Radioberry and pi3b

[Patrick Benda]

Hello there

I am due to receive a chinese made radioberry which I shall attempt to mate to my pi3b. Now which version of the radioberry software and pihpsdr would you suggest.

Thank you and 73 de Pat W3PO

Portable in the Philippines

[pa3gsb]

Hi Patrick,

Please use the following release:

https://github.com/pa3gsb/Radioberry-2.x/releases

You need a RPI-4.

If you like to use the RPI-3 you have to look at; https://github.com/pa3gsb/Radioberry-2.x/tree/master/SBC/rpi-3  

73 Johan

PA3GSB

Op vrijdag 25 juni 2021 om 08:44:19 UTC+2 schreef w3po....@gmail.com:

[Dave M0WID]

Hi Johan.

Thank you for all the work put in to this project - sounds really interesting.

I have just received a Chinese Radioberry board, which I would also like to use with a RPI-3B as I have one spare.  The Radioberry board appears to match the current PCB design (beta 5) on github, but is not marked with any version information. Soldering of the SMT parts seems OK but the SMA connector soldering is poor. C404, C407 and D401 are not installed.  C404 and C407 are marked as DNI on the schematic so I guess that is OK, but D401 is presumably for protection and should be installed?

R303, R304, R305, R306, R307, R308 are also not installed.

My use case is to use with one slice for rx and tx connected to a transvertor for 2m, running full duplex in emulator mode on the Pi and using Spark SDR on a windows PC.  Will the RPI-3 be good enough for that?

Linux is completely new to me so it is all a big learning experience, which is good.

So far I have installed the up to date Rasbian operating system and downloaded the github repository.  I think I have compiled the firmware download utility and the emulator that exist in the RPI-3 section, but cannot find a .rbf file to download.  Is it OK to use the .rbf from the current RPI-4 release or do I need to install Quartus and create a .rbf file from the files in the RPI-3 section?  Is there anything else I need to set up or compile?

I am also not sure how to make the emulator code run at start up yet.

Perhaps the script in the release works out which RPI type it is being run on so will work for either RPI-3 or RPI-4?

Thanks again for any advice and assistance.

73

Dave M0WID

[HaideeBenda World]

Hello Dave and all,

I have received the RB this morning and still trying to figure out how to find the install.sh file for the RPI3B+

So far the link that Johan kindly sent me end up pointing at the install procedure for the RPI4

Maybe you Dave could point me in the right direction

Thank you and 73 de Pat W3PO

Portable in the Philippines

[Patrick Benda]

sorry I was sending on my yl account.

No worries she is defintively much more attractive than I.

An addition my RB is the same as your Dave no markings whatsoever.

73 de Pat W3PO

[pa3gsb]

Hi Dave

The RPI-3 is for further development deprecated.

The code is still available at the repo; you need to build all required code yourself; including the gateware (rbf)

.... maybe there is on the list someone who is running with the RPI-3B settings and is willing to share the setup?

I dont know if the setup will work with the sparkSDR .... so  much development has taken place... ; i strongly advice to make the step to te RPI-4.

73 Johan

PA3GSB

Op maandag 28 juni 2021 om 00:14:01 UTC+2 schreef Dave M0WID:

[Dave M0WID]

Hi Johan, fully understand that you do not want to support older versions.  If it was myself I would not even be able to remember the details :(

I downloaded Quartus Lite (massive download) and built the .rbf file (attached in case anyone finds it useful - complete noob with fpga so it was a bit of guesswork and no guarantee I did it right).  This firmware is for the RPI-3 FD-firmware, CL025 fpga.  The firmware uploader reported success - though it did that even without the radioberry board plugged in!  I also compiled the emulator code using the makefile - it seemed to run though there were quite a few warnings on the compile.

Spark did not find the radioberry however so more testing to do.  Any debug tools or things to check?

My ADC gets really hot though - too hot to keep a finger on - even with the heat sink fitted.  I assume that is not normal and I should return the board?  Can anyone advise how hot the ADC normally runs?

73

Dave M0WID

[Yado-san]

Hi Dave,

I have kept the release and archive file for Radioberry2.0 beta3(2019.6.26).I tried it before with RPi3 and CL016 board.

I've placed them below for your reference.

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1A1_AjV6KExT7A0Rb0Z2hKj1kPkQMb8i_

My ADC gets hot too. 

 abt 65 degrees Celsius. with small heat sink no fan. Requires an air-cooling fan.

Hope if this your helps.

ps. As Johan mentioned, I recommend using RPi4 if you possible.

73

Yado-san

jg1twp

2021年6月29日火曜日 7:29:53 UTC+9 david.wi...@gmail.com:

[Radioberry]

Dave and Yado-san

Iam not very good in version control...absolute not the idea about the project... iam sharing information to build your own sdr radio.

@Yado-san real nice you kepy the release.... thanks for sharing!

With the release of RPI-4 i did a lot of work to minimize the code base and reduced the maintenance load.... for the gateware i used the variant strategy of the HL-2... 

for running pihpsdr the driver and the firmware running as a service are left over.... placed this in the linux structure. Using some shell scripts to make an easy setup possible.

At this moment the development of  a replacement for the rpi is going on... called it radioberry juice board; which even makes the setup more easy (http://www.pa3gsb.nl/2021/05/31/radioberry-juice/) ; not only support for linux but also windows 10.

Have fun 

73 Johan

PA3GSB

Op dinsdag 29 juni 2021 om 05:49:27 UTC+2 schreef Yado-san:

[Dave M0WID]

Thank you Yado-san - The script in the release gave me the clue I needed - I had not realised that the firmware had to be loaded each time the radioberry is powered up as there is no memory on the board!

Using the code and gateware I created from github I have Spark discovering the radioberry, and am receiving signals!  Also get around 11dBm out so apart from the ADC running super hot all seems OK.

Johan -

The juice option looks really interesting and is a very good idea.  That would be perfect for my use case and I would rather build a Juice board than go for the RPI4.  I may get some boards made by JLPCB and build one up, maybe with a pre-amp board as well, though it seems there are no FT2232 chips available at any of the normal suppliers until at least September.  Low cost development boards seem to be available from AliExpress however - perhaps one could be raided for parts or just connected up as is with a separate PSU?  How many Juice boards have been made?

73 Dave

[pa3gsb]

Dave

The juice board is in developement.... i have built 1 board based on the first ideas.... with some modifications to get it going...dont use the beta 0.1 for the juice!

the board is working including i2c control of the preamp board and having the bandscope implemented.

For more info see posts in this group and i made a log of the development: http://www.pa3gsb.nl/2021/05/31/radioberry-juice/

73 Johan

PA3GSB

Op dinsdag 29 juni 2021 om 23:34:59 UTC+2 schreef david.wi...@gmail.com:

[rent...@comcast.net]

Ut oh!  I have built up two of the Juice beta 0.1 PCB's, just waiting for the FT2232HL's from china.

Johan, would you be able to share the modifications you've made to get it going?

73,

Robert, WA2T

[Radioberry]

Robert

Of course iam willing to describe.... besides the hardware also the software and software setup will be described.  The beta 0.1 is not the final target.... 

Will publish this later.

73 Johan

PA3GSB

Op dinsdag 6 juli 2021 om 01:55:18 UTC+2 schreef rent...@comcast.net:

[rent...@comcast.net]

Thank you Johan!

[Madeleine Benda]

Hello- My name is Madeleine Benda, and I am looking for my father. I see he posted here back in 2021 but I have no contact information for him at all. I know his radio call sign is w3po. if anyone can help me please email me at madelei...@gmail.com