Dumb ideas for an HL2-based open-hardware roadmap

[Bill Cox AK3Q]

Matthew asked if his xvtr board should be able to work alongside the filter board in one case, or replace the filter board, requiring 2 HL2s to do HF and VHF/UHF.  My advice for now, is replace the filter board, and require 2 HL2s.

The TL;DR is that I think long-term we need a rig with a much bigger case for the shack-optimized radio, not just a taller HL2 case.

I'm suspect a lot of us are thinking along the same lines.  Steve likely already has a long-term road map.  However, I am not aware of the road map, so here are my dumb ideas where are worth what you paid for them...

IMO, the current success of the HL2 is due to the ease of assembly, high performance and low price, which is an amazing accomplishment for an open-hardware project.  In the HL2’s current form-factor, it is an exceptional little QRP SDR HF radio.  I think we need to keep this QRP form factor, because QRP radios are fun!  Making a slightly bigger case might work well for a few hams, but the level of integration we need for a typical shack rig is much higher than the current little case can allow, even if we make it taller.  I just don’t see putting a 100W amp and fan in a taller HL2 rig.

So, my dumb idea is that down the road, after we have more HL2 compatible open-hardware projects working, a second case should be designed that enables a low cost entry-level HL2-based rig, but has room for several of the new open-hardware expansion boards. A bunch of open-hardware projects need to be further along before we could even design the case, including:

• A 100-ish W HF amp, integrated with a filter board
• A matching 100-ish W HF ATU board
• A programmable interface board to control external amps and other devices (including  HR50)
• An optional fan

A case that could hold just this would be compelling.  Given that this is what moste integrated commercial HF rigs look like, maybe this is enough.  However, I would prefer the shack version of the HL2 case be large enough to also hold:

• An xvtr board for VHF/UHF
• A medium-power VHF/UHF amp + filter board
• A matching ATU VHF/UHF board
• An additional programmable interface board for external VHF/UHF device control

Maybe there should be 2 different shack cases, but I suspect most of us would buy the larger case, just to have the option to add the VHF/UHF capabilities in the future.

We also need something like the open-hardware PA500 with optional ATU for HF, and maybe a high-power open-hardware amp with optional ATU for UHF/VHF, but I think high-power amps typically require their own case anyway.  These should be controllable and report telemetry through the programmable interface boards.

I think an integrated shack-rig also needs an integrated software setup.  In the short-term, I think a shrink-wrapped Raspberry Pi based solution might work well, if there is enough compute power.  It could be something like Quisk + fldigi + WJT-X + pavucontrol + FreeRDP + Murmur + Mumble + Ethernet to HL2 rig + wifi adapter, with an option to control the rig locally if a keyboard, mouse and display are attached, or remotely through with higher latency.  By offering this as a custom ISO for Raspberry Pi, folks could get up and running cheaply with a lot less work, and easily attach it to their home wifi router for remote control.

Long-term, I hope we might create two new applications that integrate the various open-source libraries, probably using a significant portion of Quisk:

An SDR processing application with no GUI, which controls all the radios and supports all the modes, both digital and analog..

A remote control application with a portable GUI, which speaks a custom protocol to the SDR processing app, optimized for all the ham radio modes, including CW, SSB, and all the digital modes.

When run on the same machine, it should have performance as good as we have today running Quisk on our local machine, with an Ethernet cable to the HL2.  Latency sensitive CW operating modes should work well locally.  However, users should also be able to control the rig remotely, just like they can locally with the same GUI, although with some extra latency.

WDYT?  Is there already a road map for a shack-focused HL2-based rig?

[Matthew]

Following this group for the past 7 years has shown me that there are so many different use cases for the basic HL2. Take a look at some of the things people have already done (and taken the time to publish on the internet):

https://github.com/softerhardware/Hermes-Lite2/wiki/Community-Projects

What you describe in your post is years worth of development in both hardware and software. That would require some very dedicated individuals (with specialist technical skills) to drive this; develop, document, support etc.

My interests lie in coherent rx. I had reasonable success with it last winter on the LF bands and wish to explore this further. I have 2 HL2s in a PC case (cheapest option for a reasonably large case and the fan bits are pre-drilled!) and an MRF101 PA PCB. I have re-housed a 48 V PSU in to an ATX power supply. See attached photos. This is ongoing around many other projects I have going and progress is slow.

The beauty of the HL2 is that there are so many options for an individual to pursue to suit their own needs.

73 Matthew M5EVT.

[VU3NXI Siddhalingesh Basawanal]

Fabulous work Matthew! Just curious to know the heatsink and the fan used for mounting MRF101?

73,

-de Sid VU3NXI

[Matthew]

The heatsink is one these (at nearly half the price a year ago!):

https://www.startech.com/en-gb/computer-parts/fan3701u

I removed the stock fan and fitted a (quieter) Noctua fan.

73 Matthew M5EVT.

[Steve Haynal]

Hi Bill,

I have no roadmap for a shack-focused HL2 rig. I am a QRP guy and the HL2 does pretty much everything I want. Once you add all the extra expense of additional components to make a full-fledged radio, I am not sure the low cost 12-bit AD9866 is a good match. You might want to spend extra on better ADC/DACs. The openhpsdr (now Apache) radios are a good example of a full-fledged radio.

I have no objections to others working on a full-fledged radio. I am adamant that any new features do not exclude existing features. Also, I am adamant that new features support both local and remote use. The addition of a new feature should not be available only for local use and exclude remote use. In fact, the mic and audio transports in the openhpsdr protocol do support only local use and are an expensive feature in terms of FPGA resources which I would like to see die. Please see the contributor guidelines for more details.

https://github.com/softerhardware/Hermes-Lite2/wiki/Community-Projects

73,

Steve

kf7o

[didier....@gmail.com]

Hi Bill,

 The HL2 is mostly dedicated for development and enhancement according differents needs , focus , objective and constraints . The HL2 platform is mostly ready for a lot of modification , enhancement and integration with other sub-systems likely LPF , Amp , Transverter , CW Midi integration ,  remote operation only , solid state rig in the shack , portable and i guess the list is pretty much unlimited since we have so many development around the corner with HL2. 

Some Ham use it without any mods out of the Box and some are using it with a lot of integration and enhancement thanks in particular to the I2C and other embedded logic features and protocols.HL2 is waiting for any direction you would like to go and this really the main benefit of this kind of development.

73s 

Didier

[Bill Cox AK3Q]

This all SGTM.  I 100% agree with the contributor guidelines, especially that every feature should be usable remotely.  Maybe high levels of integration are a bad idea for open hardware ham radio.  My shack looks like an octopus, but each individual piece can be upgraded easily.

73 Bill ak3q

[didier....@gmail.com]

Hello Bill , 

i guess you are not the only one and for many Ham radio technicians is the same , sometimes our shack is a bit like an octopus or even worse but as far everything is working well this is the most important . One day when all integration is finalyzed it will be the time to put everything nicely and in order . We are ''amateur radio'' after all . Nowadays HL2 and many other similar projects are breaking the rules and our shack in 2021 are very different from the shacks we have during the eighties and even before. The SDR  technology is bringing us to a new era for sure . when i look to my desk and my rigs it does not look a ham radio shack at all and only when you open the computer and associated software it looks like a radio shack. Everything is integrated behind the scene with black boxes everywhere hahahahahahaha !!!! Definitly my shack will not win any beauty contest but it is perfoming well and this is the most important thanks to SDR technology and integration capabilities it is providing!!!! 

Hope to catch you soon on the air Bill , take care

73s Didier

[Roger David Powers]

I agree that the shack is very much like an octopus farm these days, but agree this is part of what it means to be an experimenter. 

I was working in a small corner of a spare bed room with my traditional radio gear and one HL2.  I was getting very frustrated in that configuration, and the tipping point was when I bought a 2nd HL2.  After thinking about adding its connections I realized the octopuses were taking over the ham shack! 

I realized I had to think of my radio space less as being an operator station and more of as being a lab work bench.  I needed more surface area to keep the octopuses apart.  Now I bought two cheap L-shaped desks on Amazon and combined them into a U-shaped desk that fills the spare bed room, no room for a bed even!  The idea was to maximize desk top space.  This was a good answer for me, but it might not work for others.

I also like to think that it will eventually converge into a small tidy rack or set of shelves, but that may be too optimistic.  Given the pace at which I work I will have an octopus farm for many months if not years, which is why I bought more table top space than I can currently fill.  Again, I was lucky I had a spare bed room that I could use for this purpose, and no partner to complain about me doing so!

Regards,
RDP

[Bill Cox]

My son Brandon just went to college, leaving not 1, but two rooms free.  We did not have room for his computer desk in his small bedroom, so he also had a "VR room" with his computer and Vive virtual reality setup.  I was driving Laura crazy with my radio stuff, lab stuff, and my work stuff all over our shared office space.  It is much better now :)

73, Bill ak3q

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