One of our mbed developers, Luc Smeesters, is an active ham radio operator. He contacted us last year with an idea to run a competition to explore how microcontrollers could be applied to ham radio applications. It sounded like a great idea, so we sponsored him with a bit of mbed kit for prizes and in conjunction with the publication "QSP Revue", a competition was born. Here is a great summary from Luc of the results of what became the first "QSP Revue mbed Ham Radio Contest"

There are currently millions of ham radio (amateur radio) users around the world. These fellows are motivated by all techniques and technologies that enhance all forms of radio communications.

The Contest

Belgian French Radio Amateur publication QSP Revue ran a contest, sponsored by mbed and Plantronics, to use an mbed microcontroller in a ham radio application.

Contestants were asked to submit a proposal for a project suitable for a ham application. A jury of independent amateur radio users judged the feasibility and appropriateness of the project and the most appealing proposals received an mbed to develop their projects. The contestants were also required to produce all the necessary documentation to allow other ham fellows to produce their own prototypes of the described application.

The Finalists

DTMF Generator - A solution to control specific ham radio applications (Web communication, radio relay control) using sound signals such as those used in telephony. QSP Revue Mai 2011

OUFTI1- A cubesat (10x10x10 cm satellite) housing a DSTAR communication satellite communication relay. This was an academic project supported by ESA (European Space Agency). This project was aimed at deciphering the OUFTI1 data stream affected by the Doppler Effect (a frequency shift due to moving objects). QSP Revue Août 2011

CW-Box - A dedicated communication switching system that implements the appropriate switching delays in various communication equipment configurations.QSP Revue Juillet 2011

The Winner

DSTAR Decoder - An mbed-based protocol conversion system to decode the DSTAR protocol which is usually only supported by one manufacturer. This allows standard ham transceiver equipment to transmit and receive digital voice, data and images via this protocol. The project not only achieved efficient support of the DSTAR protocol, it also opens this communication channel through existing and cheaper means.QSP Revue Juin 2011

Although the number of projects was limited by restricted C/C++ programming knowledge, the contest has generated plenty of interesting content in the QSP Revue throughout the year. When the OUFTI1 satellite is operational (launch expected end of this year), interest in DSTAR communication will rise and the offered mbed solutions will lead to more implementations and discoveries in this field.

Luc Smeesters – Radio Amateur Station ON4ZI

Thanks Luc!

If you have news, projects, or stories that you think we should blog about please email us at support@mbed.org