Black Box output characterization of CD2003 DCR receiver

Circuit: DDX-Commercial-7 Antenna: Small jumper cable attached 10m: 36 dB on WSJT-X audio meter, on quiet and also with nearby beacon on !!! 12m: 36 dB on audio meter, on quiet and also with nearby beacon on !!! 15m: 46 dB on audio meter on quiet, 65 dB with nearby beacon on - OK 20m: 44 dB on quiet, 65 dB with beacon on - OK 40m: 40 dB on quiet, 60 dB with beacon on - OK ...

September 21, 2025 · 1 min · 213 words · Dhiru Kholia

WSPR Decoding Challenges

The https://github.com/rxt1077/wspr_spread work is pretty awesome. It helped us debug why our TCXO-powered-WSPR beacon was pretty decent on 4m band but flaky on 2m. Doppler shift value on 70 MHz: ... 70.0924994 VU3CER MK68 23 0 0.29 1 1 0 1 44 1 810 0.517 Now see the problem on 144 MHz: ... 144.4905417 VU3CER MK68 23 -3 0.12 1 1 0 1 39 1 810 0.865 Pretty all over the place! ...

September 21, 2025 · 1 min · 96 words · Dhiru Kholia

WSPRing on higher bands

Our WSPR beacon design works fine even on the 4m band (~70 MHz) . The key is to use a 25 MHz high-quality TCXO, like the 25 MHz HCI 0.5ppm TCXO! 2m WSPR is still out of reach for now - see the following sporadic decodes. Of course, the next challenge is to get 2m WSPR beacons working 100% reliably at a low cost. ...

August 30, 2025 · 1 min · 86 words · Dhiru Kholia

Initial success with cost-effective 6m WSPR + 2m FT8 beacons

Our 6m WSPR beacon design works fine now. The key is to use a 25 MHz high-quality TCXO, like the 25 MHz HCI 0.5ppm TCXO! 2m WSPR is still out of reach for this VFO design - see the following drifty screenshots: While WSPR is no bueno, 2m FT8 works pretty fine! Of course, the next challenge is to get 2m WSPR beacons working at a low cost. ...

August 16, 2025 · 1 min · 72 words · Dhiru Kholia

Ideas for a 6m WSPR beacon

I am posting an early design sketch of a 6m WSPR beacon. Here are the key points: 25 MHz HCI 0.5ppm TCXO powering the Si5351 module instead of the 26 MHz TCXO. If this fails, we can use a 10 MHz OCXO instead (a bit out of spec but works fine). Tokmas CID10N65F GaN FET should work @ 50 MHz TI UCC27614 or Onsemi NCP81074 gate driver Results: To be built and tested soon! ...

April 10, 2025 · 2 min · 247 words · Dhiru Kholia