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There are plenty of hobbies around with huge price tags, and ham radio can certainly be one of them. Experienced hams might have radios that cost thousands of dollars, with huge, steerable antennas on masts that can be similarly priced. But there’s also a side to the hobby that throws all of this out of the window in favor of the simplest, lowest-cost radios and antennas that still can get the job done. Software-defined radio (SDR) turned this practice up to 11 as well, and this radio module uses almost nothing more than a microcontroller to get on the air.

The design uses the capabilities of the Raspberry Pi Pico to handle almost all of the radio’s capabilities. The RF oscillator is driven by one of the Pico’s programmable I/O (PIO) pins, which takes some load off of the processor. For AM and SSB, where amplitude needs to be controlled as well, a PWM signal is generated on another PIO which is then mixed with the RF oscillator using an analog multiplexer. The design also includes a microphone with a preamplifier which can be fed into a third PIO; alternatively it can receive audio from a computer via the USB interface. More processor resources are needed when generating phase-modulated signals like RF, but the Pico is still quite capable of doing all of these tasks without jitter larger than a clock cycle.

These switch kits are the output from an effort to keep myself busy while on COVID-19 lockdown. I originally intended to just teach myself how to program and interface with various types of microcontrollers (PIC, Arduino, etc.). So, I bought several of the newbie training kits off of eBay and went to town. After exhausting all the built-in exercises, I went looking for a project where I could use my new-found knowledge.

I had owned an Ameritron RCS-12 remote antenna switch for many years and had always wondered how they selected antennas by simply pushing a momentary pushbutton switch. After opening up the controller, my suspicions were confirmed that a microcontroller was at the heart of the design. So, I decided to attempt to recreate the unit’s features that I used most as a breadboard project.

Open parts for Ham Radio station

My source for Coax and Coax jumpers

The Antenna Farm is a distributor of two way radios, antennas, coax cables, coax connectors and related accessories. Many police and fire departments, EMS companies, public service organizations as well as the average consumer rely on us for a wide variety of high quality two-way radio products from industry leading brands.

Having been in business for over 20 years, The Antenna Farm has developed a wealth of expertise and experience in the two-way radio industry and is always happy to help our customers choose the best equipment for their particular needs and budgets.

Since 1988, we have been developing and manufacturing high-frequency components and devices for well-known industrial companies, research institutions and ham radio operators. High Frequency components for industry and research.

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List of Broadcast, Fixed Broadcast, Studio-Transmitter Links (Feeders), Remote Pickup & Relay stations 25 - 87.5 MHz.