How hard is it to make the shift to SDR?

It is so obvious that many US hams are there already today. If you are one of the 6% of the US hams with an ICOM IC7300 you are there. Add in the Yaesu and Kenwood gang and that number gets us to perhaps over 10% of US hams (about 77,000).

So, what will make that number jump to 1 out of 2 (50%). That my friend is the turf of the psychologists, marketing guys and the entrepreneurs. It also is a time factor as unlike Twitter (X) and Tik Tok it will not literally happen overnight.

Of the factors, the psychology associated with the switch is perhaps the elephant in the room. We know that yearly in aggregate Billions are spent on trying to figure out how to entice you to try a meatless piece of meat that has no meat products whatsoever. Or marketing a new type of exercise machine where simply looking at the machine will cause a weight loss. Or selling pantyhose to a market that likely wears nothing under their outer clothing.

The switch to SDR is a similar problem with the added complexity that what is needed to do SDR is in a postage sized black IC with one hundred connection points, our FPGA. When you look at an FPGA it is hard to see the circuits used to decode and encode an SSB signal. 

But something like below you can see how you have and incoming signal that is split into two signals paths and applying a Local Oscillator to the detector/encoder devices two signals 90 degrees out of phase, you arrive at two signal streams that are one In Phase "I" and one 90 Degrees Out of Phase or Quadrature "Q". 

Some bright guys figured out how to use a computer sound card to process the I and Q information as it is in the audio range or Zero IF. 

But the I and Q approach is not the current topology of choice as the Direct Digital Conversion (DDC) is the soup de jour. This approach essentially uses a high-speed ADC (Analog to Digital Converter) to down convert the on the air signal to a digital waveform. That is another factor, the math to do the signal processing goes beyond 8th grade Algebra and uses Fast Fourier Transforms and Hilbert Transforms. 

Just to give you a giant-sized headache here is the Hilbert transform.

Note the 1st two blocks ~ 90 Degree Shift

The psychology aspect of moving to SDR is to not focus on the math or that you cannot see a resistor or capacitor and simply realize you are a user of the technology. That is a hard nut to crack as it removes an excuse. Well, I can't see it, so it is not useful. My ears sure can tell the difference when you apply the Thetis noise reduction algorithm. Basically, it is the psychology of moving the boundaries of the individual ham comfort zone. Many will never move and are in the other 50% while many will move albeit kicking and screaming.

For many the thought of a computer embedded inside of an old analog radio is simply scandalous. Enter the time factor where it will take time to absorb the reality of the SDR shift, or they become a SK and removed from the mathematical set of non-believers.

Small sidenote regarding the passing of my XYL. I was contacted by this nice lady who runs a grief group at my local Catholic church. She had kind of a script like are you eating and I shared my URL for the pastapete.com  So it was not a matter of not knowing how to cook!

She next stressed the importance of having things to do aside from staring at 4 walls. I mentioned that I was a ham and had multiple websites and a blog. She then shared that her dad was a long-time ham and physician. He was an avid homebrewer and for a time they lived in a remote part of Alaska where he was like the only doctor covering a large geographic area. Now here is the cool part. At his funeral her brothers made a Morse Code tape where the message being played in Morse was this is my last QSO now going QRT and signing off with 73's. It doesn't get any better.

Them that know can make it go and are already doing SDR.

Start Here: www.n6qwradiogenius.us  for more info on homebrew SDR.

73's

Pete N6QW

New SDR Radios From China. Take a breath -- you are in for an information overload.

This is what is coming from offshore.  We don't see products like this coming from a start up in Kansas or South Dakota. We must ask why this is happening? The answer is because ... You know, because of this or because of that reason. 

I think it is because we let it happen with things like our education system where math and science are optional courses. It happened because parents simply left education to others and ceased to be involved. The ARRL has some significant responsibility with the loosening of the license requirements and losing focus on the technical side of the hobby. But basically, it boils down to it is because as a nation we got lazy!

It is inevitable that SDR will overtake the pure analog radios of the past. This is the fork in the road where in time you will have to decide to stay with the old horse and buggy or get an electric car.

So, what is coming or in some cases is already here.

The WEB-888 SDR 

About $260

This next radio, the Radioberry  As a starter it is about $160 and has a very active io group. Although having subscribed to that group for several years is not for lightweights as the software to run the board is beyond the Nerd level. Incidentally, the heart of the Radioberry is a FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).

[This is the very crux of SDR -- no discrete component circuits but FPGA's.]

Radioberry

The following radio started in the UK with a design from m0nka known as the "mchf" and likely was simply ripped off by the Chinese with a bit of reverse engineering. Some suggest the ICOM IC-705 was developed to counter this $350 gem.

Perhaps the one I would choose is the Hermes Lite 2.o  if only because I have had one for about four years. This was an American design but is made in China!

Hermes Lite 2.0

Don't get your underwear in a knot as the board comes built from Maker Fab. The total cost with the N2ADR LPF, Case and Shipping is right at about $400. 

The user involvement is to install the board in the case and the usual software install. In truth many hams are using the HL2 as a regular station rig and since it is QRP add a 100-watt amp like the CCI AN762 and then they have a unit not unlike a FLEX or Apache Anon.

But the real clout with the HL2 is the software suites. I have four different software packages that work with the HL2 including QUISK, SDR Console, openhpsdr and Thetis. 

SDR Console 40M FT-8 at 4 AM

Thetis 40M FT-8 at 4AM

I must confess that SDR Console is overwhelming in the array of buttons you can push, and I think you can have up to 6 or 8 receivers you can display. Thetis has a simpler GUI and does provide for two receivers but also has behind the scenes capabilities like an equalizer panel for independently adjusting the Receiver and Transmit audio spectrums. The noise reduction algorithm on Thetis makes the difference in no copy or 5X9. I prefer the Thetis. 

QUISK works quite well with the HL2 and would make for a compact station using a RPi4. I still have not decoded how to make the RPi5 play with the HL2. The issue is the ethernet connection protocol. The RPi4 simply connects, and you are there. The RPi5 wants directions on how to do that which I haven't decoded as yet. It asks for Gateways, sub masks, MAC numbers etc. 

For the products that both transmit and receive we are talking QRP and so while the price point is below $500 you will need an RF amp to compete with the Big Dawgs. An AN758 RF Linear Amp kit from Communications Concepts Inc would yield 300 watts which is appropriate for the routine consistent communications on 20M. For a more modest 100 watts the AN762 works well.

I have a lot of Boat Anchors (too many) and an extensive array of homebrew rigs. On the SDR side I have less than 6 including two commercial units and 4 homebrew SDR radios. Thus, lots of choices. Now I find less operating with the non-SDR radios because of the functionality of the SDR's and the leverage achieved via the software. I also have almost zero comments about being 20 Hertz low even with the homebrew SDR's. 

So, as I initially stated -- info overload. But the story doesn't end here as this is just the first salvo. Likely new analog radio offerings will simply fade away as more SDR radio enter the marketplace (the prices will drop based on product volume and newer technologies).

Them that know can make it go!

73's

Pete N6QW

The loss of a skill and the impact of China on Amateur Radio

Athletes often lose a special skill that soon relegates them to the has been trash heap. In a way I have sort of lost a skill with the passing of the XYL. It is not really a lost skill but in essence no longer required.

Let me explain that loss of skill, but first a very big thank you to the many blog readers who sent their condolences and well wishes. The comments and prayers are very much appreciated.

First and foremost, my family always came first and the last three years with the Board and Care costs, it was a very significant sum. The funeral costs alone were just south of the costs of 28 ICOM IC7300's. I had and did have no problem with supporting the XYL's medical costs as it came with the husband job. 

But now to the skill. Essentially it was a huge resource allocation issue. How to write those really big checks each month and yet have just a teeny tiny bit left over to buy any radio stuff. Often that required being really creative and the recycling of old PC boards (milled by me) and the cannibalizing of assemblies that sort of worked. The skill extended to using substitute approaches or alternative means for achieving a desired outcome. 

The skill driver was the limited resources and to do things on the cheap. It was also a great time to fix some rigs that were just not right. With the time spent each day with the XYL at the Board and Care facility -- the ham radio diversion on the off hours was needed just to keep my balance.

I also typically invoked the smell test such as if I do buy radio parts am I withholding any level of support needed by the XYL. Actually, that did come up once when I was thinking about a $100 expenditure. You obviously know in which column that landed, and I did find an alternative. 

So, the skill loss as such is that I now am no longer constrained by having to write those large checks each month and fretting over how to do more with a lot less. But in reality, I sorely wished that I still had to do that. A new rig or project is no substitute for a partner, wife and friend of 57 years. 

As to the total USA skill loss that happened when the ARRL dumbed down the ham test requirements and QST became a costly advertising journal that was low on technical content and high on products built offshore. Think as early as the 1980's.

I ran across this website that focuses on how China is impacting the future of ham radio. Actually, it mentions points I have often made that the largest ham radio operator growth is in China, Indonesia and Thailand. The article termed the 1% yearly growth of US amateurs as "tepid" as compared to these three countries. So, ARRL, who are you kidding that the US Ham population is booming?

Another point made is that SDR and cheap technology is the basis behind these three geographic areas phenomenal ham population growth.  So, guys it is not just N6QW making this point. Look to Dayton come May, and you likely will see the jaw dropping array of SDR products coming from China. Hey ARRL, see how much good giving away ham licenses did! As a country we regressed in the ham population growth and the absence of the emphasis on technical skills drove the technical base offshore. 

Imposing high tariffs on imported ham gear will not drive the manufacturing to the USA! Firstly, we do not have the technical base as the ARRL didn't think that was important, nor can it be done instantly. We will only become further behind the advancing technology. Thus, we are headed in the direction of the US becoming a 3rd rate ham country as we certainly are not #1 today. So go cuddle your Baofeng UV 35R and thank a Chinese ham.

Them that know can make it go!

73's

Pete N6QW

A difficult day yesterday!

 

A very difficult day yesterday as we laid to rest our beloved XYL of 57 years. She had been ill for some time and passed in mid-February.

She hated ham radio and always described it as wires and weird people all combined with lots of noise and static. That said, what I wouldn't give to hear her one more time complain about the wires and weird people. 

But today also is the 83rd Anniversary of the founding of the US Navy Seabees. Can Do! The Seabees have a direct connection to my XYL as it was my being stationed at Port Hueneme in CA where I first met her. If you do not believe in pre-destination, such an event will make you a believer!

RIP Dear Kathy, from the weird husband with the wires, noise and static but love in his heart for you.

Them That Know Can Make It Go! SDR rules!

73's

Pete N6QW

The Ides of March are soon to be here!

Leave it to my Roman ancestors to make things hard -- just look at the Roman numeral counting system, and so it was with their calendar dates. The Romans counted days starting with middle of the month, the 15th, which is the Ides and then had terms that counted forward or backward from the Ides anchor point. But the real significance of the Ides of March is that was the day that Julius Caesar was bumped off in the Roman Senate. That event forever changed the course of Holy Roman Empire. When a visionary told Julie -- Beware of the Ides of March --he was ignored -- Caesar should have listened.

Nothing is forever and just this morning I heard that Skype will soon be terminated and that I personally do not see as a big loss. There are so many other options available to us.

So, this coming Ides of March, I suggest that the days of old analog radios will eventually end up like Julie Baby. Maybe not this year but on the radar for something that is closer than the 2056 Olympics. There are so many signs of the event with the numbers of group SDR projects that are being undertaken today and documented. The Dayton Hamvention in two short months (which is not in Dayton) will be another data point when the new SDR radios from the Chinese manufacturers are unveiled. 

Caesar was warned and simply ignored it -- now you are being advised so don't ignore The Ides of March.

Them that know can make it go.

73's

Pete 

Brain Surgery with a Rusty Spoon!

The English language is very rich in words, even just a few words, that convey a whole life story. That phrase in the title says just that. It represents a conundrum of views -- brain surgery highly delicate and done under a microscope and the tool of choice a rusty spoon, which is anything but high tech and borders on really crude.

That phrase translates very nicely to ham radio. Yesterday's and today's ARRL DX contest when approached with a boat anchor of the 1960's is no match for an SDR radio even one using I/Q versus DDC. The DSP is amazing in its ability to winnow the wheat from the chaff. Signals pop out from nowhere and that is the leverage needed to be a participant. 

I could surely hear them but with only 3 Watts PEP no match on 20M with the KW+ stations here in the US. But unlike the old analog rigs it is an easy fix to add a 100-watt amp to a rig that hears them. Getting on frequency is not that onerous.

I keep beating the drum but that is just the way the cow ate the cabbage. I know of some work being done by a radio club who is undertaking a group build SDR receiver project, and I heard the prototype -- all done with a really cheap MCU interfacing with a laptop running QUISK. Impressive and that likely will be leading to a companion transmitter to form a transceiver. Another factor all SMD and low-cost parts. Bottom line it is not just me beating the drum and the crew is moving forward.

Them that know can make it go.

73's

Pete N6QW

Big Contest Weekend

I had occasion to look at some family photo albums this past week and I spotted a photo of my youngest son soon to be 42. This photo was taken when he was about 13 years old yet is a defining moment in his lifetime.

Son, Nick is looking at a project we built together and while it looks like a pile of junk is a homebrewed robotic arm on a gantry. We had to figure out how to build the gripper which is a slider crank mechanism and how to use a lead screw to raise and lower the gantry. We only had one controller, so we had to switch between axes to affect a Three D movement.

8

Why is this a defining moment for Nick? This is his day job today, designing robotic inspection systems for the semi-conductor industry. He will tell others I have been doing this for almost 30 years (although soon to be 42) and we can see the proof. When you know stuff, you can do stuff. He is a Mechanical Engineer and somewhat of a leading expert in this field. 

This is a great example of how a father son project turned into a life's work. This was built when I lived in St Louis and have fond memories of our Saturday jaunts to Gateway Electronics where Nick would peek and poke at the various bins of surplus parts finding a treasure here and a treasure there. You are never too young or too old to learn new technologies! 

Big Contest Weekend!

Right in line with the IARU, this weekend is chock full of operating and a ARRL contest. What a great time to pull out one of your rickety rigs and gloat over all the 5X9 signal reports you will receive from DX stations. I love it.

Actually, the idea of a DX contest this very weekend (March 1 & 2) some have suggested is a setup by the ARRL. So, you participate in the contest and have less than sterling results which all boils down to you need a new rig. In just two short months the Dayton Hamvention (which is not in Dayton) is where all of the ham radio manufacturers showcase their new products and a chance to buy the very latest technology right off of the convention floor. Watch the digital QST over the next two months and observe the hype. Basically, you are being set up!

A Rickety Rig from the early 1960's

With our rickety rig above it is really hard to tell you are 40 Hertz low or high -- at best about +/- 1 kHz is as close as you can see.

But with my homebrew SDR and QUISK I can put my rig dead nuts right on frequency and I can see it on my HDMI Screen.

Hint! Hint! Time to move to the digital side of the world. Just like Nick did some 30 years ago, this has given him a path to job satisfaction, technical fulfillment and a nice 401K.

73's

Pete N6QW