RadiØKit-2
RadiØKit-2 is an electronic kit that will enhance the performance and capabilities of a normal Medium or Shortwave AM radio receiver. It will do the same for many available in the market ham radio transceiver models. By using the kit you will be able to connect your radio with a computer and use your PC's power to perform many of the functions that are available only to SDR radios and more expensive receivers or transceivers.
In order to connect your radio receiver or transceiver with a computer using RadiØKit-2 you have to use the second IF output of your radio. There are some radio models that already utilize such an output. There are also many that don't. You may only use RadiØKit-2 if the second IF frequency of your radio is 455KHz. Most radios use this exact frequency. There are some that use other frequencies like 450KHz, these radios are not compatible with the kit.
If your radio does not have a 455KHz second IF output it's not very difficult to make a modification to your radio so that it has. You may find detailed instructions regarding modifications for many popular radios in many Internet web sites. You may even modify an old tube radio receiver since RadiØKit-2 has a very high input resistance and will not interfere with the normal operation of your radio by overloading the stages after the second IF circuit.
RadiØKit-2 converts the 455KHz second IF of your radio to an audio frequency of 12KHz which is then input to a PC through the soundboard's MIC/Line input. Since the frequency of the IF is now inside the audio range, software can be used to apply demodulators, DSP Filters and many other functions to the received signal. With a modest radio, provided you have a good antenna, you may demodulate and apply DSP filters to AM and SSB signals even if your radio has no SSB demodulator. The best thing about RadiØKit-2 is that you can receive DRM signals and enjoy the very good quality and stereo sound of speech and music that this digital mode offers on MW and Shortwave broadcasts. The software that does all these wonders is called Dream and is offered for free on the Internet. Just visit the web site https://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/drm/ for more information regarding DRM and to download the software.
RadiØKit-2 needs just a 9 Volt battery to operate for many hours of listening. Special care has been taken so that the circuit still performs quite well even when the battery has a low voltage output down to 7 Volts. Special precautions have been taken so that all the sensitive points of RadiØKit-2 circuit are bypassed by high quality capacitors. The main board of RadiØKit-2 is made of FR-4 material, the top side is silk screened with all components placement. All the copper traces at the bottom of the board are solder masked to avoid accidental bridging and all the solder pads are tinted with ROHS solder. The resistors used in RadiØKit-2 are metal film 1% type, all the capacitors are MLCC and the electrolytic capacitors are 85º type. A 9V battery clip is provided with the kit. Input output pins are also provided, you will have to use a pair of pliers to insert them in the appropriate holes since the diameter of the holes is very exact in order to keep them in place for soldering. All component holes on the board are already drilled and there are also four extra holes at the corners so you may place the board inside a box using screws and spacers.
IC SA602AN has been replaced with SA602AD SOIC8 IC and IC 8 PIN base has been replaced with SOIC-8 to DIP-8 adapter.
