Availability Problems…Will HL Ever Come Back 4 Sale?

[D - Man]

Hi group. I’m late to the party and just learned about HL last evening. I was searching for an SDR transceiver that I could setup at a friends ranch 15 miles from here, and be remote controlled over the web. I live in an HOA, and cannot put a good HF antenna at my own home.

Commercially available SDRs are shockingly expensive, even the low power models. When I saw the HL, my heart skipped a beat as it’s price is reasonable - and I have loved to build my own Ham gear since becoming licensed in1974. But then…I saw the bad news…HL UNAVAILABLE, DO TO PARTS SHORTAGES. 

So what exactly is the current status of this project? Is there any hope of obtaining the processor chip in the near future, or is that chip now considered obsolete? Are designers already working on a new generation with parts that are available? ETA for new boards? 

I want to jump in and get my feet wet, even if it means buying a board 2nd hand from another Ham who has lost interest. Where might one find a listing of a pre-owned HL board for sale?

This is a very exciting project and group to be in. 

73, W1LJ

[Heath Petty]

Welcome to the group. Yes the chip shortage is very frustrating, not only for the Hermes Lite 2 project, but for many other projects and products. IIRC the issue is that FPGA and the ethernet chip are in short supply. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem like there are any drop in replacements, necessitating some redesign and re-coding of the HL2 for new components. There have been some discussions around this, but I have not seen any new products released. One example thread is here:  https://groups.google.com/g/hermes-lite/c/91AQNM7_QFE . Maybe Makerfabs will find enough components somewhere to do another run of Hermes lite 2 boards, but I wouldn't count on it. There are used HL2s that come up for sale on this mailing list from time to time, but be quick, they sell fast.

 

There are quite a few other SDR projects being worked on, so many that I have a hard time keeping up :). The nice thing is once we get a new HL2 design (or similar direct conversion radio made form commodity parts) the software to run it is in really good shape. Thetis, SDR console, SparkSDR, Quisk, piHPSDR, linHPSDR, and soon SDR++ are all great options for utilizing this design.

-Heath

KL0PC

[D - Man]

Thank you Heath. I contacted Makerfabs yesterday and they responded quickly. Yes...parts shortages were confirmed but they could not give me any approximate date for when they might resume production. Just my luck to enter the SDR world at this inopportune time, right? 

You mentioned many other SDR projects currently underway. Can you please tell me of a website or forum where I can keep tabs on these new designs? Perhaps there is a github or groups.io forum where the developers gather to detail their progress?

Thanks again and 73,
A currently SDR-less - W1LJ 

[Evan Hand]

Hello W1LJ,

The two SDR projects that I am following are;

1 - sBitx that HFSignals produce:

https://www.hfsignals.com/index.php/sbitx/#buyfullsbitx

2 - SDT-T41 project that 4SQRP will source

http://www.4sqrp.com/index.php

Neither of them is available at this time, and both are undergoing significant rework in the hardware implementation.  The sBitx is being covered in the BIT...@groups.io.  The T41 has two groups covering it: AmateurRad...@groups.io and SoftwareContr...@groups.io.  These two are stand-alone radios that do not need a computer to operate.  The sBitx goes one step beyond that with an integrated Raspberry Pi SBC software to do digital modes directly.

There also is a ma...@multussdr.groups.io.

I am sure I have missed at least one or two other SDR efforts, like the SoftRock, that I have lost interest in.

73

Evan

AC9TU

[Kristofer Danner]

They do pop up for sale in this group on a somewhat regular basis. Keep watching.

KD

[Neil Cherry]

I missed the last batch by two days. But I did find a Hermes for sale and purchased it in September. Hoping to get another one but have my doubts.

[Steve Haynal]

Hi All,

I think Makerfabs would like to make more Hermes-Lite 2 radios but there is difficulty finding the FPGAs. I suspect Makerfabs will build more when they find another batch of FPGAs at a decent price. They built 150 units earlier this year.

73,

Steve

kf7o

[Steve Haynal]

Hi Janez,

I don't know if Makerfabs used the KSZ9031 or KSZ9021. A couple of runs ago I added support for the KSZ9021 due to the chip shortage. Both work without and changes now. See:

https://groups.google.com/g/hermes-lite/c/YvcgHaVoCc0/m/qw1htPvxAwAJ

73,

Steve

kf7o

On Wed, Oct 26, 2022 at 2:29 AM Janez S58J <janez...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi

Regarding those last 150 units: did they use KSZ9031RNXCC or something else? It is still the only part that I am missing before my second soldering attempt, unable to source it.

Kind regards

Janez, S58J

V V sre., 26. okt. 2022 ob 05:10 je oseba Steve Haynal <softerh...@gmail.com> napisala:

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