Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
On Tue, 2007-04-03 at 08:49 -0400, Dan McMahill wrote: al davis wrote: FM stereo generator. The broadcast ones are very expensive. You can buy one made for a lab cheap. It sort of works. A real broadcast one is simple but much more expensive. If anyone feels like building one of these, I can give some extra guidance on analog implementations and how to test some of the parameters using relatively basic instrumentation. Personally I think this is a good project for dsp though. -Dan ... or how about a FM modulation Monitor? I have the 1994(??) Elektor FM tuner (4x Toyo 10.7mHz/200kHz xtal filters in IF, 8051 synth ctl) 7/8 built in a box with a mod monitor back-end in mind. -- Greg Cunningham [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
Jason Aron wrote: Hey anyone I've been using geda for about six months and I think I'm about done with my current project (I get the final boards next week). So while I'm waiting for my boards, I'm thinking about what I'm going to do next... and I'm drawing a complete blank. Does anyone have some good ideas for me? I'm a hardware guy with lots of experience in building radios and audio systems (RF and audio). I know everybody's got a long list of projects tucked away in the back corner of a desk... Is there one that you'd like a jump-start on? Test equipment for 802.11 wireless systems? An in line SWR meter would be a good place to start. Or a converter that would let a standard HF SWR meter make measurements in the 2.4 ghz band? -- Darryl Gibson N2DIY RLU X 182668/379552 “Arms are the only true badges of liberty. The possession of arms is the distinction of a free man from a slave.” -- Andrew Fletcher, A Discourse of Government with relation to Militias (1698) ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
On Tuesday 03 April 2007 02:05, Ramakrishnan Muthukrishnan wrote: On 3/31/07, al davis [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: How about lab test equipment. There is a real need for simple stuff that is too simple to market at the high prices the big instrument companies need to charge. The kind of equipment you need in a home lab. Like Heathkit used to make. One thing I am particularly interested in, is a bench RF signal generator, may be not of the class of HP 8640. It should be able to have adjustable output frequency and level to start with. It should be easy to replicate and should use commonly available parts like DDS, 1206 parts for instance. If you look at the designs of older ones, you will see that they did it with 2 or 3 tubes. The basic design can be updated to use today's components, with significantly improved performance. Another one that could be useful is a Q-meter. It is used for measuring inductors and capacitors by resonance. ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
al davis wrote: FM stereo generator. The broadcast ones are very expensive. You can buy one made for a lab cheap. It sort of works. A real broadcast one is simple but much more expensive. If anyone feels like building one of these, I can give some extra guidance on analog implementations and how to test some of the parameters using relatively basic instrumentation. Personally I think this is a good project for dsp though. -Dan ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
On Tue, 2007-04-03 at 22:49, Dan McMahill wrote: al davis wrote: FM stereo generator. The broadcast ones are very expensive. You can buy one made for a lab cheap. It sort of works. A real broadcast one is simple but much more expensive. If anyone feels like building one of these, I can give some extra guidance on analog implementations and how to test some of the parameters using relatively basic instrumentation. Personally I think this is a good project for dsp though. -Dan By coincidence, Dan Mills, dmills__a t__exponent.myzen.co.uk, a developer of rivendell ( http://rivendellaudio.org, a suite of broadcast automation software) has written a complete software audio/RDS FM multiplexer called stereocoder a audio processor/look-ahead limiter front-end called louderbox ( borrowed from Jamin - a multiband compressor/limiter) that all runs on Jack (http://jackaudio.org - a callback based audio server). It basically spews 192kHz baseband PCM to stdout as-is. Just find a audio card that does 192kHz you're smokin... his cvs is hosted at Salem Radio Labs (watch the wrap) cvs -d:pserver:[EMAIL PROTECTED]:/home/cvs login cvs -d:pserver:[EMAIL PROTECTED]:/home/cvs co louderbox stereocoder ... but as Salem is no longer the primary sponsor of Rivendellaudio, that may change. He may also have an alternate cvs. I asked Dan some time ago if he was interested in shoehorning his coder into a Blackfin DSP, but he has moved on to other FOSS broadcast challenges. If people are interested further, I'm sure he wouldn't mind a chat. -- Greg ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
On Fri, Mar 30, 2007 at 06:54:31PM -0500, Dan McMahill wrote: I've been meaning to make a simple AM modulator with semi reasonable fidelity so I can make my sirius satellite radio play on my 1934 Atwater Kent console radio... A friend of mine with a similar idea tried one of those 1MHz can oscillator plus modulating transformer circuits and didn't get it to work. He's not an RF guy, though. Has anyone else tried one of those? -- Ben Jackson AD7GD [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.ben.com/ ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
On Friday 30 March 2007 21:32, Randall Nortman wrote: And don't forget automatic weekday/weekend adjustments. http://www.thingsyouneverknew.com/website/store/product_detail.asp?UID=2007020820322012item%5Fno=80153keyword=F1JScat%5Fkeyword=F1JSsearch%5Fpage%5Fno=page%5Fno=ltype=featWT.svl=FeaturedItem1WT.ac=FeaturedItem1 That clock advances one *day* at a time. A Sun Dial has more resolution. It is the antithesis of the Time-Nuts clock that keep time in sub parts per trillion. http://www.leapsecond.com/time-nuts.htm -- http://www.softwaresafety.net/ http://www.designer-iii.com/ http://www.unusualresearch.com/ ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
That clock advances one *day* at a time. I am going to a commune in Vermont, and will deal with no unit of time shorter than a season. ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
On Sat, 31 Mar 2007, DJ Delorie wrote: That clock advances one *day* at a time. I am going to a commune in Vermont, and will deal with no unit of time shorter than a season. That book is the best. ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
That clock advances one *day* at a time. I am going to a commune in Vermont, and will deal with no unit of time shorter than a season. That book is the best. Agreed. For those that haven't read it yet or are wondering what the heck we are talking about: The Soul of a New Machine Tracy Kidder ISBN 0-380-59931-7 This book (a 1982 Pulitzer Prize winner) documents the adventure of the design of a new Data General computer, the Eclipse. It is an amazingly well-done portrait of the hacker mindset --- although largely the hardware hacker --- done by a complete outsider. It is a bit thin in spots, but with enough technical information to be entertaining to the serious hacker while providing non-technical people a view of what day-to-day life can be like --- the fun, the excitement, the disasters. During one period, when the microcode and logic were glitching at the nanosecond level, one of the overworked engineers departed the company, leaving behind a note on his terminal as his letter of resignation: I am going to a commune in Vermont and will deal with no unit of time shorter than a season. From: http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/tech/computers/TheHackersDictionaryofComputerJargon/chap62.html -Ales ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
DJ Delorie wrote: That clock advances one *day* at a time. I am going to a commune in Vermont, and will deal with no unit of time shorter than a season. ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user From A Soul of a New Machine I was reading that book as I was developing a .5nSec time interval analyzer back in the early ninties. Could I comprehend the sentiment. ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
Does anyone have some good ideas for me? I'm a hardware guy with lots of experience in building radios and audio systems (RF and audio). A few months ago I joined a project to develop a GSM Scanner [1], at the moment we are using a USRP [2] and GnuRadio [3] software to capture and process the RF signals. The basic USRP setup is fairly expensive and even more so if you want to listen to the RX and TX channels. The project on my to-do list would be to combine some of the features of the USRP and SSRP [4], and create a cheaper receiver which is capable of capturing two ranges of frequency's at once. Robert 1. http://scratchpad.wikia.com/wiki/Gsm 2. http://www.ettus.com/ 3. http://www.gnuradio.org/ 4. http://oscar.dcarr.org/ssrp/ ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
On Friday 30 March 2007 19:24, Jason Aron wrote: I've been using geda for about six months and I think I'm about done with my current project (I get the final boards next week). So while I'm waiting for my boards, I'm thinking about what I'm going to do next... and I'm drawing a complete blank. Does anyone have some good ideas for me? I'm a hardware guy with lots of experience in building radios and audio systems (RF and audio). I know everybody's got a long list of projects tucked away in the back corner of a desk... Is there one that you'd like a jump-start on? Since you posted here, and it appears you want a hardware project, and you want to make a contribution to us How about lab test equipment. There is a real need for simple stuff that is too simple to market at the high prices the big instrument companies need to charge. The kind of equipment you need in a home lab. Like Heathkit used to make. Another real need is for the hardware side of computer instrumentation. Something like the commercial product Labview. We have most of the software. We are lacking the hardware. The first piece here would be a box that has analog inputs, like an oscilloscope, plugs into a USB, and provides a data stream that software can use. One input to one USB would be perfect. A more advanced version could sample and store a block of time, enabling higher frequencies than you could send over USB directly. Once we have this, we have a schematic program that can draw as well as Labview can, we are working on interprocess communication anyway, we are working on waveform analysis tools anyway, we have a simulator that will soon have real behavioral modeling. We would need some interface software for your board. Then we have a free/open-source alternative to Labview! ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 Robert Fitzsimons wrote: Does anyone have some good ideas for me? I'm a hardware guy with lots of experience in building radios and audio systems (RF and audio). A few months ago I joined a project to develop a GSM Scanner [1], at the moment we are using a USRP [2] and GnuRadio [3] software to capture and process the RF signals. The basic USRP setup is fairly expensive and even more so if you want to listen to the RX and TX channels. The project on my to-do list would be to combine some of the features of the USRP and SSRP [4], and create a cheaper receiver which is capable of capturing two ranges of frequency's at once. By the way: Some time ago I made a very cheap A/D converter (components cost cca. 50 EUR) that used a modified ethernet adapter on PCI bus. It had maximum 10MHz sampling frequency (TDA8703 IC) I had some problems with reliability of the FIFO buffer but I believe that would be simple so to solve. Maybe you could make something out of it. I later lost interest in software radio and didn't bother to develop this further. Best regards Tomaz -BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE- Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFGDps1sAlAlRhL9q8RApZvAJ9REa/ew03ZtkLVFmMLak7a5UwRpgCfUYfs XMHrbjHefNnSTDrzqTt2GaA= =ct8M -END PGP SIGNATURE- ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
On Mar 31, 2007, at 5:15 AM, Bob Paddock wrote: On Friday 30 March 2007 21:32, Randall Nortman wrote: And don't forget automatic weekday/weekend adjustments. http://www.thingsyouneverknew.com/website/store/product_detail.asp? UID=2007020820322012item%5Fno=80153keyword=F1JScat% 5Fkeyword=F1JSsearch%5Fpage%5Fno=page% 5Fno=ltype=featWT.svl=FeaturedItem1WT.ac=FeaturedItem1 That clock advances one *day* at a time. A Sun Dial has more resolution. It is the antithesis of the Time-Nuts clock that keep time in sub parts per trillion. http://www.leapsecond.com/time-nuts.htm This reminds me of an old joke: Kirk: Mr. Spock, what time is it? Spock: It is precisely 11:57:02.0123 AM. McCoy: It's NOON, Spock! -a ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
On Mar 31, 2007, at 10:29 AM, al davis wrote: Once we have this, we have a schematic program that can draw as well as Labview can, we are working on interprocess communication anyway, we are working on waveform analysis tools anyway, we have a simulator that will soon have real behavioral modeling. We would need some interface software for your board. Then we have a free/open-source alternative to Labview! Give me drivers for my existing NI hardware, and you've got a deal! -a ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
On Saturday 31 March 2007 14:30, Andy Peters wrote: Give me drivers for my existing NI hardware, and you've got a deal! Only if NI releases their entire design under GPL. The idea is to replace the NI hardware with free (as in GPL) hardware. ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
Randall Nortman wrote: Clock radio with ethernet I've been thinking the same thing, except the key feature I'm after is a morning alertness test: Instead of putting you through paces, it could just sense environment cues like pressure on bed, noise in room to decide to nudge you into action again. A bedroom sensor network! John G ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
Tomaz Solc wrote: By the way: Some time ago I made a very cheap A/D converter (components cost cca. 50 EUR) that used a modified ethernet adapter on PCI bus. It had maximum 10MHz sampling frequency (TDA8703 IC) I had some problems with reliability of the FIFO buffer but I believe that would be simple so to solve. Maybe you could make something out of it. I'd like to see your bill of materials and design for that Tomaz. It's the start of some ethernet labview-like gear. John Griessen ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
On Friday 30 March 2007 19:24, Jason Aron wrote: I'm a hardware guy with lots of experience in building radios and audio systems (RF and audio). I just had another idea ... Equipment for low-power FM radio. Some of these stations are on a very low budget. Commercial broadcast equipment is very expensive because of low volume. This is where the free/open-source approach, with kits for sale, has a place. Before someone else points this out . Unless you want it just to prove you can do the whole thing free/open-source, certain things like CD players don't make sense. Whether a mixing console makes sense or not depends what you want to do. If a disco or band mixed does the job, you won't beat it. The free/open-source modular approach opens up the possibility of building big ones like API makes. That would be worth doing. I see a few possibilities ... -Test equipment: modulation monitor, frequency meter. A box that tells you that your transmitter is working correctly. - signal processing, compression and limiting. You can buy one cheap that was designed for bands, but it is far from optimal for broadcast. How about a multi-band limiter for FM? (yes ... I do know how to do it.) (for the USA) .. emergency action notification system. Broadcasters need to monitor other stations for the alarm. It's just an FM radio with a little extra circuitry. How about the extra box to attach to an ordinary FM radio? FM stereo generator. The broadcast ones are very expensive. You can buy one made for a lab cheap. It sort of works. A real broadcast one is simple but much more expensive. ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
Jason Aron wrote: Hey anyone I've been using geda for about six months and I think I'm about done with my current project (I get the final boards next week). So while I'm waiting for my boards, I'm thinking about what I'm going to do next... and I'm drawing a complete blank. Does anyone have some good ideas for me? I'm a hardware guy with lots of experience in building radios and audio systems (RF and audio). I know everybody's got a long list of projects tucked away in the back corner of a desk... Is there one that you'd like a jump-start on? Let me know Jason hardware project or a hacking geda project? I've been meaning to make a simple AM modulator with semi reasonable fidelity so I can make my sirius satellite radio play on my 1934 Atwater Kent console radio... But of course I started going overboard on features. I should probably cut out the PLL tuning and all and just drop back to a number of active devices I can count on my fingers and be done with it Lets see, I need an amp for the bass guitar. Been meaning to do that. For software projects, we have quite a list right now! See www.geda.seul.org/gsoc/ -Dan ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
I know everybody's got a long list of projects tucked away in the back corner of a desk... Is there one that you'd like a jump-start on? Clock radio with ethernet (ntp, remote alarm set, wake up to mp3s, etc). Mine is a couple of decades old, time for an upgrade. ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
On Fri, Mar 30, 2007 at 09:05:06PM -0400, DJ Delorie wrote: I know everybody's got a long list of projects tucked away in the back corner of a desk... Is there one that you'd like a jump-start on? Clock radio with ethernet (ntp, remote alarm set, wake up to mp3s, etc). Mine is a couple of decades old, time for an upgrade. I've been thinking the same thing, except the key feature I'm after is a morning alertness test: to turn off the alarm, you have to play a game of simon, repeating some random pattern on four buttons, or maybe even doing some math or something. The point of all that is that I too often turn off the alarm without ever becoming fully awake, and something like that would force my brain to wake up a bit. And don't forget automatic weekday/weekend adjustments. ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
[snip] And don't forget automatic weekday/weekend adjustments. While we are at it, it should make good toast and it should include a built-in e-mail client. grin :) -Ales ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
While we are at it, it should make good toast and it should include a built-in e-mail client. grin :) Or at least, an LCD display with your day's schedule and weather report. ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
how about an adjustment based on weather. That way if I'm planning on doing the 2 mile hike into my favorite fishing spot I won't be woken up at 4:30 if its raining hard! Ok, so we need something that can run embedded linux (or other OS), with LCD, ethernet, audio. A gumstix can do all that, with a little support circuitry. It makes for an expensive clock radio, though. More fun would be a minimal clock radio, and use a PC to make all the smart decisions. Tiny MCU (pic, m16c), tiny ethernet (cp2200), mp3 chip, and LED display. Use PoE and avoid the power cord, too. ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
Have a numeric keypad for setting the alarm time. I don't want to have to use a computer to set the alarm, hence the local keypad. I hate holding the buttons to loop through time. Steve On Mar 30, 2007, at 6:45 PM, DJ Delorie wrote: how about an adjustment based on weather. That way if I'm planning on doing the 2 mile hike into my favorite fishing spot I won't be woken up at 4:30 if its raining hard! Ok, so we need something that can run embedded linux (or other OS), with LCD, ethernet, audio. A gumstix can do all that, with a little support circuitry. It makes for an expensive clock radio, though. More fun would be a minimal clock radio, and use a PC to make all the smart decisions. Tiny MCU (pic, m16c), tiny ethernet (cp2200), mp3 chip, and LED display. Use PoE and avoid the power cord, too. ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
Have a numeric keypad for setting the alarm time. And since we're all geeks, you only need two buttons anyway. Or one, if you know morse code. ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
think of the other person in your bed... On Mar 30, 2007, at 7:09 PM, DJ Delorie wrote: Have a numeric keypad for setting the alarm time. And since we're all geeks, you only need two buttons anyway. Or one, if you know morse code. ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
think of the other person in your bed... She has her own alarm clock. ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: Looking for a project
On Mar 30, 2007, at 10:09 PM, DJ Delorie wrote: Have a numeric keypad for setting the alarm time. And since we're all geeks, you only need two buttons anyway. Or one, if you know morse code. --. . . -.- ! -- Dave McGuire Port Charlotte, FL ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
