X11.pdf

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ARRL

225 Main Street

Newington, CT USA 06111-1494

The national association for

AMATEUR RADIO

Speciﬁ cations

Freq. Band:

1.8~28 MHz all HF amateur bands.

Operation Mode:

SSB, CW, (RTTY)

Exciting Power (RF Drive):

100W max. (85W typical)

Output Power (RF Out):

1.5kW min. SSB/CW (1.2kW on 28MHz)

1kW RTTY (5 minutes)

Auto Band Set:

With most modern ICOM, Kenwood,

Yaesu HF Radios

Antenna Tuner:

Compatible with external Tokyo Hy-Power

HC-1.5KAT

Input/Output Connectors:

SO-239 Teﬂ on

RF Power Transistors:

ARF 1500 by Microsemi x2

Antenna Relay:

QSK (Full break-in compatible)

Dimension and Weight:

12.8 x 5.7 x 15.9 inches (WxHxD),

Approx. 57.3lbs.

NEWEST and MOST

POWERFUL Full Legal Limit!

The HL-2.5KFX is the lightest and most compact

self contained 1.5kW output HF ampliﬁ er in the

industry in its class. The ampliﬁ er’s decoder

changes bands automatically with most modern

ICOM, Kenwood, Yaesu HF Radios. It also

has a built in power supply – selectable for

AC 220/230/240/250 V, 3kVA max. and a

multifunctional LCD display for instant feedback of

operating parameters. The HL-2.5KFX is equipped

with a control cable connection socket, for the

HC-1.5KAT, auto antenna tuner by Tokyo Hy-Power

Labs for seamless auto tuning operation.

Complies

with New

FCC Rules.

Available Now with

12m and 10m Built-in!

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 245

About the Cover

Cornell Drentea, KW7CD introduces his

Star-10 transceiver and describes some

of the criteria involved in designing a high

performance, fully synthesized, continuous

coverage, coherent HF transceiver.

Harold Kramer, WJ1B

Publisher

Larry Wolfgang, WR1B

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, KB1OKW

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Technical Illustrator

Joe Shea

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Members are asked to include their membership

control number or a label from their QST when

applying.

Features

3 The Star-10 © Transceiver

18 A Direct-Reading Reﬂ ection Coefﬁ cient and Power Meter

24 SAN2PC: A Spectrum Analyzer to PC Interface

30 Program Your Own Voice Keyer/Recorder

37 Signal Resilience to Ionospheric Distortion of HF Digital

By Daniel Crausaz, HB9TPL

49 A Low-Cost Atomic Frequency Standard

Columns

52 Tech Notes

60 Letters

By Peter Traneus Anderson,

62 2007 Index

KC1HR

54 Antenna Options

63 Next Issue

By L. B. Cebik, W4RNL

59 Out of The Box

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.

Nov/Dec 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: 51, 64,

Cov III

Array Solutions: 58

Atomic Time: 29

Down East Microwave Inc: 64

Elkins Marine Training International: 53

Kenwood Communications: Cov IV

National RF, Inc: 64

Nemal Electronics International, Inc: 61

Teri Software: 64

Tokyo Hy-Power Labs, Inc: Cov II

Tonne Software: 17

Tucson Amateur Packet Radio: 23

Nov/Dec 2007 1

By Cornell Drentea, KW7CD

By Ralph Gaze, W1RHG

By Roland Cordesses, F2DC

By Steve Gradijan, WB5KIA

Chat Modes

By John S. Raydo, KØIZ

By Raymond Mack, W5IFS

THE AMERICAN RADIO

RELAY LEAGUE

Empirical Outlook

Larry Wolfgang, WR1B

lwolfgang@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:

Never Stop Learning!

Although for many of us it has been a long

time since we have seen the inside of a class-

room (at least from the students’ perspective),

we should never say we are done with school,

or have learned all that we can learn about a

subject. Education is a life-long process. One

of the things that has helped hold my interest

in Amateur Radio for so many years is that

there always seems to be something new to

learn about. Whether it is a mode that I have

not yet tried, construction techniques with

new types of components or some different

operating techniques, there always seems to

be something else to learn.

In early August I had the opportunity to

participate in an ARRL Teachers’ Institute

on Wireless Technology, conducted by Mark

Spencer, WA8SME, at ARRL Headquarters.

Mark taught the course at HQ for several

years, and last year he also conducted sev-

eral Institutes around the US.

The TI is a week-long, in-residence learn-

ing opportunity designed for motivated teach-

ers and other school staff who want to learn

more about wireless technology and bring

that knowledge to their students. A variety of

topics are covered during the 4 days of the TI,

including basic wireless technology literacy,

electronics, and the science of radio; bring-

ing space into the classroom; ham radio op-

eration; introduction to microcontrollers; and

basic robotics. This is part of ARRL’s Educa-

tion and Technology Program, bringing wire-

less technology education to schools. It isn’t

teaching Amateur Radio licensing classes,

and teachers who participate in the TI and/or

who implement the program in their schools

do not have to be licensed hams. Many of

the participants are hams, however, or earn

licenses after becoming involved in the ETP.

During this four-day program, Mark teach-

es how to instruct various age groups about

electronics and wireless technology. His dem-

onstrations and activities are focused on the

ARRL Education and Technology classroom

curriculum, but could be used in a wide vari-

ety of settings. In my case, I plan to use some

of the techniques in my work with Scout

groups, teaching Radio Merit Badge classes,

and also adapting some of the techniques to

license classes when I help a local radio club

teach the Technician license material.

Early in the week, Mark does the “magnet

through a copper or aluminum pipe” demon-

stration. I’ve read about this demonstration,

and understand the principles upon which it is

based, but that didn’t quite prepare me for how

dramatically slower the magnet falls through

the conductive pipes than it does in free-fall,

or through a PVC pipe, for example.

Mark has designed and built a number

of “Exploration Boards” or “Experiment

Boards” for teachers to use. For example,

there is an Ohm’s Law Exploration Board that

includes an on-board digital VOM and vari-

ous two and three-pin connectors. Mark even

provides an envelope full of various resistors

already wired into the mating connectors. By

plugging in resistors and connecting jumpers,

you can measure the voltage and current at

various points in the circuit. By recording the

values given on the digital display, you have a

very effective demonstration of Ohm’s Law.

Another board provides a circuit to allow

teachers to explore basic resonant circuits and

some DSP basics. Still another board provides

various signals in a circuit that allows you to

demonstrate frequency and wavelength rela-

tionships and even mix signals to demonstrate

modulation (and demodulation).

A highlight of the course for me was

learning to program a BASIC Stamp and

seeing how the microcontroller could be

used to sense some condition and then con-

trol an output. I’ve read many articles about

using microcontrollers (and edited a few for

publication), and I’ve done some BASIC

programming over the years, but I had never

actually written a program and copied it into

the microcontroller. The hands-on learning

approach is a lot more fun than simply read-

ing about it, or listening to a lecture.

I guess that’s the point. When we are try-

ing to teach something about our hobby and

share our passions with others, no matter

their age, a hands-on, actually-doing-some-

thing approach beats just telling them about

it every time. That’s probably not news to

any of our readers, but maybe it will help

us to pause and think about it for a moment.

What demonstrations or techniques have

you used to teach a class or help a newcomer

understand the concepts of your passions?

What might you do to make them more ef-

fective? Why not share that information with

others? We would welcome your ideas.

I’d like to close with a more direct plug

for the ARRL Education and Technology

Program. If you are interested in sharing

the excitement of wireless technology and

electronics in general, and Amateur Radio

speciﬁ cally, this program is worthy of your

support. The ARRL Development Ofﬁ ce

would be happy to provide you with more

information about how your contribution

can help sustain this valuable program.

— 73, Larry Wolfgang, WR1B .

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 Nov/Dec 2007

In Part 1 of this series, we learn about some of the design

criteria involved in high performance, fully synthesized,

continuous coverage, coherent transceivers.

Cornell Drentea, KW7CD

Introduction

It has always been the dream of the techni-

cally inclined radio amateur to build his or her

own equipment from scratch. Such has been

the case in the ﬁ rst part of the 20 th century,

when Amateur Radio equipment was relative-

ly easy to construct, allowing for simple home

building. While single-band or band-switched

equipment has been relatively easy to realize,

RF design has recently evolved into a complex

art of mixed technologies using new solid-

state components, novel frequency generation

techniques, microprocessors, digital logic and

signal processing techniques that have ex-

ceeded the capabilities of the average amateur

operator. This, in turn, has put the design of

complex high performance radio equipment

beyond the scope of the casual experimenter

or equipment builder, forcing hams, more

and more, to become appliance operators.

Increasingly sophisticated equipment design

has presented a steep learning curve even for

the most capable home builder or the modern

radio equipment manufacturer.

In the past, many construction articles

have been published regarding simple radio

projects. Dedicated single-band or limited

band-switched, down-conversion superhet-

erodyne receivers and transceivers have been

published extensively in the literature. More

recently, so-called “software deﬁ ned radios,”

using old-fashioned zero IF direct conver-

sions combined with new personal computer

digital audio cards have evolved. Their per-

formance has been controversial, only to be

obscured by their perceived “ﬂ exibility.”

Less published have been multi-band

radios, due to their increased band switching

complexity. Even less attempted have been full

coverage high performance professional grade,

up conversion / down conversion transceivers

featuring fully synthesized, high resolution,

The completed Star-10 transceiver is designed to receive and transmit anywhere from

1.8 MHz to 30 MHz with a resolution of 10 Hz. It provides full cross mode, end-to-end RX/

TX Split operation with a transmitter RF power of 100 W (125 W peak). The receiver has a

composite spurious-free linear dynamic range in excess of 150 dB. It exhibits an MDS of

–136 dBm (absolute), a third-order intercept point of +45 dBm. A coherent DDS-Driven PLL

microwave synthesizer provides close in phase noise performance of –133 dBc/Hz. Receive

spurious image rejection is –75 dB and transmit harmonic rejection exceeds –55 dBc. The

transceiver uses a coherent up-convert down-convert superheterodyne approach.

The electrical and mechanical design features a modular approach using eighteen

double sided, plated through printed circuit boards housed in machined, irradiated

aluminum assemblies, all packaged in a custom made, hammer-tone ﬁ nished cabinet

measuring 15.5 x 6 x 11 inches.

coherent schemes used in conjunction with

front-end automatically switched half-octave

ﬁ lter banks to ensure consistent high dynamic

range performance over several octaves. Such

designs have been left to the professional man-

ufacturers, who can invest signiﬁ cant amounts

of money and engineering resources over long

periods of time for gain and proﬁ t.

This situation need not be so. With enough

dedication, today’s technically inclined ham

is fully capable of developing full cover-

age, high performance transceivers that can

compete in performance and features with

their professional counterparts, and even

outperform these designs.

This series of articles describes the devel-

opment of just such a transceiver, the Star-10,

a high dynamic range, fully synthesized coher-

ent RF system that tunes continuously from

1.8 MHz to 30 MHz using microwave synthe-

sis, coupled with true automatically switched

(using miniature RF relays) half-octave ﬁ lter

banks, using a 10 Hz ultimate step resolution.

This work is intended to inspire the radio

amateur and the professional engineer alike,

regarding modern, full coverage transceiver

design.

The Star-10 transceiver bears its name in

good memory of an ambitious project I had

been associated with in my youth — a product

757 N Carribean Ave

Tucson, AZ 85748

cdrentea@aol.com

Nov/Dec 2007 3

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