uSDR+ Manual

2021/10/02
Ver:1.0

uSDR+ is optimized and modified based on the open source work uSDX/QCX-SSB
uSDX/QCX-SSB GitHub：
https://github.com/threeme3/QCX-SSB/tree/feature-rx-improved
Groups：
https://groups.io/g/usdx-users/topics

Introduction:
This is a shortwave QRP SSB/CW transceiver. The ultra-small size is easy to carry for outdoor use. It has a
built-in 4000mAh lithium battery, a 1602N LCD screen, a built-in speaker, supports connection to a PC and
uses FT8, JS8, FT4 and other digital mode software control, and supports CW automatic decoding.
Features:
+ 8 bands cover 80m/60m/40m/30m/20m/17m/15m/10m.
+ Excellent PCB layout design in line with high-frequency circuit design principles to ensure excellent
performance.
+ Whether using internal battery or external 13.8v power supply, it can reach 3-5W power in 8 bands, and
reserve the SOT-223 and TO-220 package pads required for upgrading.
+ High emission efficiency, 80m/60m/40m/30m/20m efficiency is higher than 80%, 17m efficiency is higher
than 70%, 15m/10m efficiency is higher than 60%.
+ High-precision KDS brand TCXO, frequency accuracy is better than 1PPM, frequency stability is better than
0.5PPM.
+ Ultra-small size: 83*38*124mm (excluding protruding parts).
+ Abundant interfaces (CAT, PTT OUT, MIC/KEY, K-head microphone).
+ All LPF parts use 100V C0G/NP0 capacitors.
+ Use original genuine Omron magnetic latching relays.
+ Use op amp chip with lower noise than LM4562.
+ Built-in speaker with cavity.
+ Built-in 11.1v (12.6v) lithium battery.
+ BNC antenna interface.

List of features:

Simple, fun and versatile QRP SSB HF transceiver with embedded DSP and SDR functions;

EER Class-E driven SSB transmit-stage

Approximately 5W PEP SSB output from 13.8V supply

All-Mode support: USB, LSB, CW, AM, FM
DSP filters: 4000, 2500, 1700, 500, 200, 100, 50 Hz passband
DSP features: Automatic Gain Control (AGC), Noise-reduction (NR), Voice-triggered Xmit (VOX), RX Attentuators
(ATT), TX noise gate, TX drive control, Volume control, dBm/S-meter.
SSB opposite side-band/carrier supression Transmit: better than -45dBc, IMD3 (two-tone) -33dBc, Receive: better
than -50dBc
Multiband support, continuously tunable through bands 160m-10m (and from 20kHz..99MHz with loss in
performance)
Open source firmware, built with Arduino IDE; allows experimentation, new features can be added, contributions
can be shared via Github, software-complexity: 2000 lines of code
Software-based VOX that can be used as fast Full Break-In (QSK and semi-QSK operation) or assist in RX/TX
switching for operating digital modes (no CAT or PTT interface required), external PTT output/PA control
with TX-delay
Simple to install modification with 8 component changes and 8 wires
Lightweight and low-cost transceiver design: because of the EER-transmitter class-E stage it is highly
power-efficient (no bulky heatsinks required), and has a simple design (no complex balanced linear power amplifier
required)
Fully digital and software-based SSB transmit-stage: samples microphone-input and reconstruct a SSB-signal by
controlling the phase of the SI5351 PLL (through tiny frequency changes over 800kbits/s I2C) and the amplitude of
the PA (through PWM of the PA key-shaping circuit)
Fully digital and software-based SDR receiver-stages (optionally): samples I/Q (complex) signal from Quadrature
Sampling Detector digital mixer, and performs a 90-degree phase-shift mathematically in software
(Hilbert-transform) and cancels out one side-band by adding them
Three independent switchable analog front-end receiver attenuators (0dB, -13dB, -20dB, -33dB, -53dB, -60dB,
-73dB)
Receiver Noise floor MDS: –135 dBm at 28MHz (in 200Hz BW)
Receiver Front-end selectivity: steep -45dB/decade roll-off +/-2kHz from tuned-frequency
Blocking dynamic range: 20kHz offset 123dB, 2kHz offset 78dB
CW decoder, Straight/Iambic-A/B keyer
VFO A/B + RIT and Split, and corresponding relay band-filter switching via I2C
CAT support (TS480 subset)

Operation:

Currently, the following functions have been assigned to shortcut buttons (L=MENU, E=encoder, R=MODE) and
menu-items:

Menu Item Function Button

1.1 Volume Audio level (0..13) & power-off/on (turn left) E +turn

1.2 Mode Modulation (LSB, USB, CW, AM, FM) R

Audio passband (Full, 300..3000, 300..2400, 300..1800, 500, 200, 100, 50 Hz), this
1.3 Filter BW R double
also controls the SSB TX BW.

1.4 Band Band-switch to pre-defined CW/FT8 freqs (80,60,40,30,20,17,15,12,10,6m) E double

1.5 Tuning Rate Tuning step size 10M, 1M, 0.5M, 100k, 10k, 1k, 0.5k, 100, 10, 1 E or E long

1.6 VFO Mode Selects different VFO, or RX/TX split-VFO (A, B, Split) 2x R long

1.7 RIT RX in transit (ON, OFF) R long

1.8 AGC Automatic Gain Control (ON, OFF)

1.9 NR Noise-reduction level (0-8), load-pass & smooth

1.10 ATT Analog Attenuator (0, -13, -20, -33, -40, -53, -60, -73 dB)

1.11 ATT2 Digital Attenuator in CIC-stage (0-16) in steps of 6dB

1.12 S-meter Type of S-Meter (OFF, dBm, S, S-bar)

2.1 CW Decoder Enable/disable CW Decoder (ON, OFF)

2.2 CW Tone CW Fileter+Side-tone(600,700)

2.4 Semi QSK On TX silents RX on CW sign and word spaces

2.5 Keyer speed CW Keyer speed in Paris-WPM (1..35)

2.6 Keyer mode Type of keyer (Iambic-A, -B, Straight)

Menu Item Function Button

2.7 Keyer swap to swap keyer DIH, DAH inputs (ON, OFF)

2.8 Practice to disable TX for practice purposes (ON, OFF)

2.9 Tone Vol CW side tone volume adjustment (1-16)

3.1 VOX Voice Operated Xmit (ON, OFF)

3.2 Noise Gate Audio threshold for SSB TX and VOX (0-255)

3.3 TX Drive Transmit audio gain (0-8) in steps of 6dB, 8=constant amplitude for SSB

3.4 TX Delay Delays TX to allow PA relay to be fully switched on before TX (0-255 ms)

4.1 CQ Interval Idle time in seconds before new CQ Message is given (0-60)

4.2 CQ Message CQ Message text, pressing left-button in menu will start sending L

8.1 PA Bias min PA amplitude PWM level (0-255) for representing 0% RF output

8.2 PA Bias max PA amplitude PWM level (0-255) for representing 100% RF output

8.3 Ref freq Actual si5351 crystal frequency, used for frequency-calibration

8.4 IQ Phase RX I/Q phase offset in degrees (0..180 degrees)

10.1 Backlight Display backlight (ON, OFF)

power-up Reset to factory settings E long

main Tune frequency (20kHz..99MHz) turn

main Quick menu L +turn

main Menu enter L

RIT RIT back R

menu Menu back R

Connector definition:
Schematic:
PCB photo:

Warning: The hardware version is updated and optimized without notice！！！

This machine is optimized and modified according to open source settings,
and its performance and functions are fully compatible with the original
design. You can refer to the following introduction from the open source
website.

Introduction to qcx-ssb/usdx (organized from GitHub)：

This is a simple and experimental modification that transforms a QCX into a (Class-E driven) SSB transceiver. It can be used to
make QRP SSB contacts, or (in combination with a PC) used for the digital modes such as FT8, JS8, FT4. It can be
fully-continuous tuned through bands 80m-10m in the LSB/USB-modes with a 2400Hz bandwidth has up to 5W PEP SSB output
and features a software-based full Break-In VOX for fast RX/TX switching in voice and digital operations.
The SSB transmit-stage is implemented entirely in digital and software-based manner: at the heart the ATMEGA328P is sampling
the input-audio and reconstructing a SSB-signal by controlling the SI5351 PLL phase (through tiny frequency changes over
800kbit/s I2C) and controlling the PA Power (through PWM on the key-shaping circuit). In this way a highly power-efficient
class-E driven SSB-signal can be realized; a PWM driven class-E design keeps the SSB transceiver simple, tiny, cool,
power-efficient and low-cost (ie. no need for power-inefficient and complex linear amplifier with bulky heat-sink as often is seen
in SSB transceivers).
For the receiver, a large portion of the original QCX circuit has been removed and implemented in digital manner (software): the
ATMEGA328P is now implementing the 90 degree phase shift circuit, the (CW/SSB) filter circuit and the audio amplifier circuit
(now a class-D amplifier). This has simplified the QCX circuit a lot (50% less components needed), and there are a number of
advantages and features: there is no longer a need for an alignment procedure due to the very accurate 90 degree Hilbert phase
shifter; and there are now adjustable IF DSP filters for CW and SSB; and there is an AGC and there is a noise-reducing DSP
signal conditioning function and there are three indepent built-in attenuators in the analog front-end which helps utilizing the full
dynamic range. The speaker is directly connected and driven by the ATMEGA. A digital mixer with narrow low-pass window (2
kHz), steep roll-off (-45dB/decade) combined with an oversampling and decimating ADC are responsible for a processing gain,
dynamic range and alias rejection sufficient to handle weak and strong signal conditions (e.g. contests or listening on 40m just next
to broadcasting band).
This experiment is created to try out what is can be achieved with minimal hardware while moving complexity towards software;
here the approach followed is to simplify the design where possible while keep a reasonable performance. The result is a cheap,
easy to build, versatile QRP SSB transceiver that actually is quite suitable for making QSOs (even in contest situations), however
due to the experimental nature some parts are still in progress and hence limited. Feel free to try it out or to experiment with this
sketch, let me know your thoughts or contribute here: https://github.com/threeme3/QCX-SSB The original forum discussion on the
topic here: QRPLabs Forum

Revision History:

Rev. Date Features

TX quality improvements, better robustness against RFI feedback, fix VOX issue,
[R1.02r] 2021-04-05 single encoder/button-only control option, 16MHz Arduino Uno/Nano support, CW
Messages.
Rev. Date Features

Key click reduction, TX bandwidth control, OLED fixes, CAT remote control features
R1.02n 2021-02-22
including RX audio streaming.

CW support, TS480 CAT support, RX quality improvments, semi-QSK, PA PTT out

R1.02m 2021-01-27
with TX-delay, VFO-A/B/RIT, LPF switching, backlight saving, 160m.

Integrated SDR receiver, CW decoder, DSP filters, AGC, NR, ATT, experimental
R1.02j 2020-10-10 modes CW, AM, FM, quick menu, persistent settings, improved SSB TX quality.
LCD fix, selectable CW pitch.

Q6 now digitally switched (remove C31) - improving stability and IMD. Improved
signal processing, audio quality, increased bandwidth, cosmetic changes and
reduced RF feedback, reduced s-meter RFI, S-meter readings, self-test on startup.
R1.01d 2019-05-05
Receiver I/Q calibration, (experimental) amplitude pre-distortion and calibration.

(Original QCX-SSB mod is described here R1.01d)

R1.00 2019-01-29 Initial release of SSB transceiver prototype.

Schematic:
Below the schematic after the modification is applied, unused components are left out and changed components

are marked in red (click to zoom & download) (link to original schematic

https://qrp-labs.com/images/qcx/HiRes.png):
Operating Instructions:
Tuning can be done by turning the rotary encoder. Its step size can be decreased or increased by a short or long
press. A change of band can be done with a double press. The mode of operation is altered with a short press on
the right button; a double press on right button narrows the receiver filter bandwidth, the bandwidth is reset every
time mode is changed. The volume is changed by turning the rotary encoder while pressed.
There is a menu available that can be accessed by a short left press. With the encoder it is possible to navigate
through this menu. When you want to change a menu parameter, a press with left button allows you to change the
parameter with the encoder. With the right button it is possible to exit the menu any time. A fast access to the
menu and parameter can be achieved by pressing the left button while turning the encoder, once you lift the left
button you can immediately change the parameter by turning the encoder.
For receive, by default an AGC is enabled. This increases the volume when there are weak signals and decreases
for strong signals. This is good for SSB signals but can be annoying for CW operation. The AGC can be turned off
in the menu, this makes the receiver less noisy but require more manual volume change. To further reduce the
noise, a noise-reduction function can be enabled in the menu with the NR parameter. To use the available dynamic
range optimally, you can attenuate incoming signal by enabling a front-end attenuator with "ATT" parameter.
Especially on frequencies 3.5-7 MHz the atmospheric noise levels are much higher, so you can increase the
receiver performance by adding attenuation (e.g 13dB) such that the noise-floor is still audible. To calibrate the
transceiver frequency, you can tune to a calibrated signal source (e.g. WWV on 10 MHz) and zero-beat the signal
by changing "Ref freq" parameter; alternatively you can measure the XTal frequency with a counter and set the
parameter. A S-meter of choice (dBm, S, S-bar) can be selected with the S-meter parameter. Selecting an S-bar,
shows a signal-strength bar where each tick represents a S-point (6dB).
For SSB voice operation, connect a microphone to the paddle jack, a PTT or onboard "key" press will bring the
trasnceiver into transmit. With the "TX Drive" parameter, it is possible to set the mdulation depth or PA drive, it is
default set to 4 increasing it gives a bit more punch (compression for SSB). Setting it to a value 8 in SSB means
that the SSB modulation is transmitted with a constant amplitude (possibly reducing RFI but at the cost of audio
quality). To monitor your own modulation, you can temporarily increase MOX parameter. Setting menu item "VOX"
to ON, enters the transceiver in Voice-On-Xmit operation (in TX mode as soon audio is detected), the VOX
sensitivity can be configured in the menu with "VOX threshold" parameter. The PA Bias min and max parameters
sets the working range of the PWM envelope signal, a range of 0-255 is the full range which is fine if you use a

key-shaping circuit for envelope control, but when you directly bias the PA MOSFETs (note 3) with the PWM signal

then you specifiy the optimal working range from just above the MOSFET threshold level to the maximum peak
power you would like to use (0-180 are good values on my QCX).
For FT8 (and any other digital) operation, select one of the pre-programmed FT8 bands by double press the rotary
encoder, connect the headphone jack to sound card microphone jack, sound card speaker jack to microphone
jack, and give a long press on right button to enter VOX mode. Adjust the volume to a minimum and start your
favorite FT8 application (JTDX for instance). The sensitivity of the VOX can be set in the "VOX threshold"
parameter.
On startup, the transceiver is performing a self-test. It is checking the supply and bias voltages, I2C
communications and algorithmic performance. In case of deviations, the display will report an error during startup.
It also discovers the capabilties of the transceiver depending on the mods made. The following capabilities are
detected and shown on the display: "QCX" for a QCX without mods; "QCX-SSB" for a QCX with SSB mod;
"QCX-DSP" for a QCX with SIDETONE disconnected and connected to a speaker (through decoupling capacitor);
"QCX-SDR" for a QCX with SDR mod. Please check if the this capability matches with the mods.
Technical Description:
The principle of operation (at least what is ging on in the ATMEGA) is a bit as in the following

video-fragment: Opzij (in Dutch saying; "Sideways, sideways, sideways, Make room, make room, make room, We

are in an incredible rush"; full lyrics) here... :-) jokes aside; below the block diagram of the QCX-SSB, SDR

transceiver:

For SSB reception, the QCX analog phasing receiver stage is replaced with a digital SDR stage; this means that the
phase shifting op-amp IC6 is changed into a regular amplifier and whereby the individual I and Q outputs are
directly fed into the ATMEGA328P ADC inputs for signal processing. The ATMEGA328P (over-)samples the ADC
input at a 62kHz sample-rate, an decimates this high-samplerate to a lower samplerate, performs a phase-shift by
means of a Hilbert-transform, summing the result to obtain side-band rejection; it subsequently applies a low-pass
filtering, AGC and noise-reduction functions. Since the original QCX phase-shifting network and analog CW filter
are not used, about half of the original QCX components can be left out; by combining the function of IC7B into
IC6A another op-amp can be saved. The ADC inputs are low-pass filtered (-40dB/decade roll-off at 1.5kHz cut-off)
to prevent aliasing and input are biased with a 1.1V analog reference voltage to obtain additional sensitivity and
dynamic range. With the 10-bit ADCs and a 4x over-sampling rate, a theoretical dynamic range of 72dB can be
obtained in 2.4kHz SSB bandwidth. LSB/USB mode switching is done by changing the 90 degree phase shift on
the CLK0/CLK1 signals of the SI5351 PLL. Three embedded attenuators are available for optimally using dynamic
range; the first attenuator is the RX MOSFET switch Q5 responsible for 20dB attenuation, the second attenuator is
ADC range (1.1V or 5V) selected by the ATMEGA ADC analog reference (AREF) logic and is responsible for 13dB
attenation, the third attenuator is a pull-down of an analog input on the ATMEGA with a GPIO port responsible for
53dB attenation. Combining the three attenuators provides the attenation steps 0dB, -13dB, -20dB, -33dB, -53dB,
-60dB, -73dB.
For SSB transmission the QCX DVM-circuitry is changed and used as an audio-input circuit. An
electret-microphone (with PTT switch) is added to the Paddle jack connecting the DVM-circuitry, whereby the DOT
input acts as the PTT and the DASH input acts as the audio-input. The electret microphone is biased with 5V
through a 10K resistor. A 10nF blocking capacitor prevents RF leakage into the circuit. The audio is fed into ADC2
input of the ATMEGA328P microprocessor through a 220nF decoupling capacitor. The ADC2 input is biased at
0.55V via a divider network of 10K to a 1.1V analog reference voltage, with 10-bits ADC resolution this means the
microphone-input sensitivity is about 1mV (1.1V/1024) which is just sufficient to process unamplified speech.

A new QCX-SSB firmware is uploaded to the ATMEGA328P, and facilitates a digital SSB generation technique in

a completely software-based manner. A DSP algorithm samples the ADC2 audio-input at a rate of 4x4800
samples/s, performs a Hilbert transformation and determines the phase and amplitude of the complex-signal; the

phase-changes are restrictednote 2 and transformed into either positive (for USB) or negative (for LSB) phase

changes which in turn transformed into temporary frequency changes which are sent 4800 times per second over
800kbit/s I2C towards the SI5351 PLL. This result in phase changes on the SSB carrier signal and delivers a
SSB-signal with a bandwidth of 2400 Hz whereby spurious in the opposite side-band components is attenuated.
The amplitude of the complex-signal controls the supply-voltage of the PA, and thus the envelope of the
SSB-signal. The key-shaping circuit is controlled with a 32kHz PWM signal, which can control the PA voltage from
0 to about 12V in 256 steps, providing a dynamic range of (log2(256) * 6 =) 48dB in the SSB signal. C31 is removed
to ensure that Q6 is operating as a digital switch, this improves the efficiency, thermal stability, linearity, dynamic
range and response-time. Though the amplitude information is not mandatory to make a SSB signal intelligable,
adding amplitude information improves quality. The complex-amplitude is also used in VOX-mode to determine
when RX and TX transitions are supposed to be made. Instead of using a key-shaping circuit for evelope control, it
is possible to directly bias the PA MOSFETs with the (filtered) PWM signal. This has the advantage of less losses
and simplifies at the cost of linearity which result in more compression for an SSB signal (which is actually a good
thing).
The IMD performance is related dependent on the quality of the system: the linearity (accuracy) of the amplitude
and phase response and the precision (dynamic range) of these quantities. Especially the DSP bit-width, the
precision used in the DSP algorithms, the PWM and key-shaping circuit that supplies the PA and the PA phase
response are critical. Decreasing (or removing) C32 improves the IMD characteristics but at the cost of an increase
of PWM products around the carrier.

Measurements:
The following performance measurements were made with QCX-SSB R1.01, a modified RTL-SDR,
Spektrum-SVmod-v0.19, Sweex 5.0 USB Audio device and Audicity player. It is recognized that this measurement
setup has its own limitations, hence the dynamic range of the measurements is somewhat limited by the RTL-SDR
as this device goes easily into overload. Measurements were made with the following setttings: USB modulation,
no pre-distortion, two-tone input 1000Hz/1200Hz where audio level is set just before the point where compression
starts. Results:
Intermodulation distortion products (two-tone; SSB with varying envelope) IMD3, IMD5, IMD7: respectively -33dBc;
-36dBc; -39dBc
Intermodulation distortion products (two-tone; SSB with constant envelope) IMD3, IMD5, IMD7: respectively
-16dBc; -16dBc; -19dBc
Opposite side-band rejection (two-tone): better than -45dBc
Carrier rejection (two-tone): better than -45dBc
Wide-band spurious (two-tone): better than -45dBc
3dB bandwidth (sweep): 0..2400Hz
Credits:
QCX (QRP Labs CW Xcvr) is a kit designed by Hans Summers (G0UPL), originally built for RSGB's YOTA summer camp 2017, a
high performance, image rejecting DC transceiver; basically a simplified implementation of the NorCal 2030 by Dan Tayloe
(N7VE) designed in 2004 combined with a Hi-Per-Mite Active Audio CW Filter by David Cripe (NMØS), Low Pass
Filters from Ed (W3NQN) 1983 Articles, a key-shaping circuit by Donald Huff (W6JL), a BS170 switched CMOS driven MOSFET
PA architecture as used in the ATS designs by Steven Weber (KD1JV) (originating from the Power MOSFET revolution in the mid
70s), a Ghetto-class-E filter-network published by Paul Harden (NA5N) and an Atmel ATMEGA328P microprocessor, a
Hitachi HD44780 LCD display and a Silicon Labs SI5351 Clock Generator (and using a phase shift in the SI5351 clocks).
The QCX-SSB transmitter and QCX-SDR receiver stage both running on a ATMEGA328P, including its multiband front-end and
direct PA biasing/envelope-generation technique; its concept, circuit, code and modification to run on a QCX are a design
by Guido (PE1NNZ); the software-based SSB transmit stage is a derivate of earlier experiments with a digital SSB generation
technique on a Raspberry Pi. The assembly manual for the QCX Rev 5 PCB, is the work of Manuel (DL2MAN). Many thanks to all
of you who got interested in this project and took the challege and effort to try out QCX-SSB. Without your valuable feedback and
contributions the project could not have kept moving on, improving and challenging new ideas!