YouTube user ranickel and creator of the RANVerter HF upconverter for software defined radios has posted a video showing how to use an RTL-SDR dongle and RANVerter to create a panadapter for an old and cheap Heathkit HR-10 “beginners receiver” ham radio.
He connects the mixer stage of the HR-10 via a capacitor to his RANVerter which then connects to a RTL-SDR dongle.
Update: KN0CKs products are now available at http://www.kn0ck.com/HF_SDR/.
The fourth revision of the miniature HF upconverter for the RTL-SDR by KN0CK is up for sale, now that revision three has just sold out. Revision four has a 120 MHz oscillator, and is capable of receiving the 6m band.
Check out the release post over at KF7LZE’s blog, and the product sales page at the Easy-Kits store.
For people already with expensive ham radios, the RTL-SDR can be used as a cheap panadapter. A panadapter is device that allows you to visually see the RF spectrum and waterfall being received by the ham radio. There are multiple (expensive) commercial panadapters available, but combined with a PC or laptop, the RTL-SDR will work just as well.
In this video YouTube user akdude47 shows a tutorial on setting up the RTL-SDR as a panadapter for a Yaesu FT-857. The setup involves connecting the IF output of the radio to the RTL-SDR, and putting in some settings into HDSDR.
Update: KN0CKs products are now available at http://www.kn0ck.com/HF_SDR/.
Yesterday Marty (KN0CK), developer of the miniature integrated HF upconverter for the RTL-SDR that was recently posted wrote into us with some updates.
The version we posted about recently was his “Production 3” version. He writes to tell us that along with his “Production 3” release he created a 15mm x 15mm “Small Form Factor” radio enclosed in one of the smaller RTL2832 tuner dongles, which is the “Worlds Smallest HF Receiver”. Marty writes
This is a non-preamplified model receiver but has EXCELLENT performance for what you get. It has become my most favorite receiver to use here in the shack because of its size and performance – not that I don’t like the preamplified models of my receiver line. I just like how well it performs for such a small receiver – it’s truly unique.
This Small Form Factor Radio has an operating frequency of 100kHz to 54 MHz allowing the 6m band coverage that everyone was so rabid about. The entire design is predicated on using 0402 SMT parts except for what can’t be squeezed down (the crystal oscillator and the SA612 mixer). I have built 6 of these radios and have 3 on hand now for sale now. They retail out at $70.00 because they are HARD to manufacture and are hand-assembled and tested.
If you are interested you can contact Marty at martywittrock_AT_gmail_DOT_com.
Below are some images. The first image shows the size of the worlds smallest HF receiver, the second shows an example of expected HF performance in HDSDR, and the third image shows the upconverter circuit layout.
In addition to creating the worlds smallest HF receiver, KN0CK has also been working on his “Production 4” model, which has the same performance as his “Production 3” model posted earlier, but is capable of being installed into any RTL2832 DVB-T radio.
This model is now released and will be available for sale at easy-kits.com when “Production 3” is sold out.
Marty writes
The latest production I have is termed as ‘Production 4’ and became a hybrid of my ‘Small Form Factor Radio’ and the existing ‘Production 3’ design. I took the best of both worlds and then modified the low pass filter to operate into 6m like I did on the Small Form Factor Radio, too.
[The ability to install into any RTL2832 DVB-T radio] was the reason for this final [Production 4] spin – so it could go into the DVB-T radios that incorporated the goofy through-hole capacitors they used in their power supply design (and also cheaper to sell).
I’ve incorporated this new HF upconverter design into the RTL2832/820T model radios, too, and while the performance of the DVB-T stick is not wonderful, it works pretty well with the HF Upconverter I have designed and installed in it.
I must tell you that the RTL2832/820T model radios are the cheapest out there and have 3 goofy through-hole caps in there that made it impossible to install my ‘Production 3’ model HF Upconverter into that radio….Until Production 4 came along… 🙂
The three images below show the circuit layout, upconverter and RTL-SDR dongle together, and upconverter circuit by itself.
For the future plans of his worlds smallest HF receiver Marty writes
At this time, I’m going to respin my ‘Small Form Factor’ board to solder the crystal oscillator directly on the board like the Production 4 models do (for awhile, I didn’t have a circuit pads for that oscillator and had to hand wire those on the back of the ‘Production 3’ boards. Production 4 cleared that issue and now I’ll clean up the Small Form Factor radio the same way.
Finally, Marty talks about his plans to create a transmit (TX) modification to the dongle. He writes
[I] am working toward a transmit side app for this stick – – target is December to make that happen. I would keep the ‘Production 3’ form factor and then put the TX stuff on the back side of the board.
We look forward to Marty KN0CKs future work, which is likely to be posted about first by KF7LZE, a friend of Marty’s on KF7LZE’s popular blog.
Update: KN0CKs products are now available at http://www.kn0ck.com/HF_SDR/.
A few months back we posted about Marty Kn0ck’s plans to sell an RTL-SDR dongle with integrated HF upconverter.
This dongle is now for sale at easy-kits.com.
His RTL-SDR + HF upconverter combination is different to the other combinations posted previously, as Marty uses tiny surface mount components to fit the entire HF upconverter within the dongle casing itself. The result is an RTL-SDR that is capable of tuning between 0 and 30 MHz which goes for $100 USD.
YouTube user Superphish has posted a video showing the trick mentioned in this Reddit thread by Anonofish that enables the E4000 tuner to receive a small portion of the broadcast AM band without doing the direct sampling solder mod, or using an upconverter.
It simply involves tuning to a frequency between 3686.6 – 3730 MHz, at which point AM signals start showing up on the spectrum. It isn’t that useful as you can only tune to the very lowest AM stations, but it is still interesting.
A few months ago we saw a Hungarian hardware developer selling a custom RTL-SDR software defined radio which included an upconverter built into the PCB.
Now a new Brazilian hardware developer has begun selling similar home made RTL-SDR units that can receive HF by default. Note that the page is in Portuguese, but Google translate does a reasonable job at translating.
These units come in a nice box and are capable of receiving between 0 to 1750Mhz. Attached to the box are two UHF (SO-259) 50 Ohm connectors, one for an HF antenna and one and a USB port. The developer also provides a CD which seems to come with the drivers, SDRSharp and some plugins. We aren’t sure if this SDR is using direct sampling or an upconverter to get HF signals as there don’t seem to be many details about the modifications made on the page.
The price is $185 Brazilian Reals, which is about $82 USD.
The page links to a video showing the SDR in action which is shown below.
On the FUNcube Dongle blog/store amateur radio enthusiast DK80K (a.k.a Nils) has sent in a link to a 16 page pdf file showing a comprehensive tour on the FUNcube Dongle Pro+’s capabilities on the HF spectrum.
He gives an overview of many digital ham and HF utility modes including DRM, WSPR, RTTY, Olivia, MFSK16, PSK31, Pactor, Packet, Hellschreiben, ROS, SSTV, HF ACARS, SSB, CW, DSC/GMDSS, SITOR-A/B, Globe Wireless, Time Signals, ALE, Baudot, FAX and Stanag 4285.
The FUNcube is a software defined radio similar to the RTL-SDR, but with better sensitivity and noise performance, but at a higher price (around $200 USD). These modes can also be received with the RTL-SDR and an upconverter such as the Nooelec Ham-It-Up upconverter.
