Qso today episode 046 tony parks kb9yig softrock sdr. Your source for softrock radio kits softrock rxtx ensemble transceiver kit the softrock rxtx ensemble transceiver kit provides a 1 watt sdr transceiver that can be built for one of the following five band groups. As such, the kits are often out of stock but they are usually available on his tonys website with fairly quick turn around time. The softrock lite ii is a now fairly old soundcard based software defined radio kitset that is capable of receiving on the hf bands. The american radio relay league arrl is the national association for amateur radio, connecting hams around the u. Because here, i have listed the best sdr software defined radio kits available in the market today. Sdr radio transceiver flex, elecraft, cube, softrock. Welcome to the main soft rock software website, where you will find a variety of software mainly for computers running risc os, such as webchange, waituntil, quicksand, and more. If softrock is not available, rocky can be used to play back iq data recordings. Why not plunge into the wonderful world of software defined radio sdr. The teensy is a tiny microcontroller board that uses a 32bit arm processor and the softrock sdr is a hf only software defined radio kit that. These kits are for working amateur radio hf receivers and transceivers.
It was designed by tony parks, kb9yig and bill tracey, kd5tfd as an sdr sampler project for hams everywhere to easily try out software defined radio. Softrockrxtx48 software defined radio 4080m kit 4080m bands requires pc works in conjunction with soundcard on pc pcb size 88 x 63mm 3. However the lowcost nature and sheer simplicity of the softrock40 hardware, when combined with the incredible power provided through the powersdr software running on the. Share this information about these counterfeit ham radio equipment to other radio amateurs as not everyone knows about it. The early avr supplied with the softrock will work but is best replaced. Softrock ensemble rx tx vs alinco djx11 ham radio science.
The softrock format has gone through various redesigns in the last year or so, and has now appeared as a transceiver kit. Apr 19, 2014 over on youtube user mutezone has posted a video comparing the rtlsdr with upconverter against a softrock ensemble ii software defined radio. The most recent receiver was the ensemble rx ii with an automatically switched bandpass filter. Buy products related to software defined radio products and see what customers say about software defined radio products on free delivery possible on eligible purchases. Amateur radio hobbyist ve3mkc has been working on a project involving running a softrock sdr on a teensy 3. This site has information concerning the softrock software defined radios created and kitted by tony parks kb9yig. The softrock lite ii is a simple to build sdr receiver kit with a fixed center frequency to be used with a sound card that can sample at 96 khz, providing band coverage from 48 khz below the center frequency to 48 khz above the center frequency. Dec 20, 2012 building the softrock sdr this is the first of two posts which take a look at the relatively simple and easy to construct softrock software defined radio sdr that is designed for hf amateur radio use. The surest way to bring the gremlins out of any radio project is to carefully box it up. The finest receiver in the softrock series in my humble opinion.
Designed for the commercial, government, amateur radio and shortwave listener communities, this software provides a powerful interface for all sdr users. Describe your experience with the softrock qrp kit radio and tell us why you give it the rating you did required. Components are included for all four options and can be assembled at the builders choice. Other interest are photography, computer programming, and design of electronic equipment. Its a stellar performer with an mds of about 128 dbm and killer pc front panel.
All about software defined radio sdr this website is built with the web design platform and hosted on amazon web services. Get one of these and add some extra taste to your collection. Software defined radio resources ham radio science. Over on youtube user w2aew has uploaded a video showing the entire kitset build process for the softrock lite ii sdr radio. Building the softrock ensemble rxtx sdr radio ham radio science. The teensy is a tiny microcontroller board that uses a 32bit arm processor and the softrock sdr is a hf only software defined radio kit. If you still love listening the radio, then you may also love this post. The results were so good that they also brought their gold standard racal ra3791 to the game, and the results are surprising. I will hopefully soon have a 40 meter receiver plugged into my computer from these tiny bags of parts. Start with a simple kit, like an accessory for your ham radio station. Softrock rxtx48 software defined radio 4080m kitfrom. Completed softrock ensemble ii sdr receiver kit on. The softrock radios have been available as kits for several years and thousands have been built by amateurs and swl enthusiasts.
A short tutorial is given on each subcircuit as it is being. The hdsdr programs is used to process the i and q af signals from the sdr. Ham radio kits an introduction with list of manufacturers. This software supports radios from many manufacturers, all shown on this page. Softwaredefined radio sdr is a radio communication system where components that have been traditionally implemented in hardware e. The softrock40 represents a minimalist sdr design, meaning that it cannot compete with the designs of more complex software defined radios like the sdr from flex radio. This video shows the build and test of a softrock lite ii software defined radio sdr kit. I am currently building the softrock ensemble rxtx sdr transceiver kits from tony parks kb9yig. Various sdr boards and complete solutions are shown below. Rocky documentation in german, with translators comments, is available here tnx eike dm3ml. Ham radio kits built radios enclosures ham radio, electronics, kits, softrock radio. I have built this site to allow me to provide to hams worldwide the resuts of my labor of love, the documentation in a heathkit style of the construction of the several softrock softwaredefined radio sdr kits designed and distributed by my friend, tony parks.
Enter your email address below and we will notify you as soon as the product is available. This board did use the controller from sdr kits so the dg8saq software above also worked with it. Softrock40 the softrock40 is a small, lowcost, goodperforming software defined radio receiver that plugs into a computer usb port and delivers iq audio signals to the computers sound card. The softrock rxtx ensemble transceiver kit provides a 1 watt sdr transceiver that can be built for one of the following four band groups. I have built this site to allow me to provide to hams worldwide the resuts of my labor of love, the documentation in a heathkit style of the construction of the several softrock software defined radio sdr kits designed and distributed by my friend, tony parks.
The softrock40 is a small, lowcost, goodperforming software defined radio receiver that plugs into a computer usb port and delivers iq audio signals to the computers sound card. Building the softrock sdr this is the first of two posts which take a look at the relatively simple and easy to construct softrock softwaredefined radio sdr that is designed for hf amateur radio. The line began with the softrock 40 rx and went through several iterations of receivers. Ieee at my college helped me fund this little project. The softrock lite ii receiver kits are good kits to start with for someone with little or no experience at building kits with surface mount components. Look into the softrock lite ii project and the latest info on the softrock rxtx v6. I have built this site to allow me to provide to hams worldwide the resuts of my labor of love, the documentation in a heathkit style of the construction of the several softrock softwaredefined radio sdr kits. Software defined radio sdr is a radio communication system in which the hardware components, such as mixer, amplifiers, and filters are implemented using a computer. Softrock rx ensemble ii sdr kit build post by fruitloop. My interest in sdr was very much started off by the softrock receiver. The current focal point for the softrock series is the softrock40 yahoo group this is where you can find out more about the softrock, how to buy one, etc.
Simon brown hb9drv of ham radio deluxe fame asked me a while back if id help with building a softrock v9. Computer compatibility there are sdr radios to work with ios, linux, and windows operating systems. The kit includes the components to build it for one of the following bands. Jan 09, 20 the softrock lite ii, the sequel to the sr lite v6. Components are included for all five options and can be assembled at the builders choice. All the kits here are having topquality transmitting and receiving capabilities. For example, i purchased the softrock ensemble ii sdr from tony parks, kb9yig. The fava5 is a portable instrument, offering precise one port vector measurements up 600 mhz, with up to 40 hours battery life from 2 aa batteries at a very competitive price.
Links are included to go directly to their respective websites. This was a small and inexpensive kit initially being sold through the amqrp organisation from kits provided by tony, kb9yig. All smt components are mounted on the bottom of the board. As you know, the softrock 40 is a small and lowcost 40meter software defined radio receiver that plugs into a computer usb port and delivers iq audio signals to the computers sound card. This current kit is a refinement on that kit and further streamlines the kitting process for tony parks, the designer and supplier. Sdr transceivers and sdr transceiver kits will be shown in a table below. The softrock rxtx ensemble transceiver kit provides a 1 watt sdr transceiver that can be built for one of the following five band groups.
There are softrock kits available for the 160m, 80m, 40m, 30m, 20m and 10m bands. Completed softrock ensemble ii sdr receiver kit on air. Although it has a 10 watt output, elecraft doesnt describe it as a qrp transceiver, maybe because of the kxpa100 amp option. Softrock is a term for a software defined radio sdr which consists of three major building blocks.
This article provides a list of commercially available softwaredefined radio receivers. Comparisons with freds avr supplied by tony with the softrock and the sdr kits avr. However, on the latter page there is also a pirate copy of juma radio s pa100 100 watt hf linear amplifier. The softrock 40 is a small, lowcost, goodperforming software defined radio receiver that plugs into a computer usb port and delivers iq audio signals to the computers sound card. This site is the ultimate successor to my original sdr and other projects website. The softrock kits came into being in 2005 based on tony parks kb9yigs experience with an sdr software defined radio and the. Sdrplay software defined radio receiver 5,156 views. It is also a group of volunteers dedicated to the building of a pool of opensource software defined radio design information. Reproduction is allowed, there is no need to ask just copy. They provide an excellent venture into the world of software defined radios for those who want to explore it without forking over hundreds of dollars. I have built previous kits from tony park and elecraft and i would say this one is a real challenge. Unboxing the softrock rxtx amateur radio sdr transceiver kit. I just got my softrock lite ii 30m reciever kit this past week and have been assembling it.
A short tutorial is given on each subcircuit as it is being built and systematically tested. Software defined radios, radio whose channel modulation waveforms are defined in software category is a curation of 71 web resources on, softrock sdr interest group, softrock sdr and six meters. The tuning and demodulation and afc and other neat radio things happen in the software part of the software defined radio. Basically the advice is to use freds firmware for a softrock. When shopping for an affordable sdr radio on ebay, consider the following features. Softrockradio plays a unique mix of singersongwriter based classic soft rock along with some other classics from the 70s, 80s and a touch of the 90s. It is the magic of software that makes for the extraordinarily high selectivity in the direct conversion hardware which is notorious for great sensitivity but terrible selectivity.
The kit is bascially a simple downconverter, but combined with the right software, can become a very powerful radio receiver with a good antenna. It is a system in which hardware components are replaced with software. Best software defined radio sdr kit get all in one. That site had several limitations, chief among which was the fact that the pages on the site were static. Introducing softrock ensemble a software defined radio.
The softrock kitset is sold as an entrylevel introduction to the world of software defined radio. Dec 28, 2012 this is the first of two posts which take a look at the relatively simple and easy to construct softrock software defined radio sdr that is designed for hf amateur radio use. The kit came supplied with a single page schematic and a link to. Just a short video to show the completed softrock ensemble ii software defined receiver kit in operation in the ham shack. How to make your own satellite weather station extremetech. The wb5rvz software defined radio homepage has some information on the history of the softrock kits as well as what is currently available. Other useful information would include your experience with similar products, infomation on a product that you would purchase instead of this one, and so on. Software defined radio kit tutorial build test softrock. After a career in electronics engineering, tony parks, kb9yig, returned to ham radio, after thirty years, to find it very different than when he first started in the 1950s. Flex radio sdr 1500, sdr, and flex 5000a rf space sdriq with spectra view software tony parks, kb9yigs soft rock series of kits an sdr is not. Softrockrxtx48 software defined radio 4080m kit radioworld.
My name is cecil bayona, my main hobby is ham radio. The wa vhf group purchased a heap of these as a kit based project for group members. For each sdr we compare the cost, frequency range, adc resolution, maximum instantaneous bandwidth, whether or not it can tx and if it has any pre selectors. The term softrock is used for the software defined radio sdr system that uses softrock ensemble. Softrock rx ensemble ii sdr kit build transmission1. A computercontrolled conventional radio a conventional radio with a. Other interest are photography, computer programming, and. Mar 26, 2014 its an sdr transceiver for the ham bands. Has anyone here been building those little softrock sdr radios. Sdr kits is pleased to introduce a 600 mhz antenna analyzer kit, designed to meet the requirements of all radio amateurs.
Software defined radio ive been playing round with some basic software defined radio s since about 2010 when i purchased the softrock 9 and softrock txrx kits. This site is devoted to the area of software defined radio sdr, more specifically, the softrock series of technology sampler kits and the genesisradio. The solution was a softrock rx ensemble that covers 1. Upon returning in 2000, tony discovered software defined radio or sdr, where he saw an opportunity to build starter kits for hf sdr receivers that became the softrock sdr kits. Hpsdr specifically is a radio with the following features. The softrock family of qrp kits are available from kb9yig. Lessons learned summary this discussion will focus on. The format is modeled after classic radio stations that existed up until the early 80s that emphasized singersongwriter acoustic and rock based songs and artists, like those listed above. He also goes over the circuit blocks explaining their function and how they work.
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