[hpsdr] Some HPSDR Updates

Tue May 16 21:59:09 PDT 2006

In 1987-8,  using Dalanco Spry boards, Tom Clark and I did a software 
dsp system to do "echo mode" EME and successfully did echo capture with 
100w to small antennas on both ends on 70cm.  I wrote a demodulator for 
it to turn PSK from Microsat's into FSK that could be read by a standard 
TNC!  We started the AMSAT/TAPR DSP project one year later in 1988.     
There was just not enough horsepower in the TMS320C10 ISA slot boards to 
do the FEC one needs to make a communications system for EME and we 
wanted more horsepower.  I got gold fever and allowed the project to 
languish while I tried to get rich on ham radio against everyone's 
advice (what a laugh) as well as becoming AVP Eng for AMSAT and helping 
to put together the Microsat's so the project fell into idle until 
Strickland et.al. picked up the AMSAT/TAPR project and ran with it in 
1993. It was really an all TAPR project after that for the most part.  
In 1989  while I was designing the DSP-1232 and 2232 with Brooks and Pat 
for AEA,  Tom Clark and I went to Mike Lamb and George Buxton and 
proposed a "smartradio"  playing off of "smartmodem" with the back end 
based on the DSP smartmodem (DSP2232).    I still have the design 
documents buried someplace in the dungeon where I go put myself on the 
rack every now and then for not figuring out how to follow through on 
the ideas.  How I wish I had written down the term software radio in 
1989 when I proposed it to them.  Mitola wrote his papers in 1991.   We 
proposed an IQ last stage at low bandwidths and agc of the front end 
controlled by the dsp.  We were going to use the DSP-56000 family and 
some expensive (woooooooo) 14 bit parts.   It was on track but George 
developed lymphoma and eventually succumbed.  AEA never recovered from 
that loss and the project was never done as AEA suffered from extremely 
unsuccessful management after Mike went into seclusion following 
George's death.   Rick Hambly and his crew at Harris RF did a software 
defined RF modem after studying HF propagation for a while even earlier 
(Rick's group did the 39 tone modem).  I later went to work for ARINC on 
contract (1991) to produce the "satellite ACARS" for Rick.  I kicked the 
can down the road and they finished the system.  SDR has been around 
forever and not one of us here or mentioned elsewhere was close to 
first.  Mitola coined two terms which might be his only truly 
significant contribution but ones that will long outlive him: Software 
Defined Radio and  Cognitively Defined Radio.   I can't really 
complain.  It all developed into a 15 year long heck of a run with my 
current employer and then Gerald came along.   Things are hugely 
different now.   None of this would be going anywhere near the pace it 
is were it not for fast general purpose computers doing DSP and running 
fancy,  indeed unbelievable design tools now which are almost free to do 
the embedded work.   The "use the PC" approach coupled with the QSD are 
Gerald's contributions to this.  GnuRadio was doing SDR in the PC before 
it, but the "almost standard transceiver" in the SDR-1000 is clearly the 
tipping point.  I hear big time contesters, and many others believing 
they are owning their last conventional radio.  This is the important 
fact that I am sure was Eric's intention: not that Gerald was first, but 
that to a large degree  he caused the explosion of SDR in main stream 
consciousness in ham radio.  Indeed,  SDR and even the ARRL SDR 
committee existed before Gerald.  But,  irrespective of the fine work 
done before  the current boom is in fact attributable to the SDR-1000 
because it brought it to a usable state by the non developer amateur.

The best we could do 20 years ago was produce an Edsel and the stuff 10 
years ago seems like a Corvair in comparison.

I am out of town the rest of the week and I hope to see some of you in 
Dayton where I will be on the weekend.  I am at the AMSAT booth or some 
of the TAPR or SDR talks.

http://eet.com/disruption/interviews/mitola.jhtml

Bob

Steven Bible wrote:
> ***** High Performance Software Defined Radio Discussion List *****
>
> [snip]
>
>   
>> 12:00 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
>> SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIO - GROUNDSWELL TO TIDAL WAVE
>>
>> Moderator: Eric Ellison, AA4SW, V31SR
>> Ever since Gerald Youngblood K5SDR published a series of articles in QEX
>> magazine and offered the first, off the shelf SDR transceiver, Ham's
>> worldwide have been forging ahead into the "Future of Radio". Although not
>> the only exploration into SDR, at that time, the SDR-1000 and GPL PowerSDR
>> open source code has been a major engine to spur new exploration.
>> Once again hams are at the very leading edge of radio.
>>     
>
> [snip]
>
> I must say Eric, that SDR experimentation was way before Gerald's QEX
> articles.  If you check out the ARRL's TIS SDR web page at
>
>    http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/sdr.html
>
>
>   
--- snip ----
> Let's not forget the earliest work that these people have done.  They are
> the one's that have got us to where we are today.
>
> 73,
>
> - Steve, N7HPR
>  (n7hpr at tapr.org)
>
>
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>
>   

-- 
AMSAT VP Engineering. Member: ARRL, AMSAT-DL, TAPR, Packrats,
NJQRP/AMQRP, QRP ARCI, QCWA, FRC. ARRL SDR Wrk Grp Chairman
Laziness is the number one inspiration for ingenuity.  Guilty as charged!

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