Convertino is a L-Band downconverter I designed on June 2019. It is based on a MAX2121 IC and an Arduino Nano. The MAX2121 is a complete direct-conversion L-Band tuner. The main features are: RF input range 925 MHz to 2175 MHz, base-band limited to 123,75 MHz from an internal low pass filter and the local oscillator is a PLL synthesizer. The purpose of the Arduino Nano is to configure the functions of the MAX2121: the local oscillator frequency, the gain of the RF input and the gain of the output base-band signal. The Arduino Nano can even check if the local oscillator PLL is locked. 3 LEDs and 3 push buttons are connected to the Arduino Nano to show and set different configurations. An example code is available on github with the MAX2121 Arduino library.
Luigi Findanno Makes 