For my next video, I thought I’d investigate the topic of SDR – software-defined radio. My career started in wireless, mainly thanks to my hobby of amateur radio. I initially trained as a Merchant Navy radio officer and worked for BP on big supertankers. I’ve had plenty of experience with traditional RF engineering techniques but have wanted to explore and get ‘hands-on’ with SDR and related topics for a while.
This is the first in a series of videos about SDR. After a short introduction to SDR, I unbox the ADALM-PLUTO from Analog Devices.
Subsequent videos will explore popular modulation techniques and practical receiver & transmitter designs. Along the way, we’ll also cover aspects of antenna design, measuring return loss, and investigate communication through the amateur radio QO-100 satellite.