DATV-Express Project - November update report
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2016 4:39 pm
During the month of November, the DATV-Express project team made the decision to build another batch of hardware boards. The project team was flooded with stand-by orders and as of now have orders from all over the world totaling 40 boards. Art WA8RMC has ordered forty-eight blank PCB boards and has ordered all of the electronic components for delivery scheduled in early-December. If events go according to plan, Art will receive the first assembled boards around Dec 17 and begin testing. His goal is to then turn on the PayPal coding to again allow “real ordering” for the stand-by hams and to be able to ship completed assembled boards by the end of December.
Ken W6HHC continued to do testing of the experimental set of coding for DVB-T protocol (2 MHz and 1 MHz channel-bandwidths only) that was included in the release of v1.23 software. It appears that the DVB-T receivers for 2 MHz channel-bandwidths are available from HiDes. Ken ordered a HiDes model UT-100B Tx/Rx USB unit and after some initial problems installing the BDA_Viewer software, he was able to download a newer v2.4.9.2 BDA_Viewer_plus receiver code from HiDes support that worked on Windows 10. Charles G4GUO had reported some difficulties testing DVB-T to a UT-100B receiver. Only one of his three 64-bit computers running Express_DVB_Transmitter software would allow the UT-100B to lock on his signal. Charles believes the DVB-T software is running close to the limit of the USB-2 real-world thruput limits and the software requires a fast and well-designed PC for the DVB-T transmissions to be received without problems. After resolving the HiDes issues with the upgraded software, Ken was able to have the BDA_Viewer_plus receiver lock onto the 434.000 MHz DVB-T transmission with BW=2.0 MHz on the very first test. The Windows10 computer Ken was using was a fairly new 64-bit DELL i7 CPU notebook. More receiver testing of DVB-T protocol to follow.
The HiDes UT-100B receiver immediately locked onto the DATV-Express experimental DVB-T signal on 434.000 MHz using BW=2.0MHz FEC=3/4 SR=2.2MSymb/sec and QPSK modulation.
Charles G4GUO has reported that he received a LimeSDR Tx/Rx board, but is having some driver problems installing on Windows10. His first commitment is to prototype RF Channel-simulation functions for testing receivers at microwave frequencies. This will be a difficult first project on LimeSDR board since simulating multiple reflections of the received signals quickly doubles and even x12 the size of the code and data handling needed in the FPGA. After prototyping the channel-simulator project, Charles will turn his attention to porting the DATV-Express software over to the LimeSDR hardware board. Initial alpha testing of this DATV-Express/LimeSDR software is not expected before maybe June of next year.
73…de Ken W6HHC
Ken W6HHC continued to do testing of the experimental set of coding for DVB-T protocol (2 MHz and 1 MHz channel-bandwidths only) that was included in the release of v1.23 software. It appears that the DVB-T receivers for 2 MHz channel-bandwidths are available from HiDes. Ken ordered a HiDes model UT-100B Tx/Rx USB unit and after some initial problems installing the BDA_Viewer software, he was able to download a newer v2.4.9.2 BDA_Viewer_plus receiver code from HiDes support that worked on Windows 10. Charles G4GUO had reported some difficulties testing DVB-T to a UT-100B receiver. Only one of his three 64-bit computers running Express_DVB_Transmitter software would allow the UT-100B to lock on his signal. Charles believes the DVB-T software is running close to the limit of the USB-2 real-world thruput limits and the software requires a fast and well-designed PC for the DVB-T transmissions to be received without problems. After resolving the HiDes issues with the upgraded software, Ken was able to have the BDA_Viewer_plus receiver lock onto the 434.000 MHz DVB-T transmission with BW=2.0 MHz on the very first test. The Windows10 computer Ken was using was a fairly new 64-bit DELL i7 CPU notebook. More receiver testing of DVB-T protocol to follow.
The HiDes UT-100B receiver immediately locked onto the DATV-Express experimental DVB-T signal on 434.000 MHz using BW=2.0MHz FEC=3/4 SR=2.2MSymb/sec and QPSK modulation.
Charles G4GUO has reported that he received a LimeSDR Tx/Rx board, but is having some driver problems installing on Windows10. His first commitment is to prototype RF Channel-simulation functions for testing receivers at microwave frequencies. This will be a difficult first project on LimeSDR board since simulating multiple reflections of the received signals quickly doubles and even x12 the size of the code and data handling needed in the FPGA. After prototyping the channel-simulator project, Charles will turn his attention to porting the DATV-Express software over to the LimeSDR hardware board. Initial alpha testing of this DATV-Express/LimeSDR software is not expected before maybe June of next year.
73…de Ken W6HHC