Microcontroller Based RC Receiver Project

Outside of the bit of pique, what the Natural Philosopher said is correct. You have to amplify the radio-frequency signal at the antennae, filter out the signals you aren't interested in, and demodulate the resulting FM signal before you can do much digital processing. What you have to do to get a useable signal to your PIC is three-fold?. : )

The first part, the amplifer/filter, is called the "front end" of the receiver. You need a very low noise transistor(s) to do the amplification, since all semiconductors (resistors too) generate some background noise all by themselves. Once the signal is boosted to a higher level, the filtering can be done in a lot of ways- passive and active filters, and various combinations of both. The demodulation process can be done many ways too- phase locked loops, digital filters, etc. Each has it's advantages. Regardless, you're pretty much locked into having to use a few passive components.

For your project I would think one of National Semiconductor's FM IC's would fit the bill. Cheap, small, and light. Get their IC application book and take a look at some of their sample schematics. Just keep in mind that RF receiver/amplifier design is a complex project, and things like temperature drift, noise, and shielding come into play- things that aren't always in the digital designers toolbox.

One idea to initially circumvent some of these difficulties would be to get hold of an RC receiver and schematic and using a scope, find the decoded signal point. Wire from there to your PIC. Then you can program your digital processing with a known good signal. Once you've got your code working, you can delve into the design of your front end. It's tough to de-bug both components of a prototype analog and digital system at the same time, as you'll have a lot of interdependent variables to sort out.

I applaud your curiosity, and even if the result isn't as good as a multi-million dollar corporation's offerings, you'll have gained a wealth of practical knowledge, and the personal satisfaction of having done something not many of us can do!

Good Luck, John

Reply to
TexMex
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I think a DSP is fast enough to do the detection from 455khz tho. AND maybe do digital filtering as well. So the last half of the IF strip is digitally possible IYSWIM

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

What I expect the processor RX to be is 1or 2 dual gate mosfet rf amps a few passives, and maybe one coil. Then the processor takes over with the use of its single master crystal. User selects any 72 or

75mhz frequencies via dip switch, then the processor provides phase lock lo>
Reply to
Johnboy

Yes, depending on the S/N. Programing a DSP to handle low S/N in a mission critical situation is not for the faint of heart, or hobby-level funding. At a minimum, going to need an In Circuit Emulator, high-dollar recording digital scope, a digital signal generator/digital noise source, and the usual lab equip. A circuit sim. program is nice to learn on, but I haven't seen one for under $10K that will handle mixed mode analog/digital processing in a non-idealized environment (Spice on a PC ain't gonna get it done.) Cell phone grade dsp is a REALLY bad idea when a 25lb, 150 mph Extra swinging a 15" meat cleaver is involved. And yeah, the National rf IC's are old, but you can set 'em up with a 50 MHz analog scope and a Radio Shack multimeter.

I suspect that most of this discussion is moot, though, as there is none so blind as will not see. The premise of the thread smacks of a pianist, who having mastered Eine Kline Nachtmusic on his Hammond, demands to be shown how to play the Brandenberg, III. At Charte'.

Reply to
TexMex

Well because you may want it to look like a real airplane, in which case ARTF is a no go and a lot of the kits are not much better, or you may want it to serve a certain purpose, e.g. a load carrier, in which case most kits are no good. With a RX though, you could even buy a micro 7 channel model, for about $30 which will still do everything a homebrew could, for less money, less wasted time and it will be much more reliable ;)

Just>

Reply to
J

AH ha, building a roswell flyer are we?

Reply to
J

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