TX power and antenna switch

[pe...@petefleming.com]

Hi, been using my Radioberry for RX only and its fantastic! I want to add TX ability, can anyone share their antenna switch setup?

Also looking for amp and filter options. I'm only looking for 5-10 watts. How much power does the Radioberry put out? I can't find a reference to it.

Thanks,

Pete

KI6SSI

[pa3gsb]

Hi Pete,

You did the assembly yourself?

Did you face some issues during the built?  Maybe good to share here.

The radioberry is able to transmit int the range from 10mW - 40 mW enough to drive the following 10W amp:

https://www.qrp-labs.com/linear.html

Radioberry IO:

https://github.com/pa3gsb/Radioberry-2.x/wiki/Radioberry-In-Output

Goodluck

Johan

PA3GSB

Op dinsdag 2 april 2019 22:06:00 UTC+2 schreef pe...@petefleming.com:

[pe...@petefleming.com]

Hi Johan,

Thanks for the info! I was able to acquire a nicely built one from Steli AE6OR after seeing it at a local ham fest. I want to build another, my biggest fear is soldering the larger chips.

Pete

KI6SSI

[Pierre Martel]

you better fear the small parts, I lost a few that started to fly away of the twizzer :-)

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[pe...@petefleming.com]

Hi,

I  built the QRPLabs amp. Very nice kit! Also have the QRPKits rx/tx switch. Now looking for the best way to key the amp and switch on tx. I see the Radioberry IO diagram and a little confused. ptt_out says its pins 3,4 on the Radioberry. The function says "logic high if frequency > 24000000"? I would think that is logic high any time you are in tx mode. Here is the page I'm referring to: https://github.com/pa3gsb/Radioberry-2.x/wiki/Radioberry-In-Output

I read that the IO is direct to the fpga, any idea what the current limit is? I plan to buffer this and maybe use an opto isolator.

Any pics or details on working tx/rx setup with amp and switch would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

73

Pete

KI6SSI

PS: the new release working well thanks!

[pa3gsb]

Hi Pete,

Advise ; always buffer the FPGA pins!  (data sheet cyclone 10 is telling max 40mA per pin... when you count all the pins i think you are short in current form rpi)

For the standalone version there are more possiblities for selecting a filter 

- using i2c PCA9555 16 bit IO chip; no need to buffer additional.

- using the output bits on Radioberry IO connector.; you can add an ULN2008 or equivalent to buffer.

I dont get your remark:

 I see the Radioberry IO diagram and a little confused. ptt_out says its pins 3,4 on the Radioberry. The function says "logic high if frequency > 24000000"? I would think that is logic high any time you are in tx mode.

Because pin 3 and pin 4 are seperate output pins. pin 3 is ptt out ; goes high in tx mode and goes low in rx mode.  pin 4 goes high when the tx/rx freq is > 24 Mhz and is low for freq < 24 Mhz.

Please use a voltage meter to check.

Does this help?

73 Johan

PA3GSB

Op zondag 28 april 2019 07:02:38 UTC+2 schreef pe...@petefleming.com:

[pe...@petefleming.com]

Hi Johan,

Ahh that makes sense now, thanks! I missed that the table was 2 columns.

73

Pete

KI6SSI

[rent...@comcast.net]

Thanks Pete!  I have been wondering what a TR switch board I saw from a French Ham's post on another forum was, it was that very board!  I ordered one as well thanks to your lead.  Ultimately, I would like to design (or cobble together) a TR switch, PA and LPF's into a single board that would make the RB a complete 10W TRX.  I'd like the TR switch to be solid state/QSK though as I am a 100% CW operator.

73,

Robert, WA2T

[pe...@petefleming.com]

That would be perfect addition. I'm thinking the Radioberry would make a great compact rig for portable use.

73,

Pete

KI6SSI

[pe...@petefleming.com]

Just wanted to give an update. I have been using the QRPLabs amp, LPF, tx/rx switch buffered with a 4N35. Have a USB mic and getting great audio reports with > 5 watts. Receive is also fantastic!

73,

Pete

KI6SSI

[pa3gsb]

Pete

Nice. Do you have a photo of your setup?

And willing to share?

Johan
PA3GSB

[pe...@petefleming.com]

Its a mess but will be going into a case soon. I'll send an update with the finished product.

Pete

KI6SSI

[Bob A. Booey]

What is the LPF solution you are using Pete?

Sent from my iPhone

On May 10, 2019, at 4:10 PM, pe...@petefleming.com wrote:

Its a mess but will be going into a case soon. I'll send an update with the finished product.

<IMG_20190501_132040.jpg>

Pete

KI6SSI

On Friday, May 10, 2019 at 12:01:19 AM UTC-7, pa3gsb wrote:

Pete

Nice. Do you have a photo of your setup?

And willing to share?

Johan
PA3GSB

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<IMG_20190501_132040.jpg>

[Pierre Martel]

Hey peter nice setup.. 

About what I want to do, but I have the 10 watt amp from QRPlabs. 

Is it outputing the whole 5 watt? do you need to have the power of the radioberry all the way up? you seem to run this all on 5 volt. how much amps do all of this pull?

And I have the exact same logitech headset/mic ;-)

And I dont see any LPF. 

--

[pe...@petefleming.com]

Hi,

I use these LPFs from QrpLabs https://www.qrp-labs.com/lpfkit.html. That pic is into my swr meter then dummy load. I get about 5 watts with 13.8v supply to the amp. Drive is set to 30%. Not sure my MFJ 945E is accurate?

For software I use PowerSDR on Windows 10. The windows box is a VM on my Ubuntu machine :) The pihpsdr software works fine I just like PowerSDR better. Could not get the Linux version working on Ubuntu, have to work on that...

I plan to put all this in a metal box and clean it up. Also have a 45W amp on the way. With just the 5 watts I've made a lot of contacts.

Pete,

KI6SSI

On Friday, May 10, 2019 at 2:13:33 PM UTC-7, Pierre Martel wrote:

Hey peter nice setup.. 

About what I want to do, but I have the 10 watt amp from QRPlabs. 

Is it outputing the whole 5 watt? do you need to have the power of the radioberry all the way up? you seem to run this all on 5 volt. how much amps do all of this pull?

And I have the exact same logitech headset/mic ;-)

And I dont see any LPF. 

Le ven. 10 mai 2019 à 16:10, <pe...@petefleming.com> a écrit :

Its a mess but will be going into a case soon. I'll send an update with the finished product.

Pete

KI6SSI

On Friday, May 10, 2019 at 12:01:19 AM UTC-7, pa3gsb wrote:

Pete

Nice. Do you have a photo of your setup?

And willing to share?

Johan
PA3GSB

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[pe...@petefleming.com]

Here is a shot with the LPF in place.

[pe...@petefleming.com]

Sorry one more update. Just had a 20M contact with ZL1ANH in NZ 10,500km with 5 watts!

Pete

KI6SSI

[Bob A, Booey]

Is the HL2 N2ADR LPF board a good candidate for Radioberry since it has the I2C interface?  I am hoping it is, I bought 2 with my HL2 purchase.

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[Pierre Martel]

The  N2ADR LPF can do it. I looked at this board also. 

I prefer the qrplabs solution as it is not fix on any type of controller chips. It could be manually controled and it can be running with what ever solution you can come with and with any band filters combinaison you want. I think I will need to designe a smal rf switch to switch between the first and second filter batch for both input and output of the filters. 

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/radioberry/7f7c4dd4-3722-83e9-777a-118d52ae2092%40comcast.net.

[Bob A, Booey]

Yes Pete, I bought a second LPF board when I placed my HL2 order with Makerfabs.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/radioberry/CAL8dJwoBwEkp%2By-Q3BuiqORUe3aY-W2XvowZ9xXUQw061K10mQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[Bob A, Booey]

Pierre,

I bought the N2ADR board specifically because it has the I2C control.  My hunch was that since the RB is a fork of the HL2 design, it would likely have the code to control that board.  From what Johan has said about LPF control by the RB, I believe this is the case.  If so, it should be a fairly simple matter to interface to the RB GPIO.

Having said that, I have experience with the QRP-Labs stuff (and LPF's), I built a U3S a few years back and have the 5? band LPF solution as part of that.  The N2ADR design is nice because it has chip inductors, not wound toroids.

Pete,

Can you give a bit of detail on the TR switch connection to the RB?  What pin or pins are you using?  Did you have to change anything in the code to enable control or is it already present in the normal build?

And what are you using for your LPF's?

73,

Robert, WA2T

On 5/11/2019 12:39 PM, Pierre Martel wrote:

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/radioberry/CAL8dJwoBwEkp%2By-Q3BuiqORUe3aY-W2XvowZ9xXUQw061K10mQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[rentwist]

Oops, never mind on the LPF's Pete, I somehow missed your post mentioning that.

[pe...@petefleming.com]

Hi Robert,

I used this tr switch https://www.qrpkits.com/ezseries.html#eztrsw

I connected a 4N35 optio isolator to the radioberry pin 3 ptt_out and ground with 330 ohm resistor. I measured the current at 6ma when tx. This is connected to the tr relay switch. The tr relay switch is supplied 13.8v along with the amplifier. I can hand write up a schematic if anyone needs it.

Pete

KI6SSI

[rentwist]

The RB puts out 40 mW (16 dBm) I think I recall reading.

[Are Barstad]

Yes, a simple schematic would be great!
Thanks.