On Sun, Dec 04, 2016 at 09:17:05PM -0500, David Rysdam wrote:
> I want to get into HF digital modes. I don't want to spend a ton (in
> either money or space) on hardware. Plus I want to do some DSP
> experiments of various kinds.
>
> And obviously I'm a longtime Debian user. I'm a General licensed ham,
> but only recently and with basically no practical experience.
>
> I'm thinking about getting one of these pre-built SDR kits:
>
> http://fivedash.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath= 2&products_id=13
>
> Do these Softrock things work well with the Debian Ham packages? How
> about the digital stuff, in particular everything needed to get Winlink
> running? (I guess winmor is the...protocol?...here.) How much
> computational hardware does this need? I was going to use an old laptop
> to avoid tying up my main machine(s).
>
> It sounds like the computer->txrx connection is USB, while the
> txrx->computer is via audio cable. On the other side of the transceiver,
> I guess I need a power supply, an amp(?) and an antenna. Am I missing
> anything?
Sounds like GNURadio, Quisk and Linrad potentially support this with no
problem - so you probably don't need Winlink at all.
Putting Softrock Linux into Google gave some promising links, at any
rate - though a couple of links were dead, there was a link to a newer
page with some info.
This is _low_ power - so you might also want to talk to the QRP
folks for hints and tips. Best quality antenna and, potentially,
an acceptance of relatively limited range.
Hope this helps,
All the best
Andy
G0EVX