[Discuss-gnuradio] 4702 board

[cfk]

Dear Eric:

    After reading all of the archive today, one message in particular caught my attention, and that was the "4702 tuners available" message. I am wondering if a board to mount a 4702 along the lines of your "Microtune 4702 RF Frontend" schematic with the addition of the +33V DC-DC converter might be an appropriate adjunct for the usrp.

 

    This simple board could exchange its DB-25 for a header to jumper directly to the usrp and could be of the same form factor. It could also have the additional interface circuitry added to provide the I & Q signals directly to two of the ADC inputs.

 

    I am also thinking that there could be either a power connector for an LNA connected to the 'F' connector input, an LNA on the board or footprints for both. Personally, I am a bit more inclined to think the noise figure is a little better if the LNA were a seperate little cube connected directly to the 'F' connector, rather then on the board, but that is an incomplete thought at the moment.

 

    I suppose that power connectors could also be shared allowing one power supply to power both a usrp and a "4702 FrontEnd".

 

    If this idea is interesting, it could lead to a family of front-end-down-converters all in a similar form factor for various SDR types and various projects. I personally see the different uses of gnuradio as needing different front ends for different projects as the "universal front end" appears to be a non-realizable dream at this time.

 

    Please let me know what you might think of this idea.

 

Charles Krinke