[hpsdr] Project proposal - Hermes

[Philip Covington]

On Sun, Apr 12, 2009 at 12:35 PM, Kevin Wheatley <m0khz at tiscali.co.uk> wrote:
> ***** High Performance Software Defined Radio Discussion List *****
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> 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?

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

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