LibreSDR / ZynqSDR Software Defined Radio - 70 MHz to 6 GHz

[@AsahelFrost]

I'm very familiar with the AD9363 having used it at work for many years. The spike in the middle of your transmission looks like a DC offset in the AD9363, which results in carrier leakage. This device has built in calibration which you are supposed to run while setting it up which nulls out the DC offset for the configuration you have just configured. If you change the device setup too far from the starting set up, the calibration needs to be re-run. Or it may be that the calibration sequence failed to converge.

[@PhantomVideoLive]

Hi there, may I ask how one might run calibration on this device ?

[@mrtechie6810]

​@@PhantomVideoLivein SDR Console there is a method to run calibration.

[@PhantomVideoLive]

@@mrtechie6810 thank you for this, is this feature specific to the AD9363, do you have any documentation for that feature in SDR console? After calibration does it fix the spike in all SDR software ??

[@Howtomake12261]

Think you for the plug of my repository! I have a working version of the FW with DHCP working but it only works with the volumes i cant access.

[@dalesmith8666]

Do open it up, so we can have a look inside.

[@imoldovan]

Real hams open stuff up before they plug it in :)

[@Thefreakyfreek]

Dont turn it on TAKE IT APART

[@Thefreakyfreek]

​@@imoldovani opend up my icom 7300 just to see what parts i need to desolder to make it full band transmit nit that i changed it but just in case shit hits the fan i know i can

[@TheElectronicDilettante]

Treat it like a Pluto SDR. Open it up and compare it to the available ADI schematics for the Pluto, and the other SDR platforms based on the same chip. You should ssh into it and see what it has inside. It’s like every other SDR out there based on Analog Devices tech and designs from the Pluto II TO the Red Pitaya

[@Marek_M79]

Matt, please to do the review of Fobos Sdr from RigExpert. Operating frequency range from 100 kHz to 6 GHz and up to 50 MHz bandwidth with 14-bit signal sampling resolution.

[@ReefMimic]

Been eyeballing that rig for awhile now

[@noimnotarobotcanubeleiveit7024]

Its just an overpriced receiver, and whats the chance of your purchase getting blown up on its way from Ukraine? Im going to stick to china or EU

[@noimnotarobotcanubeleiveit7024]

Wow shadow ban for that?

[@noimnotarobotcanubeleiveit7024]

Its only rx! And from a warzone. Doesn't sound reliable delivery or aftercare support. Stick to EU companies if you want any level of protection

[@Marek_M79]

@@noimnotarobotcanubeleiveit7024 it's available to buy or as preorder in some EU shops. I don't know what are you talking about. Support from RigExpert is fantastic. Check first and then comment.

[@krahwinkel9503]

The seemless integration with SDR console is nice.

[@LANRanger]

I was able to broadcast my own LTE signal and connect my phone to my B210 clone (AD9361). Fancy little boxes. I posted a clip on my channel and have been really working towards making the SDR better overall.

[@zoltanbiro6388]

wow

[@bbjunkie]

Tip, be careful plugging in coax / antennas, the sockets aren't secured to the PCB properly, they will shear off if any lateral force is placed on them. (on my early version this happened anyway)

[@n1vca]

Thanks so much, I have always been wondering if this is a Pluto Plus version with a bigger but compatible FPGA and a proper case. So I wasn't sure if you really got the SDR Console working via the ethernet or if it was the Pluto USB-Driver that emulates an IP link via your Windows client. If I go with such a solution I want to make sure Gigabit Ethernet actually works, because the TRX will not be in my shack. So if I understood correct, the Adalm Plus (also with two TX &RX) is the practically better solution if you are, like me, not a software developer and more on the side of a tinkering end user. Ideally I would love to have TX&RX1 connected to a similar setup you have, a box with bandpass filters, amplifiers, GPS based oscillator, for the QO100 operation and the second port for individual frequencies from 70MHz to 6GHz. But I think so far only SDRangel is supporting dual port operation TX&RX? I noticed while showing the VHF Air Band scale plenty of Tetra signals from the lets say roughly 400 MHz region ... so it has serious front end/imaging problems? Does the Pluto Plus also have these issues or is it simple overload or rather a poor PCB design that creates that issue? The TCXO on the other side seemed pretty good, I think I heard some 30-40 Hz drift during your demo, which is pretty good for a 2.4GHz frequency. Though I would use the GPS based oscillator via its MCX sockets. I'd love to see a comparison of the original Pluto, vs. Pluto Plus, vs. this Libre SDR while receiving weak signals (e.g. far away ATIS, distant ham repeaters on UHF) without any preselection to figure out which one is the cleanest implementation with the least amount of intermod and noise. Currently I see the price of the Pluto plus at 235€ and LibreSDR costs 285€ and the old Pluto is being dealt for some ridiculous prices despite it is the worst implementation without an ethernet port, a stable oscillator, an external oscillator input, only one port of the two that the AD chip offers and the USB 2.0 creates a huge bottleneck when it comes to bandwidth. I have one of the first Pluto's and have been operating it via an USB to Ethernet adapter but its a joke, because it drifts way too much and is not usable without the oscillator mod, which I still have to do. But I may just go for the Plus or Libre and use the old Pluto just for tinkering with amps and UHF antennas. What is the maximum usable bandwidth with the two Gigabit Ethernet devices? I know the AD chip can do some 64MHz I believe, but at 12 Bit I/Q this creates a lot of bandwith and needs plenty of math power I guess. I guess the practical limitation will be the interface speed the Ethernet taps in? I wonder if it can do 20MHz, eg. 118-138MHz in one stream? Once again many thanks for the very interesting introduction and best regards from Munich, Germany

[@noimnotarobotcanubeleiveit7024]

Thanks for saving me typing! Thats exactly what i was going to ask. Im torn between this or pluto+ and i really want an out of the box solution without too much hacking or compiling firmware.

[@ok2it]

Hi Matt, question, qhy another SDR Receiver in your QO-100 ?

[@RNMSC]

I got the impression during that satelite contact that one of you was treating the frequency in use as the bottom of your signal, like you were transmitting upper sideband, while the other was treating the frequency as if it were the center of the bandpass for the transmission (more like AM, but I suspect both were FM transmissions. It looked like the bottom of your signal was on the center of his. Most of the satellite transceivers I'm aware of are fairly broad rx/tx systems, as that's about the only way LEO satellites are usable, and I'd expect that the Geostationary satellites are using similar transceiver setups.

[@TechMindsOfficial]

I was using USB and the station I was talking to was off frequency. This happens when users don't listen to their own transmission properly, which is actually a requirement of QO100.

[@zerobow9413]

Nice one, I had the same problems I thinks there's a 200 and 400 version I have the 400 which wont work with the DJI drone sniffer firmware very annoying -I found the GB LAN could not keep up with the 60Meg stream -should of just bought 4x HackRF`s instead ! [FYI was sold on Ali-express as a B210/pluto clone]

[@LawpickingLocksmith]

Pretty cool!

[@paranoidzkitszo]

the prosces ocf setting it up is exactly how I've been learning to do so on Raspberry Pi products.... is there 1 inside? Curious...

[@whoCares-lf8ob]

should I buy antsdr e200 AD9361 or bladeRF 2.0 micro xA4 ?

[@Dan-M0MST]

I wonder how it performs on FM Broadcast band 2, have you tested it in such a high power and congested band? It could be a game changer for those into FMDX.

[@johnnorth9355]

Way beyond my pay grade ! 73 M7BLC

[@paranoidzkitszo]

hows much?

[@noimnotarobotcanubeleiveit7024]

On ebay for 200 quid

[@cccmmm1234]

I wonder whether that spike is due to DDR. I have worked with similar parts in GNSS and we did see some DDR jamming.

[@welshbikepackingadventures]

Wow what a beauty

[@HellNo9544]

What is in that big ass chassis? I see a Raspberry Pi connected to some sort of large PCB with antenna connections and IC's and what not... I've never seen anything like it and very curious lol

[@novocanal7153]

Mas o que tem nessas frequências altas?

[@KernelKrunch663]

Make some more videos on this device please

[@jwcrawley]

At 2:27 , the chinese embossment on the case translates to "made in china".

[@minibikemadman]

man thats a cool lil sdr

[@ko4mkp]

How many watts does the LibreSDR output ?

[@LeeDonaghy]

its going to be milliwatts

[@TechMindsOfficial]

Depepends on the frequency. @ 2.4 GHz I measured around 10mW.

[@ko4mkp]

@@TechMindsOfficial Thank you. I was just trying to understand how you made contacts over RF. Maybe the SDR is the reciever and you have another radio as the transmitter. Just curious

[@TechMindsOfficial]

@ko4mkp Take a look through my videos for my QO100 build series. I built a NB Transponder and WB Transponder transceiver using an Adalm Pluto as the exciter. For the NB Transponder, which I showed in the video using USB, I was using the LibreSDR to transmit and receive at the same time. Downlink is 10GHz into LNB, 750MHz out of LNB to input of LibreSDR. Uplink consists of LibreSDR into a 2.4GHz Amsat / filtered amplifier (up to about 50 to 100mw) and then the amp goes to a 250 Watt 2.4 GHz amplifier, which then goes off to a Helix antenna on my 1.2M offset dish. Ofcourse with that size dish, I only have to "tickle" the output power slider so I only get around 10 watts at the helix. For DATV, I need between 60 to 100 watts, and even more if I use a higher Sample Rate. But most DATV stations stick to around 333k/s or 500 k/s, but we can go as wide as we want, which takes more power. Hope that makes sense, but go check my build videos.

[@SohanLal-uy3ri]

Does this decode DMR and digital data

[@TechMindsOfficial]

Using software yes.

[@mikewillis1592]

Did you ever figure out how to flash the firmware into the onboard flash? I can't get that to work. It does boot from the SD.

[@TechMindsOfficial]

Yeh, I think I mentioned it in the video, but the way I got it to hold the FW in flash was to boot from the SD card, and then once the mass storage device appeared on the PC, I then copied the boot.frm and pluto.frm to the mass storage, removed the SD card and then hit EJECT on windows explorer for the mass storage drive. When it rebooted it wrote to the flash.

[@mikewillis1592]

@@TechMindsOfficial I tried that already, I did listen to the video. I also used the same firmware, but it doesn't work for me. Very strange. Maybe there are different versions.

[@TechMindsOfficial]

okay, take a look at this, specifically the last message in that thread. github.com/hz12opensource/libresdr/issues/1

[@mikewillis1592]

@@TechMindsOfficial Didn't work. Must be a difference in the hardware or boot loader or similar. Works on the SD card but not with that image from the link. I can see it on the debug console though when it is doing that..

[@SergLapin]

Actually it boots faster from SD card. Plus it is possible to make a full blown linux distro with writable root fs and have stuff like GNU Radio and other goodness on board, which would never fit into the QSPI flash.

[@miroslawkaras7710]

What is the sesn to start from 70MHz . That do not cover short wave.

[@RNMSC]

Knowing that it's built in China, and not some of the very latest in hardware, it's possible that the manufacturer felt limited by the requirements of China's equivalent of the FCC in the US, to not allow it to work in MW frequencies as it would allow easier contact with people outside of China. Having seen some of the equipment otherwise on the market through AliExpress, I wouldn't be surprised if equipment for export is no longer restricted that way. In any case there are transverters that will allow you to specify a block of frequencies that the LibraSDR will transmit and receive on, that the transverter will transvert down into the MW, and even LW bands. This is similar to how the system he used was able to receive a 10 Ghz signal from the satellite, on a device that maxes out at 6Ghz.

[@MrThierry0473]

Hi Matt, great video again! This device seems to be a clone of the Antsdr (310 or E200) wich are themself clone of the pluto? Cemaxecuter has tested antsdr310 briefly some years ago...Would be nice to install owrx directly on it ;-)

[@raymondmartin6737]

Does the Libre come with Diabetes test system? Just joking and I have Type II with Insulin too, like the US adverts show also with the Dex system, which is the same name used by Samsung to make your tablet act like a laptop 😅

[@gastonmazzei8087]

So, is it true what another comment below says? That it doesn't have any form of frontend filter If so, how could we make it usable? external programmable filter of variable bandwidth should be expensive, right? Thanks for the explanations! :-)

[@SergLapin]

It has an SPI port on connector SN1 inside the case. And the AD9361 driver has ability to control external filer banks. Just need to get the filters similar to what AntSDR installed in the board

[@gastonmazzei8087]

@@SergLapin hmmm... I'm sorry sir, but could you briefly expand on filtering, AD936x, AntSDR, LibreSDR and Ettus' SDRs? I tried searching online but it has not been straightforward enough for my current context. Basically, for RX, AFAIK frontend filtering with adjustable bandwidth is performed by AD936X on the amplified and mixed signal to be digitalized. The questions are: does the e.g. Ettus B210 adds some filtering mechanism? Does the LibreSDR does? what about AntSDR, what does it add? From your previous answer I take that LibreSDR adds none, AntSDR adds "something" which I'd appreciate if you could elaborate more about, and most probably Ettus devices add something too.

[@SergLapin]

@@gastonmazzei8087 libresdr has antenna ports wired straight into ad9363 through a balun. So we are limited to the wideband dynamic range of ad9363. AntSDR has two front-end filter banks controlled by GPIO. This helps to remove more out of band power before it hits the transceiver on the RX side. Similar situation on TX side, filer banks remove some of the harmonics and internal noises of the chip. The filer bank is controlled by the driver, so there is no need to deal with it separately. Ettus products typically have very nice front-end modules, hence the price.

[@cattech5321]

me: Buying a libresdr Tech Minds:

[@paranoidzkitszo]

You can NEVER have enough SDRs!

[@LeeDonaghy]

wow, was that tetra airwave from 390MHz showing up at 132MHz. pretty bad filtering if so.

[@thedogbarked123]

There is no filter homie. No filter, no calibration, just raw-dogging it with harmonics all over the spectrum.

[@SergLapin]

There is no frontend filtering, please don't connect this thing to a high power PA directly

[@kb1qzh]

So which Pluto clone , Pluto+ or Libre, do you prefer?

[@TechMindsOfficial]

Pluto+, until some working overclocked firmware appears for the LibreSDR.

[@SergLapin]

@@TechMindsOfficial How much overclocking you are looking for? The github repo you mentioned gives a decent overclocking for CPU, RAM and enables the maximum speed on LVDS interface between Zynq and AD9363

[@WildWillieWiccan]

This reminds me of cabling 2 computers together back in the 1980's & 1990's via Ethernet. Have you tried connecting the Ethernet port directly to the computer's Ethernet port ? Currently computers use smart ethernet ports so it would operate with either a straight thru cable or crossed wire cable. You might be able to gain extra access to the radio's memories & electronic controls. 🤓

[@MrDmjay]

Look out, there is a new oracle in the house.

[@PhantomVideoLive]

Do you think this unit can run OpenWebRX Plus Natively ?

[@sammiller6631]

What does this do that a SDRPlay doesn't do?

[@TechMindsOfficial]

Transmit, wider frequency coverage.... Runs Linux.. Customization.. List is endless really.

[@sammiller6631]

@@TechMindsOfficial SDRPlay also run Linux through their new SDRConnect software

[@TechMindsOfficial]

Well yeh, you’re talking about the SDR software, I meant the actual LibreSDR runs Linux so it can run standalone.

[@mrtechie6810]

SDR++ with Pluto+ over Ethernet: Is there a fix? I have the same problem!

[@DanFrederiksen]

Why is there such distortion on 10GHz?? that makes no sense

[@markgreen2170]

i think the reason you had to manually set your ip is because your sdr firmware/software doesn't have a dhcp client, probably something you could add...

[@SergLapin]

It does have DHCP and Avahi for auto-discovery, it needs to be enabled because otherwise it would be pain in the (_._) finding it in the network.

[@KA4UPW]

Nice

[@stevehageman6785]

A Pluto Clone with Ethernet added. :-)

[@cheako91155]

Gate Arrays are not software, they may seem like software being labeled Fully Programmable... but that's a lie. What I'd be specifically looking for is Turing Completeness and that depends on the programming of the array, so an FPGA is only Turing Complete in some configurations and it's questionable if those configurations would be good enough to handle any load or compete with processors that are designed to be TC.

[@TechMindsOfficial]

www.arm.com/glossary/fpga#:~:text=Field%20Programmable%20Gate%20Arrays%20(FPGAs,requirements%20after%20the%20manufacturing%20process.

[@cheako91155]

@@TechMindsOfficial If you call them Field Programmable Gate Arrays someone in inevitably say it's Fully Programmable... I guess it's nice to confirm the opposite is true, however. My argument was even if they were Fully Programmable, that's still not software. How is it BETTER for the definition to be Field Programmable? Are you suggesting that the Array is configured to be an ARM processor that then loads software, in that case wouldn't a ASIC ARM chip be cheaper and superior in every way?

[@cccmmm1234]

The device is a Zynq which contains an FPGA and Dual core ARM cortex A9 in one device. The Arms are like any other Arms and eat pure software.

[@cheako91155]

@@cccmmm1234 As a guess... The arm chip is there purely for administrative tasks, flashing the FPGA and routing IO. It's unlikely to be involved with much of the signal processing.

[@cccmmm1234]

@@cheako91155 No, absolutely wrong. These CPUs are typically A9 or A53s. Dual or Quad core with NEON and often also GPUs. They typically have a few hundred megabytes of RAM and run Linux. In this case it is a dual core A9 running Linux. The Linux provides all the networking, web interface etc. And also runs some DSP.

[@phithegamer5787]

It's silly to mention something as a 'default IP address' all of that is handled by your routers dhcp settings

[@TechMindsOfficial]

Its silly to make silly comments! The default IP address is fixed in the firmware, it does NOT use DHCP.... by default...

[@vincei4252]

Why not just buy an Adlam Pluto ?

[@TechMindsOfficial]

Because this has then potential to be far superior than an Adalm Pluto. Just need the firmware.

[@PerriPaprikash]

Doesn't this guy sound like Morris Moss?

[@AceBachelorTom]

I want one..

[@oklifrederick]

Harris PRC-163 Anyone? ;)

[@terrynowo9578]

en français sa serai top

[@szabolcsbognar682]

Only 8 bit.

[@cccmmm1234]

What is only 8 bit?

[@nasmexican-]

​@@cccmmm1234 Maybe tx 8 bit resolution.

[@medicalstudioimt3031]

Be ready that it could die after 1 year of usage. I have 2 pieces: 1 became dead after inters power supply ICs get burned, another one in now under service for the reason of dead Ethernet probles-no ping, no detection by network analysis SW. 😢

[@AdamosDad]

73's🎙KD9OAM

[@WR3ND]

Bro trying to sell me a $260 SDR and it doesn't even have a display... 😏

[@SergLapin]

Hmm, it has an SPI port on SN1 connector, so it can have a display if you really want it.

[@StuttgartHD]

these 2min ads are killing me, i quit youtube

[@TechMindsOfficial]

WIthout the ads you wouldnt be watching my videos. Unless of course you upgrade to the ad-free package that youtube provide. not sure how much that costs though.

[@StuttgartHD]

@@TechMindsOfficial KZbin premium is about 10 bucks per month

[@TechMindsOfficial]

I'd also like to add that I, myself watch a lot of KZbin videos, and while adverts can get annoying, I think of it as a way of saying "thankyou" to the person that created the video, without putting my hand in my pocket to pull out some cash. 🙂

[@attribute-4677]

Just a tip, make sure to add *breaks* for really long transmissions. Also, it’s aluminum, not aluminium

[@kenspalding9775]

Check how they spell and pronounce aluminum in Great Britain

[@markusm.lambers8893]

Aluminium! It is called 'aluminium' ! - Period ! - Never believe in a country, still using inches and miles, instead of the correct SI-units, ... ! Think about the space-ship, what 'crashed' because of faulty re-calculations of some stupid old man, ... using the 'old' system, instead of the correct SI-units. ( HI HI ! ! !) 73 de Markus - db9pz (Using the 'SI-units', since the middle school, ... and ever said 'aluminium', my whole life!)

[@lilblackduc7312]

In '47, Mr Richard S. Reynolds, Sr. (nephew of R.J. Reynolds) introduced his *aluminum* wrap in the United States. We'll just stick with that...🇺🇸 👍☕

[@noimnotarobotcanubeleiveit7024]

I wish Americans would either learn to speak English or correct Spanish. If you have to bastadise every tongue just make up you own

[@bierbarrel]

Hello