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SDR

Software defined radio reception can be achieved inexpensively using a RTL-SDR USB receiver dongle and free software. An SDR replaces traditional analog radio components with digital signal processing, allowing software to process signals instead of dedicated hardware circuits. The RTL-SDR converts radio signals to a digital stream which software like SDR# can use to receive various modes like AM, FM, and more. Setup requires installing a driver and running the SDR# software to control the RTL-SDR over USB. This opens up new capabilities at low cost compared to traditional radios.

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305 views

SDR

Software defined radio reception can be achieved inexpensively using a RTL-SDR USB receiver dongle and free software. An SDR replaces traditional analog radio components with digital signal processing, allowing software to process signals instead of dedicated hardware circuits. The RTL-SDR converts radio signals to a digital stream which software like SDR# can use to receive various modes like AM, FM, and more. Setup requires installing a driver and running the SDR# software to control the RTL-SDR over USB. This opens up new capabilities at low cost compared to traditional radios.

Uploaded by

buffe
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Software Defined Radio Reception:

On the Cheap!
FrankM.Howell,Ph.D.K4FMH
LifeMember,ARRL
AssistantDirector,DeltaDivision,ARRL
MississippiViceDirector,SERA
Blog:FoxMikeHotel(k4fmh.com)
Email:[email protected]

Review of Traditional Analog Rx:


The Crystal Set

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_radio

SuperHet to the Rescue

Superhet circuit improved simple


analog by...

Adding radio frequency (RF) amplifier


(pre-selector)
Signal is then fed into a circuit where it
is mixed with a sine wave from a
variable frequency oscillator known as
the local oscillator (LO)

output of the mixer may include the


original RF signal at fRF, the local oscillator
signal at fLO, and the two new heterodyne
frequencies fRF + fLO and fRF fLO.
There will be many mixer products
(heterodynes)
The IF stage includes a filter in order to
achieve the desired selectivity
IF amplifier is tuned to a fixed frequency
and is selective around its center
frequency fIF.
Received signal is processed by the
demodulator stage where the audio signal
is recovered and then further amplified.

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superheterodyne_receiver

Superhet: Problems

Image frequency (fimg): an undesired input frequency


= the station frequency plus 2x the IF, resulting in 2
stations being received simultaneously
Local oscillator radiation: Rx's LO can act like a lowpower transmitter, mutual interference to nearby Rx
Local oscillator sideband noise: LOs have random
phase modulation, causing a widening of the Rx's
frequency response, defeating the aim to make a very
narrow bandwidth Rx

SDR's Approach

Software Defined Radio vs. Software Controlled


Radio
Using a PC to control a Rx (or transceiver) by
changing bands, frequencies, volume, etc. is NOT
SDR. (Advertising by products like Ham Radio Deluxe
might suggest it is...but not so.)
SDR is an evolving concept as most innovations
experience but defined radio by software at minimum
involves how the signal is treated at the IF block.

Simplified SDR Block Diagram

Interface physically with the antenna for optimum RF energy


transfer to the receiver.

Serve as low-pass or band-pass filter

Amplify the signals.

Convert the frequency of signals down to an intermediate


frequency (IF) suitable for the ADC stage that follows.

The departure from a conventional receiver starts here.

The digital output of the ADC is then fed to a Field


Programmable Gate Array (FPGA).
The FPGA extracts the "I" and "Q" components of the signal.
The "I" and "Q" signal pair is called a complex signal. It is
produced in the FPGA by two frequency mixers having a
phase shift of 90 between them.
The I/Q output of the FPGA is then fed to the USB 2
programmable controller.
The software defined radio, running on the PC, takes its I/Q
data from the USB 2 controller. The SDR software...
... extracts the information from the signal for audio output.

First, as with any other radio receiver, the antenna is


connected to the SDR's "hardware" RF front-end. Its
purpose is to..

The amplified IF analog signal produced by the RF front-end


is fed to an analog-to-digital-converter (ADC).

... displays a graphical user interface giving the user access


to control functions and a variety of selectable visual outputs.

All of the signal demodulation and spectral functions are


done by the SDR software on your PC.
Most SDR ham radio receiver implementations will usually
(at least) support AM, WFM, USB, LSB, N-FM, DSB and CW
with fully adjustable DSP filter bandwidths ... down to below
1 Hz in some cases!

From Analog to Digital:


Really, Really Superficially

Let's review what an RF wave is...using a wave form from an oscilloscope


which measures the signal frequency over time
But note: it's only rapid samples of the RF signal, not the fully continuous
wave
Left is unmodulated RF; Right is unmodulated RF 90 out of phase. This is
IQ or Quadrature Sampling...what makes SDR work

Source: http://www.tek.com/blog/what%E2%80%99s-your-iq-%E2%80%93-aboutquadrature-signals%E2%80%A6

Getting I/Q

Convert the full analog signal to a sampled digital stream using an A/D conversion.
This takes place using a field programmable gate array (FPGA). (Try that with a cat
whisker!)
You can draw from this is that a RF signal with any type of modulation can be created
with the appropriate I(t) and Q(t) baseband signals (which in turn vary the amplitudes
of the cosine and sine waves that are summed together)
Of course, the same process works in reverse to demodulate an RF signal. By mixing
an RF signal with LO (local oscillator) signals in quadrature, I(t) and Q(t) baseband
signals can be created

SDR Rx Block Diagram


Block Diagram of SDR Receiver

Source: http://pandatron.cz/elektronika3/sdr5_fig1_big.jpg

Block Diagram of SDR Transceiver

Coherent Genesis for Amateur Radio

A Software-Defined Radio for the Masses by Gerald


Youngblood, AC5OG
This series describes a complete PC-based, software-defined
radio that uses a sound card and an innovative detector circuit.

Part 1 QEX Jul/Aug 2002, pp. 13-21

Part 2 QEX Sep/Oct 2002, pp. 10-18

Part 3 QEX, Nov/Dec 2002, pp. 27-36

Part 4 QEX, Mar/Apr 2003, pp. 20-31

Resulted in Youngblood helping to found Flex Radio Systems

Cool SDR Aspects

Panadapter (rifle scope vs. regular vision)

Filters! Brick-wall envelopes...software updatability vs. physical install

Audio & IF DSP

Software updates

Where's the computer?

External (via USB or Firewire) vs. built-in the SDR box

More than one VFO/Rx

Other tricks

recording the bandwidth;

recording/playback of audio)

Panadapter!

Not So Cool Aspects

Price!
DSP can sound tinny or non-mellow (not your
father's tube radio or even solid-state analog
audio)
Rapid technological change...so trade rigs
every 2 years to stay on bleeding edge

No knobs (but they can be added!)

Powerful PC as total cost of ownership

Innovation:
Open Hardware & Software Radio

More expensive: http://openhpsdr.org

Less expensive: http://sdr.osmocom.org/trac/

List of SDRs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_software-defined_radios

10 Things You Can Do with SDR:

Radio astronomy

Track ships via AIS transmissions

Track aircraft via Mode S transmissions

Amateur Radio Foundation for SDR: see http://www.arrl.org/software-defined-radio


20% of ARRL Members in Delta Division have SDR...versus 27% with APRS and
12% with D-STAR

Commercial SDR Rigs:


What I Use
Perseus SDR Receiver: 10 KHz - 40 MHz
http://microtelecom.it/perseus/

Flex 3000 Transceiver: 1.8 - 30 MHz


(CW, J3E (USB, LSB), (AM), (FM), DIGITAL
http://kc.flex-radio.com/KnowledgebaseArticle50352.aspx

The Catalyst for Hams: RTL Dongle

see http://www.rtl-sdr.com
Designed for mobile TV reception outside the
US (esp. Europe)
Italian ham realized that the hardware was
broadband--very broadband--so he wrote a
new firmware that can be used with the TV
dongle and a PC to yield Software Defined
Radio Reception
Cheap! Began around $100 but now down to
$10 or less for some models

RTL Dongle

Frequency coverage...

Need a converter to add HF coverage.

Open Source version: UpVerter by NOOELEC

Nice Add-Ons

Setup Instructions

(Windows) PC needs a different driver


installed or else the OS sees the dongle as a
generic USB device

Download Zadig driver from http://zadig.akeo.ie

Driver install dialog box:

Automated Installer!

Automated Installer:
Download sdr-install.zip and unzip it. Double click on the install.bat file in the newly
created sdr-install directory to have the script download everything you need including
Zadig.
You might find on occasion when re-running install.bat to update SDR# that it doesn't
seem to get the latest version. In this case you will need to clear the cache in IE as
shown here.
Once the script has completed it will have downloaded the latest SDR#, the latest RTL
driver from Osmocom (and enabled use of RTL-USB) and Zadig and put them in a new
sdrsharp directory.
If you haven't already run Zadig to set up your RTLSDR dongle for use with SDR# for
the first time follow the Zadig instructions above (skipping the step to download Zadig)
to configure the correct USB driver.
Once the the WinUSB driver is installed you are ready to run SDR# with the RTLSDR/USB input device.

Run SDR# (sharp)

Settings
To get started, set the following:

Set Radio to WFM (wideband FM)


Set the centre frequency to (88,000,000) This is 88MHz, the start of the FM radio
band in most countries.

Set the 'Front End' type from 'Other' to 'RTLSDR / USB'

If all is working the 'Front End' button should go from grey text to black text.

Click on Play.

Other SDR Software

I like SDR-Console by Simon Brown (http://http://v2.sdr-radio.com/)

More Info on SDR

Thanks for Listening!

Blog: k4fmh.com

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