It sometimes takes considerable room to install an amateur radio station in a comfortable spot in the house. An attempt was made to have the ham shack in the basement along with my test gear but without being able to look out a window, the test gear remained in the basement while moving all radio gear to the den which was only being used for our main computer and some house plants. We do have our good friend "Rudy" who is our male Cockatiel bird who has freedom to leave his cage when he likes to land on our shoulder. He soon picked up the sounds of Morse code and sometimes will give out a fast "CQ". Routing coaxial cables can sometimes be difficult but bringing them up inside a wall to a panel under the operating bench makes it easy to route to each radio. Repairs can later easily be made to replace any drywall in the event we may have to move to Canada when Hussein Obama is elected. A good ground system was installed using a 1/2 inch copper pipe behind the operating position with short wires for grounding the gear. The copper pipe was not only connected to the cold water pipes but a good outside ground as well. Coaxial lines can be switched off in the basement, also being able to use the antennas on the work bench if needed.
One XP computer is used for digital modes such as PSK31 and Meteor scatter along with a Navigator interface with another desktop running XP PRO just for the Flex Radio SDR-1000. The Flex computer was stripped of all unnecessary software with the LAN being disconnected during operations except for updating the Flex software. A good ATI AGP video card and larger power supply was installed so that both monitors can be used when viewing more than one ham radio application. Good monitors are a must and was lucky to find some 22 inch LG monitors on sale which have digital and VGA inputs. Of course there is another computer for general browsing, shopping and printing necessary papers. Flex Radio at this time is having problems running their software using Windows Vista since they weren't prepared for the 64 bit machines, in fact, their Flex 5000C incorporates a computer using XP PRO. We will soon place an order for the Flex 5000A as soon as Flex Radio announces they have received signed drivers to function with the newer Vista 64 bit computers. The SDR-1000 works great but having to put up with the tangle of cables going to and from the external Delta44 sound card takes up room on the operating table. The Flex 5000A likes to have at least a duo processor running 2200X2 along with 4 GB of RAM which most new computers have. The new computer will more than likely be an ASUS Asenntio which is much smaller than the older desktops and easier to transport for Field Day use. It also has an HDMI output which with the right monitor, will give exceptional displays.
In October, 2007 I worked a station using LSB on 40 meters who had the best audio I had ever heard on the air. He told me he was using a Flex Radio, a SDR (Software Defined Radio). After signing off with him, I brought up the Flex Radio site. This was new to me, using a computer to control all operations of a radio interface. Doing some research on the web, there was no doubt this will be the future of all communications and the military has been using this technology for a few years.
On the Flex Radio site, the Flex Radio console software can be downloaded by anyone and by downloading some I/Q audio files in WAV format, the console can be placed in Demo Mode where it actually simulates real time reception. By adding one of the WAV files into the console, I was able to actually tune into various CW and SSB signals just as if it ere in real time. I was then hooked and in the later part of January, 2009, I called Flex Radio in Austin, Texas and ordered the Flex Radio model 5000A along with the automatic tuner and second receiver. It was a few dollars cheaper to order the second receiver to install it myself. There will be plenty of information concerning this new radio after it is delivered. In the meantime, there are some great videos on YouTube that describes the 5000A and have grouped a few together on my SDR video page.
Flex Radio 1000
Delta 44 Sound Card
Heil Heritage Mic
I happened to be browsing through E-BAY one day and saw a Flex Radio SDR1000 for sale, "Buy Now" option. The more I thought about it, the more I talked myself into buying this unit since it would be an experience getting into SDR radio and later on buying the model 5000A. My E-BAY package consisted of an entire setup, including a desktop computer running 2.4 GHz XP PRO (1.5 GB RAM), 600 watt power supply, a DELTA 44 sound card with breakout box, installed 100 watt amplifier, installed antenna tuner and all cables. There was also a Shuttle PRO device similar to a mouse with ergonomically placed buttons and knobs which interfaces with the SDR1000 software. I told the seller to keep the CRT monitor since I would get a 22 inch flat monitor for it and wanted to be able to view more than one application such as MixW. I already had several desktop computers running XP but this desktop already had the latest SDR software installed from Flex Radio with plenty of RAM. I did add a 250 GB hard drive since I plan on recording some I/Q signals which can be played back using Flex Radios console software on any computer. When first using the SDR1000 on 40 meter CW, it was an overwhelming experience being able to see each station on the CW band and then bringing the crosshairs on the signal where it then popped into the green pass band filter. When hearing 2 stations very close together, it was easy to separate them by using the predefined pass band filters or using a slide control to obtain any range between 25 to 1000 Hz. Even when using the 25 Hz filter, there was no ringing which is always a problem even with the high end radios such as the ICOM 7800. There is noi need for a notch filter since the signals can be manipulated to easily get away from the offending beat notes.
Already having a Heil Heritage microphone which I tried with my Icom 756PRO, it just didn't perform as I thought it should. Since the Flex Radio SDR1000's external Delta 44 sound card has balanced audio in, the Hertige Mic was tried. I discovered the audio out from the mic was not balanced. By taking the mic apart, I found one of the audio pins grounded with a short jumper. There was also a small capacitor from the other audio lead to the outpout, apparently to only be used for unbalanced radio mic inputs. By removing the jumper and capacitor, the audio is really great after setting up the transmit equalizer in the console software. Word is out that ICOM is planning to hit the market with some sort of SDR transceiver sometime in late 2009 or 2010. Some competition will drive the prices down especially when Yaesu and others jump in. Software defined radio will definitely be the future of all communications, whether a computer is used for control or programmed self contained units such as handheld radios. It always seems that technology returns to the past somewhat since direct conversion radios have been around for many years, but it is technology in constructing newer IC's which can decode the phase differences in I and Q signals that is the new revolution in communications. The Government has secretly been using SDR techniques for many years but it eventually had to be discovered by the general public.
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