Build a RF lab on a budget for homebrewers in India. This page is intended to be a Systemization of Knowledge (SoK) article.
Please note that this is a list compiled to help and in no way a commercial endorsement of any vendors or links present in this article.
| Si. No | Name | Assembly Time (in min) | Cost (in INR) | Where to Buy | Comments | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Earthing | 2 | ~0 | NA | Use a regular 220v (standard line voltage in India) LED bulb between Live and Earth to check. | |
| 2 | RF Probe | 60 minutes | <200 | LCSC, Robu, Project Point, Synergy Telecom - Delhi | Build one by following this article. | |
| 3 | Frequency generator (VFO) | 500-700 | NA | Details: https://github.com/kholia/pico-hf-oscillator, Alternate: Use https://github.com/kholia/EasyVFO to build a VFO using the Si5351 module and as a hack build a VFO (for shortwave) using Raspberry Pico 2 | ||
| 4 | Frequency counter | 2 | 500-800 | In many use cases, an oscilloscope can be used for checking the frequency of AF and RF signals. Note: Pico 2 has many 5v tolerant pins which is a very useful feature! | DIY using Raspberry Pi Pico 2 and following projects: https://github.com/kholia/pico_ft8_xcvr/tree/main/PicoFrequencyCounter-v2, https://github.com/kholia/pico_ft8_xcvr/tree/main/PicoFrequencyCounter, https://github.com/richardjkendall/rp2040-freq-counter | |
| 5 | Commercial Frequency Counter | 1100 | https://rees52.com/ | 9V Frequency Meter 500 MHz High Precision Reader RF | Related: Build a RF frequency counter buffer for HF https://www.nutsvolts.com/magazine/article/build-an-rf-frequency-counter-buffer-for-hf | |
| 6 | Frequency reference | 15 | DIY using https://github.com/kholia/uBlox7_TimePulse project | |||
| 7 | Soldering Iron | NA | BABA i12 Soldering iron - 4200, IKO Micro Soldering Iron Station– 12V - 350, Soldron 25W - 350 | Pro-Tip: Invest in good soldering bits (tips) and ceramic tips if you can find them! The lower priced ones take time to heat up but that is fine. | ||
| 8 | Multimeter | NA | UNI-T UT33D+ - 800, Mastech MAS830L Digital Multimeter - 700 | https://www.toolworld.in, https://robu.in/ | ||
| 9 | Linear power supply options | NA | SUGON 3005D Adjustable DC Power Supply (30V |
CC CV functionality is a must for running experiments safely! | ||
| 10 | Capacitance meter | NA | MS8910 Mastech SMD Measuring Tweezers - 2000 | VU2ESE uses Mastech MS8910 too | ||
| 11 | Oscilloscope | NA | Any >= 100 MHz Siglent scope which is in your budget. Get a DSO at a minimum. Rigol scopes are decent too. Owon scopes work fine for the (low) budget | |||
| 12 | NanoVNA | NA | https://www.banggood.in/ | |||
| 13 | TinySA (Ultra) | NA | https://www.banggood.in/ | Get attenuators from Synergy Telecom - Delhi. Get a bunch of them to mix-and-match. | ||
| 14 | RF power + SWR meter | NA | Diamond SX20C Power Meter | https://www.sanchartelesystems.com/ | A cross-needle power and swr meter is super useful for RF work. | |
| 15 | RF Dummy load | 30 | 500-700 | DIY using a 50 ohms RF flange resistor + a suitable aluminium heat sink | ||
| 16 | Hot air station options | NA | Based on your budgets | https://g2mark.com/ and https://babaocamachine.com/ have various options. | ||
| 17 | SDR Options | NA | RTL-SDR v3 / v4, Airspy HF+ Discovery | https://www.rtl-sdr.com/buy-rtl-sdr-dvb-t-dongles/ | Airspy is possibly the best HF receiver out there(?) | |
| 18 | Jumper cables | NA | Project Point | Buy high quality ones, saves time. | ||
| 19 | Desoldering braid (wick) | Buy Chemtronics branded ones from Otovon vendor | ||||
| 20 | Magnification | NA | Based on your budget | https://g2mark.com/ and https://babaocamachine.com/ have various options. | In a pinch, chose a basic magnifying setup that comes with LED lighting that begin from 300 INR and based on your needs you can upgrade. | |
| 21 | Local WSPR / FT8 / CW 10mW RF source | 2 | ~500 | https://github.com/kholia/Easy-Digital-Beacons-v1, https://github.com/kholia/Pico-FT8-TX | ||
| 22 | Local SSB signal source | 15 | All it takes is one wire to solder / plug-in | https://github.com/kholia/rpitx | ||
| 23 | Soldering wire | NA | 22 SWG "60/40" mix with rosin core is what we need, 0.3mm soldering wire (from 2UUL or Mechanic brand) for soldering finer SMD components. | |||
| 24 | Line Tester | NA | ~100 | Measuring range of upto 400V | ||
| 25 | Vice / PCB Vice | NA | 300-8000 | Basic vice from Taparia, etc. from a local hardware shop | ||
| 26 | Hardware tools: ESD safe tweezers, nose pliers, screwdriver set, side cutters, clamp | NA | Taparia, Stanley and some Miniso branded sets tend to be decent stuff. | |||
| 27 | LCR meter DE-5000 | NA | eBay (comes from JP with import duties) | Pretty well reviewed and dependable |
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HackRF One
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CC1101 SPI module (two)
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Logic analyzer options
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DIY using Raspberry Pi Pico
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[Alternate 1] DIY using Raspberry Pi Pico
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[Alternate 2] https://robu.in/product/usb-logic-analyze-24m-8ch-mcu-arm-fpga-dsp-debug-tool/
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Fault injection
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LTspice - Sanity-check your ideas using LTspice
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Elsie (https://tonnesoftware.com/elsie.html) for filters - best software ever?
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http://www.ke5fx.com/aadeflt.htm - AADE Filter Design V4.5
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https://coil32.net/ - coil inductance calculating app
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KiCad EDA (EAGLE is dead, waiting for other proprietary software to die too...)
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I want to get started with HF in 30 minutes? Tell me how!
Build a 10mW WSPR beacon for 10m band using a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 MCU board.
Use https://github.com/kholia/Easy-Beacons-STEM.
Alternate: Already own a Raspberry Pi SBC? Then try https://github.com/JamesP6000/WsprryPi.
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I want to start receive HF traffic today - tell me how!
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RTL-SDR v3 + random wire / active antenna
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CD2003 receiver (< 500 INR) + random wire / active antenna
See https://github.com/kholia/ConsensusBasedTimeSync for more details
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