So I want to sample 500Khz of bandwidth at a time from a SoftRock Lite II, to the PC. I don't like the data limitations of a sound card as an ADC and want to see the full 80m (3.5-4.0mhz) Band to a PC. I dont really care how it gets there whether it be a USB to serial converter or something like an FX-2 hi speed USB chip. I just want to be able to sample the whole 500Khz in Quadrature and then get that in to SDR software.
My issue is I dont understand the best way to do this, I see a lot of designs using FPGA's and im not quite in that realm. Im looking to use a Micro Controller and some sort of hi speed ADC. The hackRF is able to send 20mhz of I/Q data via usb without and FPGA, so I know 500khz is possible and shouldnt need the same crazy requirements as a hackRF. For example the Propeller along with FTDI chip can run at 2Mbaud would those speeds be appropriate for 500Khz of data? Im thinking something like a cypress FX-2 is overkill, I don't know 8051 cores either. Im willing to learn to use the 8051 if the FX-2 is what is required but im trying to keep it simple.
My idea is to use the softrock as the tayloe front end for a portable 80M FFT/Waterfall, with a plug on the side allowing you to plug it in to the PC and sample 3.5mhz to 4.0mhz at a time with standard software including SDR#/GNU-Radio etc. The reason I chose the soft-rock is I am trying to build my first SDR and keep things simple. This project is not really about understanding Tayloe or Phasing detection or any of that stuff it is about understanding the Analog to Digital and PC pipe required by SDR's.
I would like to make my own SDR using an LT5599 IQ modulator along with an Analog Devices I/Q Sampling chip or custom tayloe design, and a
Parallella board but this is a much simpler starting point.