In the beginning was CTR
The Mini and Mini+ are the third generation of radio controllers that I’ve designed and built. CTR stands for Control The Radio. The Mini traces it’s linage back to the original CTR Windows Pocket PC program I wrote back in 2001. I designed a companion Bluetooth interface for CTR called CTR-BlueLync that allowed you to control your radio with your Pocket PC over a Bluetooth link. The project was published in the February 2007 issue of QST.
then came CTR2
Fast-forward 18 years when I decided I wanted a knob for my Flex 6400 transceiver. I had just retired and the pandemic was just starting so I had a lot of free time. I started working on CTR2, CTR‘s sibling on steroids. The “2” in CTR2 stands for “too” or “also” because in addition to radio control it evolved into a complete multi-radio station control system that didn’t just offer rig control but a contest memory keyer, DSP audio signal processing, FFT frequency display, CW and RTTY decoding, touchscreen with touch tuning, buttons, available Node-RED interface, and automatic rig and antenna routing. It quickly grew into an oversized shack control system that was very expensive and hard to build.
CTR2 Board Stack and CTR2 Touchscreen Console
QEX featured it in the Sept/Oct 2021 and Jan/Feb 2022 issues. I’ve kept the CTR2 blog posts here for posterity. They make excellent reading for chronic insomniacs
I discontinued work on CTR2 when global supply chain issues made it impossible to source the parts needed to build it. And honestly, because of the cost, there was very little interest in it anyway.
and finally CTR2-Mini
I started working on CTR2-Mini in Dec. 2021. The goal was to return to the original concept of a control knob for my Flex 6400 (and any of the other radio I own) by removing as much bloat from CTR2 as possible. This made it easier and cheaper to build.
I chose the Wio Terminal from Seeed Studios as the controller/display for this project. It’s a great little development system.
There are actually two Mini models, the original Mini and the new Mini+. The Mini was featured in an article in the September 2022 issue of QST.
See More – Link
Antenna
Testing My Mini 64:1 Half-Wave End-Fed Antenna Transformer.
Testing My Mini 64:1 Half-Wave End-Fed Antenna Transformer. Read more
3-Band 6m DX, 2m DX, 2m FM Yagi Antenna PA50-144HV-17-3-3CB
Three band antennas in one. PA50-144HV-17-3-3CB. – 6m Horizontal antenna – 2m Horizontal antenna – 2m Vertical antenna 3 band VHF an… Read more
Status QUAD: 4/12 StQ 50/144 , cubic 4 elements 50 Mhz and 12 elements 144 Mhz
Simulation table Eznec, gain and F / B in free space and real space at a wavelength from the ground Technical specifications DOWNLOAD HERE THE of the… Read more
VHQ HEX BEAM ANTENNA
HEX BEAM ANTENNA VHQ Hex Beam Complete with 6 Bands 6,10,12,15,17,20, Ice Cords. 2″ mast Hub, comes with everything needed including Ferrite cho… Read more
New Antenna Physics Book from ARRL!
Written to bridge the gap between basic theory and graduate-level engineering texts, the second edition of Antenna Physics: An Introduction includes n… Read more
The Siru Innovatios SDR20 adds new features
New features * Smooth zoom in FFT/waterfall view * Adaptive menu * Frequency memory with snapshot pictures of signals * Sliding effect between views *… Read more
Review
Boeing Antennas
Aircraft antenna Aircraft antennas , Garmin, AeroAntenna Technology, and more Com Antennas, Couplers, Diplexers, Combiners, DME/Transponder Antennas,… Read more
MFJ-1263 – MIC / RIG switch, 2 MIC to 2 RIG
MFJ`s new MFJ-1263 Microphone Control Center lets you mix and match any two microphones to any two transceivers. The microphones or transceivers can h… Read more
Meet the Raspberry Pi – “ARRL The Doctor is In” podcast. Listen…and learn!
Meet the Raspberry Pi” is the topic of the new (February 28) episode of the “ARRL The Doctor is In” podcast. Listen…and learn! Sponsored by DX… Read more
Baofeng UV9S Triband HT Power Test
Functions: TRI-BAND TWO WAY RADIO 1. Frequency Range: VHF/UHF136-174Mhz&220-225Mhz&400-520Mhz 2. Dual-Band Display, Tri Freq. Display, Dual-St… Read more
Ameritron ALS-500M Amp and MFJ-4275MV Power Supply
Ameritron mobile no tune Solid State Amplifier –Mobile no tune Solid State Amplifier – uses four rugged 2SC2879 hig… Read more
Equipment
New Firmware Updates for the IC-705, IC-7300 and IC-9700 SDR Transceivers
Icom has released updates for its latest range of Amateur radios. The updates are available for the IC-705, IC-7300 and IC-9700 SDR transceivers. The… Read more
XTRX – A high-performance SDR in a mini PCIe form factor
A high-performance SDR in a mini PCIe form factor Features & Specifications RF Chipset: Lime Microsystems LMS7002M FPRF FPGA Chipset: Xilinx Artix… Read more
Elecraft KPA500 Compact 160-6 M Solid State Amplifier
500+ Watts in a compact package the size of the Elecraft K3. We are proud to introduce the KPA500: A 500-watt solid-state amp that inte… Read more
IC-705 QRP SDR Transceiver Update, Available in Japan around April 2020
IC-705 There has been massive interest around the world about the new IC-705 QRP SDR transceiver since a concept model was shown at the Tokyo Hamfair… Read more
The DUC/DDC HF/VHF SunSDR2 transceiver
SunSDR2-transceiver – is an up-to-date system of the amateur radio communication in the HF and VHF frequency bands with the digital signal proce… Read more
Lab599 Discovery TX-500
Today i’m bringing you an update on a very exciting qrp ham radio from Lab599. It’s called the Discovery TX-500. The TX500 is a HF & 6… Read more
Elecraft KX3 GoBox
As I was contacted by a few HAMs where to get “my” box I would like to give you a little parts-overview. Unfortunately I`m not able to manufacture thi… Read more
The BT1500A Antenna Tuner – Palstar
The BT1500A 1500 watt balanced antenna tuner is the only 1500 Watt, Double-L Network antenna tuner on the market today covering 20m to 160m (25… Read more
The post What’s a CTR2-Mini? appeared first on QRZ NOW – Ham Radio News.