Re: [Elecraft] XV144 transverter firmware
Hi Bob, Thanks again for your quick response, don't know if you're part of the Elecraft team, if yes then congrats for that, excellent products with like everywhere some deficiencies to be corrected. One of these into your XVxxx transverters are the local oscillators which these days are out of scope of the actual technologies, specially due the digital modulations requiring much more stability than a single XTAL (even equipped with a heater). I'm going to replace the Xtal oscillator of my XV144 with a clean 116MHZ PLL synced 10MHZ, place a small smd PAT-2+ or 3+ (2 or 3db depending of my stock) pad behind the mixer LO input as I'm not sure the 50Z adaptation is perfect, and adjust the LO level at its maximum between 17 to 20dbm according the mixer datasheet to increase the IP3 to the max possible with this ADEX-10H mixer. I know these transverters have been designed many years ago for the k2 line, may be now it's time to revamp them a bit with some new technologies to improve their performances at a level of some other competitive products. For me the main advantage of these transverters is the interfacing/switching management within the k3 line and the nice packaging within the line but the RF performances are becoming a bit obsolete. Best 73's Pierre-Francois, F5BQP Le 05/07/2015 07:20, Robert Friess a écrit : Rev 1.6E is the latest firmware. 73, Bob, N6CM On Sat, Jul 4, 2015 at 10:03 PM, Pierre-François (f5bqp_pfm) pfmo...@wanadoo.fr mailto:pfmo...@wanadoo.fr wrote: Hi the Group, What is the latest firmware revision of the processor (PIC 16F872/1 SP) which is located on the front board of the XV144 transverter? The transverter I got has a PIC 16F872/1 SP with a sticker XV1.60E and the RF Board (main board) is Rev C , I guess it's a pretty old transverter. Should I upgrade the firmware located in the PIC to a newer rev if there is one and what enhencements it would bring? Thanks in advance for your repplies. Best 73's Pierre-Francois, F5BQP -- __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to rfri...@usa.net mailto:rfri...@usa.net -- __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] XV144 transverter firmware
Hi Don, Thanks for your response Don, the design of these XV transverters which have been done many years ago for the k2 line is something I understand perfectly. Since this time the technology has moved up, this is the reason why I decided to improve mine. However once more the design of the packaging (flat, light, pretty... ) and the integration into the k2/k3 line is excellent, this daisy-chaining is perfect, avoiding externally complex and ugly cabling. The shame is there is no 23cm transverter into this XV line, probably I'll integrate one of my 23cm transverters into an XV144 I'll depopulate keeping the IF and control logic parts. My goal is to replace my IC910H (2m/70cm/23cm) with the k3 plus XV series, but with improved performances. You're doing an excellent job guys (Elecraft team), continue going up, we love this. Best 73's Pierre-Francois, F5BQP Le 05/07/2015 17:44, Don Wilhelm a écrit : Pierre-Francois, Bob Friess N6CM *is* the designer of the XV series of Elecraft transverters, and the RF sections of many other Elecraft products. He is an excellent RF engineer. Your comments on the limitations of the XV series transverters are well taken, but decisions regarding upgrading the designs must be considered with respect to the product volumes and the engineering resources available. 73, Don W3FPR On 7/5/2015 3:08 AM, Pierre-François (f5bqp_pfm) wrote: Hi Bob, Thanks again for your quick response, don't know if you're part of the Elecraft team, if yes then congrats for that, excellent products with like everywhere some deficiencies to be corrected. -- __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] XV144
-- Message: 16 Date: Sun, 05 Jul 2015 14:14:52 -0800 From: Edward R Colekl...@acsalaska.net To:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] XV144 transverter firmware Message-ID:201507052214.t65mer70028...@mail41c28.carrierzone.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Pierre-Francois, F5BQP: Substituting the xtal LO with a PLL will solve the frequency drift issue. One caveat is making sure the PLL has low phase-noise as that affects ability to handle strong adjacent frequency signals when trying to copy weak signals (which is why you are using JT65). One of the shining parameters of the K3 design. I had DEMI transverters long before I acquired my K3/10 (and KX3) so have continued to use them. I have heated xtal osc on 144 and 222 but use a PLL on 432, 1296, and 3400 MHz. Recent re-design by DEMI has improved xtal LO frequency stability while the xtal oscillator has excellent phase-noise performance. I see about 7 to 10 Hz drift on the 101 to 194 MHz xtal oscillators in the new L-series of DEMI transverters. But LO's for higher bands multiply the xtal oscillator frequency which also multiplies drift. For 432 and higher I found using the N5AC ApolLO PLL's worked well in DEMI transverters. The N5AC Apol series is not the lowest in phase-noise so that could be a real concern for those doing VHF-plus in high density RF environments. So one should consider phase-noise when deciding on a PLL. W1GHZ has a new VCXO design that exhibits lower noise than a PLL. Of course this is for the experimenter ham who DIY. I do think there will be a increasing use of PLL in VHF and higher equipment due to demands of digital modes and need for better frequency stability on the higher bands. One issue is the need for an external 10-MHz reference. That is not hard to embed into current equipment. I did that for a 432-MHz transverter customer. 73, Ed - KL7UW http://www.kl7uw.com Kits made by KL7UW Dubus Mag business: dubus...@gmail.com Hi Ed, For this improvement I've an EXCELLENT PLVCXO 116MHz which is used intensively in Eu by microwavers, the PN is excellent, even more, I've measured it very recently with an APPH AnaPico source analyser ( www.anapico.com ) . I'm going to build an external enclosure box where I'll include the 116MHz LO for the XV144, the 404MHz LO for the XV432 and a small internal 10MHz distribution amplifier . I'll not remove the existing LO of the XVs, just two SMB bulkhead on the back panel for the in/out LO (SMA are too large for the remaining space), so it would be possible with a small smb jumper to come back to the original LO. There is not enough space inside the XV box to include the PLLCXO without depopulating the initial oscillator, and I don't want to do it. Will need to know the RAL paint number of the XV enclosures, if someone knows it I will appreciate. I would have preferred a XV empty enclosure but I doubt I could purchase one to ELECRAFT so I'll repaint my own enclosure (will not purchase another XV just for the box... Lol...) Concerning the 10MHz most of my radio equipment are driven with the same GPSDO 10MHz distributed from the cellar to the tower for microwave transverters going to be installed soon on the tower itself and to the shack for the radios. The lab has another GPSDO or a rubidium PRS10. Best 73's Pierre-Francois, F5BQP -- __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
[Elecraft] XV144 transverter firmware
Hi the Group, What is the latest firmware revision of the processor (PIC 16F872/1 SP) which is located on the front board of the XV144 transverter? The transverter I got has a PIC 16F872/1 SP with a sticker XV1.60E and the RF Board (main board) is Rev C , I guess it's a pretty old transverter. Should I upgrade the firmware located in the PIC to a newer rev if there is one and what enhencements it would bring? Thanks in advance for your repplies. Best 73's Pierre-Francois, F5BQP -- __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
