DF9CY - Softrock 6.2 RXTX + 50 MHz Transceiver

Intention

After having successfully built the Softrock RX 6.1 receiver and the Softrock RXTX 6.1 Transceiver I had the idea of using this technology on the VHF bands. Viewing the DX portion of the 6m band is well worth making the effort of designing a complete 3 band transceiver.

Technology

The heart of the transceiver will use the technology of a Software Defined Radio (SDR) where the I/Q signals generated via the sound card of a computer are used to generate a RF signal in the short wave bands of interest. Vice versa are RF signal from the antenna converted down into so called baseband I/Q signals and decoded by an appropriate software on a personal computer. This is cheap as essential parts like SSB or CW filters are now solved as software in the computer.

50 MHz

For operation on the 6m Band I built a modified TenTec 1208 transverter with an IF of 10 MHz.

Transceiver Goals

    Centre Frequencies   Output Power

     7.015 MHz      1,2W (option for Amplifier up to 20W)   No RX amplifier
    10.125 MHz      1,2W (option for Amplifier up to 20W)   No RX amplifier
    50.125 MHz      8,0W                                    With RX amplifier
    50.xxx MHz
  (144.125 MHz      10,0W (eventually as later extension))

     Ranges are dependant on the soundcard used

     Modes      All Mode USB, LSB, CW, Digital

     Amplifier      Linear

Outlook

Dependant on the performance of this design an extension for the 2m band (144 MHz) can easily be done by adding another transverter.

© Christoph Petermann DF9CY 2007