIVER- is an advanced direct conversion design using direct digital synthesis. It converts RF directly to audio. Separate in-phase and quadrature signals are then fed to a computer sound card for digital signal processing using an innovative in-phase and quadrature (I and Q) image-reject approach. These connectors are provided on the rear panel.

The TRANSMITTER-of the SDR-1000D hardware is designed to take processed audio from the sound card and convert it to RF. The transmit conversion includes boosting the RF to 100Watt on 160 meters through 10 meters.

The true "heart" of the SDR 1000D is NOT inside the black box! Data is the "lifeblood" of this radio; the hardware is just a portal between the analog and digital worlds.

The SDR 1000D software -know as PowerSDR-determines how a received signal will be demodulated. It also creates the transmitted signal according to the mode you wish to operate. Therefore this gives the SDR, the most literal sense of the term; Software Defined Radio !

This SDR system is NOT to be confused with a microprocessor controlled radio that offers updateable firmware. The changes implemented by firmware updates are limited in scope because the inflexible hardware defines and constrains what can be done with the radio. Not so in the SDR-1000D software. In fact the software, is the radio to the greatest extent possible. Very large changes can be made when you modify the software, of an Software defined radio.

Inside The SDR 1000D (Photo #2)

Here is a second view of the SDR 1000D with the top cover removed. At this point I will reveiw the different PCB with in the 1000D, their location and also their function and operation of each PCB.

As the boards are horizontally mounted with the largest of the boards on the bottom . The bottom board is the interface PCB which provides the connections between all the other boards in the system and some of the "outside world" connections.

Some of the major connections to this PCB are; earth ground, X2 External Control Connector, Parallel Port Connector, as well as and external customer provided frequency standard input connector. These connections are visable on the Photo showing the rear panel of the SDR 1000D.

The interface card is a bit difficult to see because of it's location in the horizontal stack and at the very bottom!

The SDR 1000D From The Inside !

Ok, now that we have had a chance to look over the exterior of the SDR 1000D, let's remove the top cover, look "under the hood" and see what makes it "tick."

As you can see the printed circuit boards, (PCB's) are mounted in a horizontal, "sandwich" style configuration, with the largest of the PCBs mounted on the bottom of the unit, and the smaller PCBs mounted one on top of the other.

With the fan being mounted on the front panel, air is circulated through and across each of the

PCBs from front to back. In the last two years that I have used the 1000D, I have had no problems related to heat. As a side note, I have noticed the Flex Radio has done the same thing, using the horizontal mounting approach on their 1500, 3000 and 5000 series Flex Radios.

Most of the internal wiring is well dressed, either between the PCBs, along the sides, and bottom of the unit, making it easy to get around inside if needed. The only major wiring which is run above the boards, is the power supply cables, that runs from the right side rear connector to the input of the power supply board as shown in the photo.

I will cover the function of each individual printed circuit board used within the SDR 1000D, and their operation and location of each board in the next post.

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SDR 1000D Rear View (Hardware)

Starting at the upper left corner of the rear panel you will find the DC input terminals. 13.8VDC - #12 AWG or greater power cord should be used for 100W operation. The far left connector is a BNC type used for 100W Power Amplifier Antenna Connector. (This antenna connector is used for all bands if the 100W amplifier is installed). The connector located toward the top center of the rear panel is an Auxiliary Input Connector for an optional External Reference Oscillator.

The far right hand BNC type connector is to used if the 100W amplifier is not installed. (When installed, this connector is in parallel with the amplifier input circuit.) On the right hand upper corner there are two connectors used for Two Meter transverter, transmit and receive.

The connector under the BNC connector is used for Earth (RF) ground. The lower right hand side of the rear panel houses the external control connector, D type, as well as the Parallel Port Connector, which connects to the PC parallel port. The option SDR-USB USB-to-Parallel Adapter connects to this port.

The smaller connectors across the center right side of the panel are CW/paddle connector, line output (speaker output) on sound card, high impedance output for amplified speaker or headset, line to sound card, and microphone input on sound card.

SDR 1000D Front View (Hardware)

On bench in the shack, is my Flex Radio model 1000D. As you can see, a very clean front panel! The power switch is located in the upper left corner, under the logo. The power switch is a standard rocker type, which controls the main power to the hardware.

Just below the power switch is a 7 pin male microphone connector. The plan here is to use a short "home brew" adapter cable so I can interface a Heil Model PR40 using a standard balanced XLR cable from the microphone.

On the right hand side of the front panel, is the grill work and filter used keep air circulating over the circuit boards which are located directly behind the filter. The circuit boards are mounted horizontally, which helps give the cabinet a lower profile and provides plenty of room for the circuitry. ( The film container is an option ! )

The cabinet measures approx, 4"h x 10"w x 9.5"d. This makes the hardware easy to make fit in almost any place in the shack, keeping in mind that there is a fair amount of cabling between the radio and the PC.

SDR Front Console Display Part 2

Here is a sample of the software display that controls the functions of the radio. This sample was taken from the Flex 1000D operating manual.

As you can see, each of the functions are numbered, each function will be review as we go through the operation of the Power SDR Software.

When the software is loaded and operational, moving the PC mouse over any of the functions will give a brief description of the control.

If you click on the SDR Console displace above you will see that each field is numbered. The numbered fields will be used to describe the function of each, starting with #1.

(1) VFOA (Variable Frequency Oscillator) (A) -This VFO is the main tuning VFO for the radio. The frequency area is a simple text box and may be edited as such (click and drag, highlighting, etc.) Entering a numeric character (without any mouse interaction) is also a good way to change your frequency quickly. The underlined digit will show visually the digit that will be tuned when hovering over the frequency display with the mouse cursor.

The Band text information underneath the frequency gives the general information about the FCC Amateur bands as well as the Short Wave bands and WWV. If not on a recognized frequency, the text box will display "Out Of Band". If not in the Amateur Band, the text background will change from black to gray. This information is only a lookup in a database and has no bearing on the current operating mode.

(2) TUNING CONTROL -VFO lock keeps the frequency from being changed inadvertently. This is a handy feature to use while in a QSO to keep from accidentally losing the frequency due to clicking in the wrong area or hitting the wrong key on the keyboard.

The TUNE STEP - This displays the current tuning rate for using the mouse wheel (or Ctrl+Up/Down Arrow) to tune the radio. Rotating the mouse wheel away from you will increase the frequency by the step rate, click while rotating the mouse wheel toward you will decrease the frequency. You can change the Tune Step by clicking either of the -or+ buttons, clicking the mouse wheel button (or using Ctrl+Left/Right Arrow).

The SAVE button quickly saves a frequency, mode and filter. The saved frequency is shown in the box to its left. The RESTORE button restores the most recently saved frequency(displayed), mode and filter.

THE FOLLOWING DATA WAS UP-DATE AS OF 26 APR 09

(3) VFO B - Is similar to VFO A. However, VFO B is used only in specific instances. When operating split (SPLT button under VFO B determines the transmit frequency for (both VFO B and the frequency are displayed in red). When activating the second receiver (if installed) (Sub RX button under Sub RX, VFO B determines the second receiver frequency, which is displayed in yellow. Otherwise it can be used as a storage area to copy VFO data to and from VFO A.

(4) MULTIMETER - The mulitmeter function is another way of feeding information back to the user. The two drop down boxes at the top offer an independent selection of RX and TX multimeter options.

The text display below the meter selection shows the digital data for either the receiver or the transmitter. The display at the bottom of the multimeter section shows the data graphically as an edge meter. A bar graph display can be selected instead.

RX METER - Signal (Signal Level): Calculates the true RMS power in dBm of the current signal within the passband.

Sig Avg - (Signal Average): Calculates the true RMS power in dBm of a time-averaged signal within the passband.

ADC L (Analog To Digital Left): Calculates the level in dBFS (decibel full scale) of the Left input from the sound card.

ADC R ( Analog To Digital Right): Calculates the level in dBFS (decibel full scale) of the Right input from the sound card.

OFF: Used for debugging purposes or to save CPU cycles on slower machines.

Amateur Radio Missionary Service (ARMS)

ARMS, call sign KA2RMS is a national group of fellow "ham operator" believers, who know and love the Lord as their personal Savior. Check out the web site for more information. Gal. 6:10 As we therefore have opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially those who are of the household of faith.

Flex Radio Part 1 - Page 2

The first truly Open Source Software Defined Amateur Radio Transceiver. The SDR -1000 as well as the other newer model products in the Flex line, 1500, 3000, 5000A and 5000D all define the modulation waveforms in software (SDR). Keep in mined that that most traditional analog radios are fixed in capability for all time. Since all the functionality is hard wired in the radio, there is little ability to upgrade.

Many more modern radios add proprietary digital signal processing (DSP) chips to traditional analog radio architecture to provide signal processing functions with rather limited or little capability to upgrade.

The Flex Radio SDR-1000 was the first open source software, amateur radio transceiver to incorporate the scalable DSP performance of a personal computer (PC) and sound card to perform all modulation, demodulation, and control functions of the radio.

If you take a good hard look at the technology today, you will see that the general purpose PC architecture, now vastly outperforms even the best of the proprietary (DSP) chips, always keeping in mine that the SDR allows for upgrades as new improvements come along with no hardware changes. The SDR 1000D which I currently have and use, has had at least 5 0r 6 software upgrades with no changes to hardware, except for performance! The upgrades are as simple as going to the Flex Radio web site and downloading the newest version of software to a thumb drive, which is the process that works for me, as I can download my upgrades regardless of were I might be!

The other aspect of technology that has driven SDR capabilities, is the professional audio market with constant and significant improvements in sound card technology. This is one of the major advantages of these trends as they provide upgradeable hardware performance through software improvements.

In the next part of this series, we will look at how almost ever function is done in software. Then we will look at the SDR-1000D physical hardware and the functions of the hardware components.

Flex Radio System Part 1

For those of you who enjoy technology, I believe you will find this post interesting, informative and maybe even fun, as you learn a bit about a new communications technology called; Flex Radio!

There has been just a ton of articles generated about Flex Radio, or as it is also called (SDR)Software Defined Radio. One of the things I would like to do in this post, is to define Flex Radio and how it is used. So lets start with with a definition, What is Flex Radio or Software Defined Radio ? It is a collection of hardware and software technologies that enables a reconfigurable system architecture for use in wireless communications. This definition is taken for the 2007 Data Sheet on one of the SDR radio system, the SDR-1000 which was the original Flex Radio hardware developed.

This type architecture provides an efficient and comparatively priced solution to the problem of building a multi-mode, multi-band, and multi-function communications devise that can be enhanced using software upgrades.

The SDR 1000 which was developed from Flex Radio Systems, of Austin, Tx., is the system which I will be using throughout this series of posts. SDR 1000 is the actual hardware component of a complete (SDR) Software Defined Radio transceiver which is then interfaced to a Windows based Personal Computer. The SDR 1000 provides everything that is needed to convert a PC into a high performance, 11khz-65Mhz general coverage receiver with 160meter to 6meter (2meter optional) Amateur Radio band transmit capability.

Ok, here we go, as we are going to look at some really technical terminology. As we go along we will define the terms which we will use here and in later parts of the series. The SDR -1000 incorporates a "novel" Quadrature Sampling Detector (QSD) which provides a high dynamic range with minimal components. An Analog Devise AD9854 quadrature DDS and 200Mhz 1ps jitter clock oscillator provides continuous coverage with a very low phase nosie. The SDR-1000
will deliver 100watts PEP (40watts continuous) on the 160meter-10meter (50watts on 60meters) HF bands with the optional SDR-100watt PA linear amplifier.

The combination of the (QSD), quadrature Sampling Detector and the (DSP) Digital Signal Processing, produces a transceiver that has superior performance over conventional radios and easily upgraded with new software features provided at no additional cost. Receiver dynamic range and selectivity are in the top performance class of all amateur radio transceivers.

Before we go any further, just let me say that there are several models of SDR systems. The Flex 1000 is no longer produced. The newest model is the (1) Flex 1500 which will be available early this year. (2) Flex 3000, (3) Flex 5000A, and (4) Flex 5000C. Each of these will be reviewed later.

Table of Radio Frequencies

Ok, as promised, here are the classifications of radio frequencies developed in a simple table, giving the Classification, Abbreviation and the Range of each frequency band.

Classification Abbreviation Range

1.) Very Low Freq. vlf or VLF 10-30khz/second

2.) Low Freq lf or LF 30-300khz/second

3.) Medium Freq mf or MF 300-3,000khz/second

4.) High Freq hf or HF 3,000-30,00khz/second

5.) Very High Freq vhf or VHF 30-300mhz/second

6.) Ultra High Freq uhf or UHF 300-3,000mhz/second

7.) Super High Freq shf or SHF 3,000-30,00mhz/second

8.) Extremely High Freq ehf or EHF 30,00-300,000mhz/second

Note: K = 1000 or Kilohertz
M= 1000000 or Megahertz
HZ= Hertz or cycles

Each of these frequency bands are used for different types of communications. Example: The high frequency (HF) portion from 3,000 to 30,000khz, is where the Amateur Radio operations are permitted, based on the type or class of licence each station holds. There are also different classes of station licences which determine what portion of a particular band that each station may operate in. More on this subject in a later session.

Welcome To The Studio of WA3UVP

Thanks for visiting with me at my AmateurRadio Station, call sign WA3UVP, issued by the FCC, Federal Communications Commission. My station was licenced in 1971 and I have been active in "ham" radio for most of the time between 1971 and 2009.



For those of you who might be visiting of a non-technical nature, let me explain the meaning of RF in the Title section of my Blog. RF is short for Radio Frequency. If your wondering what Radio Frequency means, Webster defines it as follows: A frequency in the range within which radio waves may be transmitted from about 10khz/second to about 300,00mhz/second. A radio wave generated by a transmitter has a specific frequence which is determined by the operating band. There are several classifications of radio frequencies and we will get into those later.