‰  NOW 40 WPM  ‰  TEXT IS FROM SEPTEMBER 2013 QST  PAGE 49‰
ENJOY SEVERAL DRM BROADCASTS IN THIS FASHION, AND YOULL FIND A COMPLETE
SCHEDULE AT WWW.  WWDXC. DE/DRM. HTM.  ANOTHER PROGRAM I USED WITH GOOD
SUCCESS WAS SDR RADIO BY SIMON BROWN, HB9DRV THE FATHER OF HAM RADIO
DELUXE.  THIS FREE WINDOWS SOFTWARE HAS AN ALMOST BEWILDERING ARRAY OF
FEATURES, INCLUDING FILTER BANDWIDTHS ADJUSTABLE DOWN TO 50 HZ.  IT DOESNT
DECODE DRM, BUT UNLIKE RADIOJET IT DOES OFFER SYNCHRONOUS AM A REAL TREAT
FOR THE EARS SEE FIGURE 3.  YOULL FIND S

HEADERS AND AN IC.  DESPITE BEING ORDERED FROM GERMANY, FIFI ARRIVED WITHIN
A WEEK BY AIR MAIL.  THE PACKAGE CONTAINED THE PRE POPULATED MAIN AND
RESELECTOR BOARDS AND THE REMAINING KIT COMPONENTS SEE FIGURE 1, ALONG WITH
A CD ROM.  THE FIFI MANUAL IS ON THE CD AS A PDF DOCUMENT IN THE BAUMAPPE
FOLDER, BUT THERE IS A CATCH IT IS WRITTEN ENTIRELY IN GERMAN AND THERE IS
NO ENGLISH TRANSLATION AVAILABLE.  THIS MIGHT SEEM LIKE A SHOW STOPPER, BUT
IT IS IMPORTANT TO EMPHASIZE THAT YOUR ONLY TASK IS TO SOLDER FEW
COMPONENTS ONTO THE MAIN BOARD, JOIN THE MAIN AND PRESELECTOR BOARDS
TOGETHER AT THE HEADER, SLIDE EVERYTHING INTO FIFIS BRUSHED ALUMINUM
ENCLOSURE AND ATTACH THE END PANELS.  EVEN IF YOU CANT READ A WORD OF
GERMAN, YOU CAN STILL FOLLOW THE IMAGES AND DIAGRAMS TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS.
MY TOTAL ASSEMBLY TIME AMOUNTED TO JUST 20 MINUTES.  IF YOU RUN INTO
DIFFICULTY, I RECOMMEND THE ENGLISH FIFI SDR WEBSITE AT HTTP//O28. SISCHA.
NET/ FIFISDR.  YOULL FIND A GREAT DEAL OF INFORMATION THERE, WITH A
SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF IT IN ENGLISH.  CONNECTING FIFI TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD
IS A MATTER OF HOOKING UP TWO CABLES.  THE ANTENNA CONNECTION IS MADE

FIFI SOFTWARE DEFINED RECEIVER THIS LITTLE AND I DO MEAN LITTLE SOFTWARE
DEFINED RECEIVER BEGAN ITS LIFE AS A UNIVERSITY RESEARCH PROJECT IN
MESCHEDE, GERMANY.  THE GOAL OF THE PROJECT WAS TO CREATE AN ECONOMICAL
SOFTWARE DEFINED RECEIVER THAT OFFERED LF, MF AND HF CAPABILITY, INCLUDED
ITS OWN SOUND DEVICE AND COULD BE CONNECTED TO A COMPUTER THROUGH A
STANDARD USB CABLE.  SEVERAL ITERATIONS LATER, THE RECEIVER MADE ITS DEBUT
AT THE DEUTSCHE AMATEUR RADIO CLUB DARC FICHTENFIELDDAY RADIO CAMP WHERE
PARTICIPANTS ASSEMBLED THE DEVICE THAT CAME TO BE KNOWN AS FIFI FOR
FICHTENFIELDDAY.  FUNKAMATEUR MAGAZINE BEGAN SELLING FIFI THROUGH ITS
ONLINE STORE AND THE LITTLE RADIOS POPULARITY SPREAD FROM THERE.  FIFI
TUNES FROM 200 KHZ TO 30 MHZ WITH RECEIVE MODES DETERMINED BY THE SOFTWARE
YOU HAPPEN TO BE USING.  THE ORIGINAL FIFI WAS PARTICULARLY VULNERABLE TO
OVERLOAD, ESPECIALLY FROM NEARBY BROADCAST STATIONS.  TO HELP REDUCE
OVERLOAD, THEY ADDED A PRESELECTOR ON A SEPARATE PC BOARD WITH A NUMBER OF
MULTIPOLE FILTERS THAT SWITCH IN AND OUT AUTOMATICALLY ACCORDING TO
FREQUENCY.  BOTH BOARDS FIT SNUGLY WITHIN AN ENCLOSURE THAT IS ONLY 3R5 X 2
X 1 INCHES.  IF YOU PURCHASE A FIFI, YOULL HAVE TO ASSEMBLE IT.  NOT TO
WORRY, THOUGH.  ALL THE SURFACE MOUNT COMPONENTS ARE ALREADY SOLDERED ONTO
THE PC BOARDS ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS ADD A HANDFUL OF CONNECTORS, TWO 12 PIN
‰  END OF 40 WPM TEXT  ‰  QST DE W1AW  ƒ