Peter ... The Soft66AD is assembled and shipped at $122. The problems are with support and documentation and drivers/software. My experience is that emails are often not answered and telephone contact is not possible and supplied drivers/software are weak, at best, for WinRad, not supplied. As for documentation, go to his website. The LD-1 appears to be a bargain at $200. I received mine today and will put it through it's paces tomorrow. May order a second one while still at $150.
--- In [email protected], "ni9n" <peg...@...> wrote: > > > Hank, the price goes up to $200 in about a week and a half. I think it's > worth that. I see that the Soft66AD costs $125, plus shipping from Japan, > but you have to put it together yourself. If you do that, I would advise you > to use better surface-mount techniques than the ones recommended on the > Soft66 website. Never, ever use a soldering iron. I like to use an electric > griddle as a hot plate, along with a Weller butane soldering iron with a hot > air blower tip. Monitor the temperature using an IR thermometer from Harbor > Freight tools. I've described some techniques that work well on my blog, but > nothing beats using a solder stencil. > > The LD-1 works quite well down to about 1 KHz, and does work at lower > frequencies but with some spurious responses due to the low LO frequency. > That could be fixed by changing the filter bands, and I might consider > offering that as an option. I can't quite tell from the Soft66AD docs > exactly what the frequency coverage is, he seems to make some claims that > don't add up, but his english makes it hard to tell. > > I do use the AD9834, the same DDS chip that he does, but I actually use two > of them. Both are programmed for the same frequency, but one is programmed > for a 90 degree phase shift relative to the other. Start them at the same > time, and you have an I / Q LO. Also, I've found a simple technique to > greatly reduce the spurs from the DDS chips. I'm keeping it close to the > vest, but it works. > > Modes like DRM are a function of the SDR host software you run on your PC. > Rocky does not do DRM, but Winrad does. Whatever radio you decide to use, > take a look at Winrad. > > > --- In [email protected], "hank smith" <hanksmith5@> wrote: > > > > will my softadh cover these same frequencies? > > also what is the normal price after your introduction? > > Hank > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "ni9n" <pegood@> > > To: <[email protected]> > > Sent: Saturday, January 23, 2010 6:11 PM > > Subject: [soft_radio] LD-1 Discussion on Garage-shoppe.com Blog > > > > > > > Thanks to those who have placed orders for or expressed interest in the > > > LD-1 software defined receiver, which I am now shipping. Two of the > > > first > > > lot of five are still available (I will be assembling them in the > > > morning, > > > so they don't show up as in stock yet) and I have just ordered parts for > > > the second lot. Those should be ready to ship later in the week. > > > > > > To recap the LD-1's features (which are fully described at > > > www.lazydogengineering.com/LD1home.htm ) it is a soundcard-based SDR like > > > the Softrock-40 and similar SDR's, but with a dual-DDS local oscillator > > > using two Analog Devices AD9834 DDS chips. It will cover the entire 530 > > > kHz to 30+ MHz range. On the low end it will probably work below 530 > > > kHz, > > > but I haven't tested it there. It may go as high as 37 MHz, but I > > > haven't > > > tried that, eiter. It is USB controlled, either from Winrad or from its > > > own stand-alone application. While I haven't done any formal performance > > > measurements, it seems very comparable to my FT-817. Except, of course, > > > being an SDR it runs rings around any conventional receiver when it comes > > > to operator convenience and agility. > > > > > > I don't want to distract from the main topic of this discussion group, so > > > I would like to encourage anyone who is interested in the LD-1, or DIY > > > surface-mount projects, small-scale product developement, ham radio > > > entrepreneurship, etc. to visit my blog at www.garage-shoppe.com. > > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------ > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > > > > >
