[hpsdr] Sasquatch II

[David M. Witten II]

In case there have not been enough opinions expressed already, another 
path to this sort of thing might be a board like the Alix.3c3 from 
PCEngines.  It has two mini PCI lots onto which either a DSP or FPGA 
could be designed.

Price $133.00 US (netgate.com)

* 1 Ethernet, 2 mini PCI slots, USB, VGA, Audio, 1 serial port (console)
* CPU: 500 MHz AMD Geode LX800 CPU
* DRAM: 256MB DDR DRAM
* Storage: Operating system and application stored on CompactFlash card
* Size: 100 x 160 mm (same as WRAP.2E)
     o Fits in the indoor ALIX.3 case
     o Fits in any of the outdoor WRAP BOX / ALIX BOX here
* Firmware: AwardBIOS (tinyBIOS will not support VGA)
* Operating Systems: FreeBSD, Linux, work now.
* Power:DC jack or passive Power over Ethernet (not 802.3af compliant). 

* User interface: Three front panel LEDs
* Expansion: 2 miniPCI slots, LPC bus
* Connectivity: 1 Ethernet channels (Via VT6105M 10/100)
* I/O: DB9 serial port, dual USB, VGA, audio headphone out/microphone in
* RTC battery

I run FreeBSD 7.0 on one with xfce4, an external USB HD for extra space 
(not required) and it runs apps like xastir, etc. OK.

Upsides: x86 instruction set means many open source ports are available, 
Eurocard form factor (same as Alexiares, etc., established, reliable 
design), I2C available on board header, power consumption < 4W.  Runs 
well off a modest solar panel.

Downsides: Not as fast as an Atom.  Probably about as fast as an ARM A8. 
  Not as much RAM as I would like (though the manufacturer might be 
willing to alter this - he has responded directly to email in the past), 
and perhaps the Biggie: video speed.

Video speed may be a problem for the Beagle as well.  If users expect to 
bandscope large segments of spectrum, there may be a bit of 
disappointment.  I don't know how good the embedded video 
controller/driver combinations are.

As for the question of FPGA vs. DSP - I don't think that the FPGA path 
is for everyone, but I'm personally at least as comfortable with DSP in 
Verilog as I am DSP in C.  Which is 'not very' in both cases, but I'm 
here to learn.


Dave Witten
KD0EAG









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