Hpsdr Excalibur Parts list manual

Revision 1.0 1Copyright KE9H, 2009

High Performance Software Defined Radio

Open Source Hardware and Software Project

Project Description: http://openhpsdr.org

Excalibur

Assembly and Operation

Instructions

Author: Graham Haddock, KE9H

Revision 1.0 2Copyright KE9H, 2009

Contents

Introduction …………………………………………...….. 3

Description ……………………………………………….. 3

HPSDR SetUp ……………………………………………. 4

PowerSDR Settings ………………………………….…. 4

Excalibur Adjustment …………………………….……. 4

Excalibur Configuration ……………………….……. 5

Assembly Instructions ………………………………… 6

Appendix "A" Schematic and Board Top View, Silkscreen Errata.

Appendix "B" Comments on hand assembly of SMT components.

Appendix "C" Bill of materials.

Appendix "D" Special sort of the bill of materials in recommended assembly order.

Appendix "E" Instructions for winding the toroid.

Appendix "F" Performance Measurements.

Revision 1.0 3Copyright KE9H, 2009

Introduction

Excalibur is a small accessory card for the Atlas bus that enables the use of an external

10 MHz frequency reference for locking the frequency of an HPSDR radio to the same

accuracy of the standard, or GPS disciplined oscillator.

It also provides an on-card TCXO frequency reference for the HPSDR, that is better than

the on board 10 MHz oscillators, although not as good as an external reference standard

or GPS-DO.

Description

Excalibur can be configured in several ways, using the jumper clips, and also has an

auxiliary output connector.

First, it can be configured to take an external 10MHz signal, such as a sine wave or

square wave output from a reference standard or GPS disciplined oscillator, into a BNC

input and process it into a square wave and put it on Atlas bus 10 MHz clock line C16.

Second, it is a way to have an on-bus "instant on" TCXO with more accuracy than the

10 MHz oscillators on either Penelope or Mercury. When the on-card TCXO is selected

as the clock source, it will drive the Atlas bus via line C16.

No matter which source has been selected to drive the bus, the on board “beat” indicator

will always compare the frequency of the TCXO to the frequency of whatever signal is

coming in the “INPUT” BNC connector.

Excalibur also has an auxiliary output on two pin connector (J2), which can provide a

square wave output for direct connection to the AUXCLK-(J8) input on Mercury, for

special applications using that Mercury input.

The "Output" BNC provides a 10 MHz sine wave at + 8.5 dBm as a way to lock external

equipment to which ever 10 MHz source is driving the bus.

There is a multi-colored LED, hooked to the output of a frequency-phase detector

comparing the TCXO to whatever is coming in the "Input" connector. It gives both a

HIGH/LOW frequency color indication and a visible beat indicator. It is useful for setting

the TCXO to within a fraction of a Hertz.

The 10 MHz oscillators on the Mercury or Penelope cards have a rated stability of +/- 50

or 100 ppM over wide temperature, or +/- 500 Hz to 1 kHz at 10 MHz. Using the

Calibrate function built into PowerSDR, you can set them to WWV or other reference,

with an accuracy of about 10 to 30 Hz, but they could still move around +/- 50 to 100 Hz

over normal room temperature variation.

Revision 1.0 4Copyright KE9H, 2009

The TCXO on Excalibur has a rated stability of +/- 1 ppM over wide temperature, or +/-

10 Hz at 10 MHz. Over normal room temperature variation, it stays within 1 Hz of the

calibrated frequency, and will likely age at the rate of 1 Hz every several months. (See

performance measurements, in Appendix “F”.)

A (high performance) external 10 MHz GPS disciplined oscillator will typically exceed

+/- 0.0001 ppM or plus/minus one milli-Hz at 10 MHz for as long as the GPS system

remains operating.

The card is the same width as Penelope or Mercury, but is only 4 cm. (1.6 inches) high,

and takes one slot position on the Atlas bus.

Although the board contains no software, it is compatible with the JTAG chain, so that it

will pass through JTAG programming from cards on either side of it.

HPSDR SetUp

PowerSDR Settings

It is important to configure PowerSDR so that there is just one source of 10 MHz driving

Atlas bus. Both Mercury and Penelope should be configured so that neither are selected

as a 10 MHz source while Excalibur is present on the bus. If “Excalibur Present” is

selected on the Hardware Config Setup page, then this will happen automatically.

In PowerSDR >> Setup >> General >> Hardware Configuration

Check Excalibur as present.

Then, under

PowerSDR >> Setup >> General >> HPSDR

Check that the 10 MHz Clock Source is selected as “Atlas.” This should have occurred

automatically and further ability to select is “grayed out” if Excalibur Present was

selected per the above.

Excalibur Adjustment

The TCXO units come from the factory set to within 1 Hz of the specified 10 MHz

frequency. If you don’t have a local 10 MHz reference standard to compare it to, just put

the unit into service and start using it, since it is already closer to frequency than you will

likely to be able to set it using WWV.

With no external input, the on card “beat indicator” LED will remain a solid bright green.

Revision 1.0 5Copyright KE9H, 2009

Using an external standard, connect the 10 MHz input to the “INPUT” (top) BNC

connector. The beat indicator should now change colors and provide both frequency and

phase information.

A predominately RED color means that the TCXO is lower in frequency than the

reference input. A predominately GREEN color means that the TCXO is higher in

frequency than the reference input.

When the TCXO and reference are within a few cycles per second, you will see a distinct

beat as the LED alternates between red and green in time with the beat note. One Hertz

is the color cycle from red to green back to red.

Adjust the frequency adjust control through the hole in the TCXO cover, so that the LED

is cycling at one color cycle every two seconds or slower.

If the color cycle is taking one second to complete, your frequency error is 1 Hertz at 10

MHz. If the color cycle is taking four seconds to complete, then your frequency error is

one fourth of a Hertz.

As a practical matter, it is not necessary to set the oscillator to an accuracy better than

about one fourth of a Hertz, since the TCXO will move around about one Hertz over the

course of a day due to room temperature variation.

The TCXO also has an aging specification, typical of all crystals, such that it will slowly

drift at the rate of one Hertz every several months or so.

Excalibur Configuration

There are two configurable jumper pin settings.

Jumper J1 should be present if you want to terminate the External Reference Input in 50

Ohms. Jumper J1 should NOT be present if you want to terminate in a high impedance.

Jumper J2 should be in the upper position (jumper center pin and upper pin) if you want

the on board TCXO to drive the 10 MHz clock line on the Atlas bus. Jumper J2 should

be in the lower position (jumper center pin and lower pin) if you want the External

Reference Input to drive the 10 MHz line on the Atlas bus.

J3 is an output connector. Do NOT put a jumper clip on J3. It is used for special

applications to drive the AUX CLK input on Mercury.

Revision 1.0 6Copyright KE9H, 2009

Assembly Instructions

Recommended Hand Assembly Order

The general order is small to large, center to outside, surface mount first then thru hole

last.

Specifically, this is the recommended order:

1.) Small common parts - bypass caps

2.) Other small surface mount capacitors, resistors, diode, transistors.

3.) Surface Mount ICs

4.) Connectors

5.) Toroid

6.) TCXO

7.) Install the two jumper clips according to desired configuration.

Special assembly notes

1.) Tantalum capacitors C16 and C17 are polarity sensitive. The end with the “band”

should go to the + mark on the PC board silkscreen.

2.) Diode D1 is polarity sensitive. The green band should be positioned “down”

corresponding to the white band on the PCB silkscreen.

3.) The integrated circuits should be positioned with pin 1 corresponding to the white

dot on the PCB. The integrated circuits may be marked with a dot at pin 1, or

with a beveled edge corresponding to the side with pin 1, or with a white band at

the end with pin 1. If marked with a beveled edge, this corresponds to the double

line on the silkscreen. If a band or dot, that end corresponds to the dot on the

silkscreen.U1, U4 and U5 are dot DOWN. U2 is dot UP. U3 has five leads, and

con only be positioned one way.

4.) Pay particular attention to U4 and U5, which are identical in physical appearance.

The part number is marked on the top of the IC. U4 is a 6 Volt regulator marked

78L06, and U5 is a 5 Volt regulator marked 78L05.

5.) There is an error in the silkscreen position for R08. The part position diagram in

the Board Top View in Appendix “A” is correct, and the page following

illustrates the error as printed on the silkscreen.

Appendix "D" is a special sort of the bill of materials in the recommended assembly

order. You may print out a copy of Appendix "C", along with the "Board Top View"

from Appendix "A" to use as a checklist and aid for assembly.

Refer to Appendix "B" for comments on hand assembly and soldering of SMT

components, if you are not familiar with these techniques.

Revision 1.0 7Copyright KE9H, 2009

Appendix "A" contains the schematic and Board Top View, showing all part locations.

This Board Top View should be used as the master reference for all part locations.

Observe the silkscreen errata for Resistors R08 and R11.

Appendix "E" contains the instructions for winding the toroid.

Checkout prior to first power application.

A convenient “Ground” connection is the shield of the LOWER (Output) BNC

connector, or the lower pin of J3. (The shield of the upper BNC “floats.”)

The unit draws power from both the Atlas +12 Volt and +5 Volt. So check for no shorts

to ground on Atlas +5 Volts, the extreme left pins on the Atlas Connector, C32/B32/A32.

Other than a brief capacitor charging, I show open with a digital Ohm meter.

Check for no shorts from Atlas +12 Volts to ground, the extreme right pins on the Atlas

connector C1/B1/A1. Other than a brief capacitor charging, I show open on a digital

Ohm meter.

There are three labeled test points for the internal voltages, towards the left center of the

board. Without power applied, but measuring to ground with a digital Ohm meter…

For the +6V test point, I show 2.4 K to ground.

For the +5V test point, I show 4.1 K to ground.

For the +3.3V test point, I show 94K to ground.

If you don’t see any shorts and your readings are reasonable, plug your board into the

Atlas bus and power it up.

With no external input, the on card “beat indicator” LED will show a solid bright green.

Revision 1.0 Copyright KE9H, 2009

Appendix "A"

Schematic, Board Top View and

PCB Silkscreen Errata

GND

GND GND

3.3K6.8K

100

0.1uF

GND

270

3.3K6.8K

0.1uF

TC1-1T

0.1uF

CXOH20

+12V

+5V

1.8K

GND

0.1uF

GND

0.1uF

GND

330

200

GND

0.1uF

GND

74AC04D

GND

+3.3V

+6V

+5V/1

0.1uF

DUAL-LED

+3.3V

GND

470pF 560pF

768nH

0.1uF

100K

B16

A10

A11

A12

A13

A14

A15

A16

A17

A18

A19

A20

A21

A22

A23

A24

A25

A26

A27

A28

A29

A30

A31

A32

B10

B11

B12

B13

B14

B15

B17

B18

B19

B20

B21

B22

B23

B24

B25

B26

B27

B28

B29

B30

B31

B32

C10

C11

C12

C13

C14

C15

C16

C17

C18

C19

C20

C21

C22

C23

C24

C25

C26

C27

C28

C29

C30

C31

C32

R2R3

R12

R14

R15

R16

R6R5

Q1 Q2

R10

R18

R13

C11

U1B

U1C

U1D

11 10

U1E

13 12

U1F

147

U1A

R17

C10

PCP 1

PC1 2

COMPIN

VCOOUT

INH

C1A

C1B

7VCOIN 9

PC2 13

PC3 15

SIGIN

DEMOUT 10

VDD 16

GND

+6V

+3.3V

TP1

TP2

TP3

TP4

+5V

C8 C6

R11

HARTING_DIN96

GND

VCC

OUT

GRN

RED

To Atlas C16

Excalibur

TERM

SOURCE

SELECT

10 MHz OUT

SYNC

2N3906

0.1 to 1.5 V RMS

JTAG

74HC4046

10 MHz IN

EXTERNAL

11 OCT 2009

EXT

TCXO

Version 1.3

ATLAS BUS

10 MHz

0.1uF 2.2uF

+12V

0.1uF 0.1uF

GND

+5V

GND

+6V

+3.3V

LP2985

10uF

0.01uFGND

+5V/1

C18 C12

C20 C13

C19 C14

GND

ON/~OFF

BYP

OUT 5

C17

C16

C15

Vin Vout

GND

NC NC

Vin Vout

GND

NC NC

3.3 Volts

L78L05_D

L78L06_D +6 Volts

+5 Volts

Excalibur

11 OCT 2009

Version 1.3

B32

C32

A32

R11

B32

C32

A32

R11

Revision 1.0 Copyright KE9H, 2009

PCB Silkscreen Errata

There was a last minute change that didn’t update the silkscreen properly.

See below for the proper location of R11 and R08. The board layout on the previous

page is correct.

Revision 1.0 Copyright KE9H, 2009

Appendix "B"

Comments on Surface Mount assembly

This appendix is not intended as a tutorial on surface mount soldering, but to give a few

highlights. You can find many tutorials on hand soldering SMT components on-line,

particularly on YouTube.

This product has about 46 surface mount components, generally using the largest size

available, that should make this a good choice for a first kit using surface mount

assembly, by hand.

Although it is possible to oven reflow, hot air reflow or hot plate reflow a surface mount

PCB, it is not necessary for building this board, and basic hand assembly and soldering

will work fine.

Primary tools will be a desk mount lighted magnifying lens, a grounded fine point

soldering iron, preferably temperature controlled, and a pair of curved point metal

tweezers.

An antistatic work mat with wrist strap is appropriate.

A flux pen is helpful when soldering ICs, as is small diameter solder with a rosin core,

and solderwick for picking up any excess solder.

Generally, the process for a capacitor or resistor is to put a small dot of solder on ONE of

the pads the part is going to be soldered to. Then, holding the part in the tweezers, hold it

in position, and touch the tip of the iron to the solder dot, allowing it to melt and wet the

end of the part. Then, using the tip of the tweezer to lightly push down on the center of

the part melt the solder again, and the part will "click" down flat against the board. If the

part is in the final desired position, melt a tiny bit of solder and fresh flux on the other

end of the part, allowing the solder to flow under the end of the part.

If you have a choice as to which end of the part to solder first, the end that is NOT

grounded will be easier. Even though this board incorporates thermal reliefs (thermals)

on all ground pads, the grounded end will still take more heat to solder than the other end.

For an IC, if you have a flux pen, put a little flux on all PCB pads. Then choose one pad,

at a corner, to put a small dot of solder upon. Holding the IC in position with the

tweezers, using the iron, melt and solder the one corner pin. If necessary, using the

tweezers, and re-melting the solder on the one pin, re-position the IC until it is centered

on all pads. Then go to the pin diagonally across the IC and solder it down. If necessary,

press down lightly on the center of the IC while re-melting those first two pins, so that all

pins are flat against their respective pads. Then work your way around the IC soldering

Revision 1.0 Copyright KE9H, 2009

down all pins. If you have a solder short between adjacent pins, remove any excess

solder with “solder wick.”

For final inspection, a "Jewelers eye loupe" of approximately 4x power is a great aid.

Loupes manufactured in Asia are available on eBay or similar sources for a few dollars.

Revision 1.0 Copyright KE9H, 2009

Appendix "C"

Bill of Materials

Excalibur Bill of Materials

ersion 10/11/2009

Footprint

Part

alue Description Package Manu Part No.

endor Part No. Notes

C01 0.1uF Chip Cap C1206 C1206 Kemet C1206C104K3RACTU Mouser 80-C1206C104K3R

C02 0.1uF Chip Cap C1206 C1206 Kemet C1206C104K3RACTU Mouser 80-C1206C104K3R

C03 0.1uF Chip Cap C1206 C1206 Kemet C1206C104K3RACTU Mouser 80-C1206C104K3R

C04 0.1uF Chip Cap C1206 C1206 Kemet C1206C104K3RACTU Mouser 80-C1206C104K3R

C05 0.1uF Chip Cap C1206 C1206 Kemet C1206C104K3RACTU Mouser 80-C1206C104K3R

C06 560pF Chip Cap C1206 C1206 Kemet C1206C561J5GACTU Mouser 80-C1206C561J5G Must be NPO or C0G

C07 0.1uF Chip Cap C1206 C1206 Kemet C1206C104K3RACTU Mouser 80-C1206C104K3R

C08 470pF Chip Cap C1206 C1206 Kemet C1206C471J5GACTU Mouser 80-C1206C471J5G Must be NPO or C0G

C09 0.1uF Chip Cap C1206 C1206 Kemet C1206C104K3RACTU Mouser 80-C1206C104K3R

C10 0.1uF Chip Cap C1206 C1206 Kemet C1206C104K3RACTU Mouser 80-C1206C104K3R

C11 0.1uF Chip Cap C1206 C1206 Kemet C1206C104K3RACTU Mouser 80-C1206C104K3R

C12 2.2uF Chip Cap C1206 C1206 Kemet C1206C225K3RACTU Mouser 80-C1206C225K3R

C13 0.1uF Chip Cap C1206 C1206 Kemet C1206C104K3RACTU Mouser 80-C1206C104K3R

C14 0.1uF Chip Cap C1206 C1206 Kemet C1206C104K3RACTU Mouser 80-C1206C104K3R

C15 0.01uF Chip Cap C1206 C1206 Kemet C1206C103K3RACTU Mouser 80-C1206C103K3R

C16 10uF Tantalum A/3216-18

ishay 293D106X9016A2TE3 Mouser 74-293D106X9016A2TE3

C17 10uF Tantalum A/3216-18

ishay 293D106X9016A2TE3 Mouser 74-293D106X9016A2TE3

C18 0.1uF Chip Cap C1206 C1206 Kemet C1206C104K3RACTU Mouser 80-C1206C104K3R

C19 0.1uF Chip Cap C1206 C1206 Kemet C1206C104K3RACTU Mouser 80-C1206C104K3R

C20 0.1uF Chip Cap C1206 C1206 Kemet C1206C104K3RACTU Mouser 80-C1206C104K3R

D1 RED-GRN DUAL-LED LED-DUAL Lite-On LTST-C155KGJRKT Mouser 859-LTST-C155KGJRKT

J1 MA02 MA02 02P

3M 2340-6111TG Mouser 517-6111-TG 40 pin breakaway header, use 2 pins

J2 MA03-1 MA03-1 MA03-1 Use 3 pins from header for J1

J3 MA02 MA02 02P

Use 2 pins from header for J1

L1 768nH T37-1W T37-1W Micrometals T37-6

midon T37-6 15 Turns #24 wire

P1 DIN96 Connector

ARDING_DIN9

HARTING 09 03 196 6921 Mouser 617-09-03-196-6921

Q1 2N3906 PNP Transistor SOT23 Fairchild MMBT3906 Mouser 512-MMBT3906

Q2 2N3906 PNP Transistor SOT23 Fairchild MMBT3906 Mouser 512-MMBT3906

R01 50 Chip Res R1206 R1206

icon 263-50-RC Mouser 263-50-RC

R02 3.3K Chip Res R1206 R1206

icon 263-3.3K-RC Mouser 263-3.3K-RC

R03 6.8K Chip Res R1206 R1206

icon 263-6.8K-RC Mouser 263-6.8K-RC

R04 100 Chip Res R1206 R1206

icon 263-100-RC Mouser 263-100-RC

R05 6.8K Chip Res R1206 R1206

icon 263-6.8K-RC Mouser 263-6.8K-RC

R06 3.3K Chip Res R1206 R1206

icon 263-3.3K-RC Mouser 263-3.3K-RC

R07 270 Chip Res R1206 R1206

icon 263-270-RC Mouser 263-270-RC

R08 68 Chip Res R1206 R1206

icon 263-68-RC Mouser 263-68-RC

R09 1K Chip Res R1206 R1206

icon 263-1K-RC Mouser 263-1K-RC

R10 1.8K Chip Res R1206 R1206

icon 263-1.8K-RC Mouser 263-1.8K-RC

R11 100K Chip Res R1206 R1206

icon 263-100K-RC Mouser 263-100K-RC

R12 10 Chip Res R1206 R1206

icon 263-10-RC Mouser 263-10-RC

R13 200 Chip Res R1206 R1206

icon 263-200-RC Mouser 263-200-RC

R14 22 Chip Res R1206 R1206

icon 263-22-RC Mouser 263-22-RC

R15 22 Chip Res R1206 R1206

icon 263-22-RC Mouser 263-22-RC

R16 22 Chip Res R1206 R1206

icon 263-22-RC Mouser 263-22-RC

R17 0 Chip Res R1206 R1206

icon 263-0-RC Mouser 263-0-RC

R18 330 Chip Res R1206 R1206

icon 263-330-RC Mouser 263-330-RC

T1 TC1-1T TC1-1T AT224 Minicircuits TC1-1T Minicircuits TC1-1T

U1 74AC04D 74AC04D SO14 TI SN74AC04D Mouser 595-SN74AC04D

U2 74HC4046

74HC4046

SO16 TI CD74HC4046AM96 Mouser 595-CD74HC4046AM96

U3 3.3V LP2985 SOT23-5 TI LP2985-33DBVR Mouser 595-LP2985-33DBVR

U4 6V L78L06_D SO08 STM L78L06ACD13TR Mouser 511-L78L06ACD-T

U5 5V L78L05_D SO08 ON MC78L05ACDG Mouser 863-MC78L05ACDG

X1 BNC - R

Connector SD-73100-FLT Molex 73100-0105 Mouser 538-73100-0105

X2 BNC - R

Connector SD-73100 Molex 73100-0105 Mouser 538-73100-0105

X3 10.000 MHz CXOH20 CXOH20 Crystek CXOH20-BP-10.000 Mouser 549-CXOH20-BP-10

JC Jumper Clips Bergcon 68786-102LF Mouser 649-68786-102LF 2 each required

PCB Excalibur- Ver 1.3

Appendix "D"

BOM Special Sort - Recommended Assembly Order

Excalibur Bill of Materials Version 10/11/2009

SPECIAL SORT FOR RECOMMENDED ASSEMBLY ORDER