Category: Other

An Update on the PantronX Titus II SDR

The PantronX Titus II is a yet-to-be-released portable Android tablet based SDR that we've been following since 2016. The device will feature a 100 kHz - 2 GHz tuning range, and software that focuses on HF digital DRM decoding, as well as DAB on VHF. 

Thomas from the excellent SWLing blog got curious about the Titus II as he had not heard any updates from the team in a while, so he emailed them requesting an update. Mike from PantronX wrote the following reply:

As you might be aware, we have joined up with Fraunhofer to include their MMPlayer app standard on Titus–what a difference a professional decoder, for both analog, DRM(+), and DAB(+), makes! MMPlayer is full featured even including reliable one way file downloads with DRM.

We are attempting also to license HD to include on the app for North America, making a truly worldwide receiver. Some deficiencies in our version of Android have caused issues as well as MMPlayer. All of which have caused delays leading to some serious business decisions – as you can imagine. You are correct that broadcasters have made large orders that will be fulfilled first. There are units in the field testing and such and continuing resolution of the software issues.

One of the issues that folks seem to have a hard time understanding is that we can not just build a few hundred or even thousands of units. Our minimum run is 10,000pcs! To do that everything has to be 100% – including the software. We simply will not ship units that are not 100%. Titus works, MMPlayer works – its that last 5% that takes the most time to resolve. These facts preclude any incremental production attempts. All that being said, we are very hopeful that the first production run is ready by last quarter of this year.

The Titus II
The Titus II

Decapping the AD9361 SDR Transceiver Chip: Hi-Res Images and Cost Analysis

The AD9361 is a highly versatile full transceiver SDR chip released by Analog Devices back in 2013. With a frequency range from 70 MHz - 6 GHz, 56 MHz bandwidth and 12-bit ADC, it is most commonly found in high end SDRs such as the USRP range and PicoZed. On Digikey purchasing the chip today would set you back about USD $280. A cheaper but similar AD9363 chip is found in the PlutoSDR.

If you are unaware, decapping is the process of removing the outer shell on silicon chips with acid, and revealing their silicon structure. Over on the 'Zeptobars' decapping blog the author has recently shared some beautiful and extremely hi-res (80 mB) photos of a decapped AD9361.

At the end of the post the author does a brief cost analysis on the chip, determining that  while the total manufacturing cost of the chip is estimated at less than $5, the cost of R&D and IP per chip is about $33, and additional costs make up another $32 per chip. Profit between distributors and Analog Devices is about even, which each party taking about $100 per chip each.

If you're interested, in the past we've also seen decapped images of the the R820T and the RTL2832U from 'electronupdate'.

AD9361 Decapped
AD9361 Decapped on the Zeptobars blog

Demonstrating Two Channel Coherent Spatial Filtering In a GNU Radio Simulation

Over on YouTube VE6EY has uploaded a video that demonstrates spatial filtering (aka beamforming) working in a GNU Radio simulation. This is a technique that can be used with a 2-channel coherent SDR with to nullify local interference. One SDR is connected to an antenna for receiving the distant signal, and the second is connected to a noise probe that is designed to receive only the local noise source.

The demonstration is not performed with real SDRs, but with prerecorded signals, although it still shows the effectiveness of the technique. In the video VE6EY shows switch mode and powerline noise being nulled out from some AM music, and explains through a demo why phase coherence is required.

V36EY gives further information and a link to download the demo over on his blog post.

SDR Spatial Filtering Demo

A Review of the miniVNA Pro Vector Network Analyzer

Over on YouTube Kevin Loughin has reviewed the miniVNA Pro Vector Network Analyzer (VNA). A VNA is a tool that can be used to measure antenna or coax parameters such as SWR, impedance, loss as well as characterize filters. It is a very useful tool to have if you are building antennas, filters or RF circuits. The RTL-SDR with a noise source can somewhat be used as a network analyzer, but a fully functional VNA will be a lot more accurate and easier to use. The miniVNA costs US$490 and is significantly cheaper compared to desktop based VNAs.

In the video Kevin explains what a VNA is and that the miniVNA Pro is, shows how to calibrate the unit, shows some measurements on his roof mounted dipole, measures a home made filter, and then demonstrates portable operation of the device on an Android phone. The miniVNA Pro has a built in battery so it can be used portably in the field together with an Android phone and bluetooth.

We ourselves have the miniVNA tiny which operates in frequency from 1 MHz all the way up to 3 GHz, whereas the miniVNA Pro operates from 0.1 MHz to 200 MHz. However the tiny does not have portable operation. The miniVNA tiny is excellent for building things like ADS-B and Inmarsat antennas.

The miniVNA Pro and Tiny can both be found for sale on Ham Radio Outlet.

Ham Radio - A look at the miniVNA PRO Vector Network Analyzer

Reprogramming Vaisala RS-41 Radiosondes to Transmit APRS, RTTY, CW in the Ham or ISM Bands

Radiosondes are light weight sensor packages that are attached to weather balloons. They transmit live RF weather telemetry down to earth as they rise. With an RTL-SDR and appropriate antenna it can be possible to decode this telemetry. One related hobby that a few people enjoy is radiosonde chasing, which is tracking and collecting radiosondes once they have fallen back to the earth. Some people collect them as trophies, and others like to repurpose them. For example in this previous post we've seen how some radiosondes can be repurposed into L-band antennas for RTL-SDR's.

Another way to repurpose radiosondes has recently been submitted to us by regular contributor 'happysat' who wrote in and let us know that it is actually possible to reprogram the commonly used Vaisala RS-41 radiosondes into being able to transmit ham radio APRS, RTTY or CW mode signals in the ISM or ham bands. The initial hack was first performed by SQ5RWU, and then OM3BC who managed to create easier to use software that could reflash the radiosondes internal firmware via the serial port on the radiosonde. This hack could be useful for any ham requiring a cheap transmitter for their own high altitude balloon experiments.

Happysat ended up testing this software with some RS-41 radiosondes that he had, and managed to receive some generated signals with an RTL-SDR of his. Some photos that he's submitted are shown at the end of this post.

In addition to the above, happysat also wanted to mention his other radiosonde re-purposing project which was turning a DFM-06 and DFM-09 into a functional GPS unit that could be used for navigation when connected to a laptop, or to sync time on PCs.

Transmit APRS
PE2BZ's Modded RS41 with Solar Panels
RS41 Programmer
Transmit APRS PE2BZ's Modded RS41 with Solar Panels RS41 Programmer
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An Update on the PantronX Titus II SDR

The PantronX Titus II is a yet-to-be-released portable Android tablet based SDR that we've been following since 2016. The device will feature a 100 kHz - 2 GHz tuning range, and software that focuses on HF digital DRM decoding, as well as DAB on VHF. 

Thomas from the excellent SWLing blog got curious about the Titus II as he had not heard any updates from the team in a while, so he emailed them requesting an update. Mike from PantronX wrote the following reply:

As you might be aware, we have joined up with Fraunhofer to include their MMPlayer app standard on Titus–what a difference a professional decoder, for both analog, DRM(+), and DAB(+), makes! MMPlayer is full featured even including reliable one way file downloads with DRM.

We are attempting also to license HD to include on the app for North America, making a truly worldwide receiver. Some deficiencies in our version of Android have caused issues as well as MMPlayer. All of which have caused delays leading to some serious business decisions – as you can imagine. You are correct that broadcasters have made large orders that will be fulfilled first. There are units in the field testing and such and continuing resolution of the software issues.

One of the issues that folks seem to have a hard time understanding is that we can not just build a few hundred or even thousands of units. Our minimum run is 10,000pcs! To do that everything has to be 100% – including the software. We simply will not ship units that are not 100%. Titus works, MMPlayer works – its that last 5% that takes the most time to resolve. These facts preclude any incremental production attempts. All that being said, we are very hopeful that the first production run is ready by last quarter of this year.

The Titus II
The Titus II
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Decapping the AD9361 SDR Transceiver Chip: Hi-Res Images and Cost Analysis

The AD9361 is a highly versatile full transceiver SDR chip released by Analog Devices back in 2013. With a frequency range from 70 MHz - 6 GHz, 56 MHz bandwidth and 12-bit ADC, it is most commonly found in high end SDRs such as the USRP range and PicoZed. On Digikey purchasing the chip today would set you back about USD $280. A cheaper but similar AD9363 chip is found in the PlutoSDR.

If you are unaware, decapping is the process of removing the outer shell on silicon chips with acid, and revealing their silicon structure. Over on the 'Zeptobars' decapping blog the author has recently shared some beautiful and extremely hi-res (80 mB) photos of a decapped AD9361.

At the end of the post the author does a brief cost analysis on the chip, determining that  while the total manufacturing cost of the chip is estimated at less than $5, the cost of R&D and IP per chip is about $33, and additional costs make up another $32 per chip. Profit between distributors and Analog Devices is about even, which each party taking about $100 per chip each.

If you're interested, in the past we've also seen decapped images of the the R820T and the RTL2832U from 'electronupdate'.

AD9361 Decapped
AD9361 Decapped on the Zeptobars blog
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Demonstrating Two Channel Coherent Spatial Filtering In a GNU Radio Simulation

Over on YouTube VE6EY has uploaded a video that demonstrates spatial filtering (aka beamforming) working in a GNU Radio simulation. This is a technique that can be used with a 2-channel coherent SDR with to nullify local interference. One SDR is connected to an antenna for receiving the distant signal, and the second is connected to a noise probe that is designed to receive only the local noise source.

The demonstration is not performed with real SDRs, but with prerecorded signals, although it still shows the effectiveness of the technique. In the video VE6EY shows switch mode and powerline noise being nulled out from some AM music, and explains through a demo why phase coherence is required.

V36EY gives further information and a link to download the demo over on his blog post.

SDR Spatial Filtering Demo

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A Review of the miniVNA Pro Vector Network Analyzer

Over on YouTube Kevin Loughin has reviewed the miniVNA Pro Vector Network Analyzer (VNA). A VNA is a tool that can be used to measure antenna or coax parameters such as SWR, impedance, loss as well as characterize filters. It is a very useful tool to have if you are building antennas, filters or RF circuits. The RTL-SDR with a noise source can somewhat be used as a network analyzer, but a fully functional VNA will be a lot more accurate and easier to use. The miniVNA costs US$490 and is significantly cheaper compared to desktop based VNAs.

In the video Kevin explains what a VNA is and that the miniVNA Pro is, shows how to calibrate the unit, shows some measurements on his roof mounted dipole, measures a home made filter, and then demonstrates portable operation of the device on an Android phone. The miniVNA Pro has a built in battery so it can be used portably in the field together with an Android phone and bluetooth.

We ourselves have the miniVNA tiny which operates in frequency from 1 MHz all the way up to 3 GHz, whereas the miniVNA Pro operates from 0.1 MHz to 200 MHz. However the tiny does not have portable operation. The miniVNA tiny is excellent for building things like ADS-B and Inmarsat antennas.

The miniVNA Pro and Tiny can both be found for sale on Ham Radio Outlet.

Ham Radio - A look at the miniVNA PRO Vector Network Analyzer

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Reprogramming Vaisala RS-41 Radiosondes to Transmit APRS, RTTY, CW in the Ham or ISM Bands

Radiosondes are light weight sensor packages that are attached to weather balloons. They transmit live RF weather telemetry down to earth as they rise. With an RTL-SDR and appropriate antenna it can be possible to decode this telemetry. One related hobby that a few people enjoy is radiosonde chasing, which is tracking and collecting radiosondes once they have fallen back to the earth. Some people collect them as trophies, and others like to repurpose them. For example in this previous post we've seen how some radiosondes can be repurposed into L-band antennas for RTL-SDR's.

Another way to repurpose radiosondes has recently been submitted to us by regular contributor 'happysat' who wrote in and let us know that it is actually possible to reprogram the commonly used Vaisala RS-41 radiosondes into being able to transmit ham radio APRS, RTTY or CW mode signals in the ISM or ham bands. The initial hack was first performed by SQ5RWU, and then OM3BC who managed to create easier to use software that could reflash the radiosondes internal firmware via the serial port on the radiosonde. This hack could be useful for any ham requiring a cheap transmitter for their own high altitude balloon experiments.

Happysat ended up testing this software with some RS-41 radiosondes that he had, and managed to receive some generated signals with an RTL-SDR of his. Some photos that he's submitted are shown at the end of this post.

In addition to the above, happysat also wanted to mention his other radiosonde re-purposing project which was turning a DFM-06 and DFM-09 into a functional GPS unit that could be used for navigation when connected to a laptop, or to sync time on PCs.

Transmit APRS
PE2BZ's Modded RS41 with Solar Panels
RS41 Programmer
Transmit APRS PE2BZ's Modded RS41 with Solar Panels RS41 Programmer
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Another GUI for Outernet’s Wideband Signal Generator moRFeus

Thanks to Ohan Smit for submitting news of his newly released GUI for Outernet's moRFeus wideband signal generator. Ohan's GUI works in both Linux and Windows. The Windows release can be downloaded from the GitHub Releases page. With the GUI you can change the mode between Mixer/Generator, generate noise, run a sweep, turn the bias tee on/off and generate a CW message.

A few days ago we also posted about about a moRFeus GUI by "Lama Bleu" which has similar functions. Although it only appears to run in Linux, Lama Bleu's GUI can interface directly with GQRX.

moRFeus is still currently on sale at CrowdSupply for $149 for the next 19 hours from the time of this post. The price is expected to rise after.

moRFeus GUI Generating a Sweep
moRFeus GUI Generating a Sweep
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New GUI and Info on Outernet’s moRFeus Wideband Signal Generator

Back in March we posted about the release of Outernet's moRFeus device which is a low cost wideband RF signal generator. Since then we've received a few emails from two readers who've received their units and have found some interesting hacks and have developed software for it.

First we have a submission from Ohan Smit who discovered a hack that allows moRFeus to work as a wideband noise generator by setting the LO to 5 GHz and the Mixer current to 3. Together with an Airspy and the Spectrum Spy software he was able to measure the response of a bandstop FM filter. Over on the forums he also shows screenshots of Python based control software that he's developed for controlling moRFeus.

moRFeus Generating Noise
moRFeus Generating Noise

Next we have a moRFeus Linux GUI created by "Lama Bleu". It can be used to access the same functions as via the moRFeus LCD screen, but is also has a few very useful features such as a step generator which allows a generated tone to sweep across the frequency spectrum. The moRFeus GUI can also connect to GQRX and sync with the LO frequency specified in the GQRX GUI for easy control. It should also be possible to implement a CW morse code generator with some scripts.

Outernet moRFeus GUI
Outernet moRFeus GUI

Over on the forums Zoltan, one of moRFeus' designers also notes that it might even be possible to use moRFeus for WSPR modulation, although this isn't confirmed yet. It seems that moRFeus is shaping up to be a very useful tool for RF testing and experimentation.  The device is currently still available on Crowd Supply for $149US with over 136 units sold so far.

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Nexmon SDR: Using the WiFi Chip on a Raspberry Pi 3B+ as a TX Capable SDR

Back in March of this year we posted about Nexmon SDR which is code that you can use to turn a Broadcom BCM4339 802.11ac WiFi chip into a TX capable SDR that is capable of transmitting any arbitrary signal from IQ data within the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz WiFi bands. In commercial devices the BCM4339 was most commonly found in the Nexus 5 smartphone.

Recently Nexmon have tweeted that their code now supports the BCM43455c0 which is the WiFi chip used in the recently released Raspberry Pi 3B+. They write that the previous Raspberry Pi 3B (non-plus) cannot be used with Nexmon as it only has 802.11n, but since the 3B+ has 802.11ac Nexmon is compatible. 

Combined with RPiTX which is a Raspberry Pi tool for transmitting arbitrary RF signals using a GPIO pin between 5 kHz to 1500 MHz, the Raspberry Pi 3B+ may end up becoming a versatile low cost TX SDR just on it's own.

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