Thumbing thru my latest copy of QST magazine and the article about this transceiver caught my attention. My initial reaction to most of these contest winners is they are of doubtful reproducibility.
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| August 2012 QST |
But what caught my attention was the author said there was a file with “source code”. I have just recently replaced the old RADIO RANCH’s ca. 2003 Gateways old cow laptop with a nice new HP. In that process I reinstalled all my software including various drafting and engineering software. In the course of that I re-installed the MPLAB PIC Programming environment.
I noticed that you can now get “Free” C compilers for those little chips. But when I tried to compile a simple C program it kept failing for various issues: FATAL ERROR, COMPILE FAILED xxx.h File not found.
So after about an hour or so I gave up that idea of programming in C and happily went about compiling some of my old PIC targets such as my M620 Transceiver.
I noticed that you can now get “Free” C compilers for those little chips. But when I tried to compile a simple C program it kept failing for various issues: FATAL ERROR, COMPILE FAILED xxx.h File not found.
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| D'oh ...where the hell is the ANYKEY?!? |
So after about an hour or so I gave up that idea of programming in C and happily went about compiling some of my old PIC targets such as my M620 Transceiver.
It occurred to me that this software may be in C? If so that author may be willing (or tricked) to help me with my setup issues…a little sneaky I’ll admit but it seemed worth a shot. So I went about downloading the info from the ARRL website:
So straight away, I went to the DSP610 PIC Code../main.c and got the following useful information:
**********************************************************************
*
* FileName: main.c
* Dependencies: Header (.h) files if applicable, see below
* Processor: PIC18F45K22
* Compiler: MPLAB C318 v3.39 or higher
*
*
* REVISION HISTORY:
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Author Date Comments on this revision
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*
* Jim Veatch 10/13/11 Initial Release
*
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* ADDITIONAL NOTES:
* GP Code for the DSP-610 Trancsiever
**********************************************************************/
Off to the MPLAB Site and got the latest compiler and pointed it to the project file Mr. Veatch was also so kind to provide as well…after a little futzing and setting the directories etc….
It compiles the whole thing SUCESSFULLY!
.jpg) |
| Found it! |
Wow, that is cool. Now we can do some cool things on the RR with this. Hummm..what else did he put in there? I see a more code for DSP, diagrams, BOM , and a copy of the article. Hey wait, he says there is a PRINTED CIRCUIT Board for this radio? $20? And…BOM for $200? Wait, didn’t we need a 6M + 10M radio?
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| Everything you need is in there.. |
OK so I went and got on the list for the circuit board, $20 bucks and maybe I’ll want build it some day and the PCB will no longer be there…
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| Item #114 - 1 down 135 parts to go! |
It arrived…TODAY!
Next, PARTS
Stay tuned.
KJ4OXO,
ReplyDeleteI am in the process of building the same radio I have almost all the parts. I think the $200.00 was a bit low should include things like taxes and shipping. I fully expected to go over $200.00 I will provide a true price after I collected all my parts. From one of the vendors I only need approximately $5 in parts but the order minimum is $20. The chassis or enclosure appeared to have been done professionally. If was not I plan to have it done by a vendor because I do not have the equipment to cut or bend aluminium.
Hey Antwong!
ReplyDeleteSure, I always take these build contest rigs with about a pound of salt! BUT most Definately keep me posted on your progress. We would be really interested in your project and progress.
I did a survey of the BOM and will post the results of that.
Yeah, the chassis is a whole new thing. I have done a few that turned out pretty well. I am thinking of bending some sheet metal for the box but have and idea on fabricating a front panel with a CNC machine...It will look real mil-spec. with recessed keys. I will post the design soon.
Who knows we may have a VA -> CA QSO on these things one day?
Cheers!
Steve, KD6VKF
(BTW - I used to live in Annandale, VA many years ago)
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI sort of stumbled onto your site to confess that there are some tricks in getting the BOM under $200 but even if you have to spend more, I hope that you feel like you are getting your $$$ worth. That said builders may be able to save a few bucks by Hamfesting which isn't allowed under contest rules.
Here is a like to the DSP-610 Wiki
https://sites.google.com/site/dsp610constuction/
where I'm trying to gather up info that's not in the QST package by answering questions, posting photos and other info.
Feel free to as any questions that you have along the way and I don't mind gripes and I'll try to help out where I can.
73's & Happy Building,
Jim WA2EUJ
Thanks Jim! I don't think I will have any trouble, other than finding time, to build your radio! I suspect it will take several months to put it all together. I have some parts trickling in now. I am putting this into a 1U rack chassis so I only really need to get the front panel fabricated. I did a 20M Tranceiver that way and it worked out just fine.
ReplyDeleteCheck in again someday, hopefully I will have some progress to show for it.
73 DE KD6VKF
I know I'm late to the party, but after finding the board I bought several years ago, I'm anxious to see about getting the parts. The worry that the board would be unavailable in the future seems to be unfounded since it is still listed as available. The Si570 is not available from km5h.softrockradio.org and there is not enough information in the BOM to get it from someplace else. The PIC does not seem to be available anymore. Don't know enough to see if another would be suitable. The first cap I checked was not $0.012, but closer to $0.12. Hopefully the rest of the BOM doesn't have the same inflation. Anybody able to offer some assistance?
ReplyDeleteBob