Playing with the ADLM-Pluto

The Analog Devices ADLM-Pluto is a fascinating SDR.

It works well as a standalone device using an USB on-the-go cable and a USB Wireless Dongle.


Some interesting experiments :-

1. It works over a wider frequency range than claimed but how much performance degredation you will get is not clear. The specified tuning range is 300 Mhz -3.8 GHz by tricking it into thinking it has a AD9364 rather than a AD9363 This gives an effective range of 70Mhz to 6GHz. This is certainly out of specification usage but it seems to work. I can't say what the effect on performance but it certainly works in the FM radio bands. I have used it to listen to BBC  Radio Solent on 96.1 with no problems. Please note that the AD9364 can draw more current than the AD9363.
2. It theoretically has a single processor variant of the Xillinx ZC7Z010 however it can be told to run with two processor and seems to work fine as a dual core. (Most 7010-s are dual core) However it might have a defective second core and have been sold cheap to ADI for use as a single core chip so enabling the second core may be risky. See  https://www.plutosdr.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=11 to see the trivial command to do this.
3. It works with a very recent version of gqrx on linux.
4. It works with sdrsharp and a special driver on windows.

I will extend this as I learn more.

Two years on

I have failed to update this blog for two years.

I have no excuse, I am now retired and am active in a number of ways on Amateur Radio and Light engineering.

I am playing with in no particular order:-

• WSPR
• SDR Receivers and Transmitters
• Raspberry Pi's
• Encrypted Internet Links
• Remote Web-servers
• Laser Cutters (Solid state)
• CNC Milling (Small scale)
• 3D Printing

These all interact in interesting ways, for instance I am using 3D printing to make parts to improve my Laser Cutter which I intend to use for PCB etch resist removal which gives me small circuit boards cut and drilled by the CNC Mill to make RF  circuits for my electronic and radio experiments!

So not of interest to many but an early attempt at creating a support component for this tangled chain I used OPENSCAD to produce a replacement carriage for the laser cutter with tighter tolerances to reduce the side slip that was affecting the reliability and repeat-ability of the laser cutter.

OpenSCAD uses a simple language to define 3 Dimension shapes mathematically. So in this case a source code of :-

/* Plate

units mm

*/

$fn=45;

PlateType = 2;


Toplen = 114.5;
Thick = 6.7;
Height = 112.75;
ShaftH = 5.2;
Hole3 = 4.6;
Hole4 = Hole3;
Hole5 = 24;
Hole6 = 4;
Hole7 = Hole6;
Hole8 = 3.6;
Hole9 = Hole8;
Hole10 = Hole8;
HoleS1 = Hole8;
HoleS2 = Hole8;
KHole1a = 6;
KHole1b = KHole1a;
KHole2 = KHole1a;
HoleRow = 5.6;
HoleRow2 = 62;
HoleRow3 = 22;
HoleRow4 = 45.7;
HoleRow5 = 88;
HoleRow6 = HoleRow5-31/2 ; /* Nema17 */
HoleRow7 = HoleRow5+31/2 ;
HoleRow8 = 16.4;
HoleRow9 = 56.3;
HoleRow10 = 95;
HoleSLen = 1.6;
HoleS1a = 37.7;
HoleS1b = HoleS1a + HoleSLen;
HoleSS = 33.5;
HoleS2a = HoleS1a +HoleSS;
HoleS2b = HoleS1b +HoleSS;
KHoleR1 = 31;
KHoleR2 = 70.5;
HoleIn = 11.3;
HoleIn2 = 19;
HoleSep3 = 17;
HoleSep4 = HoleSep3;
HoleSep6 = 31;
HoleSep7 = 31;
HoleSep8 = 20;
HoleSep9 = HoleSep8;
HoleSep10 = HoleSep8;
HoleSSep = 50;
KHole1Sep = 15;
KHoleBH = 6;
KHoleBW = 3.3;


difference() {
     union(){
        cube([Toplen, Height,Thick],center=true);
}
     union(){
        
    /* Wheels */    
         translate([0,(Height/2) - HoleRow,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=ShaftH, true) ;
        
         translate([0- (Toplen / 2) + HoleIn ,(Height/2) - HoleRow,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=ShaftH, true) ;
        
         translate([ (Toplen / 2) - HoleIn ,(Height/2) - HoleRow,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=ShaftH, true) ;
        
         translate([0- (Toplen / 2) + HoleIn2 ,(Height/2) - HoleRow2,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=ShaftH, true) ;
        
         translate([ (Toplen / 2) - HoleIn2 ,(Height/2) - HoleRow2,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=ShaftH, true) ;
      
     if (PlateType == 1){
        
         translate([ HoleSep3/2 ,(Height/2) - HoleRow3,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=Hole3, true) ;
        
         translate([ 0 - HoleSep3/2 ,(Height/2) - HoleRow3,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=Hole3, true) ;
     
        
         translate([ HoleSep4/2 ,(Height/2) - HoleRow4,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=Hole4, true) ;
        
         translate([ 0 - HoleSep4/2 ,(Height/2) - HoleRow4,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=Hole4, true) ;
      
 /* NEMA17 */
       translate([0,(Height/2) - HoleRow5,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=Hole5,true);

      
              
         translate([ HoleSep6/2 ,(Height/2) - HoleRow6,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=Hole6, true) ;
        
         translate([ 0 - HoleSep6/2 ,(Height/2) - HoleRow6,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=Hole6, true) ;
      
         translate([ HoleSep7/2 ,(Height/2) - HoleRow7,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=Hole7, true) ;
        
         translate([ 0 - HoleSep7/2 ,(Height/2) - HoleRow7,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=Hole7, true) ;
      
        
        }
        else
        {
           
      /* Holes */
           
                   
         translate([ HoleSep8/2 ,(Height/2) - HoleRow8,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=Hole8, true) ;
        
         translate([ 0 - HoleSep8/2 ,(Height/2) - HoleRow8,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=Hole8, true) ;
     
        
         translate([ HoleSep9/2 ,(Height/2) - HoleRow9,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=Hole9, true) ;
        
         translate([ 0 - HoleSep9/2 ,(Height/2) - HoleRow9,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=Hole9, true) ;
  
        
         translate([ HoleSep10/2 ,(Height/2) - HoleRow10,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=Hole10, true) ;
        
         translate([ 0 - HoleSep9/2 ,(Height/2) - HoleRow10,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=Hole10, true) ;
        
      /* Key Holes */
           
         translate([ KHole1Sep/2 ,(Height/2) - KHoleR1,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=KHole1a, true) ;
        
               translate([ KHole1Sep/2 ,(Height/2) - KHoleR1 - KHoleBH + 1 ,0]) rotate([0,0,0]) cube([KHoleBW,KHoleBH,3*Thick],true) ;
        
         translate([ 0 - KHole1Sep/2 ,(Height/2) - KHoleR1,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=KHole1b, true) ;
   
             translate([0- KHole1Sep/2 ,(Height/2) - KHoleR1 - KHoleBH + 1 ,0]) rotate([0,0,0]) cube([KHoleBW,KHoleBH,3*Thick],true) ;
   
          translate([ 0 ,(Height/2) - KHoleR2,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=KHole2, true) ;
         
          
            translate([0 ,(Height/2) - KHoleR2 - KHoleBH + 1 ,0]) rotate([0,0,0]) cube([KHoleBW,KHoleBH,3*Thick],true) ;
     
      /* Slots */     
     
       translate([ HoleSSep/2 ,(Height/2) - HoleS1a,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=HoleS1, true) ;
        
         translate([ 0 - HoleSSep/2 ,(Height/2) - HoleS1a,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=HoleS1, true) ;
     
        
         translate([ HoleSSep/2 ,(Height/2) - HoleS1b,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=HoleS1, true) ;
        
         translate([ 0 - HoleSSep/2 ,(Height/2) - HoleS1b,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=HoleS1, true) ;
  
                translate([ HoleSSep/2 ,(Height/2) - HoleS2a,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=HoleS2, true) ;
        
         translate([ 0 - HoleSSep/2 ,(Height/2) - HoleS2a,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=HoleS2, true) ;
     
        
         translate([ HoleSSep/2 ,(Height/2) - HoleS2b,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=HoleS2, true) ;
        
         translate([ 0 - HoleSSep/2 ,(Height/2) - HoleS2b,0-(1.5*Thick)]) rotate([0,0,0]) cylinder(3*Thick,d=HoleS2, true) ;
  
       translate([ HoleSSep/2 ,(Height/2) - (HoleS1a+HoleS1b) / 2,0]) rotate([0,0,0]) cube([HoleS1,HoleSLen,3*Thick], true) ;
        
      translate([ 0 - HoleSSep/2 ,(Height/2) - (HoleS1a+HoleS1b) /2 ,0]) rotate([0,0,0]) cube([HoleS1,HoleSLen,3*Thick], center=true) ;
   
      translate([ HoleSSep/2 ,(Height/2) - (HoleS2a+HoleS2b) / 2,0]) rotate([0,0,0]) cube([HoleS2,HoleSLen,3*Thick], true) ;
        
      translate([ 0 - HoleSSep/2 ,(Height/2) - (HoleS2a+HoleS2b) /2 ,0]) rotate([0,0,0]) cube([HoleS2,HoleSLen,3*Thick], true) ;   
           
     }
}
}


Can generate two different 3D shapes depending on the value of  Platetype.

For Platetype = 1
 


For Platetype = 2

 

 These are of course simpler than the original parts that had shaping for clearance and minor style reasons.

Comparing these with the Clear Acrylic originals shows the disadvantages of the PLA I used to print it being opaque and prettier than my new test replacements, however the big advantage is that the slop is now gone from the mechanism so I will use these simple replacements for further experimentation.

(For interest the Laser Cutter is an  

EleksMaker® EleksLaser-A3 Pro 2500mW Laser Engraving Machine CNC Laser Printer )