building the minima - pacificon 2014
DESCRIPTION
This is a presentation I did at the Pacificon HAM Radio Convention in October 2014. In this presentation I introduce and describe the Minima HAM Radio transceiver and relate my experience building this radio. An audio recording and a handout are available on my blog: http://sarfata.org/2014/10/Minima-Presentation-at-Pacificon/TRANSCRIPT
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Building the Minima An Arduino based HF Transceiver
Thomas - KK6AHT Pacificon 2014
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Licensed in 2012 at Pacificon Extra license with K6BJ classes in Dec 2012
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Farhan aka VU2ESE
Author of the BITX20
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The Minima
Announced on January 16th 2014
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General coverage HF Receiver 0 to 30 Mhz
CW and SSB operation
Power output 5 watts (w/ amplifier)
LCD Display - Arduino controlled
Open Source Code
RIT and two VFOs
Super Heterodyne with IF at 20 Mhz
Cost under $100
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Arduino - LCD Display Si570 XO (VFO+20Mhz) KISS Mixer
Crystal Filter 20 Mhz
RX Pre-amp
BFO 20 Mhz
Diode Mixer
AF Pre-amp
AF Amp
34.285
CQ CQ … 20 Mhz
CQ CQ … 14.285
CQ CQ … 20 Mhz
CQ CQ …
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Ardu
ino
- LC
D
Dis
play
Si
570
XO (V
FO+2
0Mhz
)
KISS Mixer
Crystal Filter 20 Mhz
RX Pre-amp
BFO 20 Mhz Diode
Mixer
AF Pre-amp AF
Amp
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Arduino - LCD Display Si570 XO (VFO+20Mhz) KISS Mixer
Crystal Filter 20 Mhz
TX Pre-amp
BFO 20 Mhz
Diode Mixer Mic Amp
34.285
CQ CQ … 20 Mhz
CQ CQ … 14.285
CQ CQ … 20 Mhz
CQ CQ …
LPFs
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Ardu
ino
- LC
D
Dis
play
Si
570
XO (V
FO+2
0Mhz
)
KISS Mixer
Crystal Filter 20 Mhz
RX Pre-amp
BFO 20 Mhz Diode
Mixer
AF Pre-amp AF
Amp
Mic Amp
LPFs
TX Pre-amp
CW Tone
TX / RX
Serial Port
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Homebrewing the Minima
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Measuring the crystal filter
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Measuring the crystal filter
• Converting Voltage into Power?
• Impedance of my signal generator?
• Impedance conversion?
• Termination?
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Measuring the crystal filter
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Reminds me of the roman army in the Asterix and the Roman Agent.!- f
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Toroids …
• Do not be afraid
• Get a LCR meter (AADE - $100)
• Watch YouTube videos
• Get multi color magnetic wires for transformers
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Home made Arduino
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Home made Arduino
• Get a Atmega328P with an Arduino bootloader
• Or better, burn the bootloader yourself
• Enjoy the binary (works / does not work) aspects of the controller board ;)
• If you are not familiar with Arduino, stick to the standard setup for now
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Ardu
ino
- LC
D
Dis
play
Si
570
XO (V
FO+2
0Mhz
)
KISS Mixer
Crystal Filter 20 Mhz
RX Pre-amp
BFO 20 Mhz Diode
Mixer
AF Pre-amp AF
Amp
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Receiving signals
• It is a lot easier than you think!
• Learnt how to debug amplifiers via transistor biases, temperature and AC-coupled measurements
• Built my first VXO and generating sine waves at 20 Mhz
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Finishing up
• Mixer fun: Carrier Suppression, Conversion Loss and IIP3
• Output power, Harmonics and the FCC
• From 50mV to 50V
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Lessons learnt
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Blocks
• Learnt to see a circuit as blocks and stages
• Everything can be tested and measured independently
• Build, Test, Move on - Each stage is a project
• Keep a notebook - Take lots of notes
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Tools• DVM, Scope
• Soldering Iron, MePads, Glue
• LCR Meter
• Some sort of signal generator
• BNC Connectors, 50 Ohm termination, Cables, etc
• Spectrum Analyzer or PHSNA is nice to have
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Reference• Minima Initial Article
http://www.phonestack.com/farhan/minima.html
• Minima Mailing List
• And all the Minimas that have been built!
• Experimental Methods in RF Design (EMRFD)
• ARRL Handbook
• Chat With The Designer Podcast (cwtd.org)
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Solder Smoke
Bill Meara - N2CQR Book Blog Podcast!!http://soldersmoke.blogspot.com
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Closing Remarks
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Project Status• Still actively being developed and designed
• The KISS Mixer will probably be replaced by another mixer in the future
• This should not stop you! !
• A few PCBs were made but distribution is limited until the design is finalized !
• You will need the RF386 Power Amplifier (or similar)
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Open Source Software• Many contributions to the Minima software
https://github.com/afarhan/radiono
• WA0UWH leading the charge with WSPR support, CW ID, Rotary encoder, etc https://github.com/wa0uwh/radiono_erb
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Join the club!Already 4 known Minimas in the bay area.
!
!
Questions? Demo!!
!
!Thomas - KK6AHT http://sarfata.org/ham/minima @sarfata
This presentation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.