A good article on GNU Radio on Salon.com

[N0NB]

Salon.com has a very good introductory article on the GNU Radio project. While the focus of the article is more on HDTV and reception of broadcast signals, this project holds a lot of promise for Software Defined Radio (SDR) for amateurs.

SDR is probably the final frontier of RF communication and the ham community has a great opportunity to be in the lead of this technology. PSK31, WsJT and other technologies like them are just the beginning in my estimation.

Here is the link:

Radio Free Software (http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/12/18/gnu_radio/index.html?x)

[K2WH]

What's a GNU Radio Project?

[ke4pjw]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (K2WH @ Dec. 24 2002,20:05)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">What's a GNU Radio Project?[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Here is a link. (http://www.gnu.org/software/gnuradio/gnuradio.html)

I consider myself a reasonably intelligent guy but this is either to far-forward thinking for me or this is just plain stupid.

Could you please inform me of the "last frontier" that will be crossed if this is perfected? #What I read, and understand, I'll be able to achieve my DXCC by using my son's radio controlled car.

I only hope my government tax dollars are not going to this!

[n7wsb]

No its not such a bad idea really. I mean most modern radios are software defined already - its just they all use proprietary software.

Standardizing the software would make things really cool. I can imagine all kinds of capability one could have or expand upon - like ethernet capability leading to more remote access capability. It would also standardize radio control - of which all radios are unique right now.

[K2WH]

SDR's?? #Is that like viewing HBO on my computer instead of my TV? #Where do you put the knob's? #What about the remote? #Very important the remote ya know. #Especially for us guys.

All kidding aside, this is really way out there. #I don't know if SDR's is or will be a good thing for amateur radio. #Then again, maybe (hopefully) I will be dead by then.

K2WH

[kf6iiu]

The gnu radio project is pretty moribund - I never saw any evidence they had transmitting in mind, and the project as specified requires a DSP card that costs more than a TenTec Jupiter. I think one objective was to hack encrypted and CDMA cell phone calls. Naturally Salon is going to glom onto this to impress the open-source anti-encryption crowd.

TAPR and other ham groups are doing more interesting stuff of interest to hams.

We've got enough khz-wide psk31 signals out there without home-grown untested SDR transmitting code floating around. Although an open-source Jupiter would be nice....

[AD6XS]

Hi guys. Come on. There are some pretty amazing things you can do with the processing power of a computer, and if it means that radios can get cheaper since less parts are needed, and if it means that a radio can do more than ever before, than it is a good thing!

Just my 2 cents.

=============================
If you don't have your Tech. License yet...??
http://www.hamquick.com

[N0NB]

Of course the GNU Radio project has focused on receiving to begin with, one doesn't have to deal with pesky licenses for transmitting, etc. One of the concepts behind Free Software, which is one of the basic tenants of GNU Radio, is that everyone is encouraged to modify and or add to the source code thus expanding the project. This permits a community of developers and users to create not only a useful piece of software but, more importantly, a wealth of publicly available knowledge both in theory and application.

The trouble with relying on TAPR or some other organization to further the frontiers of radio is that these organizations are born of centralized planning and "five year plans." PSK31 and WSJT have each been the result of one or a handful of developers "scratching an itch" so to speak.

SDR will allow the experimenter to customize any aspect of the "radio's" performance simply by writing source code. So the next generation of radios will require software authors, not engineers calculating Q and Z values.

SDR is currently mostly vapor, but progress is moving forward and I'm betting there will be significant developments in the next year or so.

Why is SDR important? If anyone will recall. An FCC official, a licensed ham, in speech a few years back made the point that ham radio has a unique opportunity to jump to the forefront of technology with SDR. Either we go for the brass ring or our Service is doomed.

What's our decision?

[ke4pjw]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (kf6iiu @ Dec. 28 2002,22:26)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">The gnu radio project is pretty moribund - I never saw any evidence they had transmitting in mind, and the project as specified requires a DSP card that costs more than a TenTec Jupiter. I think one objective was to hack encrypted and CDMA cell phone calls. Naturally Salon is going to glom onto this to impress the open-source anti-encryption crowd.

TAPR and other ham groups are doing more interesting stuff of interest to hams.

We've got enough khz-wide psk31 signals out there without home-grown untested SDR transmitting code floating around. Although an open-source Jupiter would be nice....[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Strange, I guess maybe I see it different. To me building a receiver that does only a handful of modes is neat and all, but building a receiver that allows me to experiment with any mode available by simply writing software sounds more interesting. I'm not real good at hardware, I will admit it. I have to build from kits. I can't imagine what it takes to engineer a good receiver. Now moving a whole chunk of received spectrum into a computer's memory, where I can manipulate it by simply doing math, now THAT sounds like FUN!

One of my most memorable projects was decoding POCSAG paging. At the time there was no information on the Internet about the protocol. I found some documentation on the protocol's specification in the back of an NEC pager repair manual at a shop I was working at. A few days of programming in qbasic and I was decoding POCSAG pages that I had digitized into WAV files. I now know that this is illegal, but at the time I did not know that. I just wanted to see how the protocol worked. I don't see much difference in this than attempting to decode CDMA. It's proof of concept. Wouldn't a CDMA repeater system be cool! Mmmm, simulcasting.

I think SDRs will allow more people to tinker with exotic forms of modulation. Yea, that sounds kinda corny, but I think it is a worthy project. I do also like the fact it's licensed under GNU. It keeps everyone honest. We will all get a chance to not only look at, but modify and distribute the nut and bolts of how the software works. I see this as a Good Thing :)

-- Terry

[W4JVA]

There is really no such thing and a "final frontier" for RF communications. RF, being such an integral portion of the electro-magnetic spectrum, it may someday be redefined.

A final frontier? Of course not.
http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif