Unfortunately I see little improvement in the CW auto-spot feature, broken in the last release. It is still much less accurate than the original algorithm, and less consistent in it's behavior.
Try this - tune in a good steady (S6 or S7) cw signal. Set tuning to FINE, enable CWT and then press SPOT repeatedly, observing the frequency display. The beta version (like 1.88) settles on a considerably different frequency almost every time - moving 5 Hz or more commonly, and sometimes as much as 20 Hz or more. There is a tendency to tune low. The original version, on the other hand, rarely moves more than 1 or 2 Hz with each auto-spot invocation, bearing out the fact that it is more accurate in general, or less likely to get confused (by noise, varying morse code speed etc.). Since I have two K3 units here, I set one up with 1.78/1.58 and the other with the beta firmware, and then compared their auto-spot behavior side by side on the same received signal using an antenna switch. The difference is quite pronounced. Here are some series of freqs (last three digits) resulting from 10 successive invocations of auto-spot on the same steady S7 signal on 40 meters (at 13 wpm or so, fortunately a long winded transmission): v178/158 (TEXT DEC threshold = AUTO) 125, 125, 125, 129, 130, 130, 127, 128, 129, 129 beta (TEXT DEC threshold = AUTO) 115, 118, 124, 079 (!), 106, 106, 124, 107, 112, 100 beta (TEXT DEC threshold = 5) 124, 123, 109, 116, 118, 122, 117, 116, 120, 123 The newer firmware version tends to "bounce around" more with a tendency to tune low, often requiring multiple invocations of auto-spot to hit the right pitch, whereas the original algorithm generally tunes right the first time. With threshold set to 5 in the beta version auto-spot is a bit better, but all too often it takes multiple tries to hit the right pitch, as it still tends low. If I set the threshold much higher, it doesn't want to tune at all for signals that the original algorithm handled easily. I'm not sure what the "improvements" to auto-spot introduced in 1.88 were supposed to do, but IMO the feature is still negatively affected by the attempt. A side by side comparison of the two versions, on the same signal, is very revealing in this case - can someone else try this? Too bad, since I use the feature a lot it's back to 1.78/1.58 for now. It "just works". Bob NW8L On Mon, May 12, 2008 at 7:08 PM, wayne burdick <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Thanks to your input on the last firmware release (1.88), we've made a > number of important improvements. > > For the first time, we're posting new firmware as "beta." Upgrading is > optional: if you want to minimize your risk, you might want to wait until > we've blessed it as a normal production firmware release. (Or until all your > friends have it and you're a little jealous.) > > We'd love to have as many thrill-seekers as possible take the plunge and > load the new firmware now. We think it's greatly improved, and it will > certainly clear up many of the issues noted over the past week. Even though > we're headed to Dayton in a couple of days, we'll be monitoring closely for > any additional issues. > > For release notes and instructions on how to load beta firmware, please see: > > http://www.elecraft.com/K3/k3_software.htm > > The instructions (linked from within the release notes) explain how to > create a separate folder for the beta revision. This will allow you to > easily revert to an older revision if you find it necessary. Hopefully not! > > For your convenience I've also provide the release notes below. > > 73, > Wayne > N6KR > > * * * > > MCU 1.94 / DSP 1.73, 5-12-08 > > * VOX: Increased sensitivity. Typical VOX GN settings now ~30-50. > > * VOICE MONITOR: Eliminated "scratchy" artifacts with compression set to > high levels. > > * FM DEVIATION ADJUSTABLE: Use CONFIG:FM DEV menu entry (default: 5.0 > kHz). > > * Flash memory driver improved to prevent occasional receive dropouts, "ERR > PL1", and > "FPF LOAD PENDING" messages. > > * XMIT SWITCH IN MENU: Tapping XMIT while in menu correctly starts/ends > transmit. > > * PASSBAND SHIFT BELOW "0.00" CORRECTED: The SHIFT control no longer allows > continued rotation below 0.00. (This was occurring only with sidetone > pitch < 500 Hz.) > > * SQUELCH/RF GAIN CONTROL CHANGES: By default, the RF/SQL concentric pots > control main and subreceiver RF gain, and squelch is controlled by two > CONFIG menu > entries (SQ MAIN and SQ SUB). But setting SQ MAIN to "=SUB POT" assigns > SUB RF/SQL pot to both main and sub squelch, and in this case, the main > RF/SQL > pot controls both main and sub RF gain. Setting SQ MAIN back to a numeric > value > restores the default assignments. Note: Squelch applies only to FM mode > at present. > > --- > > http://www.elecraft.com > > _______________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > You must be a subscriber to post to the list. > Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm > Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com > _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
