The product photo shows what it should look like once assembled. This video shows the build and test of a softrock lite ii software defined radio sdr kit. This site is now the officially maintained site for the ensemble rx ii kit. The guide by wb5rvz is comprehensive and easy enough to follow in a half dozen so steps. Wspr, for example can be used with cat ts2000 to set the softrock to tx and change frequency. The ideal time to install the softrock drivers and software on your. Softrock, wspr, psdr, and vac this page shows how i run a thirdparty digital mode on a softrock sdr rxtx with power sdr. Band switching is performed under program control, in conjunction with. Welcome to the main soft rock software website, where you will find a variety of software mainly for computers running risc os, such as webchange, waituntil, quicksand, and more.
That site had several limitations, chief among which was the fact that the pages on the site were static. Built kits are only available in limited quantities as tony has time to build them. This site is now the officially maintained site for the ensemble rxtx kit. This site is the ultimate successor to my original sdr and other projects website. This was a small and inexpensive kit initially being sold through the amqrp organisation from kits provided by tony, kb9yig.
To select the center frequency, click on the extio button to the right of the displayed lo and tune frequencies in hdsdr. Apr 19, 2014 over on youtube user mutezone has posted a video comparing the rtlsdr with upconverter against a softrock ensemble ii software defined radio. The softrock rx ensemble receiver kit is essentially the ensemble rx, but has an extra option allowing the user to build the hf or the. My first installation was on a windows xp system using the hdsdr software. This is a software defined radio amateurshortwave radio receiver. Softrock ensemble rx tx vs alinco djx11 ham radio science. If you are new to this, here are some helpful notes from my project. Completed softrock ensemble ii sdr receiver kit on air. If you have a rxtx then learn receive with hdsdr on this page.
This receiver has been built and tested by tony parks, kb9yig. This firmware is the official supplied firmware in the softrock sdr kits of tony parks that are using a si570 chip from silicon laboratories silabs. The softrock lite ii is a simple to build sdr receiver kit with a fixed center frequency to be used with a sound card that can sample at 96 khz, providing band coverage from 48 khz below the center frequency to 48 khz above the center frequency. The powersdr for pi sdr unified installer is installing powersdr v2. This is an excellent video if you are interested in. He also goes over the circuit blocks explaining their function and how they work. Two years ago, i built the tony parks softrock ensemble ii software defined radio. X 2 board representing the culmination of a long line of softrock sdr receivers from tony parks, kb9yig. Your source for softrock radio kits softrock rxtx ensemble transceiver kit the softrock rxtx ensemble transceiver kit provides a 1 watt sdr transceiver that can be built for one of the following five band groups. Softrock tx this was the first softrock tx shown at the top left. You will notice that these kits are in very high demand and you may have to be patient. The softrock ensemble ii is an sdr dedicated to the hf frequencies. A recent hardware project of mine was to build a softrock ensemble ii kit.
It also managed the band pass filter if it is present and is capable of handle the special frequency settings in winrad. Silabs did create a new version of the si570 chip that can be ordered with a 7ppm temperature stability. The plan was to build the kit and use it as a panadaptor connected to the if output of my yaesu ftdx5000mp. Combined sr lite ii rx ensemble rxtx ensemble rx ii ensemble rx ii vhf softrock 40r new mars sdr buildathon notes on powersdriq v1. Nov 09, 2011 visions of an all mode, all band hf receiver danced around in my head, so back to tonys site. In connection on the softrock rx ensemble ii to the line in jack on the. Configuring usb driver, config softrock tool and high. Srdll dll for other softrock controllers control now part of cfgsr install file, so no need to go out and findinstall it separately. Powersdr with pi sdr for softrockensemble setup software installation is performed in few steps, first is the official powersdr v2. Softrock rx ensemble ii sdr kit build post by fruitloop 25 aug 2010, 16. Other useful information would include your experience with similar products, infomation on a product that you would purchase instead of this one, and so on. I am trying to get my old softrock ensemble rx to work with sdr console v3 in an win10, 64 bit environment but the pe0fko si570 usb driver is classified as not working by the installation tool in win10.
This is a video describing the operation of a softrock rx ensemble ii sdr on 20 meter cw. Completed softrock ensemble ii sdr receiver kit on. My interest in sdr was very much started off by the softrock receiver. Any way like most grown men with a new toy i descided to take the day out and build it, the took me about 15 hours in total. Dec 06, 2012 yesterday my softrock rx ensemble ii hf receiver arrived from five dash inc. This receiver has a builtin local oscillator based on the silicon labs si570 the same chip used as the local oscillator in the elecraft kx3 and can be tuned anywhere from about 1. Combined sr lite ii rx ensemble rx ii hflf softrock40r new. The line began with the softrock 40 rx and went through several iterations of receivers.
See the fivedash documentation for software installation. It is possible to use linux but i cannot help much with the software side. The softrock ensemble ii is an sdr dedicated to the hf frequencies and is thus expected to have better performance for that purpose. This post takes a look at some of the software that can be used with the softrock sdr hardware that is designed for amateur radio use. Home bill of materials power supply usb power supply local oscillator and control quadrature clock generator auto band pass filters quadrature sampling detector operational amplifiers comments acronyms inventory revisions as of 12142011 components by stage wb5rvz main website. Softrock rx ensemble ii sdr kit build transmission1. The softrock rx ensemble receiver kit is essentially the ensemble rx, but has an extra option allowing the user to build the hf or.
I later progressed to use the sdrradio server software to allow users on the internet to access my tuner. The softrock lite ii is a now fairly old soundcard based software defined radio kitset that is capable of receiving on the hf bands. A sound card with stereo linein connector and a computer running sdr software are required. In connection on the softrock rx ensemble ii to the line in jack on the soundcard and that the radios power is on. Being an hf cw guy and a kit builder, i wanted to get a view of the sdr trend at a reasonable cost. The gain of the opamps place the noise floor at 142 dbchz. For example, i purchased the softrock ensemble ii sdr from tony parks, kb9yig. This plugin board turns the softrock into an all band transceiver, minus the control functions and tx low pass filters which need to be provided by additional modules. Powersdr with pi sdr for softrockensemble software setup. A short tutorial is given on each subcircuit as it is being built and systematically tested.
Components are included for all five options and can be assembled at the builders choice. X 2 board representing the culmination of a long line of softrock sdr receivers from fivedash. The hdsdr programs is used to process the i and q af signals from the sdr. This page hosts the configuration information needed to use my online software defined radios. It is tested on the softrock v9 with and without the bpf and softrock rxtx 6. The sb live would need a modification with 10v supply voltage on the opamp so the softrock could deliver a twice as high output signal. The softrock rx ensemble receiver kit is essentially the ensemble rx, but has an extra option allowing the user to build the hf or the lf version of the receiver. The softrock rx ensemble ii receiver built for hf, 1. I have built this site to allow me to provide to hams worldwide the resuts of my labor of love, the documentation in a heathkit style of the construction of the several softrock software defined radio sdr kits designed and distributed by my friend, tony parks. Softrock rx receiving equipment northern utah websdr. Over on youtube user mutezone has posted a video comparing the rtlsdr with upconverter against a softrock ensemble ii software defined radio. Jun 05, 2014 just a short video to show the completed softrock ensemble ii software defined receiver kit in operation in the ham shack. X 2 board represent the culmination of a long line of softrock sdr receivers from tony parks, kb9yig. This is the successor website for the ensemble rxtx, originally documented on the site introduction general info.
Newer laptops often do have stereo inputs a list started further down. Softrock rx ensemble ii hf receiver build and quisk config. The softrock rx ensemble ii receiver kit can be used to build a kit for lf or hf. Dec 28, 2012 this post takes a look at some of the software that can be used with the softrock sdr hardware that is designed for amateur radio use.
Powersdr with pi sdr for softrock ensemble software setup software installation is performed with a provided unified installer containing both the powersdr v2. Then click on the start button third button from the bottom on the lefthand side in hdsdr. For use with the softrock rxtx you will need to disable the abpf settings. It can be used with all the sdr programs that support the extio definition, hdsdr is the most pupular sdr program on the moment that support the extio. The current focal point for the softrock series is the softrock40 yahoo group this is where you can find out more about the softrock, how to buy one, etc. Introducing softrock ensemble a software defined radio. He had a softrock rx ensemble ii available so i snatched that up as soon as i could. Visions of an all mode, all band hf receiver danced around in my head, so back to tonys site. Just a short video to show the completed softrock ensemble ii software defined receiver kit in operation in the ham shack. Software defined radio, or sdr, is a relatively new trend in radio technology that utilizes software running on a computer to perform much of the processing of the radio signals.
Mic inputs are usually mono, older laptops may only have mono inputs. Mutezone writes a performance between the softrock ensemble ii vs the rtlsdr. Much of the software is available as a free download, and full details to be found in the products section of the site. The softrock is designed for a soundcard that saturates at 2. Yesterday my softrock rx ensemble ii hf receiver arrived from five dash inc. Apr 21, 2014 a recent hardware project of mine was to build a softrock ensemble ii kit. With tony parks kb9yig on softrock softwaredefined ham radio. Providing several software defined radios, a rfspace sdriq and a softrock ensemble rx ii. Your source for softrock radio kits built softrock rx ensemble ii hf receiver the softrock rx ensemble ii receiver built for hf, 1. I have just ordered on of these and as and when i get it hope that these tutorials will aide me and hopefully those of you who have constructed one could give me tips nearer to the point as you seem a bunch of helpfulgirls and lads. X 2 board representing the culmination of a long line of softrock sdr receivers from fivedash, inc. For more information on softrock softwaredefined ham radio, visit. For it to work with a softrock for a si570 controlled softrock make sure the usb is plugged in.
The spec of the radio pc is as follows intel i54440 3. Softrock rx ensemble ii sdr kit build post by fruitloop. The ensemble iii is a high quality kit, i just finished mine. The 9v1al motherboard mobo is a plugin addition to the softrock rxtx v.
Softrock v6 the kgksdr software consumed more and more time such that when the version 6 of the softrock hit the streets, my father gm4kgk kindly constructed one and boxed it up for me. New allinone driver installer see section titled install the pc driver software automatic. This site contains pages, dynamically generated from a database. The kit is bascially a simple downconverter, but combined with the right software, can become a very. Softrock ensemble rxtx 2e0dfu playing with amateur radio. A while ago i imported a softrock ensemble ii sdr receiver kit. Free for public use as long as im not using them please use simon browns sdrradio client to access my radios. Mutezone writes a performance between the softrock ensemble ii vs the rtlsdr r820t on shortwave. I have been playing with a softrock sdr ensemble ii hf receiver for a while and then i read about a european ham, who modded his ft450 to work with his sdr a mercury sdr, not a softrock, so i thought i might follow in his footsteps and do some experimenting.
Over on youtube user w2aew has uploaded a video showing the entire kitset build process for the softrock lite ii sdr radio. Operate a software defined radio from anywhere in the world. The most recent receiver was the ensemble rx ii with an automatically switched bandpass filter. Describe your experience with the softrock qrp kit radio and tell us why you give it the rating you did required. The brief of my project is to build a software defined radio sdr based around a purpose built pc with a high end soundcard and a softrock ensemble rxtx. What a great receiver, i cannot believe the value in tonys kits. Building the softrock ensemble ii software defined receiver.
The softrock rxtx ensemble transceiver kit provides a 1 watt sdr transceiver that can be built for one of the following five band groups. My first installation was on a windows xp system using the hdsdr. September 2009 stable latest update 20110116, added a picture from alex, rn6lw, showing his very nice sdr build, including the atmega168 controller note also the new project page on the mobo 4. There are two softrock receiver types in use on this websdr system. For this demo an emu 0202 usb audio interface was used.