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New Technology for 2020 ~ SDR Technology will forever change and impact our hobby.

 The Last 90 Days of 2020 ~ What lies ahead?


Hey Mitch McConnell it is perfectly  OK to visit the White House -- the President got the miracle cure from God! See he was sick and got well so quickly! The emperor (with the small e)  says everyone can get his cure. Be NOT Afraid!

SSB Tests of the uSDX ~ Real Awful!

Using my HB RADIG I listened to the uSDX transmitting into a dummy load. The signal was terrible! I think there maybe a board/firmware issue. The second half of the video was run to show my HB SDR is working and copying good quality signals.

My uSDX board is not ready for Prime Time. BTW  I also note that SSB receive is not as good as my RADIG. Are there issues with the V1.02 Board? 

Those who have reported amazing results on SSB (receive and transmit) seem to be using something other than the V1.02 -- they are using a  modified QCX board (I believe that to be true). Is there a clue there? I may have misstated something; but that does appear to be the case.

Caution is a good word when entertaining building a uSDX. Since I am uninterested in CW and the SSB implementation appears doubtful using the uSDX Board I have, that readers is the basis of my caution. But there are other boards and other approaches so don't give up. The price point may be too good to be true and so Caveat Emptor!



73's
Pete N6QW





If you think the last 9 months has forever changed our hobby -- just wait. The Covid19 Pandemic not unlike the Black Plague several centuries ago is a driving force for innovation. When one is stuck in the shack (SITS --Thanks N2CQR for that innovation),  often this forces us to think out of the box and to apply solutions to problems that previously were not investigated. It is being done now --because we are forced by Covid19 to think creatively.

BTW for those who are not students of history --two Black Plague innovations very much impact our beloved hobby on a daily basis. (Calculus and Logarithms )

Advancements in SDR technology has propelled the use of single board computers and microcontrollers as embeds in our ham rigs. We now can tell the other station that they are off frequency by 20 Hertz, since we can visually see that actual aberration using a $35 computer. Today we have a SDR Transceiver using a $2 Microcontroller. True some of these are in the teething stages and have ugly warts; but so was the Bitx20 and the uBitx. But with the internet as the glue --soon group solutions evolve and we are all the better for it.

As China gears back up to be the world supplier beyond electronic parts; but more sophisticated sub-assemblies and full assembles, the price points will shift downward and we benefit. Shifts in the supply chain delivery processes now puts parts in your hand on Sunday! I got two such deliveries this past Sunday!

Just listen to the makes of the "appliance boxes" on the air and the vast majority are SDR based --they have to be for the ham consumer demands the very latest in technological whiz banging. The newest homebrew stuff is on a similar course, whether you have rolled your own or now engaging in the uSDX craze -- SDR is minimalist on hardware and the maximum on capabilities. 

Also impactful are low cost complete sub-assemblies such as the Si5351 three PLL clock breakout board. Recently I saw an advertisement for Three for $10! A similar ad (Three for $10) for the Arduino Nano -- now gives you three digital VFO's for a $20 Bill. 

But also be aware that SDR is forcing some electronic goodies to "self remove" the products from the scene. Commercial Crystal Filters will likely disappear from the market square and now you are denigrated into building one. Given the choice of homebrewing a filter or the alternative technology, the SDR done in software, with multiple selectable filter bandwidths, quite quickly becomes a much better alternative. 

So in the remaining 90 days in addition to having a new President here in the US, it is time to invest in becoming fluent in the core SDR principles. The year 2021 will be even bigger than 2020 insofar as the new technology as now the last year's technology will become this years new hardware.

Time to clean the shack and rid yourself of those old analogue parts and make room for the new Digi-SDR gear.

73's
Pete N6QW

Vote! The voting process has officially started here in CA. 


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