X 2 board representing the culmination of a long line of softrock sdr receivers from fivedash, inc. The beginners guide to software defined radio rtlsdr duration. They vary in capabilities and prices, but the kits that caught my attention were the softrock lite ii kits. I have been playing with a softrock sdr ensemble ii hf receiver for a while and then i read about a european ham, who modded his ft450 to work with his sdr a mercury sdr, not a softrock, so i thought i might follow in his footsteps and do some. Install high definition software defined radio hdsdr. It has no direct uhfvhf application, but i built one to play with on hf and then built another one for 151210m. My name is cecil bayona, my main hobby is ham radio. Operate a software defined radio from anywhere in the world. The softrock rxtx ensemble transceiver kit provides a 1 watt sdr transceiver that can be built for one of the following four band groups. There are two softrock receiver types in use on this websdr system.
Powersdr with pi sdr for softrockensemble setup software installation is performed in few steps, first is the official powersdr v2. With tony parks kb9yig on softrock softwaredefined ham radio duration. I later progressed to use the sdrradio server software to allow users on the internet to access my tuner. This transceiver will be built and tested by tony parks, kb9yig. There are more useful links at the end of this presentation. X 2 board representing the culmination of a long line of softrock sdr receivers from tony parks, kb9yig. While i could turn it into a panadapter or sell it on ebay, eham, etc.
The plan was to build the kit and use it as a panadaptor connected to the if output of my yaesu ftdx5000mp. Posts about softrock ensemble rxtx written by 2e0dfu. The softrock 6m4m2m rx ensemble receiver kit includes the components for building a vhf receiver. Softrock ensemble rx tx vs alinco djx11 ham radio science. Introducing softrock ensemble a software defined radio. The performance is very good compared to the expensive amateur radios. Now that i own a flex1500 sdr transceiver, the softrock ensemble sdr receiver that i bought a while ago has become somewhat redundant. This page hosts the configuration information needed to use my online software defined radios. This receiver has a builtin local oscillator based on the silicon labs si570 the same chip used as the local oscillator in the elecraft kx3 and can be tuned anywhere from about 1. I had high expectations for this little board and it delivers fairly well. The most recent receiver was the ensemble rx ii with an automatically switched bandpass filter.
The softrock kit is one of the best and is a very good sdr. This transceiver is the latest 2010 offering from tony parks kb9yig. Softrock is a term for a software defined radio sdr which consists of three major. Two years ago, i built the tony parks softrock ensemble ii software defined radio. Softrock rx ensemble ii sdr kit build transmission1. In essence, sdr allows you to see a wide band of spectrum all at once. It is still a serviceable radio and works fine, but it cant hold a candle to the amazing flex1500.
Configuring usb driver, config softrock tool and high. This receiver has been built and tested by tony parks, kb9yig. Softrock rx ensemble ii sdr kit build post by fruitloop. Seems like the softrock receiver is working, but where are all the ham radio operators making contacts on the amateur bands. 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. Free for public use as long as im not using them please use simon browns sdrradio client to access my radios. 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. The softrock rxtx ensemble transceiver kit provides a 1 watt sdr transceiver that. Config guides 12nov2019 powersdr with wsjtx configuration guide v1. The softrock rx ensemble receiver kit combines the functionality of the. After playing around with it, i was amazed that you can see 96khz of bandwidth. It also managed the band pass filter if it is present and is capable of handle the special frequency settings in winrad. The receive functionality is fantastic, even though setting up the software is a nightmare.
If you have a rxtx then learn receive with hdsdr on this page. In connection on the softrock rx ensemble ii to the line in jack on the soundcard. Much of the software is available as a free download, and full details to be found in the products section of the site. Wspr, for example can be used with cat ts2000 to set the softrock to tx and change frequency. I strung up a wire dipole at a friends place and under good conditions i could maybe see wwv and a few other strong stations. But trying to get my computer, sdr software, and the softrock to all play along nicely with 2 soundcards at the same time is beyond me. Multiple rigs or multiple networked pi sdr iq plus guide 18jan2020. The solution was a softrock rx ensemble that covers 1. The line began with the softrock 40 rx and went through several iterations of receivers. The softrock ensemble ii is an sdr dedicated to the hf frequencies and is thus expected to have better performance for that purpose.
This firmware is the official supplied firmware in the softrock sdr kits of tony parks that are using a si570 chip from silicon laboratories silabs. Softrock rx receiving equipment northern utah websdr. Softrock is a term for a software defined radio sdr which consists of three major building blocks. Loft receiver hf demo softrock ensemble ii youtube.
Mutezone writes a performance between the softrock ensemble ii vs the rtlsdr. I am currently building the softrock ensemble rxtx sdr transceiver kits from tony parks kb9yig. I recently finished building the softrock ensemble rxtx and got it working with the cfgsr and rockie 3. Jeff designs an sdr go kit around the softrock ensemble. Providing several software defined radios, a rfspace sdriq and a softrock ensemble rx ii. I ordered two softrock ensemble rxtx kits and completely assembled the first one. The brief of my project is to build a software defined radio sdr based around a purpose built pc with a high end soundcard and a softrock ensemble rxtx. Pc is not needed for using the sdr cube, as all dsp processing is accomplished by an embedded dsp processor on the three internal pc boards. This site has information concerning the softrock software defined radios created and kitted by tony parks kb9yig. The djx11 was a bit of a surprise since it held up pretty well for a wideband radio. Trying to get hdsdr to work with softrock ensemble rxtx. The free sdr software is also very mature and there functionality is even better that the expensive amateur radios. A quick demo showing my softrock ensemble ii sdr receiver controlled via a vnc connection.
I am trying to get my old softrock ensemble rx to work with sdr console v3 in an win10, 64 bit environment but the pe0fko si570 usb driver is classified as not working by the installation tool in win10. Silabs did create a new version of the si570 chip that can be ordered with a 7ppm temperature stability. Softrock ensemble rxtx 2e0dfu playing with amateur radio. 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. I was dragging my feet on this one, but i decided to build it up for show and tell at au2010. Id heard of the softrock, but was only vaguely aware of what it was, so i looked it up, discovered that it was a series of sdr kits designed and sold by tony parks kb9yig. May 2010 softrock ensemble software defined 8040m transceiver. The ideal time to install the softrock drivers and software on your windows 7. With the continuing saga of the softrock still not playing ball it crossed my mind that getting the softrock itself to generate the cw signal, rather than from within software, might not be a bad idea. Completed softrock ensemble ii sdr receiver kit on air. The problem with direct conversion is that signals both side of the local oscillator lo are produced. Over on youtube user mutezone has posted a video comparing the rtlsdr with upconverter against a softrock ensemble ii software defined radio.
The kit is bascially a simple downconverter, but combined with the right software, can become a very. My first installation was on a windows xp system using the hdsdr software. This post takes a look at some of the software that can be used with the softrock sdr hardware that is designed for amateur radio use. However, to be fair the softrock ensemble would come pretty close with a little tweaking of the agc, noise blanker, and filters of the hdsdr software. The pc hosting the sdrs is located away from family life in the loft and can be accessed from any pc in. The softrock radios have been available as kits for several years and thousands have been built by amateurs and swl enthusiasts. The softrock rx ensemble ii receiver built for hf, 1. If one buys a terratec dmx 6fire usb one gets a nf of 14. Your source for softrock radio kits built softrock rx ensemble ii hf receiver the softrock rx ensemble ii receiver built for hf, 1. 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. Configuring usb driver, config softrock tool and high definition software defined radio revised 27september2015 the ideal time to install the softrock drivers and software on your windows 7, 8 or 10 pc is now prior to connecting your softrock radio to your computer for the first time. A soundcard sdr is fundamentally a direct conversion system. The softrock 40 a direct conversion receiver for the.
When i first saw the flex3000 in action while i was at w1aw, i was suddenly interested in software defined radio sdr and didnt really have much idea about it. It can be used with all the sdr programs that support the extio definition, hdsdr is the most pupular sdr program on the moment that support the extio. In options you will find that ptt may use cat via a virtual com port. A while ago i imported a softrock ensemble ii sdr receiver kit. The spec of the radio pc is as follows intel i54440 3. Built kits are only available in limited quantities as tony has time to build them. Introducing softrock ensemble a software defined radio 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. The sdr cube is a totally selfcontained, embedded sdr transceiver for cw, ssb and am using a softrock for the rf front end and a pc board implementation of an hf modem. That means i can potentially see up to at least 24 ssb continue reading my ft950 now has sdr.
Other interest are photography, computer programming, and. Powersdr for pi sdr unified installer, powersdr v2. Components are included for all four options and can be assembled at the builders choice. For example, i purchased the softrock ensemble ii sdr from tony parks, kb9yig. The most noticeable differences in the djx11 over the softrock ensemble was that the djx11 had a higher. Your source for softrock radio kits built softrock rxtx ensemble transceiver the softrock rxtx ensemble is a 1 watt sdr transceiver, built for operation for one of the following bands or band groups. Building the softrock ensemble rxtx sdr radio ham radio.