Ramblings of yet another nerd…
It was a fun contest – this year’s sweepstakes threatened to not be a sweep for me – then again, i didn’t put a serious effort into it. I used this event as a good trial for the station – computer, radio, soundcard interface… the works. One of the biggest challenges I have is antennas, …
Read More SDR# as a visual panadaptor
So, after much fussing and messing around with a rigblaster, I had had enough – I knew there must be a better way to interface to my FT1000. First, with the radio being rack mounted, cables routed around the back of the rig were a hassle to make look GOOD. Second, I didn’t want to …
Read More USB Soundcard Interface
OK, so everyone has their favorite type and installation method for RF connectors. While I’m not going to address everything, I’m going to describe my setup a bit, and the rationale I used for my decision. First off, I realize most equipment ships with UHF (or PL-259/SO-239) connectors. I don’t particularly care for these …
Read More Connectors… BNC, N, TNC, UHF, SMA… what?
The VX1700 is a fairly nice radio, but it has one shortcoming from a flexibility standpoint – the VFO is not enabled by default, nor is it a simple software operation. In order to enable VFO mode on the radio, a “CK-11” “field programming plug” is necessary. I’m sure there’s a reason for this, …
Read More VX-1700 VFO mode
After my last post on return loss, I ended up scouring eBay for a return loss bridge – or a set of directional couplers – to measure antennas and other frequency selective devices. After this search, I was reminded just how expensive directional couplers can be – especially HP and Narda. Fortunately, I happened …
Read More Return Loss, Part 2, or SDR VNA
I decided that it’s time to reconfigure the shack… this time using dispatch consoles. The main purpose is to limit the surfaces I can pile things on – and cut the clutter. This started when a couple of us stumbled across a set of 4 Motorola empty Centracom Series II consoles on www.govdeals.com. Since I …
Read More Shack Reboot
Several years ago, I modified a Softrock kit to operate at 455 kHz. The main purpose behind this build was to add the ability to connect it to a receiver’s IF output (if it operated at 455 kHz, which is a common IF output), and gain SDR operation – spectrum display, various modes, etc. This …
Read More BC 780XLT IF Tap
Several months ago, I stumbled upon an eBay special on VRS-750’s. I picked one up for $50 – at that price, it was worth having a backup on the shelf. Another guy picked one up, and it had a service tag on it indicating that it had a functional issue. Guess it was luck of …
Read More VRS 750 Interface Cable Build
One interesting aspect of the BCD-996 and similar radios is the digital command and status protocol. In digging into the software, I learned that there is a RSSI (Relative Signal Strength Indicator) included, which delivers a numeric value relative to the signal strength of a received signal. Given that I could command the radio …
Read More RSSI correlation
I previously added (as “comments” to my post on RS-232 to TTL cable) the fact that I had purchased some USB to TTL converters, intending to remove the middle man (RS-232) – and hopefully lighten my programming kit a little. The challenge to using these cables is that most radios use a single bi-directional line …
Read More A new take on the generic programming cable