Software defined radio sdr is a radio communication system in which the hardware components, such as mixer, amplifiers, and filters are implemented using a computer. Software defined radio kit tutorial build test softrock. As the soft rock sdr radios were being developed there was a separate usb to i2c adapter kit being sold by tony parks. I just got my softrock lite ii 30m reciever kit this past week and have been assembling it. Amateur radio hobbyist ve3mkc has been working on a project involving running a softrock sdr on a teensy 3. A long way has been traveled from that first moment to the present. Sdr is a particularly exciting technology and in previous posts ive focused on complex software like gnu radio and mainstream applications such as gsm. This has been a work in progress, as the author moved through an actual build.
How software radio technology might revitalize experimentation in amateur radio. Have a listen to rock music dedicated to the heart. Software defined radio sdr technology brings the flexibility, cost efficiency and power to drive communications forward, with widereaching benefits realized by service providers and product developers through to end users. Ham radio kits built radios enclosures ham radio, electronics, kits, softrock radio. Sdr is a particularly exciting technology and in previous posts ive focused on complex software like gnu radio and mainstream applications. The basic concept is to use the r390a as a high performance front end for a software defined radio sdr if receiver. Picastar transceiver, the softrock sdr kit, and starter. Listed under the manufacturerssoftware defined radio category that. Software defined radio sdr is a radio communication system where components that have been typically implemented in hardware e. Above all there seems to be a clarity to the signals and perhaps that is because the bandwidth may be a bit wider. Soft rock radio the station for classic soft rock from america, bob seger, eric clapton, fleetwood mac, james taylor and more.
The basic technology of it is sound, but there are some things that can be improved. Introducing softrock ensemble a software defined radio. Running pebble sdr on a softrock vhf 2 meter radio. Just a short video to show the completed softrock ensemble ii software defined receiver kit in operation in the ham shack. Software defined radios, radio whose channel modulation waveforms are defined in software category is a curation of 72 web resources on, softrock sdr interest group, softrock sdr and six meters. With an upconverter, good antenna, and decoding software the rtlsdr software defined radio can receive and decode drm signals. I also used the nonsdr yaesu ft450d which is a midlevel modern ham radio transceiver as a baseline comparison on the 15. A number of definitions can be found to describe software defined radio, also known as.
Sdr basic literature a nice beginning are some of the articles is the link below. I will hopefully soon have a 40 meter receiver plugged into my computer from these tiny bags of parts. No need for device drivers and for applications to support a range of different hardware. That is the beauty of using sdr technology is that you get a lot of high end signal processing out of the sdr software, allowing inexpensive radio hardware perform at a much higher level. It has been almost 30 years since sdr was first introduced. This, written for the attiny861 and a rxtx enabled four of that chips pins to output a signal for each of the softrocks four. A short history of softwaredefined radio sdr technology. Listen to soft rock radio stations for free iheartradio. It provides superior audio quality compared to am signals by using digital audio encoding. Notwithstanding i do have several sdr kit radios including several softrocks and the omnia based on the peaberry and even one that uses a softrock with a raspberry pi. Software defined radio american radio relay league. An r390a provides the rf amplifiers, tracking filters, mixers, hfo, vfo, wide if filter and if amplifier stages and the softrock sdr setup takes over from there providing the final if filter bandwidth, detectors, agc if.
Because of the wide variety of soundcards, computers, operating systems and the way they are setup there can be no simple do it like this instructions. As of january 1, 2020, radionomy will migrate towards the shoutcast platform. Classic 70s southern california albumoriented rock. The original softrock40 was a small, lowcost, good performing 40meter software defined radio receiver that plugs into a computer usb port and delivers iq audio signals to the computers sound card. With tony parks kb9yig on softrock softwaredefined ham radio. Softwaredefined radio sdr is not a new technology anymore. This page is basically a summary of the techniques required. For more information on softrock software defined ham radio, visit and happy bee surf by kev. Softrock is a term for a software defined radio sdr which consists of three major building blocks. You will see your recently played soft rock tracks here. Completed softrock ensemble ii sdr receiver kit on air. Setting sail on a sea of smooth yacht rock grooves. Friends and fans react kobe bryant and daughter gigi dead due to helicopter crash huey lewis unable to sing, perform due to debilitating hearing loss music, radio and podcasts, all free. Shoutcast has been a leader throughout the world in digital radio.
In particular the a software defined radio for the masses articles by gerald. The teensy is a tiny microcontroller board that uses a 32bit arm processor and the softrock sdr is a hf only software defined radio kit ve3mkc wrote code to first digitize then multiply the signal with a digital vfo before finally applying a low pass filter. Basic principles and applications advances in electronics, wireless communications circuits, and reusable and modular programming techniques. A softwaredefined radio for the masses by gerald youngblood, ac5og this series describes a complete pcbased, softwaredefined radio that uses a sound card and an innovative detector circuit.
The term softrock is used for the software defined radio sdr system that uses softrock ensemble. This is the first of two posts which take a look at the relatively simple and easy to construct softrock softwaredefined radio sdr that is designed for hf amateur radio use. The line began with the softrock 40 rx and went through several iterations of receivers. X 2 board representing the culmination of a long line of softrock sdr receivers from tony parks, kb9yig. For more information on softrock softwaredefined ham radio, visit and happy bee surf by kev. T1 toroid ft307 34 turns with 17 turns bifilar on top, all with red wire.
A short tutorial is given on each subcircuit as it is being. All smt components are mounted on the bottom of the board. Softwaredefined radio sdr is a radio communication system where components that have been typically implemented in hardware e. The softrock lite ii, the sequel to the sr lite v6. Love music romantic, tender and sweet music for those times when the heart wants what it wants. The greatest hit music of all time, with a 70s and 80s focus. Other interest are photography, computer programming, and. As an example the softrock sdr splits the rf signal into two signals with 180 phase difference. Softrock ensemble rx tx vs alinco djx11 ham radio science. Of course there are still a lot of arguments against sdr, you probably have heard most of them. Simple, very affordable sdr receivers like softrock make experimenting with this new technology easy and fun. Your source for softrock radio kits softrock rxtx ensemble transceiver kit the softrock rxtx ensemble transceiver kit provides a 1 watt sdr transceiver that can be built for one of the following five band groups.
My impressions were that the yaesu with a bit of digital noise reduction did a bit better on. Softrockradio plays a unique mix of singersongwriter based classic soft rock along with some other classics from the 70s, 80s and a touch of the 90s. Softwaredefined radio sdr is a radio communication system where components that have. Today, both sdr software 14, 15 and hardware 16 are available at very low prices in fact. It was designed by tony parks, kb9yig and bill tracey, kd5tfd as an sdr sampler project for hams everywhere to easily try out software. I considered the needs of these projects with the hope of some degree of unity or compatibility. This video shows the build and test of a softrock lite ii software defined radio sdr kit. Digital radio monodial radio is a type of digital shortwave radio signal that is used by international shortwave radio broadcasters. There appears to be no shortage of software for amateur radio use, and the great thing about sdr which simply uses a pc sound interface is that if you dont like the feature set or look and feel of one application you can just swap it for another. This site has information concerning the softrock software defined radios created and kitted by tony parks kb9yig. This is a great way to start for a modest investment in time and money. Thanks to all that have answered my plea for assistance. Good times star janet dubois dead at 74 james taylor to celebrate american standard with iheartradio icons show hayden panettieres bf arrested after allegedly punching her in the face chat about soft rock.
Modern rock a sonic snapshot of the sounds of rock and roll for the modern era. Building the softrock sdr posted by andrew back on thu, dec 20 2012 09. The songs played here are the ones youll undoubtedly remember. My name is cecil bayona, my main hobby is ham radio. Other interest are photography, computer programming, and design of electronic equipment. The format is modeled after classic radio stations that existed up until the early 80s that emphasized singersongwriter acoustic and rock based songs and artists, like those listed above. Radionomy soft rock radio love free online radio station.