Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Building a software-defined radio from scratch

electronics.kitchen

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 48 posts

Re: Building a software-defined radio from scratch

#31

Post by dbyte »

laobeylu wrote: post #15
asimuvPR wrote: post #9

Amazing project! 1. What are your plans for it? Aside from high altitude balloons. 2. Do you plan to turn this into a sort of "shield" add on? 3. What will you work on after this project is done?

Thanks! Well, I'm currently working on a new version that I'm hoping to sell. I also still need to work on the software. This won't be an addon, but the next revision will include an expansion header so you can add addons. Should be pretty neat to make an LCD+battery pack "shield" so you can use the SDR as a stand-alone spectrum analyzer. What I'll actually use it for: I built it because I wanted to learn more about…

Really an amazing job. Keep feeding your curiosity, it is really worth it and try to travel a bit while explaining your project. Array processing is something that deserves a better look. Many SDR solutions still lack a bit under this point of view. Yet that will be quite useful to have. :)

Re: Building a software-defined radio from scratch

#32

Post by asimuvPR »

laobeylu wrote: post #15
asimuvPR wrote: post #9

Amazing project! 1. What are your plans for it? Aside from high altitude balloons. 2. Do you plan to turn this into a sort of "shield" add on? 3. What will you work on after this project is done?

Thanks! Well, I'm currently working on a new version that I'm hoping to sell. I also still need to work on the software. This won't be an addon, but the next revision will include an expansion header so you can add addons. Should be pretty neat to make an LCD+battery pack "shield" so you can use the SDR as a stand-alone spectrum analyzer. What I'll actually use it for: I built it because I wanted to learn more about…

You should get yourself a nice dish antenna. They are cheap and allow for a lot of fun projects. I sourced a free 10-foot dish with motor (to adjust angle) not long ago. Its gonna be used as a backyard radio telescope of sorts. :)

Re: Building a software-defined radio from scratch

#34

Post by turnip1979 »

laobeylu wrote: post #3

Hey! I'm Lukas, the guy who made this. Just discovered someone posted it on Hacker News, pretty exciting for me. If you want to ask me any questions or make comments, I'm here and on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/electronics/comments/4uic5r/sdr_pla...

Thanks for posting details about your experience. I'm a software person learning about hw/FPGAs. These kinds of resources are invaluable!

P.s. it says you are a student. If you want to earn a side income giving virtual classes on PCB design, etc. you'd make a decent side income. Just an idea :p

Re: Building a software-defined radio from scratch

#35

Post by etrautmann »

laobeylu wrote: post #3

Hey! I'm Lukas, the guy who made this. Just discovered someone posted it on Hacker News, pretty exciting for me. If you want to ask me any questions or make comments, I'm here and on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/electronics/comments/4uic5r/sdr_pla...

This is seriously impressive! Beautiful work. It's inspiring to see someone bite off a project this large and execute so well!

Re: Building a software-defined radio from scratch

#36

Post by superuser2 »

jackhack wrote: post #12
jaytaylor wrote: post #10

I am curious; what would one actually do with this device once it is working? This is a really neat sounding project.

Transmit or receive analog or digital information on just about any frequency : audio/voice (including multichannel), video, GPS, telecommunications, data transmission, synchronization, module configuration, etc. etc. etc. Sky's the limit.

Isn't the FCC the limit?

How much transmitting can you do legally?

Re: Building a software-defined radio from scratch

#37

Post by krapht »

turnip1979 wrote: post #34
laobeylu wrote: post #3

Hey! I'm Lukas, the guy who made this. Just discovered someone posted it on Hacker News, pretty exciting for me. If you want to ask me any questions or make comments, I'm here and on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/electronics/comments/4uic5r/sdr_pla...

Thanks for posting details about your experience. I'm a software person learning about hw/FPGAs. These kinds of resources are invaluable! P.s. it says you are a student. If you want to earn a side income giving virtual classes on PCB design, etc. you'd make a decent side income. Just an idea :p

Didn't like what's already out there? https://contextualelectronics.com/

Re: Building a software-defined radio from scratch

#38

Post by gjkood »

krapht wrote: post #37
turnip1979 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for posting details about your experience. I'm a software person learning about hw/FPGAs. These kinds of resources are invaluable! P.s. it says you are a student. If you want to earn a side income giving virtual classes on PCB design, etc. you'd make a decent side income. Just an idea :p

Didn't like what's already out there? https://contextualelectronics.com/

Thanks for the link. I am interested in such a program but $29/mo for a hobby is too much at the moment. It would be great if there was a free community edition also.

However its good to know that there are options.

My primary concern with signing up for something like this, from a hobbyist perspective, is that these things add up and soon you will be bleeding money without generating any income to cover the expenses.

Re: Building a software-defined radio from scratch

#39

Post by gjkood »

laobeylu wrote: post #3

Hey! I'm Lukas, the guy who made this. Just discovered someone posted it on Hacker News, pretty exciting for me. If you want to ask me any questions or make comments, I'm here and on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/electronics/comments/4uic5r/sdr_pla...

Lukas, keep up the fantastic work.

I am blown away that someone your age can master all the expertise needed to implement this. This is very very non-trivial work indeed. At your age I could have put together some silly receiver/transmitter electronics based on schematics copied from an Elektor magazine. But this is mind blowing.

Wishing you the best. You have a great future ahead.

Post reply on HN