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PE0FKO SoftRock AVR Firmware User Guide Issue

1. Filter 3 Disable the 4BPFI Press keyboard H to show display when hidden Hide Figure 18 BPF Tab display This option is normally disabled by default The ABPF mode is enabled by default as this is preferable to use as that mode provides compatibility with all existing SDR programs including Rocky v3 6 The BPF mode can be used for testing or experimentation or to manually select each Band filter using the Band Test buttons The lower and upper frequencies of each filter band can be defined as required The BPF mode requires the use of an external dil file such as Fred PEOFKO s ExtlO_Si570 dill for Winrad and various versions of the SDR1kUSB dll for PSDR to provide the band switching information There is no support to use this mode with Rocky v3 6 The primary function for this mode is to provide compatibility with earlier versions of the firmware before the introduction of the ABPF function and the original v1 4 and v2 0 firmware supplied with the kits PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 36 of 44 12 BPF Tab Setting needed to use the v9 0 Option 2 6m filter It should be possible to configure and use the BPF function for the option 2 switched BPF module with the 6m BPF filter in the Band 0 position Note the switched BPF module refers to the filters as Band 1 4 and the firmware as Bands 0 3 the two bit binary value used to select e
2. General USB si570 LO BPF ABPF Calibrate Test About LO Total Multiply p s float FsibVO F 116 0 8 Offset 116 MHz float LO DLL Multiply 4 Float Fset F 2 842170943e 014 4 Offset 2 8421 709 MHz float LO Firmware Multiply 0 2 float Fsi570 Fset 464 0 2 Offset 464 MHz float Read Save Press keyboard H to show display when hidden Hide Figure 17 Configuration for the 2m converter and PSDR transverter option In the LO Total set up LO multiplier set to 0 8 Offset set to 116 minus Then press Save and Read to update the firmware All that is needed in PSDR is to select the XVTRs set up tab and set the following Enable Check or tick box to enable Button label 144 or 2m LO Offset 116 Frequency Begin 144 000 Frequency End 148 000 Once done when VHF is selected the 144MHz transverter option can be selected The transverter option is in fact the best option to use with all versions of PSDR and the SoftRock v9 0 2m converter PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 35 of 44 11 BPF Tab PEOFKO ExtIO_Si570 ex USB Las Lo BPF ABPF Calibrate Test About ERN Band Pass Filter tarda MHz 4 MHz Filter 1 _Band1 Bardi MHz 8 MHz Filter 0 Filter 2 _Band 2 2 MHz 16 MHz Band 3 16 MHz 30 MHz
3. LO F 0 1 MHz 51570 Registers 7 0 E3 8 0 C2 9 0 B7 10 0 17 11 0 40 12 0x16 Dividers HS_DIV 11 N1 16 Smooth tune 3500 ppm RFREQ 43 443176351 4 85 GHz 5 67 Calc frequenty 28 200000 MHz DCO 5 0 GHz 170 Signal m P1 PTT m P2 CW1 miCW2 3 3V Repeat J Press keyboard H to show display when hidden Hide Figure 21 Test Tab display This display is provided for information purposes only and provides details of the stored information and that read from the Si570 registers Pressing the Get button will read the information once from the firmware Checking the Repeat box continuously polls and updates the values read and displays them Four lights are available which reflect the logic levels of the AVR input and output lines and the presence of the 3 3v supply To observe these changing in real time you must enable the Repeat function It can be seen that two of the lines are used for shared functions depending on whether the ABPF mode is enabled or not For use with the v9 0 RX and ABPF mode enabled the P1 and P2 lights display the control lines outputs to the switched BPF module The status of these will depend on the frequency and cross over points set With the ABPF mode disabled for use with the USB to I2C interface or SDR Kits USB Synthersizer the CW 1 and 2 lines input will be pulled high and On in the key up position Pressing the CW key or using the paddle one
4. 29 200MHz Sampling clock 32MHz 116MHz 148MHz 148MHz 0 8 118 400MHz Si570 LO frequency 148 000MHz 118 400MHz 29 600MHz IF frequency 118 400MHz 4 29 600MHz Sampling clock What found hard to figure out at first was that the 4MHz segment 144 148MHz produces an IF range covering 28 8 29 6MHz but that is the effect created by the LO being variable The following SDR programs can be used with v15 10 firmware and a multiplication factor of 0 8 WinradHD v 0 0 7 DGOJBJ VFO can be set directly to 144 xxx MHz Winrad v1 42 WA6KBL VFO can be set directly to 144 xxx MHz Rocky v3 6 VE3NEQ Rocky ini can be edited to add centre frequencies 144 xxx MHz PSDR v1 90 sr40 Guido PE1NNZ VFO can be set to 144 xxxMHz PSDR IQ v1 12 20 Christos SV1EIA VFO can be set to 144 xxxMHz PSDR IQ requires the expert box to be checked in the Si570 set up and maximum frequency set to 600MHz 600 4 150 This fools the software into allowing the VFO to be set to 144 xxxMHz although of course this in not actually possible using the CMOS Si570 device PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 32 of 44 PEOFKO ExtIO_Si570 i X General Use si570 LO BPF ABPF Calibrate Test About t0 Total aMMa Multipl 08 float Fsi570 F 0 0 8 Offset 0 MHz float 0 ST Multiply 4 float Fset F 0 4 Offset 0 MHz float LO Firmware Multiply 0 2 float Fsi570
5. 42 1 333333333 Offset 42 MHz float LO DLL Multiply 4 000040 float Fset F 4 199999989e 005 Offset f 4 1999999 MHz float LO Firmware Multiply 0 333333 float Fsi570 Fset 168 0 333333 Offset 168 MHz float Read Save Press keyboard H to show display when hidden Hide Figure 14 Configuration for 4m plug in converter and FlexRadio PSDR You can see the rounding effect created due to the use of recurring figures used in the calculations Although the SDR program effectively tunes 28 30MHz the actual IF tuning range is 23 3333MHz to 23 9999MHz This is transparent to the user and of no consequence Calculations shown on the next page show this PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 30 of 44 For 28MHz 28MHz 42MHz 7OMHz 70MHz 1 3333 93 3333MHz Si570 LO frequency 93 3333MHz 7OMHz 23 3333MHz IF frequency 93 3333MHz 4 23 3333MHz Sampling clock For 29MHz 29MHz 42MHz 71MHz 71MHz 1 3333 94 6666MHz Si570 LO frequency 94 6666MHz 71MHz 23 6666MHz IF frequency 94 6666MHz 4 23 6666MHz Sampling clock For 30MHz 30MHz 42MHz 72MHz 72MHz 1 3333 95 9999MHz Si570 LO frequency 95 9999MHz 72MHz 23 9999MHz IF frequency 95 99999MHz 4 23 9999MHz Sampling clock The above shows how the effective tuning range of 28MHz 30MHz is transformed to an actual IF tuning range of 23 3333MHz to 23 9999MHz Note as
6. and suspect might also trouble some others There is a PDF document available to download from both the Yahoo SoftRock40 group Files section in my G8VOI folder or it can be obtained from Fred s firmware web page This contains a number of postings and notes have made during the firmware testing describing the configurations needed and SDR program compatibility for the SoftRock v9 0 plug in VHF Converters http nome ict nl fredkrom pe0fko SR V9 Si570 v9 0 20VHF 20converters 20and 20firmware 20set up pdf 10 2 Use of the SoftRock v9 0 with an external conventional VHF Converter The following describes how to configure the firmware for use with a conventional fixed LO VHF Converter as used by many to provide coverage of a VHF band on a standard HF receiver The example used is for a 144MHz to 28MHz Receive Converter using a fixed 116MHz fixed frequency local oscillator These converters operate by mixing the 144MHz signal with the 116MHz local oscillator to produce the wanted IF output at 28MHz the difference 144MHz 116MHz 28MHz 144MHz 116MHz 260MHz 146MHz 116MHz 30MHz 146MHz 116MHz 262MHz The addition or image of the input frequency and the local oscillator is removed with low pass filtering after the mixer output It can be seen that by tuning the IF range between 28 30MHz effectively covers the range 144 146MHz EU 2m band allocation please expand this to 144MHz 148MHz whe
7. hopefully will be answered in this section or by pointing to the appropriate set up tab needed Q1 Why do I need to use Winrad as I do not want to use that SDR program There is actually no need for you to have any interest in using Winrad for your normal SDR operating however at the present time it is used as the vehicle to access to the set up pages needed for the Atmel AVR firmware Once the firmware has been configured for your use there is no need to ever run Winrad again If you need to make any further changes to the firmware set up you will need to have Winrad available to run again Fred PEOFKO originally created an external dll file to support using Winrad with the USB controlled Si570 based SoftRock v9 0 Receiver and this is used to access the firmware set up See details in Section 4 of how to obtain the dll file needed and how to use it with Winrad Q2 Which version of the firmware do have The version of the firmware you have is displayed on the opening General tab of the set up screens All available versions of the AVR firmware are correctly recognised however some options and functions are unique to the PEOFKO versions and therefore will be greyed out and not available when using the earlier versions v1 4 Firmware ATtiny45 by Tom DG8SAQ This is the original firmware version created by Tom DG8SAQ and supplied with the QRP2000 group s USB Synthersizer available from Jan GOBBL Tony adapted this
8. Both v15 10 and v15 11 firmware is fully compatible with the USB to 12C interface used with the v6 3 SoftRock TX RX however you will need to modify the default settings These defaults configure the device for use with the v9 0 RX also suitable for the v8 3 RX using the USB to I2C interface This has the switched BPF control lines active To use the firmware with the v6 3 TX RX all that is necessary is to disable the ABPF function See Section 13 ABPF for further details Once the USB is disconnected and re connected the CW Key Paddle inputs and PTT output lines become active Q7 My Key CW paddles and PTT line do not operate properly See answer to Question 6 or go to Section 13 ABPF Q8 Can I use the firmware with my SDR Kits USB Synthersizer The firmware is compatible with the SDR Kits USB Synthersizer see Questions 6 and 7 and details in Section 13 Q9 How do I set it up to use the SoftRock v9 0 and 6m BPF option The firmware can be used with the Option 2 BPF module filter configuration however there are some restrictions Please see further information regarding this subject in Section 12 ideally before you have started to construct your filter module Q10 What DLL files do need to use with the various SDR programs For Winrad v1 32 v1 42 and WinradHD ExtlO_Si570 dll must be placed in the folder containing the Winrad Program See Section 4 for further details Rocky v3 6 No additional DLL fil
9. Fset 0 0 2 Offset l 0 MHz float Save Press keyboard H to show display when hidden Hide Figure 15 Basic configuration for SoftRock 2m plug in converter As can be see from the above figure all that is necessary is to set the following in the LO total boxes Multiply 0 8 Offset 0 then press Save followed by Read and you should obtain the configuration as shown Using the four SDR programs mentioned on the previous page tuning the VFO between 144MHz and 146MHz provides coverage of the 2m band using the existing v15 10 firmware To use either Winrad v1 32 or WinradHD versions prior to v 0 0 7 please follow the instructions on the next page PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 33 of 44 10 11 Winrad v1 32 and WinradHD and the SoftRock v9 0 2m converter As it is not possible to set the VFO LO to greater than 99 999MHz the best option for the 144MHz converter using Winrad v1 32 or WinradHD versions prior to v 0 0 7 is to add an offset of 100MHz to the VFO frequency It is essential to use v15 11 firmware for this as it requires the use of a negative offset Tuning 44 48MHz with the VFO will then actually tune 144 148MHz with the converter In the LO Total set up LO multiplier 0 8 Offset 100 minus Then press Save and Read to update the firmware PEOFKO ExtIO_Si570 oo x General USB Si570 LO BPF ABPF Calibrate Test
10. MHz cr Press keyboard H to show display when hidden Hide Figure 20 Calibrate Tab display Two methods of applying calibration to the Si570 are provided to correct any small error in absolute frequency Once the calibration process has been carried out the correction needed is stored in the firmware and automatically applied Because this correction is carried out in the firmware you must leave the Si570 frequency set in any SDR program used to the default setting of 114 285MHz Calibrate A If you reset the firmware and Si570 device to the default values you can then measure the exact output frequency and enter it in the box for Factory startup frequency and press the Calibrate button to store this value Calibrate B This is the easiest option to use If you tune to a known frequency signal using Winrad either from an accurate signal generator or an off air signal and compare to another calibrated receiver you can simply enter the real frequency in the appropriate box then press the Calibrate button You should then see the difference between the two displayed and the offset correction applied PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 40 of 44 15 Test Tab PEOFKO ExtIO_Si570 x General USB Si570 LO BPF ABPF Calibrate Test About Information Crystal frequenty 114 2457892 MHz Startup 28 2 MHz LO Calculation
11. display USB not connected Press WinRad Start PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 13 of 44 7 USB Tab PEOFKO ExtIO_Si570 Figure 5 USB Tab display Leave the settings on this page to their default values PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 14 of 44 8 Si570 Tab PEOFKO ExtIO_Si570 my i General USB 51570 LO BPF ABPF Calibrate Test About Si570 i2c addr amp dec Factory default Device freq 6 sreeeeeeeeee 160 MHz Statup 282 MHz Rx 705MHz Save Smooth tune 3500 ppm 247KH2 Save Reset 51570 to factory default startup frequency Reset Si570 DGS8SA4O Save all last used frequency Press keyboard H to show display when hidden Hide Figure 6 Si570 Tab display The default 12C address for the firmware is 85 decimal and should not be changed Note in some SDR program set up screens it in necessary to enter this in hexadecimal 55h The default Device frequency is set to 6MHz minimum and 160MHz maximum as show above This allows the SDR receiver to tune between 1 5MHz and 40MHz when the Si570 is generating the standard x4 clock frequency needed The C grade CMOS version of the Si570 is only specified to work over the range 10MHz 160MHz however it has been found to happily work over a greater range typically down to 3 5MHz and earlier devices worked up to 260MHz The figures
12. firmware you require programming http www softrockradio org catalog 32 microcontrollers It might be worth making an enquiry on the Yahoo SoftRock40 forum if anyone local to you has the facilities available to program a device you never know Q4 How do I program my own chip You can program your own device using very simple hardware provided that it is either a new device or it has not been previously programmed for use with a SoftRock Full details of the hardware and software needed to program your own chips are available in my Beginners Guide to Programming the Atmel Devices http hnome ict nl fredkrom peOfko g8voi You can download the hex files needed to program the device from Fred s website both ATtiny 45 and 85 versions exist http home ict nl fredkrom pe0fko SR V9 Si570 Q5 Which Atmel ATtiny device should I use The current v15 10 and v15 11 versions of the firmware just fit in the smaller capacity ATtiny45 device 4k however there is no spare room available for any future enhancements The next planned release of the firmware v15 12 will not fit in the smaller device therefore it is recommended to use the ATtiny 85 device 8k to allow it to be reprogrammed at a later date Tony KB9YIG is supplying the current version of the firmware using the ATtiny85 PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 6 of 44 Q6 Can use this firmware with my SoftRock v6 3 TX RX
13. has been flagged up on the Yahoo SoftRock40 forum and answered several times If the Option 2 switched BPF module is constructed as per the current build instructions with the 6m BPF in the Band 1 position it is not possible to have the filter cross over points in ascending frequency order If the cross over points are left at the default settings the Band 1 filter 6m will be selected when you tune to any frequency less than 4MHz likewise the Band 2 filter 8 5MHz 8MHz will not be selected until you tune above 4MHz Bands 3 and 4 function correctly The simplest solution which has been discussed and agreed to by Tony KB9YIG is to modify the schematic and build instructions to reorder the filters in ascending frequency order At the time of writing this has not been done but it is recommended that anyone who has yet to build their Option2 BPF module use the new order Original order New order Band 1 6m 3 5MHz 8MHz Band 2 3 5MHz 8MHz 8MHz 16MHz Band 3 8MHz 16MHz 16MHz 30MHz Band 4 16MHz 30MHz 6m With the filters in the new order it is now possible to set the three cross over points in ascending frequency i e 8 16 and 30MHz The correct filters will now be selected automatically depending on the frequency the Si570 is generating Note however the previous comments made regarding the LO multiplication factor and changes between normal and sub harmonic sampling still apply For anyone who has already const
14. of these will go low turn Off The PTT line will be Off until the SDR program is set to transmit the output line then goes to a high light ON PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 41 of 44 16 About Tab General USB is70 LO BPF ABPF Calibrate Test About About Press keyboard H to show display when hidden Hide Figure 22 About Tab display This is the easiest one to explain Displays the version of the ExtIO_Si570 dll file you are using Latest version is v0 10 August 2009 Finally there are no prizes for reading the CW on the green flashing light PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 42 of 44 17 Disclaimer Whilst have taken reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy of the information supplied in this guide cannot accept any responsibility for any damage loss or injury to equipment or persons as a result of using this information cannot accept any responsibility for the contents and accuracy of websites where links are supplied You could have found these sites in the same way did using the Google search engine This guide is supplied in the spirit of amateur radio to perhaps answer a few common questions nothing more nothing less 18 Copyright do not believe that have used any material or information that is subject to copyright within this document acknowledge the use of the names Atmel A
15. 1 1 September 2009 Page 21 of 44 10 3 Using 144 28MHz VHF Converter with programs that allow VFO to be set to 144 xxxMHz For the programs where it is possible to directly tune the VFO to 144 xxxMHz it requires the firmware to carry out the following manipulation It will receive the frequency information from the SDR program to generate 144MHz x 4 576MHz The actual clock frequency to be generated by the Si570 for the SoftRock to receive at 28MHz is 28MHz x 4 112MHz To achieve this 576MHz 112MHz 464MHz 116MHz x 4 464MHz To set up the firmware enter the following in the LO Total boxes Multiply 4 Offset 116 followed by Save and Read Note ignore any error message regarding the start up frequency being out of range PEOFKO ExtIO_Si570 x General USB Si570 LO BPF ABPF Calibrate Test About LO Total Muti 4 float Fsi570 F 116 4 Offset 116 MHz float LO DLL Mutipy 4 float Feet F 0 4 Offset 0 MHz float LO Firmware Multiply 1 float Fsi570 Fset 464 1 Offset 464 MHz float Press keyboard H to show display when hidden Hide Figure 9 Configuration for 144 28MHz Receive Converter It can be seen from the above figure the entries in the greyed out LO Firmware are automatically calculated offset 464MHz 116MHz x 4 Tuning the VFO between 144 146MHz now in the SDR program generates t
16. About LO Total Multiply 0 8 Float Fsi O F 100 0 8 Offset 100 MHz float LO DLL Multiply 4 Float Fset F 1 421085472e 014 4 Offset f 1 4210854 MHz float LO Firmware Multiply 0 2 float Fsi570 Fset 400 0 2 Offset 400 MHz float Save Press keyboard H to show display when hidden Hide Figure 16 Configuration for 2m converter and Winrad v1 32 HD An alternative setting for those more used to using a normal fixed frequency VHF converter would be to set the offset to 116 that would allow you to tune the VFO 28 32MHz to cover 144 148MHz Both options have been proven but tuning 44 48MHz is seen as the better option as it in effect gives a direct read out of the 2m frequency less the leading digit 1 PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 34 of 44 10 12 FlexRadio s PowerSDR v1 16 2 and v1 18 with the 144MHz converter In both of the above official versions of PSDR the VFO limit is 65MHz therefore the options used with Winrad v1 32 HD can also be used i e tuning 44 48MHz with an offset of 100 or tuning 28 32MHz with an offset 116 V15 11 firmware must be used for this option It might however be better to use the transverter XTVRs option This defaults to expecting a conventional converter with a 116MHz LO offset and therefore tunes 28 32MHz PEOFKO ExtIO_Si570 xj
17. General Information about dll version Note Section 10 this is split into a number of sub sections covering the use of various types of VHF Converters and the firmware configuration needed to be used for each 10 1 Page 20 LO Tab Setting up for use with VHF Receive Converters Fixed and SoftRock 10 2 Page 20 Use of the SoftRock v9 0 with an external conventional VHF Converter 10 3 Page 22 Using 144 28MHz VHF Converter with programs that allow VFO to be set to 144MHz 10 4 Page 23 Using 144MHz VHF Converter and programs that do not allow VFO to be set to 144MHz 10 5 Page 24 All versions of PowerSDR with a 144 28MHz Converter a better option 10 6 Page 26 SoftRock v9 0 RX and the plug in VHF Converters 10 7 Page 27 SoftRock v9 0 RX and the 6m 50MHz plug in VHF Converter 10 8 Page 29 SoftRock v9 0 RX and the 4m 70MHz plug in VHF Converter 10 9 Page 30 SoftRock v9 0 4m 7O0MHz plug in VHF Converter use with FlexRadio PSDR 10 10 Page 32 SoftRock v9 0 RX and the 2m 144MHz plug in VHF Converter 10 11 Page 34 Winrad v1 32 and WinradHD prior to v 0 0 7 and SoftRock v9 0 2m converter 10 12 Page 35 FlexRadio s PowerSDR v1 16 2 and v1 18 with the 144MHz converter PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 11 of 44 5 Firmware Default Settings When the firmware is first used it is configured with the default conditions set for use with the v9 0 Receiver and has the ABPF mode enabled to provide co
18. Hz float Save Press keyboard H to show display when hidden Hide Figure 12 Configuration needed for the v9 0 RX 6m plug in converter PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 27 of 44 Once the firmware has been configured correctly it is simply a matter of using your favourite SDR program and tuning the VFO or selecting the 50MHz band as required It is necessary to edit the Rocky ini file to add additional new centre frequencies as required They then become available in the pull down selection box One thing that you might notice is that the firmware configuration needed to use the 6m SoftRock converter is exactly the same as the configuration when using 1 3 sub harmonic sampling i e Multiplier 1 3333 and Offset 0 There is however a major difference in the way the two operate with the firmware and hardware To recap When using one third sub harmonic sampling 4 3 1 3333 with the 6m BPF module 50MHz divided by 3 13 6666MHz sampling clock at 1 3 receive frequency Si570 LO required 13 6666MHz x 4 66 6666MHz SOMHz x 1 3333 66 6666MHz When the SoftRock v9 0 6m converter is used 50MHz x 1 3333 66 6666MHz the Si570 LO frequency 66 6666MHz 50MHz 16 6666MHz the IF frequency the RX is tuned to 66 6666MHz divided by 4 16 6666MHz the sampling clock frequency needed The IF frequency and the sampling clock frequency are the same Note for both of the above con
19. O Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 44 of 44
20. User Guide for PEOFKO v15 10 amp v15 11 Firmware SoftRock v9 0 RX USB to 12C Interface and SDR Kits USB Synth Bob G8VOI September 2009 Contents Issue 1 1 Section Description Page 1 Introduction 2 2 Glossary of Abbreviations Used 4 3 Frequently Asked Questions 5 4 Using Winrad to access the firmware configuration screens 8 5 Firmware Default Settings 12 6 General Tab 13 7 USB Tab 14 8 Si570 Tab 15 9 LO Tab Default state for SoftRock v9 0 RX 17 10 LO Tab Setting up for use with VHF Receive Converters 18 11 BPF Tab 36 12 BPF Tab Use with original Option 2 BPF 6m filter construction 37 13 ABPF Tab 38 14 Calibrate Tab 40 15 Test Tab 41 16 About Tab 42 17 Disclaimer 43 18 Copyright 43 19 Errors or Suggestions 43 20 Document Revisions 44 PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 1 of 44 1 Introduction From the number of requests frequently made on the Yahoo SoftRock forum for details of how to configure the firmware used in the Atmel ATtiny 45 or 85 AVR device for use with the various SoftRock modules it became apparent that there was a need for a comprehensive User Guide This is my attempt to provide such a document to meet that need This guide is aimed at the users of both v15 10 and v15 11 of Fred PEOFKO s firmware These essentially are the same apart from the newer version having a minor bug corrected Note this correction only affects users wishing to use the v9 0 Receiver a
21. VR and ATtiny series of devices All photographs and drawings used are the property of Bob Reeves G8VOI am more than happy for this guide to be freely used and distributed providing no charge is made for it and that am given due credit for it 19 Errors or Suggestions polite ones only please If you find any errors or have suggestions of any additional items that are of interest would very much like to hear about them If you want further information or advice will try and provide assistance please use the routes below My details are obtainable from the QRZ com website or make a posting on the Yahoo SoftRock forum Thank you to those who have provided feedback your comments have been included in this latest version hope you have found this of some use 73 Bob Reeves G8VOI 11 September 2009 PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 43 of 44 20 Document Revisions Any significant changes to this document will be listed here Issue 1 x August 2009 Original draft only 6 copies released for proof reading Issue 1 0 15 August 2009 Version first released available from PEOFKO website Issue 1 1 5 September 2009 Added reference to SoftRock v8 3 RX and USB to 12C thanks to Bruce K2BET Updated information for WinradHD v 0 0 7 released 29 08 09 VFO LO can now be set directly to 999 999MHz maximum 11 September 2009 Corrected link to G8VOI ATtiny Programming Guide PEOFK
22. ach band If the Band 0 filter lower and upper limits are set for the 6m band then those programs with suitable supporting dll files should be able to be used successfully Note there is no supporting DLL file for Rocky v3 6 to use the BPF mode It is also essential to note that when the firmware has been configured for sub harmonic sampling that multiplication factor is applied to all frequencies therefore if you want to change between the HF band operation and 6m it is necessary to reconfigure the firmware LO multiplication factor each time This is a restriction of the current versions of the firmware and has been noted The next version v15 12 currently just beginning beta testing at the time of writing this will have much greater flexibility in this area The multiplication factor and filter position for each band will be able to be independently configured That will allow easy band changes between those using the conventional x 4 sampling clock frequency and those using sub harmonic sampling PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 37 of 44 13 ABPF Tab PEOFKO ExtIO_Si570 x General USB Si570 LO BPF ABPF Calibrate Test About m Enable Automatic Band Pass Filter Filter cross over points frequency Press keyboard H to show display when hidden Hide Figure 19 ABPF Tab display The ABPF function is enabled by default to provide full compatibilit
23. and leave the Offset set to 0 Press Save followed by Read You should now have the settings updated to those shown in Figure 8 on the following page PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 18 of 44 PEOFKO ExtIO_Si570 ay xi General USB Si570 LO BPF ABPF Calibrate Test About LO Total Multiply fi 3333333 float Fsi570 F 0 1 333333333 Offset 0 MHz float LO DLL Multiply 4 0000040 Float Fset F 0 4 000004 Offset 0 MHz float LO Firmware Multiply 0 333333 Float Fsi570 Fset 0 0 333333 Offset 0 MHz float Save Press keyboard H to show display when hidden Hide Figure 8 LO configured for 1 3 sub harmonic sampling You will see from the above the LO DLL box Multiply has been slightly changed due to the rounding error in the calculation but is of no consequence The greyed out LO Firmware box has been automatically updated as well the new Multiply is a result of the LO Total Multiply being divided by the LO DLL Multiply 1 3333333 4 0 33333333 Please note the following carefully If you use sub harmonic sampling these setting are used for all frequencies generated therefore if you are using the v9 0 RX with the Option 2 6m BPF module it will be necessary to change back to the conventional Multiply 4 before using it on any of the normal HF bands Th
24. cause all the programs allow the VFO to be tuned over the whole band required 50MHz 54MHz The essential information needed to use the 6m converter is the LO multiplication factor 4 3 1 3333 a recurring figure which have truncated 50MHz multiplied by 1 3333 66 6666 MHz this becomes the LO frequency needed for the mixer 66 6666MHz 50MHz 16 6666MHz this becomes the IF output frequency It will be seen that 66 6666MHz divided by 4 16 6666MHz which is the required sampling clock If that does not convince you then take a look at the following 50MHz 1 3333 66 6666MHz LO 66 6666 50 16 6666MHz IF 66 6666 4 16 6666 52MHz 1 3333 69 3333MHz LO 69 3333 52 17 3333MHz IF 69 3333 4 17 3333 54MHz 1 3333 71 9999MHz LO 71 9999 54 17 9999MHz IF 71 9999 4 17 9999 You will see that to cover the complete 6m band the IF is tuned between 16 6666 and 17 9999MHz All that is needed is configure the firmware for this is to set the Total Lo Multiply 1 33333333 and the Offset 0 then press Save and Read PEOFKO ExtIO_Si570 x General USB Si570 LO BPF ABPF Calibrate Test About LO Total Multiply fi 3333333 float Fsi570 F 0 1 333333333 Offset 0 MHz float LO DLL Multiply 4 000040 float Fset F 0 4 000004 Offset 0 MHz float LO Firmware Multiply 0 333333 float Fsi570 Fset 0 0 333333 Offset 0 M
25. d s versions of the firmware you must do this before attempting to run Winrad otherwise the hardware will not be correctly recognised The latest version of the USB driver can by obtained from Fred s firmware page in the section Installing the PC driver software http home ict nl fredkrom pe0fko SR V9 Si570 Note this is a later version of the driver than the one referred to in the SDR Kits USB Synthersizer documentation Please note all of the screen dumps shown in this document were produced on a PC running Windows 2000 however apart from the general styling these will be the same when using Windows XP Once you have configured your PC to run the Winrad program please follow the steps detailed on the next page to access the firmware set up pages Run the Winrad program from the desktop icon programs menu or shortcut PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 8 of 44 You should now have the opening screen displayed For Winrad v1 32 and V1 42 the menu items appear at the top of the screen For WinradHD the same menu items are displayed at the bottom left hand corner of the screen ShowOptions Select Sound Card Select Sample Rate Select Input WAY file Sound Card Palette type Brees Open Input Mixer Lock volume High Process Priority Normal Process Priority WMME 16 bit drivers ASIO 24 bit drivers Mode v Swap I and Q channels Channel Skew Calibration S
26. design originally for both the SoftRock v9 0 RX and the USB to 12C interface and continued to supply this with the USB to 12C interface until changing over to v15 10 firmware late in July 2009 v2 0 Firmware ATtiny85 by Jan GOBBL and the QRP2000 group This version was introduced in February 2009 specifically to provide support for the switched BPF module for the v9 0 designed by Jan GOBBL In addition it implemented smooth tuning of the Si570 supported by a modified version of the SDR1kUSB dIl file by Guido PE1NNZ This version was supplied until Tony adopted Fred PEOFKO s firmware for the v9 0 RX early in June 2009 Continued on the next page PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 5 of 44 v15 xx Firmware ATtiny 45 or 85 by Fred PEQFKO Fred identified a bug in the original firmware that was responsible for the majority of the USB related difficulties experienced by many builders This set in motion his continued development to enhance and add additional features building on the previous versions to provide the current extremely flexible firmware now available This development continues and the next version is already under initial testing supporting even greater flexibility Q3 How do get the latest version of the firmware It is possible to purchase the Atmel ATtiny chip ready programmed from Cecil KSNWA via his website you need to specify the device ATtiny 85 and the version of the
27. e Press keyboard H to show display when hidden Hide Figure 10 144 28MHz Converter tuning 44 46MHz PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 23 of 44 10 5 Using all versions of PowerSDR with a 144 28MHz Converter a better option Whist the option described on the previous page can be used with all versions of PSDR it appears to be far better to set up the SDR program to use the optional Xvtr transverter facilities provided These effectively allow the VFO to display the required frequency i e 144 000MHz whilst actually outputting the command to set the Si570 frequency to receive on 28MHz 28MHz x 4 112MHz The firmware set up needed is exactly the same as for the normal SoftRock v9 0 use as shown below LO Total Multiply 4 Offset 0 PEOFKO ExtIO_Si570 xj General USB si570 LO BPF ABPF Calibrate Test About LO Total Multiply 4 float Fsi570 F 0 4 Offset 0 MHz float LO DLL Multiply 4 float Fset F 0 4 Offset 0 MHz float LO Firmware Multiply 1 float Fsi570 Fset 0 1 Offset 0 MHz float Read Save Press keyboard H to show display when hidden Hide Figure 11 Configuration for 144 28MHz Converter using PSDR Xvtr option You need to configure the transverter option within the PSDR program select the XVTRs tab and set up the following B
28. e needed PowerSDR v1 90 sr40 Guido PE1NNZ No additional DLL file needed PowerSDR IQ v1 12 20 Christos SV1EIA No additional DLL file needed PowerSDR v1 16 2 v1 18 FlexRadio PEQFKO modified version of SDR1kUSB dIl required This can be downloaded from the following link and placed in the folder where the program is installed http home ict nl fredkrom pe0fko SR V9 Si570 PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 7 of 44 4 Using Winrad to access the firmware configuration screens At the present time it is necessary to use the Winrad SDR program with Fred s supporting dll file in order to access the firmware set up pages In the near future the CFGSR stand alone program could be used instead to access the firmware set up pages Any of the following versions of Winrad can be used Winrad v1 32 Alberto I2PHD http www weaksignals com Winrad 1 42 Jeffrey WA6KBL www winrad org WinradHD DGOJBJ http freenet homepage de winradhd Download and install any of the above versions and note the folder name where it has been installed Download the latest version of Fred PEOFKO s supporting Winrad dll file called ExtlO_Si570 dll The current version is v0 10 August 2009 from the following link and copy it to the same folder as Winrad was installed into http hnome ict nl fredkrom peOfko ExtlO Si570 If you have not previously installed the updated USB driver necessary to operate Fre
29. een necessary to manually correct these to the default states For normal SoftRock use the values displayed should be as per Figure 7 Configuration needed to use Sub harmonic sampling If the v9 0 SoftRock is to be used with the Option 2 6m 50MHz BPF module it can be necessary to modify the configuration to use sub harmonic sampling When used conventionally the Si570 is used to generate a clock at 4 times the required receive frequency Earlier version of the C grade CMOS Si570 device where capable of operating at the required frequency however later versions now used have been deliberately restricted to their quoted specification and therefore probably do not operate much beyond 160MHz It is worth trying and seeing if you can use it conventionally first and no additional set up is needed 50MHz x 4 200MHz clock frequency If the Si570 is limited to the restricted frequency range it is then necessary to use sub harmonic sampling In this case the best option to use is to run the sampling clock at one third of the receive frequency 50MHz 3 16 66667MHz As the quadrature clock needs to be 4 times this 16 666667MHz x 4 66 66667MHz The LO configuration needed to achieve this is 66 66667MHz 50MHZz 1 333333 That means that the Si570 needs to be instructed by the firmware to generate a frequency 1 33333 times the receiver frequency being tuned To do this enter 1 3333333 into the LO Total Multiply box
30. entered in the Device freq boxes are integer values so recommend setting the lower limit to 3MHz which allows the SDR receiver to tune down to around 875kHz 8 5MHz 4 and the upper limit set to 260MHz giving an upper limit of 65MHz 260MHz 4 tuning Note It might not be possible to use it over the full range but it has been found that in conjunction with some of the SDR programs calculations are simply based on the assumption that a x4 clock is being used It will be seen later that if the LO multiplier is set to a smaller ratio then the actual clock frequency generated is well within the device range although the assumed value is much higher PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 15 of 44 The Startup frequency can be set to whatever frequency you require and is 4 times the actual receive you wish to use assuming a normal SoftRock configuration is being used You will see the RX frequency is greyed out as this is automatically calculated After changing the frequency you must press Save to store this in the firmware Note if you have set a different LO multiplication factor the actual RX frequency will be calculated using this and not x4 In normal use along with the SDR software the start up frequency defined and stored in the firmware is only initially used until the firmware is updated from the SDR program There is a possible use for the defined start up frequency when u
31. figurations the and Q output signals require swapping over either in the SDR program set up configuration or physically swapping over the leads to the PC sound card input This is also applicable for the 4m 70MHz version of the VHF converter PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 28 of 44 10 8 SoftRock v9 0 RX and the 4m 70MHz plug in VHF Converter The 70MHz converter works in a similar fashion to the 50MHz one using the same firmware configuration This will work with all SDR programs except the two FlexRadio versions of PSDR v1 16 2 and v1 18 These have the VFO limited to 65MHz maximum 65MHz x 4 260MHz LO Total Multiply 1 333333 Offset 0 You can see from the following the IF tuning range is between 23 3333MHz 23 9999MHz 70 1 3333 93 3333 LO 93 3333 70 23 3333MHz IF 93 33333 4 23 3333MHz 71 1 3333 94 6666 LO 94 6666 71 23 6666MHz IF 94 66666 4 23 6666MHz 72 1 3333 95 9999 LO 95 9999 72 23 9999MHz IF 95 99999 4 23 9999MHz PEOFKO ExtIO_Si570 xi General USB Si570 LO BPF ABPF Calibrate Test About LO Total Multiply fi 3333333 float Fsi 70 F 0 1 333333333 Offset 0 MHz float LO DLL Multiply 4 000040 Float Fset F 0 4 000004 Offset 0 MHz float LO Firmware Multiply 0 333333 float Fsi570 Fset 0 0 333333 Offset 0 MHz float Save Pre
32. he correct Si570 frequencies to effectively tune 28 30MHz as required PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 22 of 44 10 4 Using 144 MHz VHF Converter and programs that do not allow VFO to be set to 144MHz For the remaining SDR programs where it is not possible to tune the VFO greater than 65MHz PSDR software VFO limitation 65MHz x 4 260MHz CMOS Si570 maximum 99 999MHz Winrad v1 32 or WinradHD prior to v 0 0 7 limitation due to there only being two digits for MHz so 99 xxxx is the maximum allowed Another solution is needed If you tune the VFO between 44MHz and 46MHz and use the LO offset to make this effectively 28 30MHz This gives you a display of the 2m frequency less the leading digit 1 To achieve this The firmware will receive 44MHz x 4 176MHz from the SDR program The actual clock frequency to be generated by the Si570 for the SoftRock to receive at 28MHz is 28MHZz x 4 112MHz Therefore 176MHz 112MHz 64MHz 16MHz x 4 64MHz To set up the firmware enter the following in the LO Total boxes Multiply 4 Offset 16 followed by Save and Read PEOFKO ExtIO_Si570 x General USB sizo LO BPF ABPF Calibrate Test About LO Total Muti 4 float Fsi570 F 16 4 Offset 16 MHz float LO DLL Muti 4 float Fset F 0 4 Offset 0 MHz float LO Firmware Multiply 1 float Fsi 0 Fset 64 1 Offset 64 MHz float Sav
33. how Status Reset Default Settings Figure 1 Winrad v1 32 1 42 Show Options Select the following Press Show Options followed by Select Input and select SoftRock V9 0 Si570 Once you have done that press the Start button to activate the program If you have not set up any of the Soundcard options then it may not appear to be doing much apart from possibly a scrolling display in the waterfall This is not important for the configuration of the firmware Press the H key on the keyboard to display the firmware set up screens and you should see the display as shown in Figure 3 on the next page Note if you do not press the Start button you will see the display shown in Figure 2 on the next page PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 9 of 44 General USB si570 LO BPF ABPF Calibrate Test About General Powered by Si570 Manufacturer www obdey_at Product DG8SAQ I2C Serial number PEOFKO 2 0 Winrad DLL controlling the SoftRock V9 0 Si570 USB Si570 not connected Press WinRad Start peOfko Press keyboard H to show display when hidden Figure 2 Start button has not been pressed General USB si570 LO BPF ABPF Calibrate Test About General Powered by Si570 Manufacturer www obdev_at Product DG8SAQ I2C Serial number PEOFKO 2 0 Winrad DLL controlling the SoftRock V9 0 Si570 USB i570 connected 15 11 peOfko Pre
34. ic SoftRock configuration is set with the LO Multiply set to 4 and Offset set to 0 This means that when the SDR program sends out the command to set the frequency the Si570 generates the actual frequency generated is four times the receive frequency This is necessary to create the quadrature clock for the SDR receiver That process contains hardware divide by 4 stages used in the creation of the quadrature clock No offset is needed in this application PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 17 of 44 If any changes are to be made these must be entered in the LO Total boxes followed by pressing Save and Read This will automatically calculate the new values for both the LO DLL and greyed out LO firmware boxes Note with older versions of the supporting Winrad dll file some difficulty could be experienced entering values in these boxes An error is produced if trying to enter a leading 0 or decimal point This could be easily overcome by entering a digit then using the cursor key to position it in front of the initial entry This problem was caused by an anomaly in the compiler used to create the code In the latest v0 10 dil file it is now possible to enter leading 0 correctly On a few occasions during the firmware testing it has been observed that the values in the LO DLL field had become corrupted The cause is not known and could well be due to my own errors however it has b
35. is limitation has been recognised and it is intended that the next version of the firmware v15 12 to be released will have individual firmware settings based on the band BPF filters selected Therefore it will be possible to change the multiplication factor automatically when selecting the 6m filter There is another complication with the current build instructions and order of the BPF filters currently Band 1 is used for the 6m option however Tony KB9YIG has agreed that this would be better moved to the Band 4 position and re ordering the filters in ascending frequency order The schematics are due to be modified to reflect this There are also additional implications of the above see the BPF and ABPF sections PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 19 of 44 10 1 LO Tab Setting up for use with VHF Receive Converters Fixed and SoftRock The are currently a number of options available to use VHF Converters with the SoftRock v9 0 RX 1 An external conventional fixed LO frequency VHF Converter 2 The SoftRock v9 0 range of plug in VHF Converters designed by Jan GOBBL Each of these require different configurations due the very subtle difference in the way they operate and also the particular SDR program being used has an influence on the set up required make no excuse for the lengthy explanations that follow it is an area that have personally had extreme difficulty understanding at first
36. long with the plug in 2m VHF Converter and specific SDR programs Winrad v1 32 WinradHD versions prior to v 0 0 7 and FlexRadio s PSDR v1 16 2 and v1 18 For all other uses both versions are fully functional and compatible All reference to the firmware will assume either version unless there is a specific comment to the contrary Major features of the versions of the firmware covered by this User Guide are Automatic Band Pass Filter mode within the firmware for compatibility with all SDR programs Smooth Tuning of the Si570 implemented within the firmware removing tuning glitches Extensive manipulation of the frequency generated by the Si570 possible Common calibration feature a correction factor stored and applied automatically Much of the information contained within this document will probably only be of passing interest to the majority of SoftRock users however if you wish to go beyond the basic default settings needed for use with the SoftRock v9 0 Receiver then hopefully you will find the answers to your questions This is aimed to be a fluid document and therefore will hopefully continue to evolve and be expanded as any feedback or comments are received In some areas involving the calculation and manipulation of the Si570 frequency the explanation provided is limited by my own personal difficulties understanding this however examples will be given to provide solutions for all common uses These have been full
37. mpatibility with all existing SDR programs including Rocky v3 6 The USB parameters and I2C address are set as required On the Si570 tab the Device minimum and maximum values are set to 6 and 160MHz Note it can be useful to modify these to allow a greater frequency range to be covered See Section 8 for further details The default Si570 start up frequency is set to 28 2MHz which divided by 4 gives a receive frequency of 7 050MHz Note this is the initial frequency generated until the firmware receives information from the SDR program being run then it takes up the new value it receives from that The ABPF mode is enabled and the three filter cross over points set at 4 8 and 16MHz These are the settings required for the switched BPF module when constructed to the Option 1 specification Band 1 filter 1 8 4MHz Band 2 filter 4 8MHz Band 3 filter 8 16MHz Band 4 filter 16 30MHz The firmware detects the frequency the Si570 is being requested to generate and selects the appropriate filter according the cross over points set Use with USB to I2C interface or SDR Kits USB Synthersizer The firmware default is for use with the v9 0 RX therefore the AVR controller I O lines are configured for controlling the switched BPF module The USB to I2C interface can also be used with the v8 3 RX in place of the PIC DIL switch to provide frequency control for the Si570 Because of the limited number of I O pins available the
38. ng in the SDR1000 mode but for ease of describing the operation and simplifying the calculations this has been ignored The SDR program takes care of this itself so it does not have any impact on the configuration needed The next sub section will detail the configuration of the firmware and operation of the SoftRock v9 0 using the Plug in VHF Converter modules designed by Jan GOBBL There are some significant and important differences in the configuration needed to use these converters PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 25 of 44 10 6 SoftRock v9 0 RX and the plug in VHF Converters The design of the range of VHF plug in converters for the SoftRock v9 0 fundamentally works on the same principal as the fixed local oscillator frequency version described in the previous pages The incoming frequency is mixed with the local oscillator to provide an IF output There is however one significant major difference that is the Si570 is used in a dual role to generate both the LO frequency required for the double balanced mixer U1 and also to provide the necessary x4 quadrature sampling clock needed for the v9 0 RX at the IF receive frequency This is an extremely clever concept and design by Jan GOBBL By avery careful choice of the local oscillator frequency both functions can be fully satisfied The fact that the local oscillator frequency is variable does have an effect on the range that the IF frequency is t
39. ntribution to promote the awareness and give hands on experience of SDR through the SoftRock kits has been truly amazing You only need to look at the 6600 membership of the Yahoo SoftRock40 group and the spread of those around the globe to appreciate the exceptional contribution he has and continues to make His induction to the QRP Hall of Fame earlier this year at Dayton was a hugely deserved recognition of this contribution Thanks all 73 Bob G8VOI To purchase SoftRock kits visit Tony Park s website http www kb9yig com For complete build instructions and further details of the SoftRock kits visit Robby WB5RVZ s website http www wb5rvz com sdr index html For details or purchasing the SDR Kits USB Synthersizer visit Jan GOBBL s website http www sdr kits net For further details of Fred PEOFKO s firmware and supporting dll files visit his website Firmware http nome ict nl fredkrom pe0fko SR V9 Si570 Winrad DLL file http hnome ict nl fredkrom peOfko ExtlO Si570 PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 3 of 44 2 Glossary of Abbreviations and Terms used ABPF ATtiny45 85 Atmel AVR BPF DLL Firmware IF I2C LO PSDR RISC SDR Si570 SoftRock USB VHF v1 4 v2 0 v6 3 TX RX v8 3 RX v9 0 RX v15 xx Automatic Band Pass Filter referring to a mode of operation of the v9 0 electronically switched filter module The range of Atmel controllers u
40. re applicable The firmware has to be configured to generate the Si570 LO frequency at 4 times the receive frequency IF i e for 28 30MHz the S570 generates 112MHz 120MHz You could of course use the v9 0 RX with the conventional set up and just tune the v9 0 RX directly between 28 30MHz however it is far more desirable to have a real readout of the 2m frequency being listened to PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 20 of 44 How this is achieved is dependent on the particular SDR program being used Winrad v1 42 WA6KBL VFO LO can be set directly to 144 xxxMHz Winrad v1 32 I2PHD VFO LO maximum setting 99 999MHz WinradHD DGOJBJ VFO LO maximum setting 99 9999MHz versions prior to v 0 0 7 WinradHD DGOJBJ VFO LO maximum setting 999 9999MHz version 0 0 7 Rocky v3 6 VE3NEQ Rocky ini can be edited to add centre frequencies 144 xxx MHz PSDR v1 90 sr40 Guido PE1NNZ VFO can be set to 144 xxxMHz PSDR IQ v1 12 20 Christos SV1EIA VFO can be set to 144 xxxMHz PSDR v1 16 2 FlexRadio VFO maximum setting 65MHz PSDR v1 18 FlexRadio VFO maximum setting 65MHz PSDR IQ requires the expert box to be checked in the Si570 set up and maximum frequency set to 600MHz 600 4 150 This fools the software into allowing the VFO to be set to 144 xxxMHz although of course this is not actually possible using the CMOS Si570 device PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue
41. ructed their BPF module to the existing instructions the only way to use it at present would be to set the first filter cross over point to say 60MHz That will force the firmware to select the Band 1 filter 6m for all frequencies up to GOMHz This does of course restrict the RX to being only used on 6m however the use of sub harmonics sampling does restrict the normal HF use anyway without reconfiguring the firmware The next planned version of the firmware v15 12 will address this issue and allow each band filter to be independently configured both for the physical position on the PCB and for the LO multiplication factor and any offset used This version has only recently started initial beta testing so as yet there is no date set for its release Watch this space PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 39 of 44 14 Calibrate Tab PEOFKO ExtIO_Si570 x General USB Si570 LO BPF ABPF Calibrate Test About Calibrate 45 Calibrate by using the factory default startup frequency You will need the i570 device startup freqency the chip is factory tuned within 1 5ppm on that frequency Factory startup frequency 56 32 MHz Calibrate a Calibrate Bo Calibrate by tune on a carier with a know frequency and enter the real frequency To reset the calibration to factory default press Reset Tuned Real Diff Frequency l 7062590 7062590 OHz Calibrate Crystal frequency 7 114 2457892
42. se have to be allocated for either the v9 0 use or for the CW Key Paddle inputs and PTT output these functions are mutually exclusive To use the firmware in either of the two above modules for Transmit use it is necessary to disable the ABPF function To do this select the ABPF tab and click on the Enable box to remove the tick check and press Save Unplug the USB lead then reconnect It will now be configured for use with the CW and PTT functions enabled PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 12 of 44 6 General Tab PEOFKO ExtIO_Si570 Ea General USB i570 LO BPF ABPF Calibrate Test About General Powered by Si570 Manufacturer www obdey at Product DG8SAQ I2C Serial number PEOFKO 2 0 Winrad DLL controlling the SoftRock V9 0 Si570 USB Si570 connected 15 11 peOfko Press keyboard H to show display when hidden Hide Figure 4 General Tab display The General tab is the first screen you will see when you access the firmware set up pages immediately after press H on the keyboard One of the most important things that can be seen from the above is the version number of the firmware being used If you have any doubt about what version you currently have access this screen for confirmation All available versions of the firmware are correctly identified v1 4 v2 0 and v15 xx If you have not pressed Start in Winrad the line will
43. sed for the SoftRock kits The only difference is the program memory capacity 4k 8k Commercial manufacturer of the micro controller used AdVanced Risc architecture my best guess Band Pass Filter Dynamic Link Library software program that is common can be shared between Software applications The program running within the AVR micro controller Intermediate Frequency Inter IC bus and communication architecture Local Oscillator PowerSDR Software originated by FlexRadio Reduced Instruction Set Code Software Defined Radio Silicon Labs I2C programmable versatile oscillator used in the SoftRock designs The series of SDR kits created and supplied by Tony Parks KB9YIG Universal Serial Bus in the context of this guide Very High Frequency in this guide referring to 50MHz and above The original firmware used from Tom DG8SAQ The first updated firmware version from Jan GOBBL and the QRP2000 group for the v9 0 RX to provide BPF control and smooth tuning using an external dll file SoftRock Transceiver kit covering 1 8 30MHz using plug in modules SoftRock Receiver kit the USB to I2C interface can be used as a controller SoftRock Receiver kit covering 1 8 30MHz with USB control Versions of Fred PEOFKO firmware for the ATtiny 45 85 PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 4 of 44 3 Frequently Asked Questions The following questions have appeared on the Yahoo Softrock40 forum at some point in time and
44. sing the v9 0 RX in an application such as a pan adapter connected to a receiver IF If the USB lead is not connected the firmware will run and set the Si570 to the stored start up value Note To run the v9 0 RX without the USB lead being connected to the PC it is necessary to modify the PCB to provide a 5v supply for the ATtiny chip This still needs to be powered as it sets up the Si570 to the required start up over the 12C lines on powering up the receiver It is possible to connect the output from the 5v regulator U1 to pin 8 of the AVR chip however if the USB lead is then plugged in it would not be good practice to short the two 5v rails together One solution is to remove the USB 1 red lead from the v9 0 RX board completely A better solution is to connect the output of the 5v regulator through a schottky diode to pin 8 of the AVR chip In the absence of the USB lead being connected the AVR chip is supplied through this diode If the USB lead is plugged into the PC it will then use that 5v supply and the diode isolates the two 5v rails The Smooth tune is set by default to the maximum span permitted and the range calculated and displayed in the greyed out box is based on the startup frequency previously set The Factory Default and Reset Si570 buttons can be used to return the device to its initial default settings The DG8SAQ Save all last used frequency is greyed out for the PEOFKO versions of
45. ss keyboard H to show display when hidden Figure 3 Correct display after Start button has been pressed PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 10 of 44 You will note that whenever you access the set up screens it always starts displaying the General tab Towards the bottom of the screen you will see confirmation that the firmware has been correctly recognised and the version number is displayed in this case PEOQFKO v15 11 This is a useful facility to verify which version of the firmware you are actually using Press Hide to clear the display from the screen and press H again to recall it You will see there are nine page tabs displayed Each of these will be described in more detail in the following sections These are the brief functions of each tab and reference to the detailed section General Section 6 Opening screen firmware version recognised is displayed USB Section 7 Information about the USB firmware and driver being used Si570 Section 8 Device address and basic frequency settings LO Section 9 Enables manipulation of the Si570 LO frequency generation LO Section 10 See below for detailed sub sections BPF Section 11 Each BPF filter can be manually configured ABPF Section 13 Default filter mode filter cross over points can be set Calibrate Section 14 Si570 frequency calibration Test Section 15 Housekeeping display of parameters About Section 16
46. ss keyboard H to show display when hidden Hide Figure 13 Configuration needed for the v9 0 RX 4m plug in converter It is not possible to use this configuration with the 4m 70MHz converter and the FlexRadio versions of PowerSDR v1 16 2 and v1 18 as the maximum the VFO frequency that can be set with these two versions is 65MHz For details of how to operate this converter with these versions of PSDR please see the next page Note Q signal outputs need to be swapped over when using this converter PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 29 of 44 10 9 SoftRock v9 0 4m 70MHz plug in VHF Converter use with FlexRadio PSDR The official FlexRadio versions of PowerSDR only allow the VFO to tune to a maximum of 65MHz 65MHz x 4 260MHz CMOS maximum The best option is to use the transverter XVTRs option in the program however this requires an offset of 42 minus to be used During testing it became apparent that there was a small bug in the v15 10 version of the firmware which only manifests itself when negative offsets are used To use this option you must use v15 11 of the firmware which has the bug fixed Set the LO Total Multiply 1 3333 Offset 42 minus 42 tuning 28 30MHz 70 72MHz PEOFKO ExtIO_Si570 xj General USB si570 LO BPF ABPF Calibrate Test About LO Total Multiply fi 3333333 float Fsi570 F
47. the firmware but is included for use when the earlier v1 4 or v2 0 firmware versions are detected as being used The Hide button removes the configuration screens from the display Pressing the H key again will return you back to the last screen displayed PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 16 of 44 9 LO Tab Default State for the v9 0 SoftRock RX PEOFKO ExtIO_Si570 General USB Si570 LO BPF ABPF Calibrate Test About LO Total Multiply 4 Float Fsibf0 F 0 4 Offset 0 MHz float LO DLL Multiply 4 float Fset F 0 4 Offset 0 MHz float LO Firmware Multiply 1 float Fsi570 Fset 0 1 Offset 0 MHz float Read Save Press keyboard H to show display when hidden Hide Figure 7 LO Tab display Potentially this is the most complex of all of the items that can be configured within the firmware set up but this does also provide the flexibility to use itin a number of ways 1 The basic default set up required for normal SoftRock v9 0 RX using ABPF mode 2 Sub harmonic sampling i e for the v9 0 RX using the Option 2 6m BPF filter 3 Use of the v9 0 RX with an external fixed LO frequency VHF Converter 4 Use of the v9 0 RX with the optional plug in VHF Converters The last two options for configuring the LO for use with VHF Converters is fully covered in Section 10 The default bas
48. uned over which at first glance can appear to be too narrow If you carry out the calculations at fixed frequency points it becomes apparent that the principle does work correctly found it easiest to regard the LO frequency as being fixed at any point in time and the operation then is a lot simpler to understand The correct operation of the firmware LO calculations has been proven using the SDR Kits USB synthersizer and feeding the output into a frequency counter Operation and compatibility with all of the existing SDR programs has been verified using this method Note The existing v15 10 firmware is suitable for all of the SDR programs when using the 6m 50MHz version of the converter When using the 2m 144MHz version a bug was found in the v15 10 firmware and if you wish to use this converter with several of the SDR programs it is necessary to use v15 11 firmware Further details of this are given later in the appropriate sections There are options available to use a version of each of the popular SDR programs with the existing v15 10 firmware Changing to v15 11 firmware will allow every combination of SDR programs and converters to be fully used PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 26 of 44 10 7 SoftRock v9 0 RX and the 6m 50MHz plug in VHF Converter All of the available SDR programs can be used with this converter along with the existing v15 10 firmware This is possible be
49. utton Text As you require 144 or 2m etc LO Offset Frequency MHz 116 Begin Frequency MHz 144 000 End Frequency MHz 146 000 Set the Begin and End frequencies to whatever is appropriate to the 2m allocation in your country EU is limited to 144 146MHz PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 24 of 44 When running PSDR select the Band as VHF then click on the button configured for the 2m converter All of the firmware configuration described on the previous page is appropriate not only to the example of the 144MHz to 28MHz VHF Receive Converter given but can equally be applied to any other band using the same principles providing the IF tuning is 28 30MHz Receive Converter PSDR Xvtr Lo offset frequency 50 28MHz 22MHz 70 28MHz 42MHz 144 28MHz 116MHz 222 28MHz 194MHz 432 28MHz 404MHz It is possible of course to calculate the values needed for any other converter using a different IF tuning range and make the necessary changes to the configuration in PSDR This would normally only involve changing the LO Offset frequency entered All of this section so far has been dealing exclusively with VHF Receive Converters using a fixed frequency local oscillator and is fully compatible with both v15 10 and v15 11 firmware It should be noted that in all references to PSDR the actual local oscillator frequency has a 9kHz offset to allow for the pseudo IF being used when operati
50. with all versions of PSDR using the pseudo IF of 9kHz when in the SDR1000 mode the actual frequencies above will be offset by 9kHz if you measure them The SDR program takes care of this for you PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 31 of 44 10 10 SoftRock v9 0 RX and the 2m 144MHz plug in VHF Converter There are a number of compatibility issues concerning the use of the 2m converter and the available SDR programs For the SDR programs that allow the VFO LO to be tuned to 144 xxxMHz the set up is simple and the existing v15 10 of the firmware can be used For those SDR programs that have limitations on the maximum VFO frequency it is necessary to use a negative offset and as previously explained this requires v15 11 firmware to be used The essential information needed to use the 2m converter is the LO multiplication factor 4 5 0 8 144MHz multiplied by 0 8 115 200 MHz this becomes the LO frequency needed for the mixer 144MHz 115 200MHz 28 80MHz this becomes the IF output frequency It will be seen that 115 200MHz divided by 4 28 80MHz which is also the required sampling clock If you do the sums for say 146 and 148MHz you will see the LO frequency is changed and hence the IF output follows but the relationship with the sampling clock is retained 30MHz 116MHz 146MHz 146MHz 0 8 116 800MHz Si570 LO frequency 146 000MHz 116 800MHz 29 200MHz IF frequency 116 800MHz 4
51. y tested using the SDR Kits USB Synthersizer with a frequency counter monitoring the output am sure for those who require a more detailed explanation Fred would be willing to discuss the finer points of the software features and development and explain the reasoning behind it My approach is purely from a users point of view i e how do configure it to do this only have limited knowledge and understanding of the operating software used within the controller PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 2 of 44 My personal thanks and appreciation go to Fred PEOFKO for his magnificent contribution both in the development of the firmware plus his commitment to continue to support and push it forward Additionally for his patience in guiding me through areas where have had extreme difficulty in understanding The contribution made by Tom DG8SAQ with the creation of the original version of the firmware and USB Synthersizer and the subsequent developments made by Jan GOBBL and the QRP2000 group members is also fully recognised and appreciated Without their effort and support it is unlikely we would now have the superb range of hardware at our disposal Finally of course it would be totally remiss of me not to mention and thank Tony KB9YIG Without his tireless work to bring these designs into fruition and produce the excellent kits at such a low cost none of this would have been possible The co
52. y with all existing SDR programs If the firmware is to be used in either the USB to 12C interface or the SDR Kits USB Synthersizer it is essential to disable the ABPF function Click on the Enable box to remove the tick check and press Save followed by Read This is necessary due to the limited number of Input Output lines available on the 8 pin Atmel AVR controller These are configured by default to operate the two control lines for the switched BPF module When the ABPF function is disabled these lines provide the CW Key Paddle inputs and the PTT output for use with the SoftRock v6 3 TX RX or SDR Kits USB Synthersizer It is necessary to unplug and reconnect the USB lead to restart the AVR device for the change in configuration to occur after the ABPF mode is disabled The filter selection is made automatically within the firmware based on the frequency the Si570 is commanded to generate from the SDR program the LO multiplication factor is taken into account in this calculation PEOFKO Firmware User Guide G8VOI Issue 1 1 September 2009 Page 38 of 44 The three filter cross over points are set by default to 4 8 and 16MHz for use with the Option 1 constructed switched BPF module Band 1 1 8MHz to 4MHz Band2 4MHzto 8MHz Band 3 8MHz to 16MHz Band 4 16MHz to 32MHz There is a restriction that the three filter cross points used must be in ascending frequency order This raises a problem that

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