PortableSDR

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2014 Hackaday Prize: Semifinalists

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2014 Hackaday Prize: Quarterfinalists

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Description

The PSDR is a completely stand-alone (no computer needed), compact, Portable Software Defined Transceiver (hence the name, sorta). Originally designed for backpacking use by Ham Radio operators. It includes complete coverage up to about 30Mhz (plus 144Mhz), it has a 168Mhz ARM processor, color display, and an innovative interface.

Vector Network Analysis (which includes antenna analysis) and GPS functions are included.

The entire design is Open Source. The electronics are designed and laid out to be easy to understand and tinker with. In addition to source code, schematics, board layout and parts lists, articles and videos describing the theory of the design are being created.

Details

Want a PortableSDR? Please take THIS SURVEY so I can make it happen!

Finals Video:

For previous project views, please see links to the left.

System Design Document / Block Diagram:

Click here for a PDF.

Source code and Design Files: All files (including the above diagram) are available on GitHub at https://github.com/MichaelRColton/PSDR

License Information: The project code is still very much in development. It currently uses the Adafruit GFX and ILI9340 libraries (both being adapted for this application) and is likely to use other libraries in the future. I will comply with any licenses for libraries I include, and plan to license the project itself under a permissive license (like MIT) or a copyleft license like GPL. I would very much appreciate suggests on this.

About the PSDR1: There were a lot of subcircuits that I had never tested for this project (and were hard to breadboard at the frequencies and sizes involved) so I built the PSDR1 board you see here to demonstrate all those parts. I left off the easy stuff (like a battery charger, the whole GPS sub system) and a few of the more advanced parts (like the RF switching, and phase and amplitude measurement IC) Also, while the LCD module was expedient, the next version will have it integrated directly.

Components

1 × STM32F429 Microcontroller U21 - Digikey part number: 497-14052-ND

1 × AD8302 Magnitude/Phase Detector U23 - Digikey part number: AD8302ARUZ-ND

2 × AD9834 DDS Frequency Synthesizers U1, 8 - Digikey part number: AD9834CRUZ-ND

1 × QVGA LCD ILI9340/ILI9341 LCD - Search ebay for "2.2 (ILI9340, ILI9341)"

1 × GP39-1513 GPS Reciever U4 - http://www.adh-tech.com.tw/?36,gp39-1513

Project Logs

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Big in Germany
Michael R Colton • 01/17/2015 at 19:15 • 0 comments

So I get home yesterday to find an unexpected package. Inside is a Ham Radio magazine (The December 2014 issue of Funk Amateur, I like the name!) with a note.... all in German. Sweet! I flip through it and to my shock, I find the PSDR! WHAAAAT!? What a cool thing! (I'd scan the whole thing, but that might be verboten, copyright stuff, you know.) I googled to see if the article was online, didn't find it, but did find a mention of the PortableSDR here.
The Kickstarter campaign is off to a great start! Last I looked it was almost to $12,000 (20% of the goal) at this rate it will be successful! Thank you so much everyone for your support!
I am getting a lot of messages, and I am trying to get caught up on posts and things, I hope to get caught up soon.
KickStarter! Finally!
Michael R Colton • 01/14/2015 at 06:01 • 2 comments

Now you guys can finally get it! Sorry it took so long! Thanks for your patience and support eveyone!
For all of you who are itching to have one (bless your hearts) click here!
The internal speaker works now, btw (not great, but it's a start). Also, I have some ideas for a pretty cool 4 band antenna that doesn't need a tuner.
Quick Update
Michael R Colton • 12/12/2014 at 05:31 • 5 comments

Hi fans!
I just wanted to make a quick post here to let you know that I am still here. I wanted to have the Kickstarter live by now, but I really need to get some quotes back on PCB manufacturing, or I wont be able to set the prices with any confidence. I am so excited to get these out into the world, but I don't want to go broke doing it, you know?
I have an initial quote on the metals (though I want to change the design a little bit) and have been meeting with a local PCB assembly house. I've worked with them (as well as many others) for other projects and have found their work to be absolutely amazing. They cost a little more, but I think it will be worth it in boards that will work well for a long time. Also, since they're local, I won't have to pay for shipping, wait for shipping, or, for example, fly to China (I'm dying to go, but not on my own dime, you see).
I hope to have a quote back from them soon. When I've got everything figured out, you'll be the first to know!
3RD PLACE! (And stuff!)
Michael R Colton • 11/24/2014 at 07:14 • 6 comments

Hi everyone! I got 3rd place! I'm the 3rd best hacker in the world! Thanks everyone for your support! Congratulations to the other finalists, in particular SatNOGS! I have an unused, wooden garage that would be perfect for housing one of their antennas trackers. I'll need to get on that. Also, I would love a tricorder and spectrometer. I'd like a chipwhisperer too, but I think it's a little over my head.
So where have I been? (Sorry about that, btw) Well first, after all the stress of the contest, it was nice to kinda do nothing for a while. But mostly I've been trying to figure out how to get the PSDR produced so you can have one!
I've poured over the survey data; very interesting stuff! There are a few things in there that are encouraging; so many people said they'd buy a PSDR2 AND a future version! There are also a few things that people aren't going to like. Maybe it was the BaoFeng comparison, but a pretty large number of people said it would only be worth say $50-150 to them (some even less!). There's no way that can happen, it's made of expensive parts and.... how can I compete with a big Chinese company!
Right now I am finding places that can do the manufacturing for me, particularly the metal housings and PCB assembly. When I have some quotes back, I'll be able to determine what I can charge and not go broke (a very real possibility if I'm not careful).
I hope to have a Kickstarter project up in about a week. Thanks for your patience everyone! I haven't forgotten about you!
Also another religious thought, skip if you aren't interested.
Read more »
Schrödinger's Finalist
Michael R Colton • 11/11/2014 at 06:10 • 2 comments

Today, in the interview post about the RamanPi, Brian says, "If you're wondering who the winner of The Hackaday Prize is, even I don't know. [Mike] and a few Hackaday overlords do," Thinking of it now, of course the results would be known before the announcement, but it hadn't really occurred to me until I read that. For some reason it seemed weird to me. Whether I have won first place or not is known, but not to me. So in a weird way, I am in the superposition of both having taken first, and not. That is, until Thursday morning (for me 5 am :/ ) when the wave function will collapse. I think it would be fun to be in their position, to know that you were about to change someone's life, and you knew it, but they didn't. Good luck to my fellow finalists! No matter the outcome, I'm happy to have made it so far.
Pictured above is Girl Kitty, she's been our cat since I was a teenager (which makes her about 18 years old) but, unlike Schrödinger's cat, Girl Kitty is, thankfully, alive.
In other news, the response to the survey has been MIND BLOWING! The PSDR has about 650 followers, not everyone is going to respond, I guess I expected about 100 responses. Right now I have 1,106! (Which is, by the way, probably enough) THANKS EVERYBODY! It's been amazing to see such an overwhelmingly positive response! I'm still going through the data and want to devote a proper post to it. Give me a few days. I'm really learning a lot by going through all of this.
Trying To Transmit
Michael R Colton • 11/06/2014 at 15:27 • 0 comments

I shot this before the Final Overview Video, but didn't get around to posting it. Basically, it shows that my first attempt at an amplifier board for the PSDR2 was unsuccessful, also, I need filtering. I think that what I showed in the video might not have been that meaningful because I had already damaged the amp at that point. Nevertheless, it seems that filtering before the amplifier is going to be required. I have a circuit I want to try that would be a digitally variable low-pass filter. I think it will work, just not sure if will work at RF frequencies.
I was also lucky to bump into a pretty seasoned RF engineer and picked his brain about designing this amplifier (I only picked the surface though, since I could only take about 5 minutes of his time) basically, it sounds like MMICs will probably only get me to 1 W. Which is not terrible. Beyond that, I'll probably have to design a discrete circuit. BUT he also suggested a trick I'd read about, where you use a power splitter, then, say, 5 MMIC amps, then a combiner, and there you go. I'm interested in trying that. That would also make it easy to step down power, and even provide some redundancy...
THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE FOR DOING THE SURVEYS! I've received over 600 responses! (500 today alone, thanks to being featured on the front page. Thanks Brian!) Next time I'll give a breakdown of the responses and what it will mean for the PSDR moving forward.
Want a PSDR? Take this Survey!
Michael R Colton • 11/02/2014 at 04:41 • 0 comments

I'm trying to work out the details of making the PortableSDR available, but there are some things I need to figure out. Please please take a moment to fill out this survey so I can plan things out appropriately. It should only take a minute. Thank you so much!
Glamour Photos
Michael R Colton • 10/28/2014 at 06:00 • 3 comments

Here are some very lovely (if I do say so myself) pictures of the PortableSDR.
There are a bunch more. Check 'em out!
Read more »
Plastic's Fantastic, But Metal is Better
Michael R Colton • 10/20/2014 at 04:51 • 5 comments

Hi everyone!
I spent the last few days modifying the design of the case to simplify it (7 screws instead of 21, for example) and to make it millable. I had some great help from my friend Jacob, thanks Jacob! He also suggested a countersunk front cover and I think it's going to look awesome! I spent pretty much all of Saturday at work, generating toolpaths and "borrowing" the milling machine. I made a few mistakes, learned a bunch of stuff. It was pretty fun! I'm getting better! I'm probably going to sandblast it when it's done (you can see I need to hand finish a little bit, particular around the paddle area.) so it will have a soft, frosted look. At least for now. I might paint it after that. We'll see.
I also want to share some small miracles. Those of you who are offended and/or not interested in religious things can skip the rest.
Read more »
We need more RFs!
Michael R Colton • 10/17/2014 at 06:49 • 1 comment

Hi everyone!
Let me first say how blown away, honored, and delighted I am to be included in the final round of judging! The enthusiastic responses I've gotten from everyone have helped keep me motivated through the long hours of design and programming (honestly, this would have been a year long project or more otherwise). Thanks to everyone for your support! I've loved reading everyone's comments here on my project blog, on the final-five announcement page, youtube, and reddit.
Now then! Where were we. It seems like many people have been anxious to see transmit support working. I realized that some of the other features I'm excited about, like the Vector Network Analyzer, require the PSDR to generate signals, and of course, I want to see if I can talk to people with it! So, as you saw in the last video, I got transmit support started, but I was a little disappointed that the power output was so low (I mean, I knew it would be low but...)
So, I decided to try my hand at putting together an amplifier to go in the PSDR2's amp board socket (those five holes in the upper left), and this is the result. PCBs should get here next week, hopefully in time for the final judging. If it works the way I think it will, it should get us somewhere close to 100-200mW. Still not a lot, but enough to get a signal out, and maybe drive another amplification stage in the future.
It was fun to design. I'm trying some weird stuff here, for example, the two MMIC amplifiers are biased like a diode or transistor (well, that's what they are), where current is more important than voltage. Also, they like to be driven around 5-6v. So I needed a boost converter, ideally with a constant current output. Well. they make LED drivers that do exactly that. So that's what will be powering this little amp.
I'm actually not totally confident it will work on the first try, but it will be a learning experience either way.

View all 28 project logs

Build Instructions

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Step 1

Obtain or produce the sub assemblies pictures above (See github for detailed assembly instructions, gerbers, and STLs): Polycarbonate front cover. Encoder PCB, Top housing, LCD, Knob, Main PCB, Paddles, Battery, Bottom Housing, screws and washers.

Step 2

Connect battery to Main PCB, and set both into Bottom houssing

Step 3

Connect LCD module to main PCB

Discussions

davehardy0101 wrote 11/06/2014 at 14:30

Mini plugs for tx and rx so I can hook up to my sound card for psk ops on my laptop. Think about crowdsourcing on kickstarter. Great project.

Are you sure? yes | no

Michael R Colton wrote 11/06/2014 at 20:32

How about PSK support built into the unit so you don't need a laptop? Or connect the PSDR over USB (so the laptop would really just be a terminal). Actually, I think the existing earphone connector could do what you are describing with an adapter.

I am working on a kickstarter campaign right now. That's partly why I did the survey. More details soon.

Are you sure? yes | no

Bill Johnson, k9yeq wrote 11/08/2014 at 18:18

Add BT for connections for both speaker output and keyboard input as you get down the road.

Are you sure? yes | no

owen wrote 11/06/2014 at 00:27

I don't know how much the GPS unit costs, but if it's more than $10 or so it might be nice to make it optional for those that aren't interested in that functionality. But your ideas about using it for JT65, emergency beacon, and APRS are all cool!

Are you sure? yes | no

Steven wrote 11/05/2014 at 19:18

Not everyone is right handed. It wild be nice to see a "hand agnostic" design. As it is you've left out a portion of your potential customer base. Just sayin'.

Are you sure? yes | no

owen wrote 11/06/2014 at 00:24

Or an option for an external key. I have a nice portable key that I might prefer to an integrated one.

Are you sure? yes | no

Michael R Colton wrote 11/06/2014 at 20:34

I didn't really mean to exclude anyone, but I couldn't figure out hand agnostic design that I liked. (I'm open to suggestions) but what did occur to me recently is that the PSDR could be rotated so the key is on the left and the knob toward the operator. All we'd have to do is rotate and reformat the display. I'll get to that eventually.

The earphone connector will accommodate an external key.

Are you sure? yes | no

PointyOintment wrote 11/11/2014 at 21:22

Tell that to the camera companies.

Are you sure? yes | no

n6ey wrote 11/05/2014 at 17:37

Nice design. A couple questions:
1. Any ideas on adding 6m?
2. 2M FM is a good idea, though there might be more value for those using weak signal modes with this unit. Adding 432/436 would make it attractive to those running weak signal and satellite modes.
3. What kind of interface for external control is planned?
Looks like a fun project - I'm very interested in seeing how this evolves.
73.

Are you sure? yes | no

Michael R Colton wrote 11/06/2014 at 20:41

Initially 6m was out, the DDSs couldn't go that high, and if I can only include one mixer, then I wanted 2m. BUT I am looking at a DDS chip that can hit 200MHz, which would give us 2m without a mixer (and weather, and FM broadcast, and 6m, etc) so I am going to try playing with one of those. I don't think I have it in me to do 70cm yet (or the foreseeable future) but we'll see how things evolve.

For external interfaces, we do have the USB port that can (in theory) act as a peripheral or a host, so keyboards, or even a pannel of knobs could be made. Or remote operation over the internet (the PSDR would need to be connected to a PC or RaspberrPi or something). Also, FYI, there are still pins on the PCB to connect the raw I/Q signals into and out of a computer, for use with things like SDR#. All of this is a ways off though.

Are you sure? yes | no

HamRadio wrote 11/05/2014 at 12:29

Hi Michael. Congratulations!! It's really a great project!! I should read All the info you published. I am interested on the source code. Could you explain how should I read the files? What is the main? I need some little info to start. I would like to experiment with DRM or something like that. Thanks!!

Are you sure? yes | no

Michael R Colton wrote 11/06/2014 at 20:43

I'm happy to help, but I am not sure I understand what you are asking. How much programming experience do you have? Also, please be warned that the code is a terrible mess right now.

When you said DRM I thought you meant Digital Rights Management and I thought, "No! Don't add DRM!" On second thought I realized you meant Digital Radio Mondale, and I thought, "awesome!"

Are you sure? yes | no

andresscrespo wrote 11/07/2014 at 15:50

Hi Michael. Thanks for reply me! Yes, I have experience but just with small microcontrollers. It's the source code too big!! I should start to study it! I finally found the main.c! What I asked, is that you make a explanation of which are the principal functions, and a little scheme of the source.
DRM mean Digital Radio Mondiale, yes! My target is to programm and build a stand-alone Tx and Rx DRM....yes, not easy!!
Have you considered to add DRM system?

Are you sure? yes | no

Michael R Colton wrote 11/07/2014 at 19:25

Yes, there is a lot of code, and I'm sorry to say that it really isn't well organized at all. I'm glad you found main.c though, most of the interesting stuff is in there.

I would love to support DRM, but I don't know how much work it will be to decode. I will probably have to leave that up to someone else. I don't think I can do it myself.

Are you sure? yes | no

Robo BA55 wrote 11/04/2014 at 11:48

Good Job!!!

Are you sure? yes | no

Shane wrote 11/02/2014 at 01:16

I just noticed that you have added 144 MHz into the mix here. For this to be useful it will require a means of programming split, tone, etc. It will probably also require a separate antenna connection. And, if 144 MHz is possible, why not 220 or 440? With that in mind, I'm beginning to think a separate model or version might be necessary for VHF/UHF. As a side note, I can't find a single multi-band/multi-mode (HF/VHF/UHF) radio on the market with 220 MHz transmit capability. Several can receive it, but none I have seen can transmit.
Shane
KG5DVC

Are you sure? yes | no

Michael R Colton wrote 11/02/2014 at 02:14

Hi Shane. 144MHz is something I'd like to include, but currently almost nothing has been done on that part (other than including a socket for a mixer board and an RF switch to connect or bypass the mixer.)

I don't think a second antenna connector will be necessary, my plan is to simply switch a mixer into the RF path. Things like splits, tones, etc, could all be added in firmware. As for 220 and 440, there isn't any reason we couldn't use a mixer to get up to those frequencies instead, but including all of them would mean that the mixer would need to cover some very different ranges. Also, the wider the swath of frequencies I want to cover, the more complicated the filtering and amplification is going to need to be.

I am playing with the idea of using a newer DDS chip that can go up to 200MHz. If it works well, then no mixer would be needed for 144MHz (we'd also get weather and broadcast FM, among other things), but higher frequencies would still require a mixer. For size, cost, and simplicity, at that point I'd leave the mixer out entirely.

I'd point out that including 144MHz is mostly so that there is something available for repeater and simplex use in a pinch, but it wasn't really intended to be the focus of this radio.

Are you sure? yes | no

Shane wrote 11/02/2014 at 04:25

In that case, it's simpler to just stick with HF. Quite a few handhelds will do VHF/UHF reasonably well, and some even receive broadcast FM. But nobody makes a handheld, multi-band, multi-mode stand alone SDR for HF. The most comparable portable HF rig I have seen is massive by comparison, and rather expensive. What you're doing here is truly impressive.

Are you sure? yes | no

sm6eqo wrote 11/03/2014 at 13:48

Agree. Stick with HF. There are cheap small VHF handhelds made in China out there perfect for emergencies and the like. VHF/UHF coverage would not add much to the basic concept of the PSDR.

Are you sure? yes | no

DainBramage wrote 11/02/2014 at 16:21

In case you're curious why 220 MHz is seldom included in Transceivers, it's because ITU region 2, where the US is, is the only region that has an amateur radio allocation on that band.
The nearest equivalent would be an American radio builder including the 4 meter band (70 MHz).
Speaking of which, Michael, you might consider covering that band for our friends across the pond. As if you don't already have enough to do. :)

Are you sure? yes | no

pedrocalixto80 wrote 11/01/2014 at 00:31

I have dowloaded you files from github but can't see anythink on eagle what software did you use to generate the boards ?
73

Pedro Almeida
CT5JZX

Are you sure? yes | no

iz3okw wrote 11/01/2014 at 08:49

Hi Pedro, I would like to tell you my attempt of importing schematic and pcb files in my cad, waiting for Michael maybe add something.
The source files are "Mentorgraphics PADS" native (as you read in Github PSDR/Hardware/README.txt).
I am trying to import the PSDR in "Altium Designer" (winter 2009 version) with the help of a friend who converted for me the sources Mentorgraphics to "ASCII 2005.2" for schematics and to "PowerPCB V5" for board layout.
I'm still working to remove a number of errors inevitably generated in the conversion process.
Maybe Michael in the future can export, and publish, files in any format that can be imported in other more popular CAD.
Ciao

Luca, iz3okw

Are you sure? yes | no

Michael R Colton wrote 11/02/2014 at 02:07

IZ3OKW is correct, the files are for Mentorgraphics PADS. Click here to get the free viewer: http://www.pads.com/downloads/pads-pcb-viewer/ There are images of the boards in the gerber folders on github, so you can get a preview of what you're working with, and there are PDFs of the schematics too.

I don't have any experience importing the files into Altium or anything else (though I've thought about trying Altium, so I'm curious about how well the conversion works.) As for making files available in other formats, unfortunately, it doesn't seem like compatibility (even between versions of the same software) is not a priority for Mentorgraphics (and, I think, for many other PCB layout developers as well) so there is no real way for me to make the files more broadly available.

As for doing the layout in something like Eagle or KiCad, I might consider it, but PADS is what I have and what I am good at.

Out of curiosity, what changes do you have in mind to make?

Are you sure? yes | no

iz3okw wrote 11/02/2014 at 08:49

Hi Michael,
conversion from a cad to another involves two stages, exporting from starting cad to a format recognizable by the target software and importing in this one. Each phase is generally assisted by the respective cad that generates some kind of error list. Having the possibility to manage these errors immediately the conversion process should easily go through. Unfortunately, in my attempt I had control only in the second stage because the first was made for me remotely by a friend (since I have not Mentorgraphics PADS); now I can only try a late-remedy...
I'm not going to make special modifications to your project, for me importing hardware design in Altium was necessary when it was not clear whether you would be made available to the PCBs and/or kits. If I wanted to replicate PSDR being able to work on the hardware would be easier to use some components already I have, then you know "one thing leads... ".
Good luck for Hackaday contest,
ciao

Luca

Are you sure? yes | no

pedrocalixto80 wrote 11/07/2014 at 22:39

My laptop hd died last week i only have an old pentium 3 whid ubuntu and can't install PADS . hope I can find some software for linux.

Are you sure? yes | no

XDjackieXD wrote 10/31/2014 at 22:56

Cool Project & congrats for beeing a finalist!
I'm very interested in building one and I know a few people who are also interested.
I like the look of the metal case and the acrylic frontpanel.

Good luck for the contest!
73, Jakob OE1JMW

Are you sure? yes | no

Thomas wrote 10/31/2014 at 14:22

Very interesting project!

How can I get the PCBs? I am strongly interested in building one. Milling enclosures out of HDPE/Acryl is no problem here.

If you plan to offer a kit version via kickstarter, do it!

The time is now! ;)

Please take me on the list, or please give me a hint how to get a PCB.

VY73
Thomas
DK1EY
.-.-.

Are you sure? yes | no

w8tow wrote 10/30/2014 at 16:31

Very interested in evaluating the PSDR and demonstrating it in my Applied Electronics Class in January I teach! Any possibility I might get one Michael? 73 w8tow

Are you sure? yes | no

albatross579 wrote 10/29/2014 at 17:15

Hi there Michael 2E0GGO Gareth hereVery nice project...please tell me when you have a kit or assembled version for sale ??
Good luck and keep up with your wonderful idea!!
ttfn 2E0GGO U.K.

Are you sure? yes | no

chamoko2 wrote 10/29/2014 at 16:59

When will you have these SDR radios available. I am anxious to try it out.

Are you sure? yes | no

robert.ehresman wrote 10/29/2014 at 15:54

I'd love to see you follow through on that kit. And I think I am going to hold off on getting that MFJ-259C and KX3 I've been wanting.... :-)

Are you sure? yes | no

Michael R Colton wrote 11/02/2014 at 02:00

Wow! Thanks, I've heard nothing but excellent things about both of those, so that's saying something!

Are you sure? yes | no

Mark Grennan wrote 11/07/2014 at 18:19

Robert is right on. My work with the, more generic, HackRF has done a lot for my bench. Being able to both produce and receive RF signals has replace lots of things on my bench. It's fantastic to product a band of noise, feed it through a filter and see the results.

Are you sure? yes | no

henrique wrote 10/29/2014 at 13:41

Very nice project...please tell me when you have a kit or assembled version for sale. PU5HLU

Are you sure? yes | no

Ruben EA5BZ wrote 10/28/2014 at 18:40

Very very interesting project my friend !
Of course... tell me when assembled version is available!
EA5BZ Ruben from Spain.

Are you sure? yes | no

Josh Walton wrote 10/28/2014 at 15:44

Michael,
I'm fairly new to amateur radio, but dived in quick. I have been on a quest to find a portable and capable radio just like this project. I am super excited to see the work you are doing. I can't wait to get the kit!

Are you sure? yes | no

sm6eqo wrote 10/28/2014 at 13:41

Nice new video you have put up!
Also glad to hear you confirming that a kit, or assembled unit, is planned.
As for possible market for these “micro-tranceivers”; KD1JD´s last batch of 150 MTR-tranceivers was sold out within 24 hours of its release. You should probably expect something of the same or more.
Finally: I think 5 watts output is a must to be relevant.
SM6EQO
http://hem.bredband.net/b101180/In%20the%20field.html

Are you sure? yes | no

Michael R Colton wrote 11/02/2014 at 01:59

I noticed how quickly those MTRs sold too. It gives me hope that the PSDR might do alright. Yes, I want to get to 5 watts if possible, I'm working on it.

Are you sure? yes | no

Peter wrote 10/27/2014 at 21:36

Nice project,
I have read your comments on the schematic. I think you will need external ram. Also think about a cpu with a lcd controller. A STM32F429 will give you a lcd controller. You can use cheap passive lcd's. The bigger one. The SD-Ram will help to handle the data streams. Have a look on the stm32f429 disco board.
ST has licensed the segger emWin graphic library. You can use this lib for free with a cpu from ST.

73,
Peter
DC2PD

Are you sure? yes | no

Michael R Colton wrote 10/27/2014 at 21:46

I don't think I've updated the schematics yet. The PSDR2 uses exactly the CPU you suggested, the STM32F429 (I also have the dev board for it). That chip has an LCD controller, but to use it (and use the DAC) you need to us a very large 144 pin package (which I may do). So far I haven't run into any issues with the amount of RAM available, but that may change in the future, particularly if I need to store a frame buffer for the display. I'm trying hard to keep the PSDR as small as possible, so it's a balancing act to get the features I want but keep it small.

Are you sure? yes | no

Shane wrote 10/26/2014 at 02:00

I may be way off here, but I would love to see something like this with a 1 to 5 watt output, and something like a docking station at home. This docking station would really be little more than a linear amplifier, desk mic, and tuner, but... well, yeah. No matter how this competition thing goes, please don't let this project die on the vine. This is great, and I know I can't wait to get one in complete or kit form. Build, buy, borrow, whatever. This is a must have.
73,
Shane
KG5DVC

Are you sure? yes | no

Michael R Colton wrote 10/27/2014 at 21:47

You aren't way off. 1-5 watts is exactly what I am aiming for. The idea of a docking station is new. I'll have to think about that.

Are you sure? yes | no

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PortableSDR

Description

Details

Components

Project Logs

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Big in Germany

KickStarter! Finally!

Quick Update

3RD PLACE! (And stuff!)

Schrödinger's Finalist

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