[hpsdr] Project proposal - Hermes

[Philip Covington]

On Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 12:02 PM, Kevin Wheatley <m0khz at tiscali.co.uk> wrote:
>
> On 15 Apr 2009, at 14:52, Philip Covington wrote:
>
>> On Sun, Apr 12, 2009 at 12:35 PM, Kevin Wheatley <m0khz at tiscali.co.uk>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> ***** High Performance Software Defined Radio Discussion List *****
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Following the outstanding success of Mercury and Penelope, and while
>>> investigating the verilog code for both, I had the insane idea of merging
>>> the verilog code of Mercury and Penelope into a single fpga! I played around
>>> with this idea for a while and the more I thought about it the more I liked
>>> the idea.
>>> So here is the proposal, to develop a single board HPSDR based on the
>>> hardware of Mercury and Penelope and a single large fpga.
>>> This board would have PC connectivity by USB. I’m planning to squeeze
>>> this all onto Euro Card sized PCB (100 x 160 mm), and if I utilize both
>>> sides I might even have room for a Pennywhistle type PA  :).
>>> Basic specs so far (nothing cast in stone)
>>> Fpga EP3C25Q240C (I think this is the largest without BGA pin out)
>>> Mercury receive chain
>>> Penelope transmit chain
>>> USB2 to PC data transfer
>>> Pennywhistle PA (if there’s room)
>>> 10Mhz on board with ext an option
>>> Alex filter switching header
>>> 13.5V supply
>>> I’ll post a provisional block diagram on the Wiki this week, and lastly,
>>> why the name?
>>> Following the tradition of the HPSDR naming convention, I thought Hermes
>>> was appropriate as he was known for his invention and theft!
>>> All comments welcome.
>>> Kevin – M0KHZ
>>
>> While interesting, this proposal does not fit in with the rest of the
>> HPSDR projects.  It does nothing to advance HPSDR because it is a
>> rehashing of boards that have already been produced.  The idea behind
>> HPSDR was to break the projects up into modules that could work on a
>> common bus (ATLAS).  By breaking it up into modules, multiple people
>> could work toward a common goal.  There is also a (project leaderless)
>> proposal for an Ethernet based OZYII board now - how does that jive
>> with your stand alone board proposal?
>>
>
> I agree this proposal doesn't align with the mission statement of the group,
> however I gain my best learning from doing, and each time I tackle a project
> I learn different skills (isn't this what Amateur radio is all about). As I
> state above, the idea was born from investigating the verilog code and
> postulating a different architecture. Hence the project proposal. OzyII has
> nothing to do with Hermes.
>
>> The other issue is that this will necessarily require different
>> firmware, software, and FPGA HDL than the individual modules it
>> combines.  What about those who have invested in Atlas, OZY, Mercury,
>> Penelope, etc..?   Will development be slowed or stopped for those
>> people if favor of the this new board that combines all the work of
>> these individual projects into one?
>>
>> Phil N8VB
>
> I agree, different fpga firmware will be required, but having followed Kirks
> fantastic coarse, with very my limited skills (but growing), I think I've
> half a chance of hacking something that may work, once again learning by
> doing and having some hardware here that needs new firmware is a great
> incentive :) I'm not sure about the firmware for the USB interface (haven't
> thought this through), but as I understand the code, the C&C encoder /
> decoder is the key? I can't respond regarding future developments on the
> existing boards, but I think Kirk has provided one clear view - development
> won't slow down or stop.
>
> I must point one that I am one who has invested in a full suite of HPSDR
> boards, and are used daily as my main rig, these will not be made redundant,
> if / when Hermes become a reality, that's the great benefit of mix and match
> with the Atlas back plane.
>
> 73's
> Kevin - M0KHZ
>
>

I withdraw my objections to this project.  Maybe it will spur
additional development of non-PowerSDR based applications.

Phil N8VB

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