[SMCARA] Has anyone played with one of these?

Tue Apr 28 09:47:00 EDT 2015

I found a chipset (2 chips each the size of a pinky finger nail or
smaller) That combines an audio interface / USB to serial interface in
to one chip. The second ship is the codec. I found that digikey sells
the programmable oscillators for $13 each and has them in stock. Now I
have a bunch in stock. I have replaced the small 8 pin microprocessor
with a bigger one to allow me to control which filters are active based
on the set frequency. The processor also communicates with the
oscillator to set the operating frequency. I found on ebay solid state
relays supper inexpensive and I have a bunch on order from china. The
solid state relays are silent and can be controlled via the
micro-controller I have swapped in. I have left the mixer alone as I
find that to be an ingenious way to get the computer generated signals
to the RF portion of the board. The control and audio circuitry is down
from 20-ish components and 4 cables going to the computer to about 8 and
one cable going to the computer. Now it is the RF side of the board that
I have to finish up. It is a bit challenging because I want it to be a
multi-band QRP transceiver and I want to make sure what I design does
not splatter all over the spectrum on transmit. If I can get the filters
right then I might consider a little more power say 20 to 25 watts but
the goal right now is at least 5 watts.

Here is the board I am re-designing:
http://fivedash.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=7

Dan - KB3UUN    

On Tue, 2015-04-28 at 11:22 +0000, Grant Farrand wrote:
> Very cool project Dan!
> 
> 
> Keep us posted on how it works out.
> 
> 
>  
> 73 
> 
> and.... In God We Trust !!! 
> 
> Grant Farrand 
> 
> gmfarrand at yahoo.com 
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> 
> ______________________________________________________________________
> From: Daniel Metcalf <kb3uun at gmail.com>
> To: Carlos <cvela90 at hotmail.com> 
> Cc: smcara at mailman.qth.net 
> Sent: Monday, April 27, 2015 7:20 PM
> Subject: Re: [SMCARA] Has anyone played with one of these?
> 
> 
> I  am designing an sdr board that is a redesign of the ensemble II
> rxtx. My
> design uses much fewer components with a combined control and audio
> interface and I am trying for at least 5 watts output with at least
> all HF
> bands. I may try to sneak in 2m if I can. I have been considering
> changing
> the board layout to make it a daughter board for a single board
> computer to
> make it an all in one box. From what I have seen the Beagle Bone Black
> and
> Raspberry Pi don't have the horsepower to do everything it would need
> to in
> order for it to be effective.
> 
> I sent an email out today about filter design because that is where I
> am in
> the design process.
> 
> Dan -- KB3UUN
> On Apr 27, 2015 4:39 PM, "Carlos Velazquez" <cvela90 at hotmail.com>
> wrote:
> 
> > Can't say I have but I'm wondering what are you trying to do that
> makes
> > you think you need that much extra power.
> >
> > Are you looking to run it as a generic computer or actually have a
> > bottleneck you are trying to solve?
> >
> > Carlos
> >
> > Sent from my 📲
> >
> > > On Apr 27, 2015, at 4:31 PM, smcara-request at mailman.qth.net wrote:
> > >
> > > Message: 3
> > > Date: Mon, 27 Apr 2015 14:45:13 -0400
> > > From: Daniel Metcalf <kb3uun at gmail.com>
> > > To: "smcara at mailman.qth.net" <smcara at mailman.qth.net>
> > > Subject: [SMCARA] Has anyone played with one of these?
> > > Message-ID: <1430160313.4812.7.camel at ZEUS>
> > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
> > >
> > > Here is a nifty single board computer that has incredible specs.
> > > Quad-core 1.6Ghz processor, 2GB Ram, 8Gb on-board storage with the
> > > ability use uSD card to go to 128GB. It also has built in Wifi and
> > > ethernet. Capable of either Linux and or Android OS.
> > >
> > >
> >
> http://www.dx.com/p/radxa-rock-rk3188-quad-core-arm-cortex-a9-development-board-black-311898#.VT6AdScVhBc
> > >
> > > I am thinking this could handle some of my Digital IO applications
> > > better than Raspberry Pi or Beagle Bone Black. I am looking to
> hear if
> > > anyone has played with one before to get an opinion before I buy.
> > >
> > > Dan - KB3UUN
> > ______________________________________________________________
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