MAIN FEATURES:
• Powerful: up to 1.5 KW (1.3 KW typ.).
• Very Light: 7.5 Kg. (16.5 Ibs) typ.
• Very Small: h 12, w 28, d 36 cm (4.72”x11.02”x14.17”) connectors included.
• Wide Frequency Coverage: 1.8 MHz to 50 MHz, including WARC
• Internal Switching Power Supply with Power Factor Correction.
• No jumper changes necessary to work from 100VAC to 255VAC
• Manages 4 antennas automatically.
• Automatically switches between 2 transceivers.
• SO2R operation.
• Can manage an external set of Band Pass Filters.
• ATU Built-In: bypassable per antenna and band.
• Up to 3 antennas can be selected for every band.
• Additional receiving antenna can be selected.
• Drives directly up to 4 dynamic antennas (SteppIR, Ultrabeam) for an easiest layout.
• No relay contacts are switched when current is flowing due to special software.
• QSK.
• Fully remotable.
• Remote control and all software upgrades fully available on SPE website.
• USB and RS 232 ports.
• 3 Selectable Power Output: MAX, MID (800 W), LOW (500W).
• Very clean and low distortion signal.
• Both inputs always perfectly matched.
• Quiet Operation: four fans linearly controlled by power supply and power amplifier temperatures.
• Fully protected.
• Fully Solid State: uses only one new very rugged device.
• Over 30000 lines of software for performances that cannot be found together in any other amplifier.
• Two very fast CPUs.
• CAT and band data compatible with all rigs on the market allowing automatic control of antennas, bands, ATU matchings.
• Available also without ATU allowing significant savings.
• Complete with heavy duty carrying bag allowing carry-on to airplanes.
• Certifications: CE, FCC pending.

Availability: Late 2013

The original idea (as seen above) was to implement a complete SSB modulator and demodulator with software in a ATTINY45 micro-controller chip and a AD9834 as DDS. The software samples microphone signal with ADC and then derives the amplitude and phase of the audio signal. The amplitude and phase extraction is derived from the in-phase microphone signal and its 90 degree phase shifted quadrature signal (created by a Hilbert transform on the in-phase signal). The resulting phase is replicated on the oscillator signal of the DDS, and the amplitude information is used to change the drive-strength (current) of the DDS. The output of the DDS is representing a clean single side-band output SSB near the configured frequency.

To proof this idea is working, I implemented the algorithm on a RaspberryPi. In the RaspberryPi setup there is no DDS, but there is a digital-PLL on the micro-processor SoC which we can use for RF generation. By manipulating the Integer and Fractional dividers, a frequency can be generated from 0 to 250 MHz on GPIO4 pin with a resolution of about 20 Hz at 7 MHz. By alternating the Fractional divider between two nearby values, the resolution can be further increased to micro-Hz level; for this a 32 bit clock at 32 MHz is used to generate a PWM alike switching pattern between the two Fractional divider values.

The PLL oscillator can be phase modulated by short manipulations of the configured frequency. Increasing the frequency temporarily and then restoring to its original frequency, will shift the phase upwards, while decreasing the frequency temporarily will decrease the phase of the signal.
In this way the phase information for generating a SSB signal can be applied to the RaspberryPi PLL by means of frequency modulation. To do so, first phase differences are calculated for every sample. For each phase deviation (difference) the corresponding frequency change is calculated. This is dependent on the rate that the PLL is changed from frequency; the exact formula is: dev_freq_hz = dev_phase_rad * samp_rate_hz / (2 * pi)

The amplitude signal can be applied by changing the drive-strength of the GPIO4 port, which has 8 levels with a dynamic range of about 13 dB. After some experimenting, amplitude information can be completely rejected, instead the frequency must be placed outside the single side band (e.g. placed to center freq). In this case single side band is generated wihout suppressed carrier, i.e. a constant amplitude envelope is applied (good to prevent RF interference). In this case the audio quality does not seem to suffer from this constant amplitude, and the audio quality becomes even better by applying a little-bit of noise to the microphone input. My impression is that using SSB with constant amplitude increases the readability when the signal is just above the noise.

The RaspberryPi receives the Microphone input via an external USB sound device. To improve the SSB quality, the signal is companded by a A-law compression technique. Three parallel BS170 MOSFETs where directly driven by RaspberryPi GPIO4 output to create about 1Watt of RF. On 40m I could made several SSB contacts through Europe using this setup, receiving stations back by using a nearby online WebSDR receiver. From my location in south-Netherlands following contacts where made:

Apr 27 14:00 40m on4azw/p
Apr 27 14:00 40m pd6king
Apr 27 14:00 40m pa150ba
Apr 27 14:00 40m hb9ag
Apr 27 14:00 40m pd2edr
Apr 28 13:22 40m m0zag
Apr 28 13:22 40m g100rsgb
Apr 28 13:22 40m hb9efx
Apr 28 13:22 40m pa3zax
Apr 28 13:22 40m tm02ref
Apr 28 16:00 20m ea2dt
Apr 29 19:00 40m g3mlo
Apr 30 10:23 7100 pc1king
Apr 30 16:42 7082 pa2cvd
Apr 30 17:00 7092 dl9fcs Gazi, Frankfurt 57
Apr 30 18:30 7074 pa3a Arie, Barendrecht
May 4 11:52 7107 g100c
May 9 15:20 7077 dl/pc1mk Menno, Borkum

Below a fragment of the code that generates SSB signal in the form of amplitude and frequency deviation information, based on the inputed audio signal:

#define ln(x) (log(x)/log(2.718281828459045235f))

static int xv[45];

void filter(int val, int* i, int* q)
{
int j;

for (j = 0; j < 44; j++) { xv[j] = xv[j+1]; } xv[44] = val; *i = xv[22]; int _q = (xv[1] + xv[3] + xv[5] + xv[7]+xv[7] + 4*xv[9] + 6*xv[11] \ + 9*xv[13] + 14*xv[15] + 23*xv[17] + 41*xv[19] + 127*xv[21] \ – (127*xv[23] + 41*xv[25] + 23*xv[27] + 14*xv[29] + 9*xv[31] \ + 6*xv[33] + 4*xv[35] + xv[37]+xv[37] + xv[39] + xv[41] + xv[43]) ) / 202; *q = _q; } int arctan2(int y, int x) { int abs_y = abs(y); int angle; if(x >= 0){
angle = 45 – 45 * (x – abs_y) / ((x + abs_y)==0?1:(x + abs_y));
} else {
angle = 135 – 45 * (x + abs_y) / ((abs_y – x)==0?1:(abs_y – x));
}
return (y < 0) ? -angle : angle; // negate if in quad III or IV } static float t = 0; static float prev_f = 0; static float prev_phase = 0; static float acc = 0; void ssb(float in, float fsamp, float* amp, float* df) { int i, q; float phase; t++; filter(in * 128, &i, &q); *amp = sqrt( i*i + q*q) / 128.0f; if(*amp > 1.0){
printf(“amp overflow %f\n”, *amp);
*amp = 1.0;
}
phase = M_PI + ((float)arctan2(q,i)) * M_PI/180.0f;
float dp = phase – prev_phase;
if(dp < 0) dp = dp + 2*M_PI;
prev_phase = phase;

*df = dp*fsamp/(2.0f*M_PI);
}

void main(){
int samplerate = 8000; // set sample-rate of microphone input here, use 4800 to 8000
int notvi = 0; // set no TVI to true if you want constant carrier

for(;;) {
float df, amp;

int data = //16 bit microphone input here
ssb((float)data/32767.0, samplerate, &amp, &df);

float A = 87.7f; // compression parameter
amp = (fabs(amp) < 1.0f/A) ? A*fabs(amp)/(1.0f+ln(A)) : (1.0f+ln(A*fabs(amp)))/(1.0f+ln(A)); //compand

int ampval = (int)(round(amp * 8.0f)) – 1;
int enaval = (ampval < 0) ? 0 : 1;

if(notvi && ampval < 0){ enaval = 1; // tx always on df = 0; } if(notvi) ampval = 7; // optional: no amplitude changes if(ampval>7) ampval=7;
if(ampval

// here, send ampval to 3 bit drive-strength register (if available)
// here, add or substract df from PLL center frequency (in Hz), adding will make USB, substract. LSB
}
}

Author: Guido PE1NNZ

The Yaesu FT-257 is a “440″ version of the FT-252. It delivers a big 5 watts from 430 to 450 MHz. Receive coverage is 400-480 MHz. The supplied accessories are the same.

Your FT-252 comes with:  FNB-124Li battery, SAD-11B battery charger, flexible SMA antenna and CLIP-24 belt clip.

Features:

• 5 watts RF Output
• 200 Memories
• NOAA Weather Alert (FT-252 only)
• Password Protection
• Adjustable RF Squelch
• Automatic Repeater Shift
• Water protection to IPX5 Specifications
• Battery Voltage Display
• CTCSS and DCS Encode/Decode

List Price:   $135.00

Features:

• TX Frequency Coverage: 160 to 6 meters
• RX Frequency Coverage: 30 kHz to 56 MHz
• Spectrum Scope
• IF Width & IF Shift
• Roofing Filters (3/6/15 kHz)
• 5 to 100 watts (2 to 25 watts AM)
• 32 Bit High Speed IF DSP
• 4.3 in TFT full color display
• Automatic Tuner
• Contour, DNR, IF Notch and APF

The Yaesu FTDX1200 provides sophisticated operation on 160 to 6 meters with up to 100 Watts on SSB, CW, and FM (25 Watts AM carrier) and a rugged state-of-the-art highly balanced receiver circuit configuration for top performance on today’s crowded bands. It uses 32-bit high speed floating point DSP. Yaesu’s acclaimed superior DSP algorithm is highly effective in weak signal processing and enhancement. The 1st IF frequency is protected by selectable 3 kHz, 6 kHz and 15 kHz roofing filters that effectively attenuate interfering signals. The triple conversion circuit structure allows highly flexible gain distribution at each stage. This enables elimination of unwanted signals through filters at each stage as well as optimized gain distribution. A built-in 4.3-in TFT wide full color High Resolution Display with loads of information provides superior operability and visibility for the FTDX1200 owner. A High Speed Spectrum Scope located just below the LCD, displays the information needed to place them at the right place on the band with the right receiver set-up.

Sophisticated optional accessories offer additional features that make the FT DX 1200 a true high performance platform for all hams no matter what mode they chose to operate. The FFT-1 supports advanced functionality, including the AF-FFT Scope, RTTY/PSK31 Encode/Decode, CW Decode and CW Auto Zero-in. The SCU-17 USB Interface supports CAT, USB Audio in/out, TX control (PTT, Key, Shift) and firmware update functions.

The FTDX1200 is supplied with MH-31B8 hand mic, DC cord, spare fuses and manual.

Brochure

List Price:   $2400.00

Price: $695 USD

No details yet, but should be visible in Dayton HAMVENTION 2013 in May.

MyWorld-DX combines the features of a world atlas, a personal media organizer, and a great-circle path plotter. Use MyWorld-DX for:

• Locating U.S. states, Canadian provinces, countries and their capital cities, airline “Hub” cities, islands world-wide, plus other entities of particular interest to amateur radio operators:

⁃ The MyWorld-DX “Lookup” drawer has built-in locators for the capital city of each U.S. state, Canadian province, and country and for major airline “Hub” cities. Locators are also provided for many islands and other entities on the amateur radio “DXCC” list.

⁃ MyWorld-DX will display the appropriate global map and plot the great-circle path from your home location to a selected location, giving you the true perspective of where a distant place of interest is from your home.

⁃ For amateur radio operators, MyWorld-DX displays the angular position of the path to a contact’s location to help you select or position a directional antenna. MyWorld-DX’s call-sign prefix search option allows you to instantly view the great-circle path and angle to any contact having that entity’s assigned call-sign prefix.

• Linking media resources of all kinds with places and groups of places worldwide, such as:

⁃ Associating photos, documents, websites, and other media resources with previous or future travel locations.

⁃ Localizing information, such as information about distant customers, suppliers and market opportunities.

⁃ Associating events, news and historical information with specific locations around the world, perhaps for an academic or business research project.

⁃ Associating data with locations of particular interest to amateur operators, such as DX-pedition information, QSL reports, net member data, and communications traffic reports.

My World works visually, primarily by “point and click” and “drag and drop”.

My World is document-based, so you can save it to a named file, for example:

• Each member of your family or amateur radio club might save their own copy of MyWorld-DX with their own personal lists of places and resources.

• You might save a copy for personal information and another for business information.

MyWorld-DX is an application for Apple desktop and laptop computers using OS X 10.8 or later. MyWorld-DX is an application for Apple desktop and laptop computers using OS X 10.8 or later. MRWorld-DX is intentionally global in its orientation and does not include “built-in” detail maps. However, a convenience feature is included to request through your internet browser a detail map for a selected place (if available).

Price: $16.99 USD

Link

System Overview
PigRemote is an open platform for remote station control. PigRemote is a small appliance housing an embedded Linux platform, custom audio codec, and motherboard. It comes in a custom enclosure with connections for:

• Serial (RS-232) Rig Control
• Audio In and Out
• Ethernet
• Power
• USB Terminal for Linux Shell Access
• The internal RF data module (included by default) makes it possible to control the Station Controller product from Sierra Radio Systems using the application PRControl on Windows, Mac, Linux(TBD), iOS, and Android(TBD).

Price: $349.99 USD

Link

KX3UI provides a graphical interface for controlling the Elecraft KX3 from your Mac. You can connect with a wired serial port or using the Pigtail wireless serial adapter. The app has a CW/DATA terminal built-in that uses the radio’s built-in CW/DATA decode functionality. There are user-defined Macro, CW and VFO memories built-in as well.

Price: $0.99 USD

Apple Store

K3UI provides a graphical interface for controlling the Elecraft K3 from your Mac. You can connect with a wired serial port or using the Pigtail wireless serial adapter.

Price: $1.99 USD

APPLE Store

Date: 1 May 2013
Time: 17 GMT
Freq: 21024 KHz
Mode: A1 (CW)
Record Location: SU9AF Egypt.

Envoy is the only HF base system with a purpose-built smart desktop console that gives you maximum operational flexibility and full remote control capability of all HF radios on your network.

SDR
Envoy’s software-defined architecture enables you to download and upgrade new capabilities through software to ensure your investment is future-proof.

Smart Interface
With an icon-based full-colour user interface, USB SmartLoader, and intuitive programming, Envoy is easy to operate and minimises the need for training.

IP Capable
Envoy is the only IP capable and wireless-network interoperable HF radio of its kind, so you can remotely program an Envoy from your desktop — from anywhere in the world.

Multi-Language Support
With the ability to support an unlimited number of additional languages, Envoy provides you with a truly customisable communications solution no matter where you operate.

Embedded Software Modem
Through the fully embedded software modem, Envoy provides advanced internal features such as high-speed data, email, and chat messaging for a compact cost-effective solution.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtPtK7XHEik

Accessories:

GPS
With GPS, Envoy is a smart positioning system that enables polling and sending of GPS positions in any location.

3040 Automatic Whip Antenna
The Envoy becomes the ultimate mobile HF solution when combined with Codan’s low profile antenna, which offers lighting fast tuning in a compact design.

3042 HF Antenna Tuner
Codan’s low profile 125 W antenna tuner provides high speed and efficient tuning of short whip antennas across the full operational HF band — all in a high strength and water proof housing.

3061/3062 High Power Amplifiers
Suitable for voice and data operation, Codan’s 500 W and 1 kW amplifiers are highly efficient and offer continuous operation in all modes.

3033 Telephone Interconnect
Codan’s 3033 Telephone Interconnect makes calling between HF radios and telephones simple.

Specifications:

Frequency range
- Transmit: 1.6 to 30 MHz
- Receive: 250 kHz to 30 MHz
Frequency Stability: ±0.5 ppm from –30°C to +60°C
Modes Single sideband (J3E), USB, LSB, AM (H3E), CW (J2A), AFSK (J2B), F1B (FSK) (software controlled filter bandwidth)
Output power: 125 W PEP ±1 dB (two-tone or voice), user-programmable (low / medium / high)
Duty cycle: 100% Voice / Data with optional Fan
RF output impedance: 50 Ω
Filter bandwidths: 2.4 kHz standard (500 Hz, 2.7 kHz optional)
Wideband software programmable filters available on EnvoyTM X2 model
Transmitter specifications
- Spurious and harmonic emissions: Better than 64 dB
- Intermodulation products: 33 dB below PEP
- Carrier suppression: Better than 60 dB below PEP
- Sideband suppression: 70 dB below PEP
Receiver specifications
- Sensitivity: 0.12 μV, –125 dBm for 10 dB SINAD
- Selectivity: > 70 dB at –1 kHz and +4 kHz ref SCF USB
- Blocking: > 95 dB at ±50 kHz
- Image rejection: > 70 dB
- Spurious response: > 70 dB
- Intermodulation: unwanted signal 92 dB below desired signal
- Switching speed: below 25 ms (RX:TX and TX:RX)

Price: TBD

Link