By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor

This week, Surfin’ considers different way of assembling a software defined radio (SDR).

Tom Zicarelli, KA1IS, wrote to me about his music project that ended up being a ham radio project using ham software defined radio (SDR) project using Max/MSP. This nifty program is a design tool that “gives you the parts to create unique sounds, stunning visuals, and engaging interactive media. These parts are called ‘objects’ -- visual boxes that contain tiny programs to do something specific. By combining objects, you create interactive and unique software without ever writing any code (you can do that too if you really want to).”

The first phase of the project is a receiver that features:

• Support for baseband IQ signal sources (including IQ data files)
• Device control (in Mac OS) for the Soft66lc2 (500 kHz to 30 MHz) and the FUNCubeDongle Pro (64 MHz to 1.7 GHz)
• SSB, AM and FM detection
• AGC, notch/peak filter and noise filters
• Midi control surface support
• iPad control surface support (using touchOSC)
• Memory store/recall
• Scanner interface
• Synthesizer interface

Tom’s software currently runs in Mac OS 10.6+ and Windows 7. It is available as a standalone Mac OS application or a Max collective (.mxf). Visit Tom’s Software Defined Radio in Max/MSP website to get more information and to download the software. Also, check out his video for a demonstration of the software.

Until next time, keep on surfin’!

Editor’s note: Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, likes the unusual in radio. To contact Stan, send e-mail or add comments to the WA1LOU blog.