How hard is it to make a fully standalone SDR? [101 Things] shows you how to take a breadboard, a PI Pico, and two unremarkable chips to create a capable radio. You can see the whole thing in the video below.
The design uses a standard Tayloe demodulator. There’s also an encoder and an OLED display for a user interface. You might also want to include some PC speakers to get a bit more audio out of the device.
The PCB breadboard in question seems to work at higher frequencies, although the construction is very careful not to have long wires. This is a simplified version of an earlier design, so the software on GitHub is mature and can decode AM, FM, and SSB. The radio tunes up to around 30 MHz.
If you don’t want to change the program, you can download precompiled firmware, too. This would make a great weekend project, and there’s even a 3D-printed case design you can download for aesthetics. You may need to order a few parts ahead of time, so plan accordingly.
If you want even fewer parts, it is possible. Need an antenna for your slick new shortwave? We tried a few.
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