QEX_2007_03_04.pdf

ARRL

225 Main Street

Newington, CT USA 06111-1494

The national association for

AMATEUR RADIO

Complies

with New

FCC Rules.

Available Now with

12m and 10m Built-in!

This compact and lightweight 1kW desktop HF/50MHz linear power

amplifier has a maximum input power of 1.75kW. Our solid-state

broadband power amp technology makes it the smallest and lightest

self-contained amplifier in the industry .

Typical output power is 1kW PEP/SSB on HF and 650W on 6m band

with the drive power of 85-90W. Bands set automatically with the built-in

band decoder . You can forget about the band setting when the amplifier

is connected to your modern radio through supplied band data cables

for ICOM CI-V, DC voltage (ICOM, Yaesu), and RS-232C (Kenwood) .

Manual band setting selectable as well.

All these data cables are included with the amplifier.

Specifications

Frequency:

1.8 ~ 28MHz all amateur bands including WARC

bands and 50MHz

Mode:

SSB, CW, RTTY

RF Drive:

85W typ. (100W max.)

Output Power:

HF 1kW PEP max.

50MHz 650W PEP max.

Matching Transceivers for Auto Band Decoder:

Most modern ICOM, Yaesu, Kenwood

Drain Voltage:

53V (when no RF drive)

Drain Current:

40A max.

Input Impedance:

50 OHM (unbalanced)

Output Impedance:

50 OHM (unbalanced)

Final Transistor:

SD2933 x 4 (MOS FET by ST micro)

Circuit:

Class AB parallel push-pull

Cooling Method:

Forced Air Cooling

MPU:

PIC 18F452 x 2

Multi-Meter:

Output Power – Pf 1Kw

Drain Voltage – Vd 60V

Drain Current – Id 50A

Input/Output Connectors:

UHF SO-239

AC Power:

AC 230V (200/220/240V) – 10A max. (default)

AC 115V (100/110/124V) – 20A max.

AC Consumption:

1.9kVA max. when TX

Dimension:

10.7 x 5.6 x 14.3 inches (WxHxD)/272 x 142 x 363 mm

Weight:

Approx. 20kgs. or 45.5lbs.

Accessories Included:

AC Power Cord

Band Decoder Cables included for Kenwood, ICOM and Yaesu

Spare Fuses and Plugs

User Manual

Optional Items:

Auto Antenna Tuner (HC-1.5KAT)

External Cooling Fan (HXT-1.5KF for high duty cycle RTTY)

Features

■ Lightest and most compact 1kW HF amplifier in the industry.

■ The amplifier’s decoder changes bands automatically with most ICOM,

Kenwood, Yaesu.

■ The amp utilizes an advanced 16 bit MPU (microprocessor) to run the various

high speed protection circuits such as overdrive, high antenna SWR, DC

overvoltage, band miss-set etc.

■ Built in power supply.

■ AC 230V (200/220/240V) default and AC 115V, (100/110/120V) (selectable).

■ Equipped with a control cable connection socket, for the HC-1.5KAT, auto

antenna tuner by Tokyo Hy-Power Labs.

■ Two antenna ports selectable from front panel.

■ Great for desktop or DXpedition!

Watch for our

NEW PRODUCTS

to be

announced soon!

Western US/Canada

1-800-854-6046

Mountain/Central

1-800-444-9476

Southeast

1-800-444-7927

Mid-Atlantic

1-800-444-4799

Northeast

1-800-644-4476

New England/Eastern Canada

1-800-444-0047

QEX (ISSN: 0886-8093) is published bimonthly

in January, March, May, July, September, and

November by the American Radio Relay League,

225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111-1494.

Periodicals postage paid at Hartford, CT and at

additional mailing ofﬁ ces.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: QEX,

225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111-1494

Issue No 241

About the Cover

Jack Smith, K8ZOA, describes his Z90 and

Z91 panadapters. Using a DDS-based PIC

microcontroller, the panadapters operate

with receiver IFs between 50 kHz and

60 MHz. Build one with an LCD for stand-

alone operation or without and use

Windows control and display soft-

ware. Michael Warden, W2PY photo.

Harold Kramer, WJ1B

Publisher

Doug Smith, KF6DX

Editor

Larry Wolfgang, WR1B

Managing Editor

Lori Weinberg, KB1EIB

Assistant Editor

L. B. Cebik, W4RNL

Zack Lau, W1VT

Ray Mack, W5IFS

Contributing Editors

Production Department

Steve Ford, WB8IMY

Publications Manager

Michelle Bloom, WB1ENT

Production Supervisor

Sue Fagan

Graphic Design Supervisor

Devon Neal, KB1NSR

Technical Illustrator

Joe Shea

Production Assistant

Advertising Information Contact:

Janet L. Rocco, W1JLR

Business Services

860-594-0203 direct

800-243-7768 ARRL

860-594-4285 fax

Circulation Department

Cathy Stepina, QEX Circulation

Ofﬁ ces

225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111-1494 USA

Telephone: 860-594-0200

Fax: 860-594-0259 (24 hour direct line)

e-mail: qex@arrl.org

Subscription rate for 6 issues:

In the US: ARRL Member $24,

nonmember $36;

US by First Class Mail:

ARRL member $37, nonmember $49;

Elsewhere by Surface Mail (4-8 week delivery):

ARRL member $31, nonmember $43;

Canada by Airmail: ARRL member $40,

nonmember $52;

Elsewhere by Airmail: ARRL member $59,

nonmember $71.

Members are asked to include their membership

control number or a label from their QST when

applying.

Features

3 The Z90 and Z91 Digital Panadapters

By Jack Smith, K8ZOA

19 IsoCat: USB Transceiver Control and Sound Card Interface

By William Buoy, N5BIA

28 In Search of New Receiver-Performance Paradigms, Part 3

By Doug Smith, KF6DX

35 On the Crossed-Field Antenna Performance, Part 2

By Valentino Trainotti and Luis A. Dorado

46 A Low Budget Vector Network Analyzer for AF to UHF

By Professor Dr Thomas C. Baier, DG8SAQ

55 Ceramic Resonator Ladder Filters

By Dave Gordon-Smith, G3UUR

Columns

59 Upcoming Conferences

60 Out of the Box

60 New Books

61 Letters

62 Next Issue in QEX

In order to ensure prompt delivery, we ask that

you periodically check the address information

on your mailing label. If you ﬁ nd any inaccura-

cies, please contact the Circulation Department

immediately. Thank you for your assistance.

Mar/Apr 2007 QEX Advertising Index

League Inc. For permission to quote or reprint

material from QEX or any ARRL publication,

send a written request including the issue date

(or book title), article, page numbers and a

description of where you intend to use the

reprinted material. Send the request to the

ofﬁ ce of the Publications Manager

( permission@arrl.org ).

American Radio Relay League: 18 , 34, 58,

62, 63

ARA West: 64

Array Solutions: Cov III

Atomic Time: 54

Communications Specialists: 59

Down East Microwave, Inc: 64

Elkins Marine Training International: 64

Kenwood Communications: Cov IV

National RF: 64

Nemal Electronics International, Inc: 34

Teri Software: 34

Tokyo Hi-Power Labs, Inc: Cov II

Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Corp: 27

Mar/Apr 2007 1

By Raymond Mack, W5IFS

By Doug Smith, KF6DX

THE AMERICAN RADIO

RELAY LEAGUE

Empirical Outlook

Doug Smith, KF6DX

kf6dx@arrl.org

The American Radio Relay League, Inc, is a

noncommercial association of radio amateurs,

organized for the promotion of interest in

Amateur Radio communication and experimenta-

tion, for the establishment of networks to provide

communications in the event of disasters or other

emergencies, for the advancement of the radio art

and of the public welfare, for the representation of

the radio amateur in legislative matters, and for

the maintenance of fraternalism and a high

standard of conduct.

ARRL is an incorporated association without

capital stock chartered under the laws of the state

of Connecticut, and is an exempt organization

under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue

Code of 1986. Its affairs are governed by a Board

of Directors, whose voting members are elected

every three years by the general membership. The

ofﬁ cers are elected or appointed by the Directors.

The League is noncommercial, and no one who

could gain ﬁ nancially from the shaping of its

affairs is eligible for membership on its Board.

“Of, by, and for the radio amateur,” ARRL

numbers within its ranks the vast majority of active

amateurs in the nation and has a proud history of

achievement as the standard-bearer in amateur

affairs.

A bona ﬁ de interest in Amateur Radio is the only

essential qualiﬁ cation of membership; an Amateur

Radio license is not a prerequisite, although full

voting membership is granted only to licensed

amateurs in the US.

Membership inquiries and general corres-

pondence should be addressed to the

administrative headquarters:

Research and Development

Also known as R&D, research and de-

velopment is a term that was unknown be-

fore the industrial revolution. Since then,

it has become an important byword of

technically advanced cultures. Even more

recently, the intimate connection between

basic research and technological develop-

ment was accentuated by certain discover-

ies that have rocked the world.

Innovative design is difﬁ cult in our fast-

paced commercial world; but the founda-

tion of every innovation is either invention

or discovery. And every invention or dis-

covery comes from careful, studied and

sustained inquiry. Sometimes, trial and

error is the best approach. So do not be

surprised if errors sometimes appear on

these pages; but it is our policy to correct

all proven errors and we have a few to

correct this time around. See the Letters

Column.

Ultimately, the goal of research is to

solve some problem or ﬁ ll some need.

In actual fact, that process is what drives

our economy and makes life better. The

ﬁ rst serious attempts to harness scientiﬁ c

knowledge to achieve those goals were

done in the 18 th and 19 th Centuries by a

few talented individuals, such as those

who developed the telegraph, radio, air-

plane, computers and so on.

Research must be conducted in con-

trolled laboratories. The same goes for test

facilities that must adhere to the same rules

as the researchers do. All theories have to

be tested in some way. We each build on

the work of others and the citation of such

ediﬁ cation is quite important in what we

publish. I’m probably as guilty as the next

guy for not citing all my sources, but it’s

really important because we could be at

risk of reinventing the wheel.

Much basic research is done at univer-

sities; however, it makes sense eventually

to have the applied engineering done as

closely as possible to the place where a

product will be manufactured. Therefore,

a symbiotic relationship exists between

academia and industry. Government also

has an important role. The two World Wars

brought that out stunningly. Even today,

governments are the leading sponsors of

industrial research. Advanced communi-

cation systems, for example, have largely

been sponsored with governmental support

because of military and security reasons.

A steady ﬂ ow of R&D is necessary to

keep any manufacturing operation crank-

ing. Once you stop designing, things go

downhill rapidly. Still, only about 25% of

proposed product ideas actually succeed.

Some concepts are ideas whose time has

come — and gone. Take bubble memory

for example. Massive amounts of research

dollars went into developing that technol-

ogy and it went nowhere.

The movement of products from con-

ception into production is a critical act in

engineering. The modern way is to involve

all personnel along the chain from the ear-

liest stages. Numerous technical, ﬁ nancial

and managerial issues must be coordinated

with various teams. Each company must

weigh their R&D investments against the

consequences of withdrawing to alterna-

tives for their funds.

The tendency in Japan has been to look

to the long term while too many compa-

nies here in the US are focused only on

their monthly bottom lines. Now, however,

the burgeoning economic power seems to

be China; but outstanding basic research

does not seem to be coming from there,

other than in military matters. They are

evidently centered on manufacturing.

Human factors have sometimes been

largely ignored in engineering. That’s true

whether we’re talking about theoretical

studies or product design. The so-called

ergonomics of technology is often elusive,

but is critical to its success. The science

of human-factors engineering gets little

press, perhaps because it’s so difﬁ cult to

deﬁ ne for most designers. But we must

deﬁ ne human factors in two steps: 1) inte-

grating the human being into the machine

interface by logical rigor, and 2) experi-

mentation, often by trial and error.

My messages are: 1) keep those projects

going, 2) do, and document, your research to

give credit where due, and 3) don’t be afraid

to try something different and new, even if

the results aren’t what you wanted.

ARRL, 225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111 USA.

Telephone: 860-594-0200

FAX: 860-594-0259 (24-hour direct line)

Ofﬁ cers

President: JOEL HARRISON, W5ZN

528 Miller Rd, Judsonia, AR 72081

Chief Executive Ofﬁ cer: DAVID SUMNER, K1ZZ

The purpose of QEX is to:

1) provide a medium for the exchange of ideas

and information among Amateur Radio experiment-

ers,

2) document advanced technical work in the

Amateur Radio ﬁ eld, and

3) support efforts to advance the state of the

Amateur Radio art.

All correspondence concerning QEX should be ad-

dressed to the American Radio Relay League,

225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111 USA.

Envelopes containing manuscripts and letters for

publication in QEX should be marked Editor, QEX.

Both theoretical and practical technical articles

are welcomed. Manuscripts should be submitted in

word-processor format, if possible. We can redraw

any ﬁ gures as long as their content is clear.

Photos should be glossy, color or black-and-white

prints of at least the size they are to appear in

QEX or high-resolution digital images (300 dots per

inch or higher at the printed size). Further

information for authors can be found on the Web at

www.arrl.org/qex/ or by e-mail to qex@arrl.org .

Any opinions expressed in QEX are those of

the authors, not necessarily those of the Editor or the

League. While we strive to ensure all material

is technically correct, authors are expected to

defend their own assertions. Products mentioned

are included for your information only; no

endorsement is implied. Readers are cautioned to

verify the availability of products before sending

money to vendors.

2 Mar/Apr 2007

The Z90 and Z91 Digital

Panadapters

This article describes a frequency-agile, DDS-based PIC

Microcontroller-equipped panadapter, with a choice of LCD

or computer display.

Jack Smith, K8ZOA

with the term “panadapter,” a brief

explanation is in order. A panadapter

is a special-purpose spectrum analyzer that

connects to a receiver’s mixer or IF ampliﬁ er

chain. The panadapter then provides a visual

display of signals near the frequency to which

the receiver is tuned, with frequency on the

horizontal axis and signal amplitude on the

vertical axis. The panadapter was invented in

the 1930s by Marcel Wallace, who founded the

Panoramic Radio Corporation to manufacture

his invention. 1 (Units manufactured by the

Panoramic Radio Corporation are identiﬁ ed

as “panadaptors” but modern usage prefers

the panadapter spelling.) To provide a useful

sweep width, of course, the IF must be sampled

ahead of the receiver’s selective ﬁ lters.

I recently decided to build a second pan-

adapter to use with a new receiver. The ﬁ rst

one I built was all analog, with a surplus 1 ×

4 inch rectangular electrostatic cathode ray

tube display, and it functioned only with a

455 kHz IF receiver. The small electrostatic

deﬂ ection CRT has largely vanished from the

surplus market, so I decided to use a graphic

liquid crystal display (GLCD) for my new

design. As the GLCD is a digital device, a

microcontroller or microprocessor is required

to interface between the panadapter’s analog

and digital elements. Having gone that far,

replacing the analog sweep oscillator with

direct digital synthesis made sense as well.

Since a stable, synthesized signal source

might have other uses, I added a buffered

DDS output. And, of course, since most of

us have a computer in the shack now, why

not also write a Windows control and display

program as well? Six months later, the result

is two variants of the same basic design:

• Z90 — A panadapter with a 240 × 320

pixel, 5.6 inch (diagonal) GLCD display

and RS-232 serial interface for computer

control (see Figure 1); and

• Z91 — A Z90, without an LCD display,

for use with an RS-232 link for computer

control. See Figure 2.

Complementing the Z90 and Z91 is Z90

Control software, compatible with Windows

2000 and Windows XP , providing control and

1 Notes appear on page 17.

7236 Clifton Rd

Clifton, VA 20124

Jack.Smith@cliftonlaboratories.com

JACK SMITH, K8ZOA

Figure 2 — The Z91 Digital Panadapter is similar but provides

data only output for use with a compatible PC program.

Figure 1 — The Z90 Digital Panadapter has an LCD display.

Mar/Apr 2007 3

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