Inside the Ten-Tec 506 Rebel Open Source QRP CW Transceiver Bob Proctor, N6YPE and Brian Tompson, AC7FK
About us Bob, N6YPE, has been licensed since 1990, is now an applications engineer at Microchip. Brian, AC7FK, has been licensed since 1999, is now an applications engineer at Microchip.
Agenda Features Interface Front panel Rear panel Hardware Programming the Rebel MPIDE Application Possibilites Resources Arduino vs. chipkit boards Shields Block Diagram
Features The Rebel is a factory-built 20M/40M 4-watt CW superhet transceiver with Direct-Digital Synthesis (DDS) tuning and crystal IF filter. Using the plug-in chipkit microcontroller board (based on the popular Arduino), it is designed with a high level of flexibility for experimenters.
Interface front panel Power Switch and Volume Pot Select Button Tuning Encoder Function Button Receive Incremental Tuning Pot
Interface front panel Audio Bandwidth: Wide, Medium, Narrow Function: Bandwidth, Tuning Step, User Functions Tuning Step: 100Hz, 1kHz, 10kHz
Interface rear panel 50 Ohm Antenna BNC Straight Key Or Iambic Paddle chipkit USB and ISP Connectors Headphone Or speaker 12VDC Power Input
About Arduino The Real, Classic Arduino USB-B for Programming Or communication 13 Digital I/O About $25 ISP Header Power Input Atmel AVR MCU 32K, 16MHz Compatible with Dozens of Arduino Shields (plug-in boards) Power Pins 6 Analog Inputs (or digital I/O) NOT Rebel Compatible!
Arduino MEGA Atmel AVR MCU 128K or 256K, 16MHz 22 Digital I/O About $60 SB-B for rogramming r Communication 32 more Digital I/O Power Input Compatible with many MEGA Shields Power Pins 16 Analog Inputs (or Digital I/O) NOT Rebel Compatible!
Digilent chipkit Uno32 30 Digital I/O About $27 USB mini-b For Programming And Communication Microchip PIC32 MCU 128K, 80MHz ISP Pins (holes) Power Input Compatible with most Arduino UNO Shields Power Pins 12 Analog In Or Digital I/O Included With Rebel!
Digilent chipkit uc32 30 Digital I/O About $35 USB mini-b For Programming And Communication Microchip PIC32 MCU 512K, 80MHz ISP Pins (holes) Power Input Rebel Compatible! Compatible with most Arduino UNO Shields Power Pins 12 Analog In Or Digital I/O
Shields Shields add functionality, such as Ethernet, GPS, Motor Control, LCD or LOTs of other functions. Arduino Shields are designed with pins on the bottom and sockets on top for board stacking
Rebel PCB and chipkit Inside the Rebel, we see the Main PCB is basically a Ham Radio Shield The chipkit fits on the bottom, compatible shields can stack above the Main PCB
Rebel PCB top view
Block Diagram Encoder DDS Key/Paddle Buttons LED's 2 5 2 2 6 Band Select Digital Signals Sidetone (PWM) LCD & Shield Expansion All chipkit Analog Signals 2 Filter Select RX Audio RIT pot TX Monitor Battery Volts S-Meter CW Speed pot
Bandswitching The RF circuit path is redirected to bandpass filters for each band by plug-in jumpers. The chipkit senses the selected band from one of the five jumpers.
Programming the Rebel Programming new code into the Rebel is a matter of plugging in a USB cable between the chipkit board and a Windows, Linux, or MAC PC running MPIDE, and downloading the compiled code. The radio can either be powered or unpowered. The process takes just a few seconds.
MPIDE Program build, Download buttons Context sensitive Code editor Status window
Application Download the latest versions of the application code at the TenTec506 Forum http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tentec506rebel/
Possibilities Potential Rebel enhancements: Iambic keyer (easy) Memory keyer (there is plenty of memory for this) Beacon PC Control Code reader (80 MIPS processor makes this possible) Voice synthesizer (might require another shield) PSK31? WSPR? Got other ideas?
Resources Ten-Tec www.tentec.com Digilent www.digilentinc.com Arduino www.arduino.cc MPIDE chipkit.net microchipdirect.com - QRP Special 20% Discount use code RADIOKIT13 (valid until Sept. 30th) Rebel Forum http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tentec506rebel/ Eagle Schematic, PCB files and application files are available for download on the forum web site