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I’d been peripherally aware for a few weeks that some people had been doing clever things turning USB TV sticks into Software Defined Radios, but other than mentally noting it as something to look into when I got a moment, I’d done no more.

The critical moment came this afternoon when Richard G4WFR tweeted that he’d been having some fun over the weekend with one of the sticks. I quickly asked him which USB stick he’d used, which he told me was a Newsky TV DVB stick (eBay number 110898287043). The critical thing is that the USB stick must have the RTL2832U chip & E4000 tuner in it. Managed to order one of those sticks for £13 including postage, so I’m looking forward to it arriving.

Richard is using the SDRSharp (SDR#) software which can be downloaded at http://www.sdrsharp.com/index.php/downloads – although I think I have seen people using other software. Richard mentions that a special driver for the USB stick is required, which can be downloaded from this site, rather than the supplier USB driver.

Richard mentions that he is getting coverage between about 60MHz and 1.7GHz with useful sensitivity. If I can do the same, I’ll be happy. Once it arrives, I’ll have a go at hooking it up and see what mischief I can get up to with it.

More soon.

Richard G4WFR has just put together some notes on his experiments so far, which look very useful

I started the afternoon by working K2I, the 13 Colonies Special Event station for New Jersey, who turned out to be located in Greenbrook, New Jersey – all of about two towns over. Go figure!

The I turned the radio off and concentrated on the K3 build.  Not known for my prowess in being able to walk and chew gum at the same time, I figured it was better if I avoided any HF distractions.

The KX3 and K3 builds are amazingly similar in some ways.  The manuals are well thought out as always – this has become an Elecraft “standard”.  The build starts off by attaching 2D fasteners to the main or RF Circuit Board.  The chassis and housing are literally built up around this all important circuit.

From there, things get added, like the filters.  I have the standard 2.7Khz 5 pole filter and the 8 pole 400 Hz roofing filter.

These just go onto their edge connectors and then are secured by a screw and lock washer.  For the various modes and bands, there’s space for up to five filters. I only have the two installed.

Next came the low power Power Amplifier board.  This occupies the big hole you see in the upper center of the first photo.

As far as this K3 goes, that’s it.  This will be a QRP version, so whatever I get out of this circuit is what I will be sending out to the world.

The next step is to start adding sides, and now this is beginning to look more like what you’d expect a radio to look like.

Installing the Auto Tuner came next.  That in itself was easy. it just plugs into the main RF Circuit and is secured by hardware.

The hard part was getting the SO239 connectors plugged in.  As you can see in the close up below, there are wires that get plugged into two brass sockets on the auto tuner board.  The one wire slid into the socket on the left as smooth as butter.  The one on the right was way more picky. I had to make sure the alignment of pin with socket was perfect.  Then, and only then, did it go in – and even that took some effort.

It is looking more and more like a real radio.  And at this point, this is where I chose to stop for the night. I have put in about four hours worth of work so far.  Tomorrow night, if I am not exhausted after work, I will begin work on the front panel.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

Read all about it and apply for your FOBB number here:

http://www.ARSqrp.blogspot.com

Thanks to Rich Fisher KI6SN and the Adventure Radio Society for keeping this fun Summertime QRP tradition going!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

In the middle of last week, I thought it would be nice to have some time off, climb some hills and sit by some rivers. These sorts of places help me to relax.

Yesterday, I went up White Horse Hill which is located on the Ridgeway and about 10 miles or so south east of Swindon or around 12 miles from here. I took the UV-5R and also the Palstar KH-6 50MHz portable. Sadly nothing was heard on the KH-6. I think without a proper 50MHz antenna it is rather deaf! A few CQ calls on 145MHz didn’t yield any contacts although I heard GB6AFD a special station for Armed Forces Day in Nuneaton, an M6 in Frankley (Birmingham) and a GW6 who was on a hilltop – sadly I couldn’t attract his attention before he packed up and went home!

On 433MHz though, I called CQ on 433.500 and was surprised to be called by Stewart G0LGS in Cheltenham. We had a nice QSO although being a blustery day, I could not face the correct direction and avoid wind noise! Once I’d worked Stewart I signed and tuned around a little and came across Des G0RBD in Chippenham. We were able to have a QSO. Des asked if I had my D-STAR radio as he wondered if it would be possible to work. I didn’t have it, but promised that if I had the chance to go up the hill the next day (Sunday) then I would.

I got my jobs out of the way and set off for the hill around 1115 this morning. As I was driving to the hill, I spoke with Des on GB3TD our local 433MHz repeater. I parked up and started to climb the hill. I quickly heard Des calling CQ on 144.6125 the DSTAR simplex frequency. I responded straight away but he didn’t seem to copy. I was conscious that he was running more power than me, so to get a better signal I needed more height!

Once I had climbed about 30 feet or so, Des started to hear me with some digital breakup (R2D2). We exchanged reports but I kept climbing. As I approached the ramparts of Uffington Castle Des report that my signal was solid with no breakup. Once I got to the very top, Des was end stop and he reported me as S6-7. Signals were good enough that we thought we would try 430MHz. Des called me on 438.6125 the DSTAR simplex frequency. Signals were excellent and perhaps a little stronger than on 144MHz. We then thought we would reduce power. I could hear Des with solid signals with him running the lowest power his IC9100 would go, around 2W and he was able to hear me with just a little R2D2 on the SuperLow setting on the E92.

Fascinating results and we are now keen to try over some longer paths on DSTAR and see what we can do. Thanks Des for the suggestion and a lot of fun!

Before coming down the hill, I tried a CQ on 145.500 FM and was called by Paul G6UAJ in West Swindon. We had an interesting QSO and Paul mentioned that he was returning to the hobby after about a 12 year break. His prime interest is microwaves and in particular 10 and 24GHz. I promised I would try and put him in touch with people active on the higher bands.

A nice couple of portable sessions and it was great to watch the views across the valley and the rainclouds scurrying by to the north.

I found myself in Santa Fe, NM, for Field Day this year to attend a conference. As I have shared before, I have mixed feelings about Field Day, but this was a genuinely good time.  I first checked ARRL’s Field Day finder map and the local club’s web site for activity.  Zilch. So, I remembered staying at the Fort Marcy Hotel Suites on several previous visits to Santa Fe.  These condos are up on a hill overlooking town.  Across the street is Hillside Park, with a couple of scraggly trees that might be suitable for antennas.

Instead of bringing the “usual” portable station, I brought a Small Wonder Labs SW-40, a K1EL K12 memory keyer (assembled especially for this trip), Palm Mini paddles, a 40-meter dipole, and a AA battery pack.  The whole station took up less space in my luggage than my notebook computer and set up in 15 minutes.  I got the dipole center about 4-5 meters off the ground and the ends sloped down to about 2-3 meters high…just enough to allow cars and small trucks to pass under them in the parking lot.  Apologies for the photographs…they were taken with my cell phone (which is a regular old “dumb” phone).

The SW-40 did not appear to be transmitting correctly when I first hooked everything up.  So, I pulled the cover off (packing a Leatherman tool is another good reason to check a bag) and wiggled some wires around until it fired up.  Not an auspicious sign.

But, I did manage to operate for about an hour and make 12 or 15 QSOs.  They’re logged in a notebook, but I haven’t looked at it since making the contacts.  Virtually every QSO was a struggle.  Low power (1.5 watts), wrong band (20 meters would have been better), a low antenna, and the fact that I hadn’t used the SW-40 for any QSOs in over 10 years, conspired to make thing difficult.  Most operators pulled me right out once I was in the clear and zero beat (which I think was a serious challenge with the slightly drifty and definitely touchy SW-40).

My final QSO was with my old radio club from my college days, W8FT.  The operator was my good friend Bill, AD8P, who worked hard to pull me out once he got my call right.  After I packed up, I noticed that I had a missed call on my phone…sure enough it was from Bill.  So, I gave him a call and we talked for a couple of minutes.  “When he answered the phone, he said, `New Mexico?!?!  I told Kelsey (N8ET) that’s what I had copied.’”  We had a nice chat as I hiked back down the hillside into town and he pulled into his driveway after his FD shift.

I don’t think I’ve ever been so delighted with a Field Day effort of so few QSOs (except maybe my first Field Day, which was much more work for about twice the number of QSOs).  Including the walk from my hotel to the park, setup, tear-down, and operating, I think the whole exercise took about 3 hours, and was tremendously FUN.

Series Five Episode Fourteen of the ICQ Podcast has been released. News Stories include :-

• Vatican Radio: New Communications Strategies
• VK7RRR - Tasmania's First Public D-Star Repeater is On the Air!
• German radio hams gain access to 472-479 kHz
• Segment of 2m to be used for Olympics
• New Amateur Extra Class Question Pool effective
• Insurance scheme for UK Radio Amateurs
• Sending a message to Bletchley Park
• 10th Anniversary of OSCAR 7's Return To Life
• Students build Supercapacitor battery for next ARISSat
• Encouraging science, technology, engineering and mathematics
• ARRL Executive Committee Approves Resource Grants for 11 Schools
• 100 memory buttons and more for Flex PowerSDR
• Le Tour de France 2012 - GB4TDF

Ed Durrant, VK2ARE reports from Australia including an interview with VK2BAA, Worldwide Amateur / Ham Radio sailor.

2m on 1-7-2012 at 10:20z from DX Sherlock

Going on right now, on 2m. Why don’t we get such openings here?