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G8JCF's Software Defined Radio
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G8JCF's Software Defined Radio |
G8JCFSDR Build 216 (VISTA Install Compatible - ELEKTOR 5/07)
The G8JCFSDR is an SDR which uses RF front-end hardware to down-convert RF frequencies into the 0~24KHz range accepted by most PC soundcards. The PC reads in the soundcard signal and carries out all of the filtering, demodulation, AGC, and notch filtering in software rather than hardware as would be the case in a traditional receiver. Because the receiver is all software, there are things you can do which would be almost impossible in h/w, how about -100 dB filters for a start !
This is
(ex G8JCF) Software Defined Radio. Special support has been built in for
Ulf Schneider's DRT1, Burkhard Kainka's ELEKTOR 3/04 and 5/07
and the NTI DRB30 hardware down-converters. The G8JCFSDR will also work
with home-brew IQ and NON-IQ Receivers using AD9835/AD9850/AD9851/AD9951 DDS
Chips, and with CY27EE16 PLL generators. Full USB support using FTDI US232C
RS232/USB converters is supported with full high-speed Bit-Bang mode
Burkhard Kainka's ELEKTOR 3/04 H/W is available from modul-bus
for about EUR 119-00 (GBP 81-00, USD 153-00)
Ulf Schneider's front-end H/W is available from sat-schneider
for about EUR 250-00 (GBP 171-00, USD 320-00).
Rudolf Ille's excellent fully boxed down-converter, the DRB30 and the even
better DRB32 is available from NTI
DRB30 for about EUR 300-00
The DRT1 is a very high performance 0~30MHz to 45MHz IF to 12KHz final IF
down-converter. I have designed several SDR h/w front-ends myself, and I can
truly recommend Ulf's DRT1 as one of the best down-converters you can easily
buy. The NTI DRB30 is very similar in performance and comes completely boxed.
Burkhard's ELEKTOR 3/04 front-end is very cost effective, and certainly works
for the casual user especially when front-ended by a decent pre-selector, but
with only a 455KHz IF, it suffers from image or mirror problems. Burkhard's
latest IQ front-end, ELEKTOR 5/07, is much better and costs less - highly
recommended