I have a long-term dream to design a single-signal direct-conversion receiver using a microcontroller for the audio processing. In trying to figure out how I—a relative newbie to digital and RF design—could design a transceiver, I figured that I needed some basic test gear and a way to gain experience with microcontroller programming. My first attempt was to turn an eBay AD9850 module into a VFO using an Arduino Nano as the controller and various displays and buttons and encoders for the interface. I may document that one eventually, but that’s a project that’s been done a million times before.
more >>>