Ramblings of yet another nerd…
OK, this update won’t have any videos… those will come shortly, so you’ll need to take my word for it. I learned a few things since the last post… so here goes… If I either flat display the BCD bytes or slow down and use the following code, the glitches go away, and the display …
Read More CI-V External VFO Control, Part 2
Many years ago, Sam, K9SD, added some interesting functionality to his Icom 781 radios – an external encoder wired in parallel to the VFO control. This may seem trivial, but his modification actually wired an encoder in parallel to the radio’s internal encoder. The benefit and beauty to this arrangement is that the radio could …
Read More CI-V External VFO Control, Part 1
after much work, I got the VX1700 interface working. It would appear that the connection convention is a bit strange. From the service manual, Data OUT on the Data Jack (6 pin mini-Din) should be connected to the computer’s speaker jack. This is how I had it wired originally. The Data IN jack was connected …
Read More Soundcard Interface Update
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