Welcome
Skagmo Electronics is a part time sole-proprietorship with focus on developing state of the art affordable radio systems for amateur radio use. As of now, all available capacity goes into the development of the Owl VHF radio transceiver.Skagmo Electronics represents the professional side of Jon Petter Skagmo. See skagmo.com for the private / hobby related page.
Update 21/02/2015
Finally! The first machine produced batch of the Owl has arrived. Although this is a long step forward, it will still be a while before the radio is available for radio amateurs.The project is now backed by Maritime Robotics as described in the FAQ. In short, this means I will be able to finish development at a much faster pace and still sell the Owl at a low price tag to radio amateurs. As of now, you can take a look at these brand new hardware prototypes and the recently created "downloads"-section.
Access the Owl download page here.
Owl VHF
- Flexible internal architecture supports GFSK/AFSK AX.25, AIS, NGHAM, CW, analog voice etc., and bootloader allows future expansion.
- Configurable channel access schemes (TDMA and CSMA).
- Rapid TX/RX-turnaround increases throughput.
- Dynamic PA bias point and switch mode power supplies ensures very high efficiency in both RX and TX at all output power levels.
- Built for extreme conditions where size, weight and power consumption is important: Perfect for cube satellites, UAVs, portable digipeaters etc.
- A low insertion loss pre-LNA filter ensures high out of band blocking immunity, and allows operation in close proximity to other (non 2-meter) transmitters.
FAQ
When will it be released for non-beta-testers?I don't know yet. Bear in mind preparing sale of the Owl amateur version is not prioritized, and only done on my spare time. Beta testers will be contacted as I need them.
How is the Owl being developed/financed, and who is Maritime Robotics?
The Owl project started in spring 2013 as my masters thesis, but then ended up as a spare time project when I finished my education. The time I had available was simply not enough to finish the development in reasonable time. The project leaped forward when my workplace, Maritime Robotics, allowed me to continue development at work. It was decided that Skagmo Electronics will keep the right to produce and sell Owl radios to radio amateurs, with a frequency range limited to amateur radio bands. Maritime Robotics, on the other side, will aquire the rights to sell a pro-version without frequency limitations to the professional customers. The pro-version will be easy to distinguish from the amateur version with its machined aluminium enclosure, while the amateur version will be sold as a bare PCBA with an aluminium heat sink.
Will the firmware be open-source?
Sorry, no.
Can I read raw quadrature (I/Q) samples to use with SDR receiver software?
No. The purpose of the Owl is not to make yet another SDR receiver, but to take functionality back into the transceiver. It is a completely standalone device, but with as much flexibility in configuration as possible. If an SDR receiver is what you want, you should probably buy an RTL SDR compatible dongle or similar.
How can I stay updated on the development and/or availability of the Owl?
I will update my Facebook feed for skagmo.com when I have updates. By "liking" it you can get notified by Facebook.