Up next on the bench is going to be a measurement receiver. I've decided that life is too short for the 9850 board right now and will regroup later on the project. I have a couple of ideas but I want to get going on the measurement receiver.

The latest firmware for my SNA has the added functionality of a spectrum analyzer and the measurement receiver is required to facilitate that functionality. This will be a great addition and something lacking in the shack.

Originally I was going to produce my own boards, but when I found out Jim, N5IB, had a couple of boards still available, I decided that time would be better spent on other endeavors and use the ones he had from the original run.

I have some parts on hand and some on order from eBay and Digikey. So it will likely be another 3 weeks before all the parts are on hand but I can get started pretty much right away.

Jerry, W5JH designed this project based on information in EMRFD.  Should be interesting to look through EMRFD and see the basis of the project.

Here's the schematic and pictures of the 2 boards:

73, Peter

Starting off the New Year Right.

It’s been a while since my last posting and not a lot was happening in the shack these last several weeks. That should change now that the Christmas is over. 

I’ve updated my SNA to the latest version and that is going drive the building of a couple of boards to facilitate the latest abilities. Example, a spectrum analyzer.  

As well I’ve ordered the latest BitX 40 board that I think will be a lot of fun to get up and running and most defiantly looking forward to hacking into it.

I still want to play around with a new mixer circuit for the LBS rig and who knows what else with that rig.  I should try to get another contact with it as well.  After all the hours spent working on it, I should have more than one qso.

Another project on the books or at least in my head is to do some ionospheric experiments. The nvis methodology and an interest in propagation is the driving force here. Well the technical challenge is high on the list as well.  With the sunspots now low and for the next while, it’s a good time to learn.

There are a few of us getting prepared to develop a sweep generator based either on the DDS60, Si5351, or possibly the AD9850 board. I don’t really need one, but I think it will be fun and a good challenge to take on.  A good way to learn a little more about coding, specifically with the Arduino.

I had done a fair bit of experimenting with the AD9850 board a couple of years ago to some good success. Of course looking for and going over my notes from back then has shown me a serious problem with my documentation.  Yet again another project I’m doing that could have used the information all ready completed, if done properly, would have come in handy.  Oh well.

The thing I remember from those earlier experiments was how easy it was to get the board up and running and modifying code to suit the requirements.  Too bad those successes didn’t continue to now.  Using both the Nano and Duemilanove boards, and 2 different 9850 boards, I could not get it to work. In fact I used the same Arduino, 9850, and code that I had used successfully previously. The only thing yet to try is an earlier version of the compiler. I’ve been using the latest version available today and that is the only difference other than my age.  See what happens next trip to the shack.

73, Peter