[Elecraft] SDR IQ/IF Questions

[Larry Phipps]

  Hi Geoffrey. I just read through your thread (I receive the reflector 
in digest mode). I didn't see one of your questions answered, so I will 
tackle it...

I'm not aware of any version of PowerSDR which works with SDR-IQ. The 
interface has to be a sound card. My favorite version of PowerSDR is the 
/IF version by Scott, WU2X. I have tried others like PowerSDR/IQ, but 
they are not as well integrated with the K3 or LP-Bridge.

A recent addition, on which I am a contributing developer, is TRX-Pan. 
It is much simpler and cleaner looking than PowerSDR/IF and integrates 
more tightly with the K3. In fact, more tightly than any other 
panadapter for the K3, I believe. You can read about it here, 
http://www.telepostinc.com/TRXP.html TRX-Pan does not provide 
demodulated audio as PowerSDR does, so it can't be used as a sub-rcvr, 
but it does display and track passbands for both VFOs very nicely. It's 
more like a P3 with huge screen and mouse control.

I wasn't aware that Quisk now supports Windoze. Leigh might have 
mentioned this and I just forgot. I will play with it when I have some 
time. Maybe it could be customized to the level that TRX-Pan is in terms 
of K3 / LP-Bridge integration.

Before deciding on a PC based solution versus a partial PC based 
solution versus a standalone solution, I would download and play with 
the programs that would be required for any of these. They are all 
available as a free download, although WU2X requests a donation to 
support PowerSDR/IF if you decide to go that route. You can set these up 
to control the rig and display noise from your sound card. This will 
help you decide if the PC approach is right for you.

73,
Larry N8LP



On 4/6/2011 5:11 PM, elecraft-request at mailman.qth.net wrote:
> Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2011 13:29:45 -0400
> From: "Geoffrey Wolf"<liltechdude13 at gmail.com>
> Subject: [Elecraft] SDR IQ/IF Questions
> To:<elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
> Message-ID:<000f01cbf480$39143d10$ab3cb730$@gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="us-ascii"
>
> Hello fellow SDR enthusiasts,
>
>
>
> I have looked around a little bit and haven't found a very definitive answer
> for the questions that I'm having about the way the K3 and external SDR
> equipment works.
>
>
>
> I've been looking into the LP-Pan which converts the IF output from the K3
> into (im guessing) audio signals which then are converted into digital data
> by a soundcard. The trouble I'm having is understanding what exactly I/Q is.
> > From what I understand, I/Q is digital data that software like CW Skimmer
> understands.
>
>
>
> Now, I've also been looking at the SDR-IQ which does all of this internally
> by taking the IF output from the K3 and converts it directly into digital
> data which is then ferried to the computer over USB, forgoing the need for
> an extra soundcard.
>
>
>
> Now, I've seen two versions of PowerSDR. I've seen PowerSDR/IF (looks more
> developed/supported), and PowerSDR-IQ. What is the difference?
>
>
>
> I suppose the summary question of this email is. can you use PowerSDR/IF
> with an SDR-IQ rather than an LP-Pan? I personally would rather buy an
> SDR-IQ and take that extra hardware stage (possible audio loss) out of the
> picture.
>
>
>
> Thanks!
>
>
>
> Geoffrey Wolf
>
> AB3LS - Amateur Radio Callsign
>
> University of Pittsburgh '14
>
> grw20 at pitt.edu
>
> liltechdude at me.com
>
> (412) 450-1310