monitoring multiple bands with sdruno

APPLICATIONNOTEAN007

www.sdrplay.com Rev1.0Mar181

MonitoringMultipleBandswithSDRuno

OneofthegreatadvantagesofanSDRisthatitallowsanentirebandtobequicklyscannedvisually,soyouneverhavetomissasignal.Butwe’realwayshungryformoresohowaboutkeepinganeyeonotherbandsaswell?TheRSP/SDRunocombinationallowsyoutodothisaslongasthebandsofinterestfallwiththemaximumsampledbandwidthoftheRSP,i.e.10MHz.1. Thequickandeasyway-switchbackandforthusingthe“Band”buttons:

• Let’syouexaminebandsovertheentire1kHzto2GHzcoveragerangeoftheRSP,however...

• Notatruesimultaneousview

• Ifsetupaspanadapteryoumaynotwanttohaveyourrigswitchingbackandforth,butyoucanusetheRSYN1buttontotemporarilydisablesyncingtheRSPandtherig

2. Abetterway.UsemultipleVRX,oneforeachbandofinterest.

• Truesimultaneousview

• DedicateoneVRXtocontrolyourrig,useadditionalVRX(s)tomonitorotherbands

• EasilyswitchrigcontrolfromoneVRXtoanother,whenyouwanttoworkanotherband

(Note:ThefeaturesandoperationdescribedhereareusingSDRunov1.22,specificdetailsmaywellchange–forthebetter–infuturerevisions!)



3. Settingitup(somemathsrequired!)

• Bandstobemonitoredmustfallwiththesampled“chunk”ofspectrumfromtheRSP(10MHzmax,lessifyourPCcannotsupportit)

• Example–Monitoringthe40mand20mbands40m:7.0–7.3MHz20m:14.0–14.3Mhz

• Soweneedtosamplethespectrumfrom7.0–14.3MHz=7.3MHz

• ThereforeweneedtouseaSampleRate>7.3MHz,i.e.8MHz

• OurLOmustbeset(andlocked)tomidwaythroughtherange,say~10.5MHz

• Oursampledrangeisnow10.5+/-4MHz=6.5–14.5MHz

• Let’sseethisinpractice…



OpenSDRuno.ClickontheworkspacenameintheSDRunoMainwindowandselectanunusedWorkspace.ThiswillgiveyouablankscreenwithonlytheSDRunoMainwindowopen.Clickon“AddVRX”tocreateasecondVRX.ClickontheredboxnexttothenewVRXtoenableit:

ForeachVRXclickon“RX”and“SP1”togiveusacontrolpanelandaspectrumwindowforeach.Arrangethewindowsasyoulike,thenpress“CTRL-W”tosavethisarrangementtowhicheverworkspacelocationyouprefer.RightclickontheWorkspacenameandgiveitanameyouwillrecognizelater,e.g.“2VRXtest”:

Note:youmayalsoopenupotherwindowstosuit,e.g.SP2,EXWorMemorypanel.Forthisexampleweareonlyusingthebareminimumtoavoidclutter!



IntheMainwindowsettheSampleRate(8Mhz):

InoneoftheVRXentertheLOfrequency,clickonthefrequencydisplaytozeroitandthentypein“10.5m”<enter>.TheMainSPwindowwillnowshowboththeTunedfrequencyandtheLOas10.5MHz:

ClickonPlayintheMainwindowandobservethespectrum:



Observethatwhiletheportionofthespectrumcovering40misquiteflat,thereisaquitesharprolloffabove14MHzinthe20mband!WecouldincreasetheLOfrequencytohelpthe20mband,butwewillfindthatweendupwithsomerolloffatthebottomofthe40mband.ThesolutioninthiscaseistoincreasetheSRto9MHzandthenwecanseewegetaflatresponseforboththe20mand40mbands:



HereyouwillseethattheSRhasbeenincreasedto9MHz,andtheLOfrequencychangedto10.6MHz,resultinginaflatspectrumforboththe20mand40mbands.Feelfreetoadjusttheseparameterstosuitwhicheverbandsyouareinterestedin.NowwecangoaheadandlocktheLOfrequencyusingthe“LOLOCK”buttonintheMainwindow.Then,gotoSP1andclickonafrequencynearthemiddleofthe40mband.UsetheZoomarrowstozoominonthespectrum,atthissampleratethemaximumzoomwillgiveyou562.5kHzspectrumwidth.Asyouzoominthetunedfrequencywillreturntothecenterofthedisplay,butifyouloseit,justclickontheVFObuttonatthebottomofthewindowtocenterit.Onceyouhavezoomedinalltheway,youcandragthefrequencyaxisleftandrighttocenterthe40mbandinthedisplay:

NowgototheSP1windowforthesecondVRXandrepeattheprocedure,butthistimeclickinthemiddleofthe20mband.Asyouzoominonthespectruminthelowerwindowyoumaynoticethefrequencyscaleintheupperwindowhaschangedtofollowsuit,don’tworryjustclickontheVFObuttonatthebottomofthetopwindowtorestorethecorrectfrequencydisplay:



4. Threebands?

Youmaybewonderingifyoucanalsomonitor30m,whichafterallisalsowithinourselectedchunkofspectrum(10.6+/-4.5MHz).Theanswerisyesyoucan!

Thingscangetabitcrowdedmonitorspacewise,butifyouhaveamulti-monitorsetupyoucangototownwithallsortsofwindowsopen.Here’sanexampleshowing3bands:



5. Panadapters

IfyouhaveapanadaptersetupviaOmniRigyoucanchoosewhichVRXcontrolstherigbyclickingontheRSYN1buttonatthetopoftheRXControlwindow:

InatypicalscenarioyouwoulduseoneVRXtoworkaparticularbandwithyourrig,mutingtheaudiofromSDRunoandlisteningtoreceivedaudiothroughtherig.MeanwhileyoucanmonitoranotherbandinSDRunousingthesecondVRX.IfyouseeanythingofinterestyoucanunmutethatVRXandlisten,ifit’sasignalofinterestyoucanthenclickonthecorrespondingRSYN1buttontosyncyourrigtothatfrequency:

Note:thistechniquecanonlyworkiftheRSPhasabroadrangeRFsignaltosample,eitherfromasharedantennaorRXoutfromtherig.IfyourpanadapterisconfiguredtouseIFoutfromtherigthenthespectrumtheRSPcansampleanddisplayislimitedbytheIFbandwidthofyourrig.



6. Review

• Donotusethebandbuttons!• TheyselectspecificSRandDECvaluestoframeoneparticularband,wewanttocovermore

thanoneband.

• WeneedtolocktheLObetweenbandsandselectaSRwhichcoversallthebandsofinterest

• FirstsetupSDRunofor2VRX

• WhenSDRunoisfirststartedthetunedfrequencyandtheLOarethesameso…• WecantypeinourdesiredLO(10.5MHz)inoneoftheVRXwindows• Clickon“LOlock”tolocktheLOfrequency

• Clickon“Play”

• NowclickonafrequencynearthecenterofthebandofinterestinthefirstVRX–7.15MHz

• InthesecondVRXclickonafrequencynearthecenterofthesecondbandofinterest–14.15Mhz

• VisitSP1foreachbandandusethezoombuttonstomatchthedisplayedfrequencyrangewiththewidthofthebandofinterest

• UsetheRSYN1buttonintheVRXwindowtoselectwhichbandwillbesync’dwithyourrig

• Switchtherigbackandforthbetweenthebandswhenyouseesomethingofinterest

• YouwillprobablywanttomutetheVRXwhichistrackingyourrig(topreventechoes),andturnupthelevelontheotherband(s)tohavealistentowhat’sgoingon.

• Inthisexampleoursampledspectrumalsoincludesthe30mbandsoyoucouldalsosetupathirdVRXandmonitorthataswell!

7. Video

ThereisavideoillustratingtheconceptsoutlinedintheapplicationnoteonourYouTubechannel:

https://youtu.be/ckbOdDjHfbg

FormoreinformationaboutSDRplay,theRSPfamilyofreceivers,otherapplicationnotes,andfurthertechnicalinformationpleasevisitourwebsiteatwww.sdrplay.com



Disclaimers

SDRPlay modules use a Mirics chipset and software. The information supplied hereunder is provided to you by SDRPlay under license from Mirics. Mirics hereby grants you a perpetual, worldwide, royalty free license to use the information herein for the purpose of designing software that utilizes SDRPlay modules, under the following conditions:

There are no express or implied copyright licenses granted hereunder to design or fabricate any integrated circuits or integrated circuits based on the information in this document. Mirics reserves the right to make changes without further notice to any of its products. Mirics makes no warranty, representation or guarantee regarding the suitability of its products for any particular purpose, nor does Mirics assume any liability arising out of the application or use of any product or circuit, and specifically disclaims any and all liability, including without limitation consequential or incidental damages. Typical parameters that may be provided in Mirics data sheets and/or specifications can and do vary in different applications and actual performance may vary over time. All operating parameters must be validated for each customer application by the buyer’s technical experts. SDRPlay and Mirics products are not designed, intended, or authorized for use as components in systems intended for surgical implant into the body, or other applications intended to support or sustain life, or for any other application in which the failure of the Mirics product could create a situation where personal injury or death may occur. Should Buyer purchase or use SDRPlay or Mirics products for any such unintended or unauthorized application, Buyer shall indemnify and hold both SDRPlay and Mirics and their officers, employees, subsidiaries, affiliates, and distributors harmless against all claims, costs, damages, and expenses, and reasonable attorney fees arising out of, directly or indirectly, any claim of personal injury or death associated with such unintended or unauthorized use, even if such claim alleges that either SDRPlay or Mirics were negligent regarding the design or manufacture of the part. Mirics FlexiRFTM, Mirics FlexiTVTM and MiricsTM are trademarks of Mirics .

SDRPlay is the trading name of SDRPlay Limited a company registered in England # 09035244.

Mirics is the trading name of Mirics Limited a company registered in England # 05046393

monitoring multiple bands with sdruno

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