Schematic and PCB software update

Recently I came across the open source Kicad project. I had evaluated DipTrace which is inexpensive but it is not open source. I then worked with the open source gEDA tools which were ok.

Kicad looks very promising: http://www.lis.inpg.fr/realise_au_lis/kicad/

It is cross platform and uses wxWindows. It is much more polished than the gEDA tools. The file formats are all well documented which make adding symbols very easy using a python script. Kicad's source code build process stinks but fortunately there are binaries available. When I get a chance I will look into creating a Visual Studio project for Kicad so it can be built more easily on Windows.

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History of HPSDR Mercury and Quick Silver

History of HPSDR Mercury and Quick Silver Philip Covington, N8VB Early HPSDR and XYLO In 2005 I started a High Performance SDR (HPSDR) project which was to consist of a motherboard carrying a FPGA/USB 2.0 interface and power supply with the provision for plug in modules through 40 pin headers. I had planned a narrow band high dynamic range module based on a QSD/DDS/PCM4202 audio ADC and a wide bandwidth module based on a high speed 16 bit ADC: http://www.philcovington.com/SDR/PICS/HPSDR_FPGA_USB_Board_top1_800600.jpg http://www.philcovington.com/SDR/PICS/HPSDR_FPGA_USB_Board_top4.jpg I soon selected the LTC2208 ADC from Linear Technology. A representative from Linear Technology came across my blog ( http://pcovington.blogspot.com/ ) and offered evaluation boards and samples to support the project. At about the same time my HPSDR project came about, Phil Harman, VK6APH and Bill Tracey, KD5TFD were interested developing a sound card replacement to be used with the SD...

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