![Penny Mercury](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Penny_Mercury.jpg)
The OpenHPSDR (High Performance Software Defined Radio) project dates from 2005 when Phil Covington, Phil Harman, and Bill Tracey combined their separate projects to form the HPSDR group.
It is built around a modular concept which encourages experimentation with new techniques and devices (e.g.
SDR,
Envelope Elimination and Restoration) without the need to replace the entire set of boards. The project has expanded from the original group, and several additional people have been involved in recent HPSDR module designs.
The core modules of the project are the Atlas passive backplane, the Ozy interface which provides a USB 2.0 data channel between the HPSDR system and the host PC, and the Mercury and Penelope receiver and exciter boards, which use high speed
ADC
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Science and medicine
* ADC (gene), a human gene
* AIDS dementia complex, neurological disorder associated with HIV and AIDS
* Allyl diglycol carbonate or CR-39, a polymer
* Antibody-drug conjugate, a type of anticancer treatm ...
s and
DACs for direct conversion of received or transmitted signals in the DC to 55 MHz frequency range.
Mercury has attracted wide interest within the HPSDR community as a general-coverage, high performance, HF receiver. It uses a 16-bit 135MSPS analog-to-digital converter that provides performance over the range 0 to 55 MHz comparable to that of a conventional analog HF radio. The receiver will also operate in the VHF and UHF range using either mixer image or alias responses. The host computer uses DSP techniques to process the digital bitstream it receives from the HPSDR system.
Currently, the HPSDR hardware has been interfaced with the Flex-Radio PowerSDR Windows-based software, which is licensed under the
GPL
The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the four freedoms to run, study, share, and modify the software. The license was the first copyleft for general u ...
.
As of February, 2011,
the following HPSDR modules have been released:
* Atlas backplane
* Magister control board
* Janus I/Q interface board
* Mercury
Direct Down-conversion receiver
* LPU linear power supply
* Pandora enclosure
* Excalibur frequency reference board
* PennyWhistle 20 watt RF power amplifier
* Hercules 100 watt RF power amplifier
* Metis 1Gigbit (1000T) PC interface board
Other modules nearing release include:
* Alex RX/TX filter bank
Replaced by newer modules:
* Ozy USB control board (replaced by Magister)
* Penelope Direct Up-conversion exciter (replaced by PennyLane, not provided by TAPR but by new commercial organisation)
In cooperation with the HPSDR group,
TAPR has provided (or will provide) all the modules listed above. Most have been made available as either fully assembled units or as bare circuit boards; a few are available as kits of parts.
Several other modules are under development. A web site and Wiki provide further information about the HPSDR projects.
.
The HPSDR project is open-source for software and uses a combination of licenses for the hardware.
Spin-off hardware
There are many complete transceivers that are based on the OpenHPSDR concept:
* Anan-10
* Anan-100
* Anan-100D
* Anan-200D
* Anan-7000DLE
* Anan-8000DLE
See also
*
Universal Software Radio Peripheral
Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) is a range of software-defined radios designed and sold by Ettus Research and its parent company, National Instruments. Developed by a team led by Matt Ettus, the USRP product family is commonly used ...
*
Software-defined radio
Software-defined radio (SDR) is a radio communication system where components that have been traditionally implemented in analog hardware (e.g. mixers, filters, amplifiers, modulators/demodulators, detectors, etc.) are instead implemented by me ...
*
Digital radio
Digital radio is the use of digital technology to transmit or receive across the radio spectrum. Digital transmission by radio waves includes digital broadcasting, and especially digital audio radio services.
Types
In digital broadcasting syst ...
References
{{Electromagnetic spectrum
Software-defined radio
Amateur radio transceivers