Programme

10:00 - 10:20 Prof. Dr. Michael Hartje DK5HH, Markus Heller, M.A., DL8RDS: Welcome and Introduction

10:20 - 11:00 Prof. Dr. Michael Hartje DK5HH: Introduction into Complex Numbers for SDR developers (German language)

This talk in German language will introduce the mathematical concepts of Complex Numbers and their relevance in digital signal processing. The speaker will also demonstrate how to process Complex Numbers using python.

11:00 - 11:30 Florian Euchner DO7JE: Making WiFi Visible with ESPARGOS: Augmented Reality with Phase-Synchronized ESP32s

MIMO and phased array systems are increasingly common in both communications and sensing, yet they remain largely inaccessible to hobbyists due to their high cost. ESPARGOS demonstrates a low-cost method for building phase-coherent antenna arrays using inexpensive, off-the-shelf ESP32 chips. This system is paired with an augmented reality application that overlays real-time propagation paths onto a live camera feed, enabling users to visualize and interactively explore electromagnetic wave propagation. This talk will explain the basic operating principle of ESPARGOS and the augmented reality visualization software.

11:30 - 11:45 Coffee Break

11:45 - 12:45 Prof. Dr. Matthias Jung DL9MJ: Open-Source-Chip-Design — A new Playground for Ham Radio?

Initiatives such as Google Skywater, IHP130, and Tiny Tapeout, coupled with the collaboration of open-source tools like OpenRoad/OpenLane or Yosys, are poised to democratize chip design. This approach eliminates the need for commercial EDA tools, making the production of custom chips using multi-project wafers and chips significantly more affordable – even for hobbyists. This presentation will elucidate the intricacies of such a workflow, from the design level entry using system Verilog to the generation of GDS-II files. Additionally, it will present examples and ideas, initiating a discussion on potential future applications, particularly in the realm of ham radio.

12:45 - 13:15 Hans Zahnd HB9CBU: Keynote

13:15 - 13:45 Lunch Break

13:45 - 14:15 Prof. Dr. Jean-Michel Friedt, Prof. Dr. Hervé Boeglen, Marcus Müller: A GNU Radio textbook – putting authors, audience & application maintainer in the limelight

With "Communication Systems Engineering with GNU Radio: A Hands-on Approach", two professors have finally filled a gap in literature and not only cover GNU Radio from the start, but quickly transitioning from basic to realistic applications. We'll have both of them, Jean-Michel Friedt and Hervé Boeglen (F4JET) answer your questions on the book life. What was their motivations to write the book?

How much of a challenge is educating people on GNU Radio, SDR, or radio theory and practice professionally? What are the things you learn while penning such a large book? Siding them will be Marcus Müller, currently (and again) head maintainer of the GNU Radio source code.

He'll take questions on GNU Radio itself, and hopes to shine a light on what education, outreach into the amateur radio community and future developments hold – and how anyone can take a part in that.

14:15 - 14:55 Pavel Demin: Building open-source SDR hardware with the JLCPCB assembly service

In this presentation I will show how JLCPCB services can be used to produce fully assembled electronic modules for SDR projects. I will use my two recent open-source SDR projects as examples. The first project uses a commercial main board equipped with the ZYNQ 7020 chip and an open-source expansion board with a high-speed ADC. The second project aims to produce both the main board with an FPGA and an expansion board with a high-speed ADC as open-source hardware.

14:55 - 15:25 Tommy Valten DL4NW, Thomas Bögl DL9MDB: Analog Digital Converters and Digital Analog Converters - Their Properties, state of the market and how to choose a suitable component for your project

This talk will give an overview of the ADC and DAC market, explain the properties and capabilities of currently available devices and explain their functions. The talk is from the perspective of anengineer who frequently needs to take these decisions instead of a vendor view. The audience is meant to understand how to make a choice on the grounds of the requirements of the own project.

15:25 - 15:40 Coffee Break

15:40 - 16:10 Aivars Straupe YL2GVC: Anvelina SDR Platform – Ongoing Development Update

The Anvelina SDR platform continues to advance on both hardware and software fronts. Since SDRA2024, two new iterations of the Anvelina SDR have been developed, along with updated BPF/PA modules. The latest version introduces additional OC (open collector) interface pins along with other improvements. Previous version added an attenuator in the TX chain, which improves transmit signal quality and provides more stable output power adjustment.

Additionally, the ATU-1500 antenna tuning unit—designed by Yuri, EU2AV—has been released, successfully built in multiple versions, and has received excellent feedback from users. It integrates seamlessly with Thetis software.

The design is by Yuri, EU2AV. PCB fabrication and assembly are handled by Aivars, YL2GVC.

16:10 - 16:35 Jon Kraft (Analog Devices): Enhanced Capabilities of the ADALM-PLUTO for SDR Enthusiasts

The ADALM-PLUTO SDR has become a cornerstone in the toolkit of SDR enthusiasts. In this presentation, we delve into its latest features and enhancements. Key Topics covered will include:

A new TDD (time division duplex) engine to control the timing of transmit and receive. This aligns the transmit and receive buffers and allows for the implementation of pulse compression radar and advanced communications setups. Tips and tricks for using the 2nd transmit and receive channel. We’ll cover the setup, control in Python, and how to improve the second channel’s performance. Adaptive Beamforming DOA example with Pluto. A new shared context mode to access Pluto data remotely.

16:35 - 17:05 Muhammad Ismail: High-Precision Pulse Characterisation of the USRP B205mini-i Using Ultra-Fast Serial Data Acquisition

This work gives a precise experimental analysis of pulse signal parameters generated by the Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) B205mini-i SDR with the high-speed LeCroy Serial Data Analyser (SDA) 18000 as the measuring instrument. The aim was to measure basic waveform parameters i.e. rise time, mean and instantaneous power, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and noise power across varying pulse widths and sampling rate configurations. Pulse trains of 10 microseconds to 25 nanoseconds widths were transmitted at sampling rates of 10 to 50 MSPS, and reception was performed from up to 100 mega samples per second (MSPS) to 10 giga samples per second (GSPS). The recorded waveforms were subsequently post-processed through MATLAB to determine temporal and power measurements. The results indicated that increasing the reception sample rate led to improved temporal resolution and reduced signal jitter, thereby decreasing measured rise times significantly. However, this improvement came at the cost of increased noise, necessitating the application of digital filtering to accurately estimate rise time. It was also observed that the best signal integrity was achieved when the receiver's sample rate was approximately ten times that of the transmitter. Furthermore, comparisons between theoretical and measured signal amplitudes confirmed the USRP's capability to maintain signal fidelity across varying conditions. This research not only demonstrates the USRP B205mini-i performance in generating quality pulse signals but also provides insights for practical applications to optimize SDR configurations for applications such as radar, high-rate communications, and spectrum analysis.

17:05 - 17:50 Dr. Henning Paul DC4HP: A Coherent Multi-Antenna Shortwave Receiver with Application in Direction Finding

The "Foursquare" antenna is well known in the amateur radio community for its directivity while at the same time being reconfigurable for its main direction by mechanically switching electrical phase shifters. In this talk, the author presents a SDR-based phased array for shortwave reception using a square antenna constellation. Here the switching of the phase shift takes place in software and thus allows beamforming into different, finely controllable directions simultaneously. The main hardware components, the interfacing using an affordable FPGA board and the software interface to GNU Radio will be presented as well as exemplary practical results proving the feasiblity of the approach.

17:50 - 18:00 Markus Heller, M.A., DL8RDS: Conclusion

The YouTube stream is available at: https://youtube.sdra.io