Hi Andy

It nice to hear from you and your better health. Hope all is good now.

73

Ken VA3ABN

On Sun, Oct 15, 2023, 4:04 p.m. g6lbq via <ah.electronics=[email protected]> wrote:

Hi Hans

I am feeling much better now and I appreciate your interest in my Irwell HF Transceiver.

Regarding the PCB Gerber files I have not made them available as yet and at this stage it would not be wise to post them as the project is not finished.

Having said that if you are interested in making a start on the transceiver I may have PCB's available.

Currently the receiver is working very well as a dual conversion superhet, progress is being made on the transmitter side and I hope to have all the modules completed over the next few months.

So for now you can build a high performance communications receiver and add the transmit modules once they are ready. It should be noted that this is a big project and not something that can be built in a couple of weekends but the reward at the end is a communications receiver or transceiver that should give many years of service and pleasure.

Whilst I am confident in the project I would ask any potential builder to accept that at this stage the project should be considered experimental until it is finished and been on the air!

I have updated the blog with a NEW post regarding some of the modules and I will next do a post about the software so stay tuned for that.

Hans if you would like to consider building the project or at least making a start on it please drop me a direct email.

Soon I will get the documentation in the group updated as I am behind with this.

Regards

Andy G6LBQ.

Hi Hans

I am feeling much better now and I appreciate your interest in my Irwell HF Transceiver.

Regarding the PCB Gerber files I have not made them available as yet and at this stage it would not be wise to post them as the project is not finished.

Having said that if you are interested in making a start on the transceiver I may have PCB's available.

Currently the receiver is working very well as a dual conversion superhet, progress is being made on the transmitter side and I hope to have all the modules completed over the next few months.

So for now you can build a high performance communications receiver and add the transmit modules once they are ready. It should be noted that this is a big project and not something that can be built in a couple of weekends but the reward at the end is a communications receiver or transceiver that should give many years of service and pleasure.

Whilst I am confident in the project I would ask any potential builder to accept that at this stage the project should be considered experimental until it is finished and been on the air!

I have updated the blog with a NEW post regarding some of the modules and I will next do a post about the software so stay tuned for that.

Hans if you would like to consider building the project or at least making a start on it please drop me a direct email.

Soon I will get the documentation in the group updated as I am behind with this.

Regards

Andy G6LBQ.

Hi Andy,

I searched for Gerber files, but couldn't find much.
Looking forward to try and build the Irwell trx this winter, but are there any Gerber files available ?

Cheers,
Hans PA3CRZ

Hi Frank

Good to hear you are still interested in the Irwell transceiver, I tried to call you on the landline this evening but got no answer but will try again tomorrow.

I desperately need to update the blog as a few things have been updated with the project including a new module for the digi modes, dual conversion IF and changes to the VFO including new software that has been written from the ground up. The software has some new features including a menu system and it is now able to operate all three of the Si5351 IC's which paved the way for dual conversion which is working nicely.?

The software has always been a sticking point for me regarding the development of the transceiver, I am not a software engineer and lack programming skills but I have managed to fumble my way around the Arduino platform with a little self learning, this has allowed me to make certain changes and additions to the Japanese software that I was originally using, all of which are documented on the blog. The changes and additions I made were fully functional even if the software implementation was not perfect.

My own experience with the Arduino platform has taught me that to do anything beyond basic tasks requires a knowledge of the under pinning "C" programming language and ideally a degree qualification in computer science and a few years hands on experience working with it, sadly I do not posses those skills and winging it with somebody else's code means you pick up other peoples bad habits and even add to them yourself.

Fortunately and by chance I came across a retired software engineer who has all of the outlined traits, a masters degree in computer science, 40 plus years of professional programming and an interest in electronics and ham radio. In short I have had the pleasure of working in conjunction with this engineer to develop the software for my transceiver, we did some great Zoom sessions and I learned a lot about how to structure code and optimise it, the end result is software I can follow and easily make changes to, then there is the added bonus I get to call it my own :)?? Dave thank you for your time, devotion and skill!

I have now extended my Arduino book library with a couple of books on "C" programming and have every intention to further my own programming knowledge but for now I accept my limitations.

And finally with sticking block out of the way I can now look to finishing the long overdue Irwell project.

At the moment I am busy adding FM mode into the receiver IF module and about 70% done laying out yet another revision IF PCB, I have lost count how many different IF modules I have built and experimented with.

Anyway enough for now I will try and call you tomorrow and I guess my reply will serve nicely as a project update for the rest of the group.

Regards

Andy G6LBQ