Radioberry

A Raspberry Pi based HF transceiver.

Project Outline

Build the Radioberry by PA3GSB and add controls to create a standalone radio setup. Radioberry Console by VU2DLE looks suitable and also customisable.

The software of choice is piHPSDR by G0ORX and updated by DL1YCF. I picked this as it is well documented and kept current.

I want everything to autorun on boot.

Transmit and more mods to come later.

Parts list

  • Raspberry Pi 4
  • Elecrow 7inch monitor
  • Radioberry board
For the Controller
  • Raspberry Pi Pico (v1)
  • Rotary encoders for level controls x 4
  • Rotary encoder for tuning
  • Suitable push switches x 16
  • PCB (optional but nice to have)

The plan

The order of construction appears simple.

  • Prepare the Raspberry Pi.
  • Install the Radioberry.
  • Install piHPSDR.
  • Build the controller.
  • Install the controller application (rbc_comm).

Prepare the Raspberry Pi

Using Raspberry Pi Imager choose the Bookworm 64bit with Desktop image to a micro SD card of at least 16GB in size. Edit the settings to use local WiFi if needed, set username to "pi" and pick a password of your choice. On the services tab enable SSH.

When the SD card has been written remove it and reinsert so that the PC recognises it. Open the drive in file manager and edit the file "config.txt" in any text editor. Add to the end of the file: 

#=========================#
# Config for 7” screen    #
#=========================#
hdmi_force_hotplug=1
max_usb_current=1
hdmi_group=2
config_hdmi_boost=7
hdmi_mode=87
hdmi_cvt 1024 600 60 6 0 0 0
hdmi_drive=2
#=========================#
and change the line:
# Enable DRM VC4 V3D driver
dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d
to read
# Enable DRM VC4 V3D driver
dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d
by adding the "f"

If all went well the SD card can be used to boot the Raspberry Pi and the 7inch display should be working at the correct resolution (1024 x 600). At this stage connect to the Pi from a desktop using SSH and run:

sudo apt update && sudo apt -y full-upgrade
Then running: 
sudo raspi-config
Enable VNC connection. This makes it easier to continue from the desktop using VNC viewer but is not essential.

With a working operating system it's now time to start installing the Radioberry.