[hpsdr] How to start OpenHPSDR from scratch

[Achim Vollhardt]

Good morning!

I had been collecting HPSDR parts from the beginning and even assembled
those in a box with an ATX power supply. Due to lack of an antenna, I
never managed to go the last mile and install PowerSDR and get it up and
running. But not anymore :)
Last things first: It all powered up nicely and I am now able to receive
good signals on the HF bands.Some very fine piece of equipment..

What follows is a short write-up of the actions for those which are in a
similar situation:

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1. Remove JANUS and OZY. With METIS, PENELOPE and MERCURY in place, they
are somewhat obsolete. For now, also remove PENELOPE and MERCURY.
Connect with network and power on. Check that the power LEDs are all on
and LED[6] is lit (DHCP ack).

2. Install PowerSDR, HPSDRProgrammer and HPSDRBootloader. Also get from
the OpenHPSDR download pages the firmware (.rbf) files for METIS,
MERCURY and PENELOPE.

3. As administrator, run HPSDRProgrammer and update METIS firmware
according to METIS user manual.

4. (again: METIS user manual) Switch off, put METIS in bootloader mode
(set jumper JP1). Put METIS in ATLAS slot farthest away from power
socket. Insert MERCURY with JP7 set ('last JTAG device') in adjacent
slot and switch on.

5. (METIS user manual) As administrator, run HPSDRBootloader and update
MERCURY firmware. Switch off, remove JP1 from METIS and switch on again
to complete MERCURY firmware upload.

6. Switch off, exchange MERCURY for PENELOPE and repeat steps 4+5.

7. Switch off, put in MERCURY. Connect to ALEX and antenna. Start
PowerSDR. Generating the wisdom plans for the various FFT size will take
some time on first boot. Eventually, PowerSDR will start. Go to
Setup->General->HardwareConfig and set radio model to HPSDR and Hardware
present to MERCURY, PENELOPE and ALEX. Press OK and push the power
button on the main PowerSDR panel. Things should come to life now :)


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Your mileage may vary.. I hope this is of use for any newcomers out
there. Please feel free to add any things I forgot (huh?) or need
improvement.

73s Achim, DH2VA