Cheap Local Oscillator Source

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windfreak

New Member
I’m interested in home-brew radios of all sorts. I recently made a signal source for use in my home lab from WindFreak

I didn’t want to pay $1000 for an old sig gen from HP. Maybe this can help others out in their high(er) frequency radio projects.
It puts out cw frequencies in a range of 137MHz to 4.4GHz with powers up to +5dBm. It programs and is powered with a mini USB cable. Plus its very small, so it can fit inside your project box.

It comes with software that is open sourced and written in Labview. So if you are interested in microwave PLLs, how they program, and the math behind them, it would be an excellent learning tool for. You can also learn about the easiest way to use USB in your home projects. It also comes with schematics.
I know this is an advertisement, but, as far as I can find, there is nothing like this available today. So it could open up some fresh ideas.
Thanks,
David
 
Hi David, I like that oscillator and have a question. It mentions it uses an onboard 10 MHz oscillator and am wondering if an external 10 MHz oscillator such as my Z3801A GPS unit would work with it? The output is 1.9 volts into 50 ohms. An oscillator like that would be great in the shack for troubleshooting and possibly as an accurate beacon source. Thanks, AL K3ROJ
 
Hi Al,
It could be done by removing the oscillator either physically, or by cutting a trace and powering it down and then soldering in a pigtail cable. If you decided to buy one I could send a picture with the necessary mods outlined. Or, maybe for a premium send you one I build up special for you.
Your 10 MHz GPS signal has plenty of amplitude, so otherwise it would work great...
David
 
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