Dual Band Decoder - Ham Radio Station Controller

Automatic band decoder for dual radio operation with 6-band support (160m-10m) and 6x2 antenna switching for ham radio contesting and SO2R operation.

🎯 Features

• Dual Radio Support: Simultaneous monitoring of two transceivers (YAESU/ICOM/KENWOOD)
• 6 HF Bands: 160m, 80m, 40m, 20m, 15m, 10m
• Band Detection Methods:
  • BCD input (YAESU/KENWOOD)
  • Voltage sensing via ADS1115 (ICOM)
  • Auto-detection of radio type
• Antenna Control: 6x2 antenna switch with flexible routing
• 16 Relay Outputs:
  • 12 for band-pass filters (6 per radio)
  • 2 for antenna switching
  • 2 spare outputs
• Real-time Monitoring: Live band detection with <50ms latency
• Web Interface: Optional Flask-based control panel

🔧 Hardware Requirements

Components

• Raspberry Pi 5 (or 3B/4 with legacy GPIO)
• 2× SainSmart 8-Channel Relay Modules
• 2× ADS1115 16-bit ADC (I2C) - for ICOM radios
• Resistors: 4× 1kΩ (BCD protection), 4× 10kΩ (voltage dividers)
• Dupont cables and jumpers

Supported Radios

• YAESU: FT-991, FT-891, FT-dx10, etc. (BCD output)
• KENWOOD: TS-590, TS-890, etc. (BCD output)
• ICOM: IC-7300, IC-7610, IC-9700, etc. (Band Voltage output)

📐 Wiring Diagram

See docs/WIRING.md for complete pinout and connection diagrams.

Quick Reference

Radio 1 BCD: GPIO 14,15,10,9
Radio 2 BCD: GPIO 13,19,26,11
Software I2C: GPIO 5 (SDA), GPIO 6 (SCL)
ADS1115 #1: 0x48 (Radio 1 ICOM)
ADS1115 #2: 0x49 (Radio 2 ICOM)
Relay Board 1: GPIO 18,23,24,25,8,7,12,16
Relay Board 2: GPIO 20,21,2,3,4,17,27,22

🚀 Installation

1. Operating System

# Flash Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64-bit) to SD card
# Use Raspberry Pi Imager with SSH pre-enabled

2. System Setup

# Update system
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Install dependencies for Raspberry Pi 5
sudo apt install -y python3-pip python3-dev git python3-lgpio

# Enable I2C (optional, but recommended)
sudo raspi-config
# Interface Options → I2C → Enable

3. Clone Repository

cd ~
git clone git@github.com:IO7T/dual-band-decoder.git
cd dual-band-decoder

4. Install Python Requirements

pip3 install -r requirements.txt

5. Hardware Test

# Test relay outputs
sudo python3 tests/test_relays.py

# Test BCD inputs
sudo python3 tests/test_bcd.py

# Test ADS1115 (ICOM)
sudo python3 tests/test_ads1115.py

6. Run Band Decoder

sudo python3 src/band_decoder.py

⚙️ Configuration

Edit config/settings.yaml to customize:

• Band frequency ranges
• Relay assignments
• Antenna switching logic
• Radio types (auto/manual)
• Logging level

🔄 Systemd Service (Auto-start)

# Install service
sudo cp scripts/banddecoder.service /etc/systemd/system/
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable banddecoder.service
sudo systemctl start banddecoder.service

# Check status
sudo systemctl status banddecoder.service

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u banddecoder.service -f

📊 Web Interface (Optional)

# Start web interface
python3 src/web_interface.py

# Access: http://banddecoder.local:5000

Features:

• Live band display for both radios
• Antenna routing configuration
• Relay status monitoring
• System diagnostics

🧪 Testing

# Run all tests
cd tests
sudo python3 run_all_tests.py

# Individual component tests
sudo python3 test_gpio.py          # GPIO basic test
sudo python3 test_relays.py        # Relay sequential test
sudo python3 test_bcd.py           # BCD input test
sudo python3 test_ads1115.py       # ADS1115 I2C test
sudo python3 test_integration.py   # Full system test

📖 Documentation

• Complete Wiring Diagram
• Hardware Assembly Guide
• Software Architecture
• API Reference
• Troubleshooting

🐛 Debugging

# Enable verbose logging
sudo python3 src/band_decoder.py --verbose

# Test individual components
sudo python3 src/band_decoder.py --test-mode

# Monitor GPIO states
watch -n 0.1 'raspi-gpio get'

🤝 Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create feature branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Commit changes (git commit -m 'Add AmazingFeature')
4. Push to branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
5. Open Pull Request

📝 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see LICENSE file.

👤 Author

IZ7KHR - Amateur Radio Station

• Callsign: IZ7KHR
• GitHub: @IZ7KHR

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Raspberry Pi Foundation for excellent hardware and documentation
• Ham radio community for testing and feedback
• Contributors to lgpio and ADS1115 libraries

📡 Ham Radio Application

Perfect for:

• SO2R (Single Operator Two Radios): Automatic band selection
• Multi-Multi Contests: Filter switching for multiple stations
• Field Day: Rapid band changes
• DXpeditions: Reliable antenna routing

Contest Logger Integration

Compatible with:

• N1MM+
• Win-Test
• WriteLog
• DXLog.net

🔧 Calibration

See docs/CALIBRATION.md for:

• ICOM voltage calibration
• BCD signal verification
• Relay timing adjustment
• Antenna switch testing

📈 Performance

• Band detection latency: <50ms
• Relay switching time: 10ms
• Antenna switching: 15ms
• CPU usage: <5% (RPi 5)
• Memory: ~50MB

🛠️ Roadmap

• Support for 2m/70cm bands
• N1MM+ UDP integration
• Web-based calibration wizard
• Frequency-based detection (CAT control)
• MQTT support for home automation

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73 de IZ7KHR 📻

Good luck and good DX!