Raspberry Pi is a rewarding platform for radio amateurs. But there is a profound difference in knowledge between the world of amateur radio and the Raspberry Pi. Dogan Ibrahim combines the two worlds in his useful book Raspberry Pi for radio amateurs.
Raspberry Pi is a rewarding platform for radio amateurs and here at Elektor we have already paid attention to this several times. But there is a profound difference in knowledge between the world of amateur radio and the Raspberry Pi. Dogan Ibrahim, a licensed radio amateur for decades and author of many Raspberry Pi books, unites the two worlds in his new book Raspberry Pi for radio amateurs.
It’s important to take the title literally: this is a book for radio amateurs with no (or little) knowledge of the Raspberry Pi. If you already have experience with the Raspberry Pi, you will probably be disappointed, as half of the book is not about radio stuff at all, but about the different Raspberry Pi models, how to install the Raspberry Pi OS, how to use the command line and desktop and programming of GPIO. But if you’re a radio enthusiast who wants to take the first steps in the world of the Raspberry Pi, the audience this book is for, then this is a great opportunity to explore the minicomputer in more detail.
The more you read the book, the closer the projects get to the amateur radio world. These projects require some knowledge of the Python programming language. Learn how to control a relay to turn equipment on and off, weather, GPS coordinates or sensor measurements on a small LCD display and generate waveforms. A frequency counter, FM transmitter and RF power meter are also discussed.
The most interesting topics in the book are described at the end. The RTL-SDR chapter is a good introduction to the use of software-defined radio with the popular RTL-SDR stick and more powerful alternatives. In the last chapter, the author discusses a dozen interesting software programs for radio amateurs, but for many it is a pity that this is limited to installation instructions and a brief explanation of how to use them. Still, the book offers a good overview of the characteristics of the Raspberry Pi for radio amateurs and provides a sufficient basis to learn more about yourself. Affordable book package and An RTL-SDR kit is available in the Elektor store.
Author: Dogan Ibrahim
Publisher: Elektor International Media
Price: € 34.95
ISBN: 978-3-89576-404-2
Book: elektor.com/rpi-radio-amateurs
Package: elektor.com/elektor-raspberry-pi-rtl-sdr-kit
Translation: Hans Adams
Comments are closed.