Re: [Discuss-gnuradio] Recommended RF Front End for USRP

[M. Ranganathan]

Thomas, Eric and Dan, thanks for your replies!

Looking at Ettus Research web page and given that I have already ordered 
a BasicRx board + USRP, can a TVRX (50 MHz to 870 MHz Receiver) do the 
trick in conjunction with the BasicRx if I want to receive VHF/UHF from 
a walkie talkie ?  Seems like a cheaper option than the RFX400 (which I 
will get if there's no choice).  Is it simpler to just use an RFX400 
rather than BasicRx + TVRX even if this is an option? ( I want to reduce 
the learning curve and make life simple given that I am a beginner. )

As for hooking up a long piece of wire to recieve AM/FM radio, I assume 
I don't need any hardware other than BasicRx and USRP Mother board 
(please correct this if I am wrong).


Ranga


Eric Blossom wrote:

> On Fri, Dec 08, 2006 at 09:04:34AM -0800, Thomas Schmid wrote:
>  
>
> > Hi Ranga
> >
> > On 12/8/06, M. Ranganathan <address@hidden> wrote:
> >    
> >
> > > Hello!
> > >
> > > I am a newcomper to SDR. I have scoured the mailing list but I cant find
> > > a definitive answer on the following questions (I suppose its been asked
> > > but I cant seem to find answers in the archives at any rate):
> > >
> > > 1. Can anybody recommend an RF Front end to be used with the  USRP from
> > > Ettus research? I just got the Basic RX / Basic Tx  daughterboard,
> > > motherboard + power supply and am looking for recommendations on what to
> > > buy so I can experiment with these things. My budget is a few hundred
> > > bucks. Can somebody recommend specific products one can buy off the
> > > shelf to hook into the Basic RX ? I want to be able to recieve RF
> > > signals from a walkie talkie radio and play them on my computer.
> > >      
> > This really depends on what you want to do. If you want to play with
> > WiFi, Bluetooth etc, then you would need the RFX2400 for the 2.4GHz
> > spectrum. If your walkie talkie uses the 400MHz ISM band (most
> > likely), then you need the RFX400.
> >
> >    
> >
> > > 2. What is the simplest meaningful thing one can do to get started with
> > > SDR? (I am looking to bootstrap myself into this before trying to do
> > > anything serious so a fun learning project is what I am looking for.)
> > >      
> > The simplest thing is to hook up a metallic wire and try to receive
> > AM/FM radio. Look at the examples in gnuradio-example. They will help
> > you further.
> >
> > Thomas
> >    
>
> All true.  Also, generally speaking, you don't want to start with the
> Basic Tx or Basic Rx.  Those are really designed to work with an
> external tuner, transverter, etc.
>
> Pick one of the RFX-* boards.
>
> Eric
>
>  


--
M. Ranganathan 

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