Pic Programming ? Upgrade old radios?

[kc4umo]

Was wondering if anyone here has got into pic programming and design? Last year I ordered some chips and a couple of programmers. Pickit 2 and a clone. A good friend of mine got me interested in this and sent me some proto type boards he designed. Before I got the schematics he passed away. So now I am on my own. 

There were a couple of projects I was looking at doing.
Replace the standard VFO in a Siltronix 1011C. (Maybe others as well)
Frequency generator to use on work bench.

This is just a couple of things I am looking at doing. I have not gotten far in my learning yet though.
There are so many more things I could do but these would be fun.

[N8YX]

Jerry and Paul had a thread about this, IIRC...

[N1LAF]

We should resurrect this, but maybe at a more technical forum. PICs are dirt cheap, and the DDS chips would make a great pair.

Speaking of... I have a 1011D that needs to be worked on, alignment-wise...

[kc4umo]

Jerry and Paul had a thread about this, IIRC...

Cool I will look for it.


We should resurrect this, but maybe at a more technical forum. PICs are dirt cheap, and the DDS chips would make a great pair.

Speaking of... I have a 1011D that needs to be worked on, alignment-wise...

Yes I like to see a technical thread of microchips and radio combined. There seems to be endless ideas on how to use them in radio hobbies.
I have both the 1011C and D. My plans was to install this and set it to give 500kc steps starting at 28 MHz.
These radios are easy to work on if you can get rid of the drift.

[N1LAF]

Cool I will look for it.



Yes I like to see a technical thread of microchips and radio combined. There seems to be endless ideas on how to use them in radio hobbies.
I have both the 1011C and D. My plans was to install this and set it to give 500kc steps starting at 28 MHz.
These radios are easy to work on if you can get rid of the drift.

Continuous tuning output from 28.000 Mhz to 29.000 Mhz with fine resolution of 0.2 Hz may be possible.

VFO output 22.5 Mhz to 23.5 Mhz for the 28Mhz to 29 Mhz range.
Auto-detect of LSB/USB/AM selection/offsets
Programmable display offset, so it can be used on other radios as well. The display offset can be stored in the PIC EEPROM user memory.

[X-Rated]

Actually, there is a ham at MicroChip. N7HPR. He did a lot of work on SuitSat.

Paul is right. Much of the stuff we had discussed earlier was about PLD's. Basically doing everything in hardware and no real program. That is a bit on the pricy side and the BGA's are beyond what most hams have the equipment to use.

I suck at programming. I can only get better.

[N1LAF]

I have practical experience in programming PICs with serial port interface, SPI interface, and digital display outputs, so the PIC part of this is pretty straight forward. The AD9834 will probably be a good pick for this little project.

Design with a virtual ground, so the unit can be used with negative or positive power supplies (Siltronix uses -12 VDC in the VFO chamber).

Opto-iso for serial interface. Encoder will have to be programmed in. Switch inputs for USB/LSB/AM freq shift. Switch for selecting display offset, and push button to save display offset.

I'll have to look at this a little bit more to nail down the circuit.

[X-Rated]

You need to have an I2C to be able to SPI on others.

[NQ6U]

I'm not saying you shouldn't pursue this but it seems like PICs are losing out in favor of RaspberryPi and Arduino these days.

[kc4umo]

Nice comments all. There is a lot to learn at what can be done here and I have only just started the learning process. I think this will be a good discussion here unlike some other forums I asked on.


I'm not saying you shouldn't pursue this but it seems like PICs are losing out in favor of RaspberryPi and Arduino these days.

Point taken.
One think I learned from the EEVblog is to stay away from Arduino type platforms. Not that there is anything wrong with one that wants to use them. Only that it was said that they are sort of plug and play if you will and you really learn nothing in the process. Remember I am only going by what a few "Engineers” stated. And not to say one day I may not try them myself.

I do know my friend that passed away was very successful with his designs.
However I am always open minded and take in any information available since I am a noob to all this.

[X-Rated]

...they are sort of plug and play if you will and you really learn nothing in the process.....

Exactly. You need to know what you want to do. If you want to learn more in the process, get your own PIC processor or something along those lines from any of their competitors and build it to your specifications. The Arduino is more of an entire system that is somewhat configurable to what you want it to be. But I don't know your preferences. With me, I need baby steps. I am a slow learner. You need to know what kind of project you are willing to undertake. But I think going with an Arduino type project would be faster and easier and bigger.

Professionally, I match crystals to uP's and uC's so if you are interested in a perfect clock on your baby, I have all the answers there no matter what you use.

[N1LAF]

I'm not saying you shouldn't pursue this but it seems like PICs are losing out in favor of RaspberryPi and Arduino these days.

Raspberry and Arduino are system boards. PIC will reduce component count and complexity

[N1LAF]

You need to have an I2C to be able to SPI on others.

PIC has RS232, RS422, SPI, and I2C

[N1LAF]

Jerry, we need a 75 Mhz clock oscillator.. have one in mind?

[X-Rated]

PIC has RS232, RS422, SPI, and I2C

I was hoping to get a roll going on the puns. It didn't take off. Like I was saying "You need to have an eye to see to be able to spy on others", but Eddie and Carl and the likes didn't chime in.

Bummed.

[N1LAF]

Siltronix 1011D VFO segment...

http://paulfelgate.com/ragchewnet/Siltronix_1011D_VFO_sm.jpg

[X-Rated]

Jerry, we need a 75 Mhz clock oscillator.. have one in mind?

http://global.kyocera.com/prdct/electro/product/timing/clock.html

We have different sizes of clock oscillators. I think our sales rep is JE Boeing Company for your area.

73 Princeton St., Unit 213
North Chelmsford, MA 01863
TEL: 978-251-1300
FAX: 978-251-3533

I don't really handle the oscillators. The oscillators are pretty much plug and play. I do the crystals. We are sampling 114MHz crystals now that are at the fundamental frequency. Yeah. They say we can go to 150MHz fundamental now. I am freaking.

So do you want a complete oscillator or a crystal?

[X-Rated]

Siltronix 1011D VFO segment...

http://paulfelgate.com/ragchewnet/Siltronix_1011D_VFO_sm.jpg

Turn that baby into a general coverage rig.

[kc4umo]

Turn that baby into a general coverage rig.


Fascinating!

[K7SGJ]

I was hoping to get a roll going on the puns. It didn't take off. Like I was saying "You need to have an eye to see to be able to spy on others", but Eddie and Carl and the likes didn't chime in.

Bummed.


IC what you did there. It's crystal clear, fundamentally speaking.

[X-Rated]

IC what you did there. It's crystal clear, fundamentally speaking.

I'll have to ship you guys off on the RS232 Minnow with the Skipper and Gilligan.

[K7SGJ]

I'll have to ship you guys off on the RS232 Minnow with the Skipper and Gilligan.


That's sure to have radical overtones.

[X-Rated]

They're always odd.

[kc4umo]

http://www.pongrance.com/super-dds.html

Check that out. Looks super cool

[K7SGJ]

http://www.pongrance.com/super-dds.html

Check that out. Looks super cool

I've built one of those and it works great. A lot of bang for the buck.

[kc4umo]

I've built one of those and it works great. A lot of bang for the buck.

Going to have to get one of those. Even if I only use it to make a generator out of. Just yesterday I needed a 31 MHz signal to test a circuit with. And it did not like the signal from my IFR 1200.

[K7SGJ]

Going to have to get one of those. Even if I only use it to make a generator out of. Just yesterday I needed a 31 MHz signal to test a circuit with. And it did not like the signal from my IFR 1200.

That's what I use mine for. I originally bought it to use as a second VFO for my TS-530, but I'm selling that.

[N1LAF]

I will be posting this in one place. Specification development is in progress, block diagram coming soon....

(LINK) Siltronix 1011D VFO Project (http://ragchewnet.forumotion.com/t86-vfo-using-pic-and-dds-for-siltronix-1011d)

[kc4umo]

I will be posting this in one place. Specification development is in progress, block diagram coming soon....

(LINK) Siltronix 1011D VFO Project (http://ragchewnet.forumotion.com/t86-vfo-using-pic-and-dds-for-siltronix-1011d)

Interesting. Cant wait to see this.

[NY4Q]

Ever heard of a "Pic-A-Star" rig? My elmer WA4GEG has built and operates one. The vid below is of one.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aBpvBqA1Vw

More info :

http://www.carnut.info/singleboard/Ver_B/singlestar_B.htm

[W7XF]

<snip>I have a 1011D that needs to be worked on, alignment-wise...<snip>

Aligning that boatanchor can probably be accomplished at your neighbourhood Pep Boys. :rofl:

[N8YX]

N4YG offers a neat replacement DDS VFO for the Drake 4 and 7 line radios. I'll post details of what I'm up to with that stuff a bit later.

[NY4Q]

I built this DDS-VFO and it's rock solid. I used it to keep a TS-830S (was my main rig) in check for a couple of years.

http://www.wa1ffl.com/

[kc4umo]

Appreciate every ones input on this.
Been very busy here over the last couple of weeks. Then another project came along that I am working on.
many years ago an older friend of mine (K4SKI) sold his old radios and decided to back out of the hobby for a bit. He really hated that he had done that. Took me a few years to find his radios but when I did I purchased them. Called him up and said please come down to the shop, got something for you to see. When he arrived I showed him the radios. A Swan 500 and 500CX.

He looked and said those look like the ones I had. I said they are now open your trunk and take them home. He was quite delighted. That was 25 years ago, give or take.

Mr. Wells was quite a guy and loved radio. Later he fell ill and could not work on them anymore. He had a problem with the course load on the CX and had his grandson which is a ham to look at it. Doing this time Charlie’s condition got worse. He ended up in a nursing home and the family sold off all his belongings.

The grandson called me and wanted me to come over and look at some stuff. Sure enough there were the 2 Swan radios. Told me he wanted me to have these radios. Since his grandfather told him the story many years ago how he was reunited with them.
I am in the process of fully restoring them.