This weekend I wanted to clean up the octopus of wires and devices around the BCIT ARC so that other users did not complain about the mess. The laptop PC that is used at the main station computer is notorious for EMI/RFI noise so an enclosure box was required. I scrambled some parts I have had laying around, including a USB hub and some cables then went to RP Electronics (a local electronics dealer) and purchased a project case to put everything in. I wanted to be able to enclose everything in one clean case. This case contains two SDR dongles, the upconverter, the hub distributes power and data and then there is a case-mount USB pass-thru connector so that just one cable goes back to the PC. DC power can be supplied from the USB, or if you have an AC outlet near by, you can power it from the wall instead so that you don’t overload your machine’s USB power source.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Parts:

• Case: Hammond, Rugged, die cast aluminum alloy enclosures. Two piece lap joint construction provides protection against dust accumulation and water. Also provides for improved EMI/RFI shielding.
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• Upconverter: A high-quality RF (MF, HF) converter for software defined radio devices like the RTL-SDR.
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• SDR Dongle: NooElec TV28T v2 SDR & DVB-T USB set including antenna and remote control. R820T tuner is guaranteed.
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• USB Hub: 7 port powered USB hub.
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• The RF cables were from various sources. I would recommend just hunting around on EBay for more.