Sound Card to radio interfaces category is a curation of 81 web resources on, FT-1000MP interface, RTTY/AFSK Interface for Android Phone or Tablet, Interfacing to PC soundcards. Resources listed under SoundCard Interfacing category belongs to Technical Reference main collection, and get reviewed and rated by amateur radio operators. Digital modes using sound card software have become increasingly popular over the last few years. However what with YouTube ham radio videos, podcasts and other hobby-related multimedia most hams want to have sound from their computer and are unwilling to give this up to work digital modes. Many solve the problem by buying a SignaLink USB Interface. It's a fine piece of kit and I've heard nothing but good reports of it but it is quite expensive.
After my initial success in getting digital modes to work using the motherboard built in sound capability. I wanted to explore options which would allow use of the motherboard for more traditional multimedia duties. While offloading the Ham digital mode duties to an external USB Sound card.
- I have received a fairly enormous selection of Raspberry Pi audio cards from four suppliers (Pimoroni, IQaudIO, HiFiBerry and JustBoom). All the audio cards and cases I received It’s a bewildering array of DACs and AMPs, which allow you to turn your Pi into a HiFi system capable of playing sound files up to 32-bit 384 kHz, in theory.
- Update the device driver. In the search box on the taskbar, enter device manager, then select Device Manager. Select a category to see names of devices, then right-click (or press and hold) the one you’d like to update. Select Search automatically for updated driver software. Select Update Driver.
I looked at what was available online and purchased two devices to play around with. The first is the NRG Tech External USB Stereo Audio Adapter which I picked up from Amazon.com for $10.99.
My Windows 7 desktop found and installed the drivers without my intervention on my part. As you can see in the below photo, this device has a green led which indicates both power and activity by blinking when audio transits the device.
Digi Driver Download
Pretty simple a headphone and microphone jack on the end of the device.
No issues were encountered setting up various digital mode apps to use these ports. After several weeks of use the only oddity I have encountered is after restoring from sleep. I have to restart the consuming app in order to receive audio.
So whether you want a dedicated sound card for digital modes, or your system does not have one built in, for $11 this little device gets the job done.
The second unit I found on Ebay being offered from many sellers and varying price points. I purchased mine for 10.99 plus 0.99 shipping direct from China, took three weeks to make it here.
The same principle as the first card with a much different form factor and additional ports.
Digi Device Finder
My windows 7 desktop located and downloaded the appropriate drivers without my help. No challenges in setting up various apps to use this card for sound inputs and outputs.
For under $13 two options which provide all that you need interface wise to work digital modes. Using both over the course of a couple of weeks, I was not able to discern any difference in audio quality between the two.
73’s Jay
Digi Device Setup
Cmedia’s privacy policy covers the collection and use of personal information that may be collected by Cmedia anytime you interact with Cmedia, such as when you visit our website, when you purchase Cmedia products and services, or when you contact our sales or support associates. Please take a moment to read the following to learn more about our information practices, including what type of information is gathered, how the information is used and for what purposes, to whom we disclose the information, and how we safeguard your personal information. Your privacy is a priority at Cmedia, and we go to great lengths to protect it.