Shipping hardware internationally is a hard, labor intensive, and overall a frustrating process - especially more so these days. Here is our plan to supply the DDX to customers: Make the hardware files free / low-cost. The users will be able to order fully assembled boards from JLCPCB or other vendors on their own. Required a small licensing fee for the software firmware part. This is how we get to keep the hobby self-sustaining! ...
I recently spotted the Tokmas CI7N170SM TO-247 part on LCSC. It seems like a pretty neat part for building non-QRP HF amplifiers! This could be a better part for our Baby QRO amplifier. Datasheet excerpts: The full datasheet is available here. In comparison, here is how a professional RF part (MRF300AN) looks like: That 272W maximum power dissipation figure is crazy good but switching characteristics are not that great (fast).
Here is the FT8 WAV test file. On an AMD64 machine: 1 second using the fast decode settings. We were able to get the MSHV's FT8 engine to work on Android, thanks to the work done by https://github.com/sannysanoff/SDRPlusPlusBrown folks. Around ~4.5 seconds to decode the same file. This is why we can't really have full-blown realtime FT8 decoder(s) on Android just yet! Idea: But we can surely use this full-blown FT8 decoder in our FT8 Decoder app which has no realtime requirements! ...
OCXO's are awesome - this is what I learned while trying to get WSPR working reliably on the 2m band. Here is all you need for reliable WSPR'ing on the 2m band: A RAW OCXO "can" works fine too! Note: This modded Si5351 board image comes from https://www.simonsdialogs.com site. Essentially we are modding the CLK2 output port to become an input port which accepts the OCXO's output signal. ...
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 ...
Note: This HF LNA design is inspired by Charlie Morris ZL2CTM's prior work. The idea that a single-transistor-preamp with 10 dB gain is more than enough for HF comes from Gajendra Kumar (VU2BGS). As a new "designer" I am often overwhelmed by the different possible design paths - so having guidance from an elmer becomes crucial. It seems even MMBT2222A should work for building a HF LNA! ...
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 spread 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 but we are operating on 2m - so probably expected for a 25 MHz TCXO based system! ...
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. ...
The usage of ready-made coupled inductors in RF designs was pioneered by Jim Veatch in his award-winning RF amplifier designs. For Baby-QRO applications, we can use Wurth 744851330 coupled inductor. For 5W / 10W RF amplifier applications, we can use Bourns SRF1260A-4R7Y coupled inductor. Recently we were able to utilize very cost-effective YJYCOIN YPRH1207C-4R7M Chinese coupled inductor with excellent results. With our current Digital Amplifier designs, this Chinese coupled inductor works even at ~75 MHz. ...
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 good, 2m FT8 works pretty fine! Of course, the next challenge is to get 2m WSPR beacons working at a low cost. ...