Although I have built and use real DSP-10, 2-meter RF hardware, the simplicity and flexibility of my ICOM 706 radio for use with DSP-10 software is intruiging. Would'nt it be nice to have the ICOM 706 radio cover all of HF and 2 meters (the IIG model also covers 70 cm) with those neat DSP-10 weak-signal modes?
The initial plan is to start out with an unmodified 706 and feed its unprocessed audio output into an EZKIT running Bob Larkin's(W7PUA)DSP-10 code. In this case, the EZKIT operates in "AUDIO" mode. The EZKIT is connected to a host computer running Linux. A GUI program running on the Linux system then controls both the ICOM and the EZKIT via serial ports. The Linux program include the usual waterfall display and radio command functions. DSP-10 weak signal modes such as LTI, EME2, PUA43, and LHL is available for use with the standard ICOM 706 radio -- probably more useful for VHF/UHF weak-signal work.
Eventually, further improvements to the ICOM 706 is planned:
--downconverting the IF signal via a robust mixer to improve dynamic range and cleanup of harmonic distortion,
--improving frequency stability ... Presently I use the high-stability oscillator option, however, the intention is to PLL this high-stability oscillator to my Z3801A GPS-disciplined 10MHz reference.
Presently I use a 2.3GHz P4 machine running Redhat 4 Enterprise Linux and Gtk+ 2.x as my code development platform --- a crude control program is already working as shown below. This setup requires two serial interfaces: one for communication with the DSP module (an EZ-KIT 2181) and the other for communication with the ICOM 706 radio through a home-made CI-V serial interface with PTT control.
Here's using my ICOM 706MKII as a HF/VHF frontend with the DSP-10 DSP module (Narrow passband, 500Hz CW crystal filter) 14.100 MHz beacons and other RTTY activity
Status as of 04/02/2005.
-- CIV control of IC706 completed.
-- CW buffer, Beacon mode, and CW keyboard fully functional. One-line display below toolbar.
-- CW transmission functional.
-- Activated NTP time sinchronization at login time.
-- UTC time clock added.
To be done next.
-- Major housekeeping.
-- PUA43 implementation.
73, de KC7WW.
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