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Author Topic: SDR Receivers Useful For MW/LW  (Read 5685 times)

Offline K4JYS

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SDR Receivers Useful For MW/LW
« on: February 12, 2019, 1711 UTC »
Here is a list of SDR's that may be useful to some for receiving on LW/MW frequencies. The list was compiled by Dave AB5S and was posted on the Boatanchor List. An explanation of his selection process also follows...73 de Bill K4JYS:

"List of SDRs in North America which are usable to monitor the 630 Meter (472-479 KC) MW Ham Band. Those which didn't "make the cut" were nearly all overwhelmed by Common Mode noise from using long wires or other such antennas unsuitable for Medium Wave. Others were mis-configured or incapable of reception below 500 KC. The receivers on this list were checked early Feburary 2019. Of course, their configurations, antennas or operation
can change without notice at any time.
73 Dave AB5S
P.S. What's up with Alberta?
They have an active Longwave club?"

Alberta, CA
http://kiwisdr.ve6slp.ca:8173/
http://ciw321.cfars.ca:8174/
http://kiwisdr.ve6slp.ca:8173/
http://va6ok.ddns.net:8073/
http://kiwisdr.ve6slp.ca:8173/
http://173.209.121.35:8062/
http://173.209.121.35:8062/
http://75.152.120.27:8073/

Arizona
http://no1dsdr.ddns.net:8073/

British Columbia
http://kiwisdr.ece.uvic.ca:8073/

California
http://198.40.45.23:8072/

Colorado
http://n6gn.no-ip.org:8073/
http://n6gn.no-ip.org:8074/

Dominican Republic
http://dr.twrmon.net:8073/

Georgia
http://wv5l-sdr.dynu.net:8073/

Hawaii
http://72.235.217.245:8073/

Idaho
http://ka7u.no-ip.org:8073/
http://ka7u.no-ip.org:8074/
http://ka7u.no-ip.org:8075/

Kansas
http://64.136.200.36:8073/

Maine
http://rx2.wa2zkd.net:8073/

Maryland
http://sdr.hfunderpants.com:8073/

Massachusetts
http://rosslloyd.asuscomm.com:8073/
http://kiwiab1ld.ddns.net:8073/
http://kiwisdr.baloney.fun:8073/

Montana
http://108.174.127.102:8073/

Nevada
http://74.82.153.108:8073/
http://12.29.214.134:8073/

New York
http://rx.jimlill.com:8073/

North Carolina
http://n4ttn.ham-radio-op.net:8073/
http://chimay.homelinux.org:8073/

Ohio
http://ohioswl.com:8073/

Pennsylvania
http://kiwisdr.dlinkddns.com:8073/
http://radiodxing.ddns.net:8073/
http://k3fef.com:8073/

Texas
http://50.26.40.209:8073/

Vermont
http://73.68.202.112:8073/

Virginia
http://n4tvc.zapto.org:8073/

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Offline ThElectriCat

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Re: SDR Receivers Useful For MW/LW
« Reply #1 on: July 05, 2019, 0242 UTC »
I am currently working on a design that used the analog devices 7760 sigma delta ADC  for this purpose. 2.5 MSPS max rate will allow it to have a DC to 1 MHZ range.
I wont yet say when it will be ready, as I am encountering difficulty reliably getting the 24 bit samples off the adc in such a way as to send them over a network connection.
I am going to use a good layout with plent of shielding and a seperate isolated power supply for the analog front end.
The impetus for this project is mainly due to the lack of software defined radios which produce little enough noise to be used on longwave frequencies and have low noise signal chains.

of course, this project will e open source. schematics and code will be available when it is done.
In another life, I could have been a telephone engineer.

Offline KaySeeks

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Re: SDR Receivers Useful For MW/LW
« Reply #2 on: July 08, 2019, 1921 UTC »
I am going to use a good layout with plent of shielding and a seperate isolated power supply for the analog front end.

It sounds like you are well aware of the reason to split grounds. You (or others) may find these resources useful:

https://www.analog.com/media/en/technical-documentation/application-notes/AN-1142.pdf

https://www.analog.com/media/en/technical-documentation/application-notes/495266810AN-404.pdf
Just somebody with a radio, a computer and a pair of headphones...

Offline ThElectriCat

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Re: SDR Receivers Useful For MW/LW
« Reply #3 on: July 11, 2019, 0247 UTC »
Thanks KaySeeks, both those articles are indeed useful.
I have some unique advantages (and disadvantages) from choosing the ad7760. its max output data rate is only 2.5 MSPS with an internal flow pass filter set to 1 MHz. the read rate is 5 MHz on a parallel bus.
This will certainly be nice for prototyping, as I might even get away with some bodge wires and standard probing techniques.
Of course, the receiver won't work above 1 Mhz, (undersampling really isn't an option with this part) But I decided to take the high frequency hit due to the relative abundance of good SDRs for hf and vhf frequencies, and the relative paucity of ones that work down to DC.
Heres hoping that a DC coupled 1 MHz receiver will be a hit with the www.vlf.it guys, NDB dxers, and all the rest of us down here in the mud

In another life, I could have been a telephone engineer.

Offline KaySeeks

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Re: SDR Receivers Useful For MW/LW
« Reply #4 on: July 15, 2019, 1836 UTC »
This will certainly be nice for prototyping, as I might even get away with some bodge wires and standard probing techniques.

Right.

Of course, the receiver won't work above 1 Mhz, (undersampling really isn't an option with this part) But I decided to take the high frequency hit due to the relative abundance of good SDRs for hf and vhf frequencies, and the relative paucity of ones that work down to DC.

Yes, but as you say there are plenty of other good options for the MF and HF ranges.

Heres hoping that a DC coupled 1 MHz receiver will be a hit with the www.vlf.it guys, NDB dxers, and all the rest of us down here in the mud

Once you get something working, I would be interested to know if the performance you get is better than an HF receiver, or perhaps an SDR, with a mixer ("transverter") in front of it. That would be my benchmark to compare to, if I were doing this.

Unless you are committed to the "intellectual challenge" of designing and making your own, which is a perfectly worthy endeavour, you may want to save yourself some work and get the evaluation board for the AD7760:  https://www.analog.com/en/design-center/evaluation-hardware-and-software/evaluation-boards-kits/eval-ad7760.html#eb-relatedhardware

If you are committed, you can also get their evaluation board gerber files at the link above, which you will likely find helpful.
Just somebody with a radio, a computer and a pair of headphones...

Offline ThElectriCat

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Re: SDR Receivers Useful For MW/LW
« Reply #5 on: July 16, 2019, 0108 UTC »
I got the eval board, but just the one with clock, power, buffer, and IO, not the one with the fpga and software. That would probably already work as an sdr if one wanted it to, but the project is really the design of the data transfer and RF front end. The hardest part is getting the data off the ADC in an effecient and universally understood manner
In another life, I could have been a telephone engineer.

 

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