Feb
21
2010
I decided to have a deeper look into Flexradio’s SDR Software PowerSDR. PowerSDR is published as open source under the GPL license and was written under Visual Studio 2003 against the old .NET 1.1 Framework. Unfortunately, the code was never migrated to a higher Version of Visual Studio. The last couple of days I had enough time to dive deep into the source code and finally make it compilable under Visual Studio 2008. In this post I’ll share the details with you.
Feb
14
2010
While the average users mainly use the PC to surf the web and to order every now and a book on Amazon, we, the Amateur Radio community are using PCs much more intensively. Especially in Software Defined Radio appliances, the PC is a central part of the system. So are you aware what DMA, ASM and ROM are? Do You know the difference between L1 and L2 cache? If not, I’ll show you a great way how you can gain a deep understanding without going to college again.
Feb
4
2010
A lot of magazine and articles have already covered the principles of software defined radio. Most of them contain mathematical equations which require a greater level of math. Certainly, without math there would be no SDR, but I believe, that the concept of SDR can also be explained without. Let me show you the SDR concept from a different point of view!
Jan
31
2010
Just found a cool vintage style video Ham Radio video on You Tube. Lately Ham Radio Operators had again some press attention (even on CNN) about assisting in communications after the terrible earthquake in Haiti. After having seen the video below, I must admit that the way and the mission haven’t changed much over the years.
Enjoy the video!
Jan
27
2010
Are you looking for an awesome new property with a “ready-to-go” contest station? Should it be in a DX location, but with western standards? If you just answered these questions with “yes”, then you’ll be interested in this offer! Today, Bill, KH7XS / KH7B announced the sale of his hawaiian property.
Jan
27
2010
Did you know that in 2009 more than 6000 Softrock kits have been ordered? Isn’t this an impressive number? Even having no concrete figures how many HF transceivers have been sold this year by the major brands like Yaesu and Icom, the trend is unoverseeable. The popularity of Software Defined Radio has increased significantly in 2009.
Dec
25
2009
In the third article we will have a deeper look into the TX path of the FA-SDR-TRX. All components will be discussed, including the optional 1 Watt amplifier.
Dec
9
2009
After a systems view on the FA-SDR-TRX, it’s time to go into more detail. This post is dedicated to FA-SDR-TRX’s receiver.
Dec
8
2009
The FA-SDR-TRX is an allband low cost software defined radio. The FA-SDR-TRX was created by Harald DL2EWN an described in an article series in the German Ham Radio Magazine Funkamateur. After the big success of the single band kits like Softrock, SDR4080 or Genesis, the FA-SDR-TRX is the next step in the evolution of SDR kits. Thanks to the support of Harald I’m able to provide a detailed description of the concept behind FA-SDR-TRX.
Dec
6
2009
I’m a fan of Audio Products. I’m daily listening to Music and Podcasts produced by both, amateurs and professionals. In preparation of the upcoming vacations, I decided to finally make a step out of the Itunes store and to signup for an Audible.com account.
24 Hours later I’m deeply disappointed up and I just canceled my membership.
Nov
29
2009
I have to give away 8 Google Wave invitations!
Nov
24
2009
Do you know what Mercury, Penelope and Pandora have in common? Yes, they are important characters in greek mythology. But did you know that there is also a Software Defined Radio Project with components called like this? The High Performance Software Defined Radio (HPSDR) project is currently the most sophisticated SDR project, lead by the Amateur Radio community. Yesterday, I stumbled upon the HPSDR Podcast! Continue Reading »
Nov
21
2009
Short, but interesting news: I have the pleasure to show you some exclusive pictures of the FA-SDR-TRX prototype!
Nov
18
2009
I’m a fan of Microsoft’s Windows, but I must admit that in some cases, Linux and MacOS outperform good old Windows. In Linux (Gnome) and MacOS I enjoy the freedom to scroll in partially hidden windows without having to click on them. I was missing this possibility for a very long time on my windows based computers. Recently I stumbled upon a free software tool which finally solves this problem. Katmouse is a tiny application which allows you to scroll in windows without having to click on them. This Video reviews the software and illustrates its advantages!
Nov
17
2009
Have you ever heard about Drobo? Drobo is a Network Attached Storage (NAS) from the Silicon Valley based startup Data Robotics. Last week I implemented a Drobo in my backup strategy. With this step I finally added a significant level of data safety to my IT system.
In a previous article, I presented the principals and best practices to create an individual data backup strategy. In this article I will describe my individual backup and data storage strategy and discuss the advantages and weaknesses