Connecting an SDR Radio to the IC-R7000 Communications Receiver IF output

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As a part of my Hydrogen Line radio telescope project, I'm doing some initial experiments using an SDR connected to the R7000 IF output.
Most SETI projects have a two way receiver/processing chain: 1) Measuring the noise output level straight at AF level, using a strip chart (or equivalent software) while doing a frequency scan around 1420Mhz and 2) Using a spectrum analyzer to display a wider band sweep.
My idea is to use the SDR as a 'spectrum analyzer' at the IF output, saving me from having to buy a real analyzer. The SDR may not have the same sensitivity as a real spectrum analyzer, however that might be solved by adding more gain earlier in the RF chain.
The SDR I'm using is the Afedri NET SDR along with a tailored version of the well-known CuteSDR software. The Afedri has quite good sensitivity and a preamp that produces up to 35dB gain. Also, it provides more than 1MHz RX bandwidth, which should be enough in regards to watching the hydrogen line.
Enjoy!
Cheers

Опубликовано:

7 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 23

@OZ1LQO 2 года назад

Update: I finished the project, but not in any impressive way. My close friend and fellow radio amateur who helped me build a horn antenna unfortunately passed away, so suddenly I had no space to set it up (I was based in a small apartment at the time, he lived at a farm..). I managed one test run, and the system was functional, but I lacked instruments to finetune, and verify, the RF performance. This have now changed. I relocated, have much more space, I built my own lab at home, SDR's are much more powerful these days, AND I found a decent rectangular (calibrated) horn which will perform better than the somewhat rudimentary first one. I've put a couple pictures on my instagram @oz1lqo and will be posting progress there, until I have enough material for a follow-up video. I just posted a couple pictures there, for you to see how it ended up :) There, you can also see pictures from when I tested my LNA, after 8 years of hibernation. Best 73 :)

@joefish6091 Год назад

Condolences on your friends passing.

@joefish6091 Год назад

The MSi.SDR Panadapter clones 12bit ADC blue ones are nice. nice price too. $40 two years ago. works with SDRUNO (I bought and own a SDRplay RSPdx). Its amazing a radio collection grows... FRG8800, two R7000 (one repaired, one to be), three RTLSDR (one out on loan), one MSi.SDR, one RSPdx. assorted old scanners repaired modded and working.

@OZ1LQO 11 лет назад

Short comment on this - it turns out that the 10.7MHz remnant is still there, even when switching the R7000 radio OFF.. So it's not something the radio produces. This is good news and valuable information when I finally get to use this in my telescope setup :)

@joefish6091 Год назад

SDRs produce phantom signals. good news for SETI peoples looking for funding ;)

@SCzxjk 4 года назад

10k views 28 likes LIKE THE VIDEO PEOPLE🙄 Great video man!

@OZ1LQO 4 года назад

Thanks ☺️

@VA7LFD 2 года назад

What is the green/red led in signal meter?

@Petr-ih2gf 10 лет назад

Hi, I was wondering if you have made any progress on your Radio Astronomy project ? I have the same radio being used with a SDR (RF Space IQ) but have found the 10.7 MHZ I.F output to be lacking in sensitivity when tuning to 1420Mhz.

@OZ1LQO 2 года назад

I just posted an update comment :)

@XRinger 10 лет назад

Here's a link to some RA with cheap SDRs. www.rtl-sdr.com/category/radio-astronomy-2/ Seems like you could skip the Icom and just use a well designed LNA with a $20 dongle. I lost my old DownEast LNA to some kind of lighting EMP or direct hit in the area. It was at the feedpoint of a 10.5' dish (old TVRO C-band). Before the LNA got blasted, I could actually see the s-meter move and hear the noise level increase on @1420 mHz.. Made some pretty hydrogen line plots. Crazy thing was when I cranked the elevation too high, and a small tree limb (bunch of leafs 50' up) would get in the 'beam', I could hear the noise from the limb! Also when I lowered the dish down low so it was pointing at the chimney on my house. Those things make noise, just like the sun, or the galactic core. I have still the Icom R8500 with a cut AGC (no s-meter), but the dish is gone now. The LNA was rated at 0.35 db NF.. May it RIP.. :( My old Dish mount is still in use, tracking the sun with 500w of solar panels.. Cheers, Rich

@OZ1LQO 10 лет назад

Richard, since this vid I've been playing a lot around with the RTL dongle, I plan to use it standalone with my LNA this spring (GNU-Radio to do the signal analysis). Cheers

@XRinger 10 лет назад

OZ1LQO Nice! Good luck with your RA project. I'm wishing that I still have my old dish.. I opened up my DownEast LNA last week and saw the 12Vdc input was toast. Replaced the power parts and Wow! It's working again. I connected it (the LNA) to a small 1090 mHz antenna, and I can now track airplanes with ADS-B, using RTL1090 software, using Globe-S for my 'radar' display. I have a pretty amazing range down towards NYC and up into central Maine. ~~ When I was doing RA, I found that listening to hams talking on 1296 mHz EME is a neat way to check RA equipment. Mostly the use code (CW) but a few use SSB. I did not want to hear GPS sats, so I used a LHCP ant setup. My feed was RHCP, aimed into the Dish=LHCP. (mirror effect) It was a 3.5 turn Helix and worked really well with my old TVRO dish. The RFI from GPS was cut way down. Near 20 dB I think.. I was lucky to be able to use a network analyzer to set the 50 ohm match. That feed was good for a 300 mHz bandwidth, centered at 1420 mHz. The Helix is a wonderful antenna and makes a great dish feed. I just went out to the garage and found it. Took a pic.. It's got spiderwebs all over it.. Kinda sad.. Take care, Rich

@joefish6091 Год назад

I would go with a MSi.SDR dongle (12bit ADC 10MHz bandwidth) the 40usd one, the 20usd ones (8bit ADC 2MHz bandwidth) are a little too cheap for sensitive work. RTL ones are fine for city DXing. lots of signals with good power.

@cuilitang 11 лет назад

Thanks! Great! Can this Adedri SDR + receiver controlling scheme and software be used with any other ICOM receivers like ICOM R71R, ICOM R75, or ICOM IC718? Though modifications are required for DRM.

@joaopedroneto1926 3 года назад

why do you need to use the ICOM? why not only the SDR? what do you get by using both? Just trying to understand! ;)

@OZ1LQO 3 года назад

Hi, well my SDR back then didn't cover the frequency directly, so I used the Icom as a low-noise and frequency stable down converter. Today, I would definitely have used an SDR at the frequency, with a decent LNA in front. :-) Cheers

@joaopedroneto1926 3 года назад

@@OZ1LQO Thank you for the answer! Did you finish the project of radio telescope?

@624radicalham 2 года назад

@@OZ1LQO You never answer the question that people keep asking you. It's been 8 years. Did you ever finish the project of your radio telescope? I can't imagine how hard it is to answer that

@OZ1LQO 2 года назад

@@624radicalham You're right. Life takes its twist and turns, I just posted an update. Best 73 :)

@624radicalham 2 года назад

@@OZ1LQO Ah that's awesome thanks so much! Looking forward to see as I'm just beginning to explore this area for home projects and SETI's website was the one that mentioned the Icom R7000. I do own an Icom 7300 but doesn't go high enough in frequency, and would do an SDR but keeping it old school is fun. 73!

@OZ1LQO 11 лет назад

Hi, as long as there is an IF output, I see no reason why not. If there isn't an IF output, you have to dig it out yourself, unfortunately. Cheers