Re: [Flexradio] FlexRadio Digest, Vol 50, Issue 18
Gerald, Great idea! A few years ago we outsourced our IT Service Desk, but people kept calling the folks they knew that could help them solve problems (often these are busy developers and operations folks who have other work to do.) That kept happening until the developers stopped answering questions and pointed people to the official service desk. Now, the ONLY way to get something fixed is to call (or email) the service desk - all other requests for help from developers or operations people are ignored. That model works very well for us (and it sounds like what Bob has committed to.) I think the quality of work you guys do is incredible, and I hate to see the quality perception suffer because of this. Thanks for putting the thought into a separate process for alpha testers. I know it will take discipline to make it work, but it will be much better! Keep up the great work! Mark W8XR Message: 41 Date: Thu, 18 Jun 2009 08:43:24 -0500 From: Gerald Youngblood ger...@flex-radio.com Subject: Re: [Flexradio] All using SVN 3166 or higher To: 'Joe Roth-WC4R' w...@live.com, 'Bob McGwier' rwmcgw...@gmail.com, flexradio@flex-radio.biz Message-ID: 003c01c9f01a$c18da030$44a8e0...@com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Dear FlexRadio customers: A separate SVN Experimental/Development reflector is exactly what we plan to implement. We will work out the details and make an announcement here in the next 1-2 weeks. FlexRadio Systems is the only amateur radio company on the planet that gives its customers (and competitors) instantaneous access to the daily software development source and binary code base. This access is a privilege we offer our customers, not a right. We know that our competitors point potential customers to this reflector to see discussions about experimental code that they use against us to claim that our software is buggy. This is a patently false representation because Official Releases are highly stable and fully documented. On the other hand, by definition experimental code (pre alpha) is always buggy. So the bottom line is that if our customers want to play in the developer's SVN sandbox, some new rules will apply. In the meantime, posts here should only relate to Official Released versions of PowerSDR (currently 1.18.0). Thanks for your cooperation. Regards, Gerald Gerald Youngblood, K5SDR President FlexRadio Systems 13091 Pond Springs Rd. #250 Austin, TX 78729 Phone: 512-535-4713 www.flex-radio.com Tune in excitement! (TM) _ Lauren found her dream laptop. Find the PC that’s right for you. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/choosepc/?ocid=ftp_val_wl_290 ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] FlexRadio Digest, Vol 49, Issue 8
Dave, I saw something similar with the most recent version of the PowerSDR software. Signals would show up on both sides of the sampling 'hump'. I stopped PowerSDR, deleted the database, re-ran the wizard and the problem went away. It appears that the best advice is to just rebuild the database with each update to the PowerSDR software. I know it's a hassle, but it's the price we pay for having new features and capabilities every week. Regardless, I've found it's best not to complain about having to rebuild the database... Mark W8XR -- Message: 2 Date: Thu, 07 May 2009 14:17:11 -0400 From: Dave Muskopf pony0...@gmail.com Subject: [Flexradio] I/Q Calibration To: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Message-ID: 4a0325a7.70...@gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Just a second here--. Do I still need my xg2 for image cal? When I tried it the other day (4/28 svn) nothing happened, nada. Later that day I found a fellow on 40m at two places, one usb one lsb! Checking with version 18.1 this didn't happen and image cal worked fb. As I shipped my 1K off for work shortly there after I didn't get to try it again. W8XO _ Hotmail® goes with you. http://windowslive.com/Tutorial/Hotmail/Mobile?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_HM_Tutorial_Mobile1_052009 ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] User Interface Discussion
Brian Seems like some folks on the list just don't like UI discussions or suggestions for improvement - a few even seem to be offended by them. I think it's as good a place as any for such discussions, and they're usually pretty interesting. So, I say have at it if you can handle the flack. On the other hand, I've found that a great place for improvement suggestions is directly with the Flex folks, either on the enhancement page or directly with email. They're very appreciative of customer feedback and suggestions for improvement. The diversity of user experience has resulted in some great suggestions, many of which have been implemented. Also, as the number of people that use the amazing Flex-radios increases, I suspect that there will be more of us interested in looking for ways to improve the user experience and maybe a separate UI reflector would become practical. There are a number of folks that ARE interested in UI discussions over on the HPSDR mailing list (many of whom are also avid Flex-Radio users.) While most of them are using PowerSDR, others are experimenting with other software platforms so you might find some common interest there as well. Mark _ Windows Live™ SkyDrive: Get 25 GB of free online storage. http://windowslive.com/online/skydrive?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_skydrive_032009 ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] Building a computer to run the SDR1000.
Gerald, Eric, I was cleaning out some old email and this one sparked my memory. FYI, I finally got around to putting together a new PC (a year later...) Based on some encouraging discussion with on the HPSDR mailing list and elsewhere, I decided to use the Atom 330 mini motherboard. It works fine with PowerSDR peaking the process meter at about 20%. I'm using it to run the HPSDR right now, but as soon as I get the 1392 card moved over from the other computer, I'll be using it to run the Flex as well. I'm using it as a headless workstation (using VNC to control it and have the display in a window on my main shack computer.) I think the multithreading dual core processor and onboard video accelerator help keep processor usage low. It's biggest redeeming feature is that it was cheap. 2G of Memory and the Atom board was about $100. I used a CDROM drive and power supply I had laying around and a SATA WD hard drive that was on sale. Anyway, just wanted to share the success and say thanks again for your encouragement. Also, thanks again for all the great work you guys have done with the FlexRadio! In addition to the fine products you've developed, you've inspired a lot of discussion and experimentation that really put the joy back in amateur radio for a whole bunch of us. Mark -Original Message- From: Eric Wachsmann [mailto:e...@flex-radio.com] Sent: Friday, December 28, 2007 7:24 PM To: 'Mark Amos'; 'Gerald Youngblood' Subject: RE: [Flexradio] I'm not a programmer Video is really pretty open. Just make sure that you get something with some kind of hardware acceleration. I would avoid integrated video if possible. Use a PCI Express. Something like an ATI X1650 Pro. For the 1394 card, this is a really tough call. I would just go with a VIA chipset and be prepared to change to something else if you have strange problems. Unfortunately, I have seen problems with all of the major brands (VIA, TI, Agere) depending on the system configuration. Stick with the cheap cards as they work just as well as the more expensive ones. It does seem like on board 1394 tends to be more problematic than PCI or PCI express cards. Let me know if you need more info. Eric -Original Message- From: Mark Amos [mailto:m...@amos-family.com] Sent: Friday, December 28, 2007 6:09 PM To: 'Gerald Youngblood' Cc: 'Eric Wachsmann (KE5DTO)' Subject: RE: [Flexradio] I'm not a programmer Great - thanks. I wasn't so much concerned about the processor itself, but what Firewire card, video, etc. They can seem to interact synergistically/destructively and having a list of hardware that plays nice in specific combinations would be instructive. Thanks again for the great job you guys are doing. I'm really enjoying the 1000 and hope to upgrade in the next year or two (of course, I'll keep the 1000 as my backup/second rig!) Mark -Original Message- From: Gerald Youngblood [mailto:ger...@flex-radio.com] Sent: Friday, December 28, 2007 7:05 PM To: 'Mark Amos' Cc: 'Eric Wachsmann (KE5DTO)' Subject: RE: [Flexradio] I'm not a programmer Mark, Virtually any new PC today will have plenty of processing power to run the FLEX-5000. I am not the expert on PCs so I have copied Eric who can advise you better than I. 73, Gerald ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] FlexRadio Digest, Vol 45, Issue 13
You should be able fix this with a simple adjustment to your antenna. If you currently have a cloud-warmer low band antenna, just invert it - making it into a makeshift ground warmer. A couple of KW of power should do it. Mark W8XR PS. Same problem here in northern 8 land (Ohio.) -- Message: 26 Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:46:23 -0600 From: FireBrick w...@billnjudy.com Subject: [Flexradio] can pwsdr or the Flex5K To: FlexRadio List flexradio@flex-radio.biz Message-ID: b8e663d06aad4ecc8e6f7bc31ba0d...@media Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=iso-8859-1; reply-type=original remove or prevent all the snow that accumulating on my sidewalks every 3 hours? it can most everything else and this constant snow removal is putting a serious dent into my back and DXing! ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] FlexRadio Digest, Vol 45, Issue 4
Pete, I use a USB port for the SDR1000 USB/Parallel cable and another one (on a separate USB 2.0 Card) to run the HPSDR with two separate instances of PowerSDR running. So you may not need the parallel port. I have a parallel port on my old Dell but I only use it to connect a JTAG programmer up to the HPSDR for programming. Mark W8XR From: n3evl n3...@townisp.com Subject: [Flexradio] Parallel port cards? To: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Message-ID: e48836f420b64423a0360f5c46329...@yagi Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=iso-8859-1; reply-type=original Does anyone have any recomendations for parallel port cards (PCI) since my new pc did not come with one as standard. I was previously using the USB port for my SDR-1000 via the usb - parallel cable then switched to using HPSDR Ozy directly via USB but now I want to use the USB for HPSDR with Mercury and revert the SDR-1000 to sound card via the Delta 44. My assumption is that 2 instances of powerSDR, one talking to the SDR-1000 and one talking to HPSDR cannot both use USB ports, hence the need for the parallel port. Pete, N3EVL ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] Constructive Criticism
Ross, It has been my experience that the best way to deliver constructive criticism to Flex is directly to Gerald or John or one of the staff. They usually receive it with grace and often actually do something with it. This list is usually not so accepting of product/feature criticism. For some reason it is percieved as an attack on the Flex religion rather than fostering constructive dialog. In any case, I believe if you direct your comment to the Flex folks, you'll get, at least, a rational response (if not an outright thank you.) It's an amazing radio, we have the opportunity to make it even better through our feedback and feature requests. Mark W8XR -- Message: 10 Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:57:21 -0500 From: Ross Stenberg [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Flexradio] MDS comparisons on 6M per ARRL To: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii FT-847 50 MHz -134 dBm -140 dBm FT-857 50 MHz -136 dBm -140 dBm K3 50 MHz -128 dBm -135 dBm SDR 5000 50 MHz n/a -128 dBm My comment is why do I need to add an Archer 20 year old CATV preamp to a world class radio for modern day performance? Come on guys, use a separate preamp for a few dollars more (from the factory) on 6m where IP3 is not always an issue. Hopefully just construed as a constructive criticism, 73 Ross K9COX ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] FW: Direct I/Q output for CW Skimmer
Ed W2RF Thanks for building in the VAC I/Q output into your branch! I've been using it this morning, and it's really fun to watch the contest in progress. In order to use it I had to make some changes to the the CW Pitch and Audio IF in CW Skimmer (version 1.1) to get the display to line up with PowerSDR's panadapter. (Setting them both to 600 seemed to do the trick.) I used CWU and set the filter to max (0 to hz) in order to maximize the signal that's sent to CW skimmer. Its probably a misconception on my part, but I thought that sending raw I/Q to CW Skimmer would have bypassed the filter settings, etc. and sent the entire 96K bandwidth to CW Skimmer for decoding. Is Hz the maximum window I can send to CW Skimmer? Or is there some other setting that I'm missing? (I tried SPEC mode on PowerSDr, but none of the CW signals were readable in CW Skimmer). Mark W8XR Hi Mack, If you have a connection to the SVN source repoistory, the version of PowerSDR in the w2rf branch has a feature called Direct I/Q output, which works with CW Skimmer in wideband modes. You can find additonal instructions in the Skimmer help file. Let me know if you have further problems or questions. 73 Ed W2RF ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Direct I/Q output for CW Skimmer
Ed, I'm sure I'm misunderstanding something... and I appreciate your patience. When I send the output to VAC as I change modes on PowerSDR, the CW Skimmer waterfall changes. When I change the filters in PowerSDR, then the waterfall in CW skimmer only shows signals in a narrow band (as wide as the filter). No matter what mode I select, scrolling up and down the CW Skimmer waterfall shows a frequency range of about 20 KHz. It appears that signals above and below the center frequency on PowerSDR are reflections of each other. When I set up VAC, the only WDM that shows up is Windows WDM-KS - should there be another Windows WDM - maybe that's the problem(?) Mark -Original Message- From: Ed Russell [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, May 24, 2008 10:26 AM To: 'FlexRadio'; Mark Amos Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Direct I/Q output for CW Skimmer Hi Mark, If VAC output is set up properly Skimmer will process the entire sampled spectrum of 48, 96, or 192khz. There is no need to do any special filter setup. The demod audio continues as normal. For example, while I am processing 96khz of spectrum into Skimmer, I am running PowerSDR with 200hz filters. Some users are confused because Skimmer only shows 10-12khz of bandwidth on the waterfall, depending on how tall your display is. If you look at the spot list, you will see that it is reading stations in the whole sampled bandwidth. If you scroll up and down, you will see their callsigns by the waterfall. Hope this helps. Let me know if you have further problems or questions. 73 Ed W2RF On 24 May 2008 at 8:42, Mark Amos wrote: Ed W2RF Thanks for building in the VAC I/Q output into your branch! I've been using it this morning, and it's really fun to watch the contest in progress. In order to use it I had to make some changes to the the CW Pitch and Audio IF in CW Skimmer (version 1.1) to get the display to line up with PowerSDR's panadapter. (Setting them both to 600 seemed to do the trick.) I used CWU and set the filter to max (0 to hz) in order to maximize the signal that's sent to CW skimmer. Its probably a misconception on my part, but I thought that sending raw I/Q to CW Skimmer would have bypassed the filter settings, etc. and sent the entire 96K bandwidth to CW Skimmer for decoding. Is Hz the maximum window I can send to CW Skimmer? Or is there some other setting that I'm missing? (I tried SPEC mode on PowerSDr, but none of the CW signals were readable in CW Skimmer). Mark W8XR Hi Mack, If you have a connection to the SVN source repoistory, the version of PowerSDR in the w2rf branch has a feature called Direct I/Q output, which works with CW Skimmer in wideband modes. You can find additonal instructions in the Skimmer help file. Let me know if you have further problems or questions. 73 Ed W2RF ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] W2RF PowerSDR I/Q problem
Ed, Thanks for your patience with my W2RF PowerSDR I/Q questions. All, the problem I reported with Ed's console sending I/Q to CW Skimmer was a user error. I failed to read the documentation (in CW Skimmer Help) that clearly states that the W2RF version of the PowerSDR application only supports direct I/Q with the SDR-5000. Even with the SDR-1000, CW Skimmer makes a nice band scope (albeit only 10K at a time.) Mark W8XR ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] Scope enhancement
Hey, developers, thanks for the cool scope enhancement! Very useful! Mark ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] SVN's and new database.
Geez - must have hit a nerve with that one. Lots of vitriloc feedback. I really like the radio and the alpha software releases are great - I have a batch job that auto updates from SVN every afternoon before I get home. Great process! Obviously, I think the database design issue is a silly problem that doesn't need to be there. However, in retrospect, I do regret that I forgot to add (as I have done dozens of times, several in person) how much I appreciate the work that the Flex folks, in particular the developers, have done. (Interestingly most of my suggestions / criticisms have been received very graciously by the people at Flex; probably because they're so good at customer service.) In any case, I don't know many of you personally (which, at this point, seems like a bit of good fortune), but I'm sorry to have hurt your feelings. How about this, if I find something I don't like - I'll just send it direct to Flex. That way I'll avoid causing emotional distress to the more sensitive readers on the list. Moderator, I'm done - thanks for your patience. CUL, Mark -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] radio.biz] On Behalf Of Edwin Marzan Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2008 11:05 AM To: Chuck Mayfield; flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] SVN's and new database. Well said. I thought the complaint was a little strange. I worked at a company that provided free lunch in the form of sandwiches and then noticed people complaining that there was no free hot food. I never understood that. Edwin MarzanAB2VW Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 23:10:46 -0600 To: flexradio@flex-radio.biz From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Flexradio] SVN's and new database. Bitching, Moaning, Ranting and Sniping with regards to Alpha Test Software seems to be counterproductive. Maybe we should all periodically remind ourselves that we are very fortunate that FRS has given us access to the SVN's and associated alpha updates. How many other for-profit companies can you name that have so freely shared with their customers? If we can not handle rebuilding the database once in a while, because it is structurally modified to provide additional features, etc., then perhaps we should just operate with the Releases and maybe even Beta- releases. 73, Chuck - AA5J _ Share life as it happens with the new Windows Live. http://www.windowslive.com/share.html?ocid=TXT_TAGHM_Wave2_sharelife_01 2008 ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex- radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] SVN's and new database.
Alan, [begin rant] I've had a similar question, but phrased it less delicately: Is it just me or is the requirement to build a new database just a bad design decision that doesn't improve with age? In a previous incarnation as a software developer, I would not have been able to foist off such a design decision on my boss much less a consumer products customer (it would never have got past a design review.) I can hear his first question: What do you mean you've designed it so that the customer has to save the database and use a third-party utility to re-import settings? I can think of 5 different ways to do this better [he would list them while beating me with a rolled up copy of the design spec...] Now, go back and re-design this piece! So, now that I'm no longer a developer but rather an unruly customer, I get to ask questions like this! In this case, however, it's one of those things that seems so obvious, I am embarassed to even ASK. I can understand it with beta releases -- so I just rebuild it each time and don't complain (much) because beta users got no right to complain about nothin'. But really, for production versions of consumer software. Geez, as da kids would say, WTF? (kidspeak for That is a bad idea.) [end rant] Mark -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tim Ellison Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2008 11:15 PM To: Alan NV8A; Flex Group Subject: Re: [Flexradio] SVNs and new database. Was: SSB Tx Audio Punch No, it is not a requirement to create a new DB for every SVN that contains a PowerSDR change. See the KB article about when a new DB should be considered. http://kb.flex-radio.com/article.aspx?id=10394 -Tim -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Alan NV8A Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2008 11:02 PM To: Flex Group Subject: [Flexradio] SVNs and new database. Was: SSB Tx Audio Punch Are we supposed to start with a new database for every new SVN, or simply keep the database used with SVN versions separate from that used with the release version? It'll be a pain changing antenna, CAT, VAC and other settings for every new SVN I download. 73 Alan NV8A On 01/05/08 01:57 pm John P Basilotto W5GI wrote: One thing I left out, with the changes-- in SVN versions it is recommended you start with a new database. I recommend trying SVN 1875. ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] SVN's and new database.
Jim, Yes, I agree that this was a reasonable trade as long as this design decision doesn't get carried forward to the new product. (I have to plead ignorance regarding how the new design will implement the storage of user settings.) Though I am generally pessimistic about fixes that are promised in next release of most software products, so far my pessimism has proven unwarranted for most Flex software releases. Mark At 03:03 PM 1/7/2008, Mark Amos wrote: Alan, [begin rant] I've had a similar question, but phrased it less delicately: Is it just me or is the requirement to build a new database just a bad design decision that doesn't improve with age? In a previous incarnation as a software developer, I would not have been able to foist off such a design decision on my boss much less a consumer products customer (it would never have got past a design review.) I can hear his first question: What do you mean you've designed it so that the customer has to save the database and use a third-party utility to re-import settings? I can think of 5 different ways to do this better [he would list them while beating me with a rolled up copy of the design spec...] Now, go back and re-design this piece! So, now that I'm no longer a developer but rather an unruly customer, I get to ask questions like this! In this case, however, it's one of those things that seems so obvious, I am embarassed to even ASK. I can understand it with beta releases -- so I just rebuild it each time and don't complain (much) because beta users got no right to complain about nothin'. But really, for production versions of consumer software. Geez, as da kids would say, WTF? (kidspeak for That is a bad idea.) [end rant] Production versions of PowerSDR are fairly infrequent (notwithstanding that lots of folks, on this list anyway, do retrieve frequent alpha releases). (Oddly, I couldn't find a list of official releases, but my gut feel is that they're about every six months to a year apart.) I would imagine that the logic behind not fixing it runs something along the lines of: We have 2.0 architecture coming out soon, and that will have a totally different database mechanism, since it won't be using MS Access as the underlying engine. Why deal with migrating 1.x to 1.1+x, now, since we'll have to write some sort of utility to migrate from 1.x database to 2.x database anyway. Not such a bad decision, at that time. Put the resources towards the new version, rather than the legacy. The fact that the transition is pushed out some 3 years(*) or more for a variety of reasons just makes it seem like a terrible decision in retrospect. PowerSDR is by no means unique this way. (*)Yep, it really has been more than 3 years in the making. A couple comments from the mailing list archives (which only goes back to May 2005.. before that it would be the forums): This will come with the new architecture that is currently being revised for the 1.5 Beta branch of the source. [EMAIL PROTECTED], 30 Aug 2005, 16:35 ..As you may have followed in the discussions this week, we are in the process of restructuring the current code in the interest of enabling people like yourself to contribute more easily. .. [EMAIL PROTECTED], 1 Sep 2005, 14:21 Hey Eric, Has it really been 4 years? Time flies, etc. ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] Thanks!
Jeff, Thanks for posting your console mods! The panafall (waterpan?) display is very cool and I'm enjoying the new snap feature. Very nice indeed! Thanks for sharing it! Also, your comments on the 'comb' effect on the waterfall got me thinking. One of the reasons I've been enjoying the Flex radio is that it provides some really interesting input for the visual sense that ordinary radios don't. I'm sure RTTY and other digital ops have a similar sense of enjoyment in understanding some of the visual artifacts that would otherwise go unnoticed if we were only listening to signals. I've loaded CWGet on my machine and enjoy watching the CW as it comes in - seeing the cyclic fading provides a different perspective than merely listening to it. Anyway, thanks again! Mark W8XR Thanks, Barry. If you're interested, you can find more info about it on my blog: http://k6jca.blogspot.com/ (And again, my thanks to John Melton and his Java console for inspiring me to make the effort to add the combined panadapter/waterfall display to mine). Cheers! - Jeff, K6JCA Barry Jablonski wrote: Hi Jeff, I see that you made your console available via the svn. Excellent! Thanks for sharing. Barry WB2ZXJ ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] Fan noise reduction
Carl, Great suggestion regarding nibbling out the holes in the fan ingress. Huge reduction in fan noise. Mark An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it. -- Mohandas Gandhi -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Carl Vangsness Sent: Friday, January 04, 2008 11:59 AM To: KQ8RP Cc: FlexRadio Subject: Re: [Flexradio] SDR 1000 Fan Noise Have you tried opening up the fan opening in the cabinet? I used a nibbling tool to cut all the area containing the tiny little holes out and the noise went down dramatically. Next I will probably remove the filter - way too dense for the job. 73, Carl WCØV ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] OT WWV reception.
All, I know this isn't a WWV reflector, but there are some frequency/time nuts here and I wondered if it was just me or if there's a problem with WWV this evening? I turned on the Flex this evening (about 0115 UTC) and noticed that I couldn't here 10MHz WWV as I normally can... Now (0140 UTC) seems to be back... Anybody else notice this? Mark ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] DDUtil Beta Release
All, This is a very useful product - I just installed it between HRD, PowerSDR and PalStar autotuner. Works great. Steve is exceptionally helpful. It's like a T-connector between virtual com ports and a real port. Mark -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Steve Nance Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2007 2:22 PM To: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: [Flexradio] DDUtil Beta Release Anyone need a way to send PowerSDR transmit frequency data to your Linear or Band Switch or Tuner while using your favorite radio control program. I have written a small C# helper utility called DDUtil (Flex Data Decoder Utility) which I think will do that. In brief DDUtil will connect to PowerSDR, poll it for transmit frequency data and then furnish it to your RS-232 and/or BCD band switching devices. For example it will band switch a Yaesu Quadra amplifier, a SteppIR antenna controller and a Palstar AT-Auto tuner all at the same time. If you want to run a radio control program such as HRD or DXLabs or MixW it will change modes and pass all commands from the radio control program to PowerSDR and still provide the passive listener devices frequency data. DDUtil is very much beta software and there will be bugs so don't look for a bug-free release just yet. I have been playing with it for several weeks and can't break so I figured it was time to give it to Mikey. Those of you brave enough to try it can find it here http://k5fr.com/DDUtil.htm. Please read the web page and help file as there are some setup issues to be aware of. Please report any bugs or comments to me privately. Thanks, Steve - K5FR ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] Need another CAT input...
Folks, I'm thinking about how to get multiple cat devices talking to the Flex. Here's my dilemma: I use a Palstar Autotuner connected to a com port to query the Flex for frequency information so that it can track my movement up and down the band. I'd also like to use a com port to send CAT commands to the Flex. Unfortunately, there's only one CAT input port in the PowerSDR software. For example, I use COM1 serial port to talk to the Palstar. I'd like to be able to use HRD to control the Flex. But with Palstar hooked up to the radio, I can't hook up HRD... I think the ideal situation would be to have a couple of CAT control inputs to PowerSDR. So, I'm looking for ideas to overcome this issue. Any thoughts? Mark W8XR ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] PTT Broken
I'm having a similar problem just using the internal CWX keyer. Works once after starting or after VAC On/Off then stops. Makes for short QSO's... Worked fine this morning on 40 - I'm pretty sure that was before updating to 1738. I'll just listen for a while! Mark W8XR Due to the fact that it is not present in earlier SVN versions it is probably a bug, and I have submitted it as such. By the way my keyer (Microham CW Keyer) is plugged directly into the Flex key jack, and I do not have iambic mode enabled. Kirb Nesbitt wrote: This is likely all related; As of svn 1738 break-in on cw ceases to function unless the VAC button is selected and then de-selected, or the console is powered off/on. The radio works for a short period and then spontaneously quits transmitting (no t/r). Eric's been working on this over the last several svn releases. This problem is present when keying via the PC Com port (ext. keyer), or directly into the key input on the radio. I'm also curious to know others experiences using a paddle plugged directly into the radio's key jack (keying iambic mode) with the last few svn releases? 73, Kirb - VE6IV -- I don't know if anyone else has this problem. If I switch to cw from ssb, or the other way, the ptt or break in do not work. If I stop SDR and restart all comes back ok. As soon as I switch between cw and ssb again it quits. It is very consistent on 160-40m, not so much above 30m. Vox works no matter what happens, but it won't key with the key or ptt. I'm using SVN 1738, I tried an older version like 1730 and it doesn't do this. Is it a bug? or just me. Dave Kiefer - N4DWK ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] New SVN path for version 1.10 alpha updates?
Folks, Currently my SDR-Alpha directory SVN path is set to: svn://206.216.146.154/svn/repos_sdr_windows/PowerSDR/trunk/bin/Release Is there a new path for version 1.10 alpha updates, or will these be posted in the same place? Mark ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] CW fix
Hey, I saw in the alpha svn log that the third party CW issues were resolved, and checked it out. Now it works with the CWX keyer, my Com1 connected vibroplex and CWType on a virtual comm port!! The only oddness I saw was that CWX requires Iambic to be turned off to operate correctly - but I can live with that! Thanks! Mark ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] SVN: 1424 performance
I just loaded the 1424 version and did some A/B testing between this version and 1422. Typically on 1422 listening to CW the CPU meter runs between 60% and 70%. With 1424, it's between 25% and 35%. Using Edirol card, Dell 8250, 2.66Ghz, 1G Ram. XP SP2 current patches. I ran a couple of QSO's on CW and didn't see any TX/RX switchover problems. Is there some specific wierdness that we should be looking for or just anything out of the ordinary? mark ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] 10M beacons on new FLEX-5000
I know this probably fits in the get a life category of Ham Radio sub-hobbies, but I've actually been known to hunt for low signal level beacons and QSL to the owners once in a while. It's a fun piece of work to see which parts of the country are open, etc. It' a great place to look for band openings - if ANYTHING is going on you'll see it there first! --- Original Message --- From: Ken N9VV[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 8/10/2007 12:15:05 PM To : flexradio@flex-radio.biz; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc : Subject : RE: [Flexradio] 10M beacons on new FLEX-5000 I just tuned around on 10M and discovered the beacons. I had no idea they were so easy to receive. The blips I was looking at inside the IF passband were FIVE 10M BEACON stations! I was not any sort of a phantom sig or DDS spur - but REAL signals ;-) cool, de ken n9vv ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] Transmit problem
Flexers, I'm having a transmit problem with my SDR1000. Here's the lineup: SDR1000 with all the options (ATU, PA, RFE, transverter) Edirol FA66 USB cable All audio lines isolated between computer, Edirol and the radio. Ferrite clamps on all of the audio and control cables. Radio gear, computer, tuner, etc. all connected to common shack ground. Palstar tuner Butternut vertical The problem is that on 40 Meters, when I key the transmitter, the forward power goes up over 200 watts with any setting over 10W drive setting. At that point the SWR (as shown on the Palstar and on PowerSDR) goes through the roof, and the power output from the Flex does as well. It ONLY happens on 40 meters and ONLY when connected to the antenna (i.e. there is no problem transmitting into a dummy load.) I substituted a dummy load at each location between the transmitter and the antenna and thus ruled out issues with the coax, bulkhead feedthroughs, tuner, etc. So, it appears to be an antenna problem (perhaps a short or open that only shows up at power above 10 watts...) What puzzles me is the SDR1000 cranking out such high power (as reported by PowerSDR, the tuner and an in-line wattmeter) under a high SWR condition. PowerSDR shows High SWR on the panadapter display, but doesn't cut back the power. So, here's my question: would an RF feedback / antenna problem account for this behavior? Mark ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] advanced calibration
Flexers, Am I the only person that gets the Unable to calibrate PA Power on current band error when using the advanced calibration routine with an SDR1000? At each band, it starts with about 10 watts, the power drops back to 1 or 0 after a few seconds and the error message shows up. This behaviour repeats through each band calibration attempt. The old calibration process seems to work OK. Mark ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Keyer problems
John, Thanks - you saved me a bug report. I saw this problem again last night and thought I ought to report it... My experience is with trying to use CWType on a virtual com port (assigned to the secondary keyer) and using a real key connected to COM1 as the primary keyer. As soon as I enable the secondary port (even if CWType is not in use) the key on COM1 becomes unuseable. I'm using the Alpha version (whatever was current as of yesterday afternoon.) Mark W8XR --- Original Message --- From: N3WT[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 7/25/2007 7:33:41 AM To : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc : flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject : RE: Re: [Flexradio] Keyer problems I must report , I have the paddle connected to the serial port using SVN 1355 and not experiencing keying problems, provided the secondary keying port is set to none. I have major keying problem if I set the secondary keying port set to anything other than none. If set the secondary port to CAT, or a serial port , then the paddle keying is unusable.. I will post this in bug report, but since this is a topic here I commented. John, N3WT -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [ mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Jim, W4ATK Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2007 6:58 AM To: Tim Ellison Cc: Flex-radio Reflector Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Spam: Keyer problems Tim, I have 1.8.0 and SVN 1186, 1246 that work OK. Beginning with SVNs 1315, I have the problem. 1315 doesn't work at all. 1323, and 1355 are bad. Jim, W4ATK -Original Message- From: Tim Ellison [ mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2007 10:06 PM To: Bob Tracy; Jim, W4ATK Subject: RE: [Flexradio] Spam: Keyer problems Jim, Revert back to the SVN version prior to the changes Bob made and see if it is still broken. -Tim www.itsco.com ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] thank you SDr
Bob, Interesting observation - I've noticed the same thing (and caught myself saying it as well.) I find it interesting to compare the sound of the signal to it's panadapter signature. Mark --- Original Message --- From: Robert McGwier[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 7/18/2007 7:20:55 AM To : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc : flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject : RE: Re: [Flexradio] thank you SDr FireBrick wrote: I was able to 'drop' my qsx frequency right on top of the panadaptor station that A24SL just worked. Pretty amazing isn't? Even Eric understands the utility of it now. We had to convince him it was worth the pain it was going to cause him. We told him it is only software! It is funny to me to listen to 20 and 40 meters, the bands I listen to most, and tell who is running an SDR. In almost all cases where I can tell, they say I see . rather than I hear .. Bob -- AMSAT Director and VP Engineering. Member: ARRL, AMSAT-DL, TAPR, Packrats, NJQRP, QRP ARCI, QCWA, FRC. ARRL SDR WG Chair If you're going to be crazy, you have to get paid for it or else you're going to be locked up. Hunter S. Thompson ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Question about powered speakers SDR1000
Paul, I'd like to second Wally's comments. I've used these for about a year and have been exceptionally pleased with both the sound quality (head and shoulders above the stock Harmon-Cardin speakers that came with the computer) as well as RF immunity. I was pleasantly surprised at the reasonable price, especially considering the great sound. Mark W8XR --- Original Message --- From: Wallace Watson[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 7/12/2007 8:20:53 AM To : [EMAIL PROTECTED]; flexradio@flex-radio.biz Cc : Subject : RE: Re: [Flexradio] Question about powered speakers SDR1000 HI Paul, The following speakers are the best I have ever run into for use with the SDR-1000. They are not susceptible to RFI like most other speakers for the computer that use an external wall-wart power supply. These use a built in 120V 50-60Hz power supply. http://www.alteclansing.com/product_details.asp?pID=VS2220 Regards, Wally M0ZAZ / WA4ZAZ. At 09:54 PM 7/12/2007 +1000, Paul Giusti wrote: Hi All I read in the knowledge base re the use of quality powered speakers. I am currently setting up my SDR1000 and do not have quality powered speakers ;) the models in the knowledge base I have been unable to source here in VK through usual sources, so I am hoping someone can recommend other currently available models of powered speakers that they have successfully used that are not prone to RFI. My SDR box currently is using the D44 sound card so I am looking forward to hearing the difference with a real speaker system connected. Any suggestions will be greatly received. Paul - VK3FPG -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20070712/c6d27e61/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] FlexRadio Digest, Vol 27, Issue 6
Cecil (or others on the list that have done it...) Any advice on how to get started working with different profiles? Like Joel, I'm a bit nervous about making these kinds of changes (for instance, I don't know exactly how to eliminate services when I have set up a new profile.) I used to do this kind of low-level stuff all the time, but that was back in the days of CPM, and boot loaders, etc. So, any pointers on setting up an alternate profile, pitfalls, etc.? Mark --- Original Message --- From: Joel Harrison[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 7/6/2007 3:01:18 PM To : flexradio@flex-radio.biz Cc : Subject : RE: Re: [Flexradio] FlexRadio Digest, Vol 27, Issue 6 Thanks Cecil, I appreciate the advice. I thought I had stripped my systems down but obviously I haven't if you're running that low CPU usage. I don't have experience to dig any deeper without fear of going beyond a point of complete system devastation by my own hands! :-) I have about come to the conclusion that my computers just aren't meaty enough to run 192 KHz with the Edirol, as you note. Sadly, Flex-radio says absolutely nothing about minimum system requirements on the web page. All they do is extol the glorious virtues of the products they recommend then let you find out about the pitfalls on your own, and then you wind up having to spend more money to get things working. That irritates me. Yea, I know this is going to the entire reflector, but that is just the way I feel. This is now the second time I've been in this situation with my SDR-1000's when it could have been avoided by just some simple system requirement statements on the web page. I guess everyone is expected to be a computer expert beforehand. Thanks again for the advice, Cecil. I appreciate it. 73 Joel W5ZN Date: Thu, 05 Jul 2007 13:17:14 -0500 From: k5nwa [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Edirol FA66 Problem To: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed At 12:59 PM 7/5/2007, you wrote: I recently purchased an Edirol FA66 and I'm having a trouble when using 192 KHz. Everything works fine on 96 KHz, but on 192 KHz the CPU usage is pegged out a 100% and the system locks up. It does the same thing on two different computers on two separate SDR-1000's Here are my specific details. Computer 1 - Compaq EVO N610 Notebook, Intel Pentium 4, 2 GHz processor with 1 Gb RAM. Normal CPU usage on 96 KHz is approximately 35% (Same average CPU usage with standard sound card, Presonus Firebox, used on this system) Computer 2 - Dell Optiplex Intel Pentium 4, 2 GHz processor with 1 Gb RAM. Normal CPU usage on 96 KHz is 30% (Same average CPU usage with the standard sound card, Delta 44, used on this system) Both system use Windows XP. When switching to 192 KHz with the Edirol, the CPU usage ramps up to 100% in about 2-3 seconds and stays locked up there. I have been through all of the optimization routines that are recommended; I have been through the Edirol setup numerous times to make sure I haven't overlooked something, but still have the problem. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. There is no mention whatsoever on the Flex-radio web site that a computer of this speed won't work with the Edirol, so I'm assuming I'm just not doing something right in the setup (yes, I am switching the Edirol and SDR-1000 to 192 KHz correctly). Suggestions? 73 Joel W5ZN I'm not sure there is anything wrong, 30% usage at 96KHz sampling will triple to quadruple the CPU usage at 192KHz. That is just the way things are, however depending on your efforts there are a lot more optimizing that can be done beyond the recommended options, but few people have the experience to go there. On a dual Pentium III 1GHz with 512 MB RAM and XP SP2, which is an inferior machine to what you have I typically run at less than 10% CPU usage with 96KHz sampling using a Delta-44, this is on a profile that is fairly bare, no networking, therefore no anti-virus, no firewall software, all services stripped that are not required for that one profile. Cecil KD5NWA www.softrockradio.org www.qrpradio.com Blessed are the cracked, for they shall let in the light. ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] WWV question (slightly off topic...)
Flexers, I happened to tune 5MHz this evening and noticed a chirp that extends down in frequency some 32KC below the carrier. It shows up as a fast moving hump that begins every second in sync with the WWV pulse starting at about 4995 KC and sweeps down to 4964 or so before disappearing. The transit of the chirp over these 32KC takes about a half a second. I checked the other WWV frequencies - tonight is one of those unusual nights when I can hear all 5 of them. It only appears on 5MHz WWV and only on the lower sideband. (Here's the only remotely FlexRadio content: I probably wouldn't have noticed it while listening with narrow filters on a radio with knobs, but it's pretty obvious seeing it on the Panadapter.) I thought maybe it was a local artifact, but when I replace the antenna lead with a wire and sweep around the shack I don't hear it (or WWV) so it appears to be coming from outside at any rate. I did some preliminary googling, but couldn't find anything that sounded like this. Has anyone else seen this / knows what it is? Mark ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] key pad knob like this one
Jim, Yes - good point regarding the human factors stuff. Excellent suggestion doing a MIDI / CAT interface. I've done some PIC serial interface work, and this might be a good excuse to do some more development. I've got a MIDI controller with a bunch of slide pots and a knob that is just collecting dust. Mark W8XR --- Original Message --- From: Jim Lux[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 6/25/2007 1:42:56 PM To : [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; flexradio@flex-radio.biz Cc : Subject : RE: Re: [Flexradio] key pad knob like this one At 07:23 AM 6/25/2007, Tim Ellison wrote: No Mark. Fortunately you were very lucid at the time :-) The FLEX-5000 uses the MIDI control protocol to manipulate hardware controls in the radio. The hooks part of the code is not exposed fully yet, so there isn't an easy way to do this now. I could see where someone could create a FlexWire device that would allow one to create a external interface to possibly control the hardware in order to make a widget with knobs, but since the FlexWire specifications are not yet published, this is only conjuncture on my part. -Tim Indeed.. publishing the interface would be a good step. In the mean time, one could theoretically build a MIDI to CAT translator. I've been looking at various and sundry MIDI Control Surfaces (Behringer has a nice one, but I won't buy Behringer gear because of their FCC troubles) for this kind of thing. The problem with the control surfaces is that they are a bit too audio recording/performance oriented (although... what about a multiple stomp box for handsfree band changes?). I also think that you really want the display tied to the controls: not in the horrible Automatic Teller softkeys way, but there's something nice about having a tuning knob with the frequency display above or next to it. For devices with good interplay between knobs buttons and displays, take a look at the new oscilloscopes and spectrum analyzers from Agilent and Tek. Knobs for the features you commonly use (horizontal speed, vertical), softkeys for a couple functions at most, and then, for complex setup stuff, a touch screen or mouse interface. Some of these devices are a bit clunky, but overall, since these are high dollar items being used by people for whom time is a lot of money, they've spent quite a bit of human factors research time on them. Just little subtle things like the color of the knobs for the vertical channel matching the color of the trace on the screen, for instance. If the universal ham controller/display had the right rig control interface possibilities (and, it's not clear that all rigs have sufficient controllability, but most of the newer ones do), I suspect that if you could get some people together, one could design a very nice universal controller. You'd need someone who really understands all that human factors stuff, an industrial designer, and then someone like HRD Simon HB9DRV to implement the backend controls. Jim W6RMK ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Noise Floor S meter vs Panadapter
Doug, I had the same problem, but it could not be duplicated at Flex. I ended up modifying the entry in one of the operating tables to subtract 70 db or so from the reference number. It used to work fine, but at some point in the last few months, the alpha version seems to have caught a bug... I'll see if I can find my report and send you a link to see if we're seeing the same thing. Mark -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Doug McCormack Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2007 11:30 AM To: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: [Flexradio] Noise Floor S meter vs Panadapter I recently build the Elecraft kit to provide a reference signal for calibration of my SDR1000. With the 50 uV reference my S meter shows -73 dBm (S 9.0). At 1 uV reference, the meter shows -107 dBm ( S 3.3). These two numbers show the S meter is perfectly calibrated. When I remove the Elecraft unit and no antenna is connected, the meter shows a noise floor of -117 dBm (S1.3). But the panadapter shows -145 dB. I wonder why the panadapter does not agree with the S meter. Maybe I am should ground the antenna connector when measuring noise floor? When people ask me about the noise floor, do I say -117 or -145? I have always suspected my 5 year-old Dell 1.8 Ghz has high internal noise possibly on the PCI bus. Perhaps this Dell system noise is getting into my M44 sound card. I hope to have a new dual-core Intel computer later this week. 73, Doug VE3EFC -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20 070614/d3f5da98/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Noise Floor S meter vs Panadapter
Ooops - after reading the responses, I believe I'm talking about another problem... In my case, after calibration, the panadapter shows the peak at -123 dBm while the S-Mater shows -73 dBm... The only way I could fix this was to modify the database (which I now routinely do whenever I re-calibrate the receiver.) Mark -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Mark Amos Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 9:29 PM To: 'Doug McCormack'; flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Noise Floor S meter vs Panadapter Doug, I had the same problem, but it could not be duplicated at Flex. I ended up modifying the entry in one of the operating tables to subtract 70 db or so from the reference number. It used to work fine, but at some point in the last few months, the alpha version seems to have caught a bug... I'll see if I can find my report and send you a link to see if we're seeing the same thing. Mark -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Doug McCormack Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2007 11:30 AM To: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: [Flexradio] Noise Floor S meter vs Panadapter I recently build the Elecraft kit to provide a reference signal for calibration of my SDR1000. With the 50 uV reference my S meter shows -73 dBm (S 9.0). At 1 uV reference, the meter shows -107 dBm ( S 3.3). These two numbers show the S meter is perfectly calibrated. When I remove the Elecraft unit and no antenna is connected, the meter shows a noise floor of -117 dBm (S1.3). But the panadapter shows -145 dB. I wonder why the panadapter does not agree with the S meter. Maybe I am should ground the antenna connector when measuring noise floor? When people ask me about the noise floor, do I say -117 or -145? I have always suspected my 5 year-old Dell 1.8 Ghz has high internal noise possibly on the PCI bus. Perhaps this Dell system noise is getting into my M44 sound card. I hope to have a new dual-core Intel computer later this week. 73, Doug VE3EFC -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20 070614/d3f5da98/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Visual Studio
Tim, Thanks for the link. Can you (or someone else on the list) straighten out a couple of things for me? In the KB article, Visual Studio .NET 2003 is listed as the core software. When I look on Ebay (assuming that a retail version will cost some sizeable fraction (or multiple?) of a kilodollar) I find, in no particular order: Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 Microsoft Visual Studio .Net Academic 2003 Microsoft Visual Studio .NET Pro 2003 Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 Enterprise Developer Microsoft Visual Studio .NET Professional 2003 [probably same as .NET Pro above] Which ones of these are likely to actually be able to compile and link the PowerSDR source into working code? (Or do you also need a separate C compiler, C#, C+, C++, C- or other additional [EMAIL PROTECTED] compilers to actually do the job?) The KB article is a bit obtuse (or I just haven't had enough coffee...) Confusing sentences / fragments like, If you prefer to tinker with the code without having to shell out the big bucks for MS software are using SharpDevelop... and other non-sequiturs make me think that either the editor swallowed some text or the post was damaged in transit. I'm hoping you (or someone else on the list) can provide a few more details on what it actually takes. Mark -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tim Ellison Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2007 9:37 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; flexradio Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Visual Studio The info you are requesting is in the Knowledge Base http://kb.flex-radio.com/article.aspx?id=10062cNode=2U5T5S -Tim -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Steve Pink Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2007 9:26 AM To: flexradio Subject: [Flexradio] Visual Studio What version of Visual Studio should I have to be able to compile and modify the source code for PowerSDR? Can I use Visual Studio 2005? Thanks, Steve, KF1Y ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Visual Studio
Man, you guys are good! Thanks for the quick response - and for all your work on the code. Mark -Original Message- From: Eric Wachsmann [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2007 7:41 PM To: 'Mark Amos'; 'Tim Ellison'; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; 'flexradio' Subject: RE: [Flexradio] Visual Studio Answers inline below. -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] radio.biz] On Behalf Of Mark Amos Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2007 6:00 PM To: 'Tim Ellison'; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; 'flexradio' Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Visual Studio When I look on Ebay (assuming that a retail version will cost some sizeable fraction (or multiple?) of a kilodollar) I find, in no particular order: Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 Microsoft Visual Studio .Net Academic 2003 Microsoft Visual Studio .NET Pro 2003 Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 Enterprise Developer Microsoft Visual Studio .NET Professional 2003 [probably same as .NET Pro above] [Eric] All of these will work. Just make sure you don't get just the C# tool (i.e. Microsoft Visual C# .NET). Which ones of these are likely to actually be able to compile and link the PowerSDR source into working code? (Or do you also need a separate C compiler, C#, C+, C++, C- or other additional [EMAIL PROTECTED] compilers to actually do the job?) [Eric] All of the ones mentioned above include all of the necessary compilers (C, C++, C#). The KB article is a bit obtuse (or I just haven't had enough coffee...) Confusing sentences / fragments like, If you prefer to tinker with the code without having to shell out the big bucks for MS software are using SharpDevelop... and other non-sequiturs make me think that either the editor swallowed some text or the post was damaged in transit. [Eric] We'll get the KB article cleaned up. The long and short of it is that you can use free tools like SharpDevelop to compile our source, but it is not a trivial matter to set it up. With Visual Studio you just open the solution file and hit compile and it works. Eric Wachsmann FlexRadio Systems ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Interesting noise
FYI, for those of you that expressed interest in this noise, it is definitely coming from outside (it goes away completely when I remove the antenna cable.) It went on for about 10 minutes this time. It just stopped at 14:05 UTC, a bit later than usual. I got a couple of good recordings of the phenomenon and they look pretty cool on the waterfall if anyone's interested. I did some band switching to see if I could put some limits on where it's happening, and it appears to only be on 80, 60 and 40 (it doesn't show up on 160, or 30 meters and above.) Mark W8xr -Original Message- From: Mark Amos [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 6:16 PM To: 'flexradio' Subject: RE: [Flexradio] Interesting noise Perhaps it's some kind of local noise. I've swept the shack with a loop looking for that pattern and I haven't seen it. When I disconnect the antenna it goes away. Perhaps it's from a neighbor or power lines or some such. I've seen this happen maybe a half dozen times in the last couple of years. It doesn't look like a switching supply signature, but maybe it's one that malfunctions once in a while to create this signal. Mark -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Gerd Loch Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 10:17 AM To: 'Mark Amos'; 'flexradio' Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Interesting noise Maybe this is one of thousands of switching psu in your or the neighbours house... 73 Gerd -Ursprüngliche Nachricht- Von: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Im Auftrag von Mark Amos Gesendet: Montag, 28. Mai 2007 14:03 An: 'flexradio' Betreff: [Flexradio] Interesting noise Folks, I have seen some unusual noises on the panadapter again this morning and wondered if anyone else has seen this. I've seen this before, usually in the morning, as I recall. I'm just wondering if they are a local noise (either in the shack or nearby) or if other people have seen them. Here's a description: Noise floor (today at about -120) drops a couple of DB's A blob of noise comes up from the floor and spreads symmetrically, sometimes dissipating as it goes, other times stopping at a certain width and hanging there for a few seconds. This process takes a few seconds. The pattern recurs in intervals of 10 to 20 seconds for a half-dozen repetitions then stops for an indeterminate period before coming back. It can go on for some time, but eventually subsides. I've got a couple of AVI movies of a portion of the panadapter when this is happening and an I/Q recording of the phenomenon if anyone would like to see it. Anyway, just interested to know if anyone else has seen this interesting noise pattern and thoughts on what it is. Mark ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] NR
Bob, Good advice. I cranked up the gain until the audio level was roughly equivalent whether the NR was selected or not. I didnt' do an A/B comparison with other versions, but with this seems to work fine. Thanks! Good luck on the mad scramble for that last 10% remaining work before release! Mark -Original Message- From: Robert McGwier [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 08:38 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] NR The range of the controls (inside) have been changed, especially in the Block LMS case, in order to provide finer grained control and increase stability. In the setup-dsp LMS block, if block LMS is checked, INCREASE THE GAIN until you are happier. Yet, you may not get to the happy state right now. I really don't have time to concentrate on making these perfect in the SDR-X branch yet, so these controls are still under construction while the Flex 5000 work is rushing to completion. They will be revisited to insure the controls perform as well as 1.8.0 where IMO, this was the best NR and ANF around. Bob [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: What happened to the NR ? SVN 1200 not near as good as ver 1.8.0 in SSB 73's , Bruce KL7JDR Bruce W. Mills P.O. Box 1500 31490 Echo Lake Road Soldotna , Alaska 99669 (907)262-4373 [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- AMSAT Director and VP Engineering. Member: ARRL, AMSAT-DL, TAPR, Packrats, NJQRP, QRP ARCI, QCWA, FRC. ARRL SDR WG Chair If you're going to be crazy, you have to get paid for it or else you're going to be locked up. Hunter S. Thompson ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20070530/7ef2eb76/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Interesting noise
Sorry to waffle on this one, but I seem to recall during the prior event like this I disconnected the antenna and the effect was gone. However, my memory could be faulty - I was looking at another external noise problem for a while and may have mixed the two. I can't find my notes from the prior one. In any case, the issue I was seeing is not the travelling hump issue below. The next time I see it, I'll document it better. This time, I was more concerned with capturing the I/Q and waterfall. It's a pretty cool picture on the waterfall. -Original Message- From: Edwin Marzan [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 10:17 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Interesting noise Isn't it local to the radio? That is, isn't the current design causing the problem? Edwin Marzan AB2VW From: Mark Amos [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Tim Ellison [EMAIL PROTECTED], Edwin Marzan [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Interesting noise Date: Tue, 29 May 2007 20:17:25 + I would think that if this were a switching supply artifact it would occur more regularly (or at least more frequently)... Incidentally, I have also seen that travelling hump artifact and assumed that it was local (to the radio). Thanks for the info on cleaning up the DC-DC converter - sounds like a good thing to do regardless and if it gets rid of the travelling hump, great. I suspect that the spreading noise that I mentioned below at the start of this thread is something else, but if it goes away when I clean up the DC-DC supply issue - even better! Mark -Original Message- From: Tim Ellison [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2007 02:52 PM To: 'Edwin Marzan', [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: RE: [Flexradio] Interesting noise This is a well known artifact and been discussed on the reflector. It is noise from the DC-DC converter in the radio. Here is a Reflector archive search on the topic http://www.mail-archive.com/search?l=flexradio%40flex-radio.bizq=dc-dc Here is a KB articles that address how to clean up DC-DC converter noise. http://kb.flex-radio.com/article.aspx?id=10276 -Tim -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Edwin Marzan Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2007 2:24 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Interesting noise I've seen something similar on my panadaptor as well. I refer to it as a crawling hump. It happens with and without the coaxial cable attached to the radio. The Spur Reduction button seems to manipulate it enough to keep it out of the receive filter bandwith. Because it can be manipulated as such, I thought it may have to do with the radio's DDS. Edwin Marzan AB2VW From: BILL GUYGER [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Mark Amos [EMAIL PROTECTED], flexradio flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Interesting noise Date: Mon, 28 May 2007 11:29:48 -0700 (PDT) I've seen something like this before, not in this application however, it was interference to a broadcast RPU link on 161 Mhz. It turned out to be a data link from an installation that is either a sewer lift pump station for the city of Grand Prarie, TX., or a hydrological station associated with the Trinity river. It would appear on the spectrum analyzer spread out with pronounced peaks within the over all envelope go away and reoccur at intervals similar to what you describe. So it MAY be a data link of some kind but then again Bill AD5OL - Original Message From: Mark Amos [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: flexradio flexradio@flex-radio.biz Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 7:02:59 AM Subject: [Flexradio] Interesting noise Folks, I have seen some unusual noises on the panadapter again this morning and wondered if anyone else has seen this. I've seen this before, usually in the morning, as I recall. I'm just wondering if they are a local noise (either in the shack or nearby) or if other people have seen them. Here's a description: Noise floor (today at about -120) drops a couple of DB's A blob of noise comes up from the floor and spreads symmetrically, sometimes dissipating as it goes, other times stopping at a certain width and hanging there for a few seconds. This process takes a few seconds. The pattern recurs in intervals of 10 to 20 seconds for a half-dozen repetitions then stops for an indeterminate period before coming back. It can go on for some time, but eventually subsides. I've got a couple of AVI movies of a portion of the panadapter when this is happening and an I/Q recording of the phenomenon if anyone would like to see it. Anyway, just interested to know if anyone else has seen this interesting noise pattern and thoughts
Re: [Flexradio] Interesting noise
I would think that if this were a switching supply artifact it would occur more regularly (or at least more frequently)... Incidentally, I have also seen that travelling hump artifact and assumed that it was local (to the radio). Thanks for the info on cleaning up the DC-DC converter - sounds like a good thing to do regardless and if it gets rid of the travelling hump, great. I suspect that the spreading noise that I mentioned below at the start of this thread is something else, but if it goes away when I clean up the DC-DC supply issue - even better! Mark -Original Message- From: Tim Ellison [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2007 02:52 PM To: 'Edwin Marzan', [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: RE: [Flexradio] Interesting noise This is a well known artifact and been discussed on the reflector. It is noise from the DC-DC converter in the radio. Here is a Reflector archive search on the topic http://www.mail-archive.com/search?l=flexradio%40flex-radio.bizq=dc-dc Here is a KB articles that address how to clean up DC-DC converter noise. http://kb.flex-radio.com/article.aspx?id=10276 -Tim -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Edwin Marzan Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2007 2:24 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Interesting noise I've seen something similar on my panadaptor as well. I refer to it as a crawling hump. It happens with and without the coaxial cable attached to the radio. The Spur Reduction button seems to manipulate it enough to keep it out of the receive filter bandwith. Because it can be manipulated as such, I thought it may have to do with the radio's DDS. Edwin Marzan AB2VW From: BILL GUYGER [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Mark Amos [EMAIL PROTECTED], flexradio flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Interesting noise Date: Mon, 28 May 2007 11:29:48 -0700 (PDT) I've seen something like this before, not in this application however, it was interference to a broadcast RPU link on 161 Mhz. It turned out to be a data link from an installation that is either a sewer lift pump station for the city of Grand Prarie, TX., or a hydrological station associated with the Trinity river. It would appear on the spectrum analyzer spread out with pronounced peaks within the over all envelope go away and reoccur at intervals similar to what you describe. So it MAY be a data link of some kind but then again Bill AD5OL - Original Message From: Mark Amos [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: flexradio flexradio@flex-radio.biz Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 7:02:59 AM Subject: [Flexradio] Interesting noise Folks, I have seen some unusual noises on the panadapter again this morning and wondered if anyone else has seen this. I've seen this before, usually in the morning, as I recall. I'm just wondering if they are a local noise (either in the shack or nearby) or if other people have seen them. Here's a description: Noise floor (today at about -120) drops a couple of DB's A blob of noise comes up from the floor and spreads symmetrically, sometimes dissipating as it goes, other times stopping at a certain width and hanging there for a few seconds. This process takes a few seconds. The pattern recurs in intervals of 10 to 20 seconds for a half-dozen repetitions then stops for an indeterminate period before coming back. It can go on for some time, but eventually subsides. I've got a couple of AVI movies of a portion of the panadapter when this is happening and an I/Q recording of the phenomenon if anyone would like to see it. Anyway, just interested to know if anyone else has seen this interesting noise pattern and thoughts on what it is. Mark ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachmen ts/20070528/55b4690a/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ _ PC Magazine's 2007 editors' choice for best Web mail-award-winning Windows Live Hotmail. http://imagine-windowslive.com/hotmail/?locale=en-usocid=TXT_TAGHM_migr ation_HM_mini_pcmag_0507 -- next part -- An HTML attachment
[Flexradio] Interesting noise
Folks, I have seen some unusual noises on the panadapter again this morning and wondered if anyone else has seen this. I've seen this before, usually in the morning, as I recall. I'm just wondering if they are a local noise (either in the shack or nearby) or if other people have seen them. Here's a description: Noise floor (today at about -120) drops a couple of DB's A blob of noise comes up from the floor and spreads symmetrically, sometimes dissipating as it goes, other times stopping at a certain width and hanging there for a few seconds. This process takes a few seconds. The pattern recurs in intervals of 10 to 20 seconds for a half-dozen repetitions then stops for an indeterminate period before coming back. It can go on for some time, but eventually subsides. I've got a couple of AVI movies of a portion of the panadapter when this is happening and an I/Q recording of the phenomenon if anyone would like to see it. Anyway, just interested to know if anyone else has seen this interesting noise pattern and thoughts on what it is. Mark ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Interesting noise
Perhaps it's some kind of local noise. I've swept the shack with a loop looking for that pattern and I haven't seen it. When I disconnect the antenna it goes away. Perhaps it's from a neighbor or power lines or some such. I've seen this happen maybe a half dozen times in the last couple of years. It doesn't look like a switching supply signature, but maybe it's one that malfunctions once in a while to create this signal. Mark -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Gerd Loch Sent: Monday, May 28, 2007 10:17 AM To: 'Mark Amos'; 'flexradio' Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Interesting noise Maybe this is one of thousands of switching psu in your or the neighbours house... 73 Gerd -Ursprüngliche Nachricht- Von: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Im Auftrag von Mark Amos Gesendet: Montag, 28. Mai 2007 14:03 An: 'flexradio' Betreff: [Flexradio] Interesting noise Folks, I have seen some unusual noises on the panadapter again this morning and wondered if anyone else has seen this. I've seen this before, usually in the morning, as I recall. I'm just wondering if they are a local noise (either in the shack or nearby) or if other people have seen them. Here's a description: Noise floor (today at about -120) drops a couple of DB's A blob of noise comes up from the floor and spreads symmetrically, sometimes dissipating as it goes, other times stopping at a certain width and hanging there for a few seconds. This process takes a few seconds. The pattern recurs in intervals of 10 to 20 seconds for a half-dozen repetitions then stops for an indeterminate period before coming back. It can go on for some time, but eventually subsides. I've got a couple of AVI movies of a portion of the panadapter when this is happening and an I/Q recording of the phenomenon if anyone would like to see it. Anyway, just interested to know if anyone else has seen this interesting noise pattern and thoughts on what it is. Mark ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] [Humor] r we Flexonians or Flexorites?
I believe it should be Flexus (sing.) Flexi (pl.) -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tim Ellison Sent: Monday, May 21, 2007 4:06 PM To: Michael Kallstrom; flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: [Flexradio] [Humor] r we Flexonians or Flexorites? What's the proper term for FlexRadio devotees? Flexers. Flexonians or Flexorites? Flexonions reside on the planet Flexor in the Gamma quadrant. Flexorites and chunks of space debris that enter the atmosphere of Flexor and strike the surface of the planet. -Tim -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Michael Kallstrom Sent: Monday, May 21, 2007 3:59 PM To: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] r we Flexonians or Flexorites? How about Flexatones? This is all also the name of a percussion instrument. Mike NU4Q On Mon, 21 May 2007 14:18:48 -0500 FireBrick [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: What's the proper term for FlexRadio devotees? Flexonians or Flexorites? I favor Flexonians, has a nice ring to it. And while I have your attention. What's the preferred mode for PSK? DIGU or DIGL? With knobs and dials boxes, I would use LSB/Packet combo for PSK.. And Rtty would be FSK. But seeing as how Rtty on a SDR is afsk, I'm thinking DIGL - There can never be a computer language in which you cannot write a bad program. - Bill H. in Chicagoland webcams at http://76.16.160.118:8080/ weather at http://hhweather.webhop.org ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ Michael Kallstrom, D.M. Professor of Music, ELECTRIC OPERA composer/performer Coordinator of Theory and Composition [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.wku.edu/~michael.kallstrom/ NU4Q (FCC Licensed Amateur Radio Station) Department of Music 1906 College Heights Blvd #41029 Western Kentucky University Bowling Green, KY 42101-1029 ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] 6 meter revisited
Flexers, The recent 10 meter band openings got me thinking again about 6 meters. I've made some 6 meter simplex contacts with a mobile FM 6 meter rig but I would like to use the FlexRadio in the shack to do more - some sideband and/or maybe some CW on 6. I've built a little pre-amp (a DEMI kit) for receiving and it works well. But I still only have a half a watt out and I'd really like to be able to put 10 watts or so into the antenna. I've seen a couple of queries to the list regarding small 6 meter amps, but I don't believe I've ever seen a response to one of them. I'm saving my pennies for a SDR5K and really don't want to shell out $500+ for a 6 meter amp. Anyone know of a low-power kit that's available (a club project or some such) that would fit this, admittedly small, niche need? Other thoughts or recommendations? Mark ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Low recieve
Frank, That's been my experience as well (with the few minor issues I've had.) I also appreciate seeing these questions posted to the the list and all the valuable suggestions. Thanks for posting the question and the outcome. Mark -Original Message- From: Frank Mayer [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2007 10:58 AM To: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Low recieve Re: [Flexradio] Low recieveI called Ken at Flex and he referred me to Ed at Flex service and he walked me thru the RFE board and we determined that the RF amp IC was bad. They are sending one right out to me. Great service! Great radio! You gotta love it! Thanks guys! Frank, WA3JBT - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; Frank Mayer ; flexradio@flex-radio.biz Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2007 5:54 AM Subject: RE: [Flexradio] Low recieve It might be usefull to check if the relay contacts on the input of the RF preamp are still OK (if the diodes are damaged) good luck 73 de peter pa0pvn groeten Peter petervn(a)hetnet.nl ; pa0pvn(a)hetnet.nl ; pa0pvn(a)gmail.com ; pa0pvn(a)amsat.org . -- Van: [EMAIL PROTECTED] namens Gerd Loch Verzonden: do 17-5-2007 11:52 Aan: 'Frank Mayer'; flexradio@flex-radio.biz Onderwerp: Re: [Flexradio] Low recieve Hi Frank, besides the protection diodes and the preamplifier itself (as stated by Ahti) the next sensitive circuit is the switch FST3252M (IC1). You can check if the bias dc-voltage (2,5V) can be measured at the output pins. 73 Gerd, DJ8AY -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Frank Mayer Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2007 9:36 AM To: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: [Flexradio] Low recieve I have had my SDR for about 6 months now and last night night it was subjected to a static discharge during a thunderstorm. Not a direct hit but enough to affect the receiver. Now it has very low sensitivity. Are there any known causes for this (blown diodes or RF amp transistor in the front end)? Or does it need factory repair. Frank WA3JBT -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20 070517/386eda1e/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.467 / Virus Database: 269.7.1/805 - Release Date: 5/15/2007 10:47 AM -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20070517/3478708a/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20070517/2cdd85a0/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] question on split operation
Moderator, Can you turn up the anti-flame control on this list? Most of us are interested in flex-radio content and in improving the product - the traffic from nn6rr is neither, and it's getting tiresome. Thanks in advance, Mark W8XR -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of jim davis Sent: Sunday, May 13, 2007 5:32 PM To: FireBrick Cc: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] question on split operation On Sun, 13 May 2007 15:50:43 -0500 FireBrick [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I purchased a sdr1000 as I'm mainly a dxer (cw variety). (a deaf dxer, both hearing loss and poor antennas/location) This morning on 17 I needed to listen on 18087.7 and xmit on 18088.2 On my yaesu, I could hit one button which would activate the 'split' operation and automatically place my xmit freq 5 kc higher. From there a quick twist of the vfo b know would be in the ball park. Using the panoramic display, I could easily see the frequency I needed to xmit on. As I also like to listen on my xmit frequency I needed vfo B to be active. somy question is How can I program it...so when I click on the Split button, It activates the vfo b up 5kc and also puts a perscribed cw passband and xmit signal on the desired frequency. I know about the right/click to position vfo b. What I would like is a one click button that would enable vfo b, with a passband of my choosing, and position it x kc up. Actually I'd like a button for 1 kc, 5 kc (common for cw dx) and 5 to 10 up (common in SSB DXpeditions) but I'll settle for 1 preprogramed split button and adjust the vfo b manualy like I do on the nutsbolts radios. This wheel probably has already been invented, I just can't find it in the operating manual... - Too much of a good thing can be taxing. Mae West - Bill H. in Chicagoland webcams at http://76.16.160.118:8080/ weather at http://hhweather.webhop.org ___ FlexRadio mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED]@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ ** OH SHAME ON YOU BILL!!! YOU MENTIONED ANOTHER BRAND OF RADIO OUT HERE ON THE KNUCKLE-HEAD SYSTEM/REFLECTOR (FlexRadio) namely YAESU!!! YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO DO THAT ACCORDING TO THE BOYZ!!! Hope u get a mature answer instead of a bunch of IMMATURE BS!!! Jim/nn6ee ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] strange 60 Hz buzz on WWV's signal
All, I got the response, below, from WWV overnight. FYI, Mark - W8XR - Mark Amos During the time period of May 7th PM until May 9th PM NIST Radio Station WWV resorted to some old back-up equipment while doing some system reconfiguration. The frequencies 5, 10, 15 and 20 should no longer have the noise that you experienced. We apologize for any inconveniences. If you have time, a reply on what you are seeing now would be appreciated. Thank you for listening and passing on the information NIST Radio Douglas -- -Original Message- From: Gerald Capodieci [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, May 9, 2007 05:18 PM To: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: [Flexradio] strange 60 Hz buzz on WWV's signal I can't replicate the noise BUT. I just deleted my database and rebuilt it from scratch to get rid of an Ignition like noise present on any strong SSB signal. I hope this is related. If you have MS Access it easy to copy and paste the Memories and other settings. In my case the database may have become corrupted after SVN 1160. SVN 1160 continued to work fine. This is all too common in the MS world. -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20070509/3184f631/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20070510/89272bdd/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Getting strange 60 Hz buzz on WWV's signal
I dropped a note to NIST earlier asking about this, but haven't received a reply yet. I'll post it here if they have any news to share. Mark - W8XR -Original Message- From: k5nwa [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, May 8, 2007 11:51 AM To: 'Flex Radio' Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Getting strange 60 Hz buzz on WWV's signal At 10:39 AM 5/8/2007, Ken N9VV wrote: Hi Bob, I noticed the exact same thing last night. I was really surprised. WWV on my panadapter looked very strange on both 5Mhz and 10Mhz. Today it looks perfectly normal. I wondered if it was an atmospheric effect or solar wind hitting our upper atmosphere? de ken n9vv Robert Cleve wrote: When I tune in WWV on either 15 MHz or 10 MHz WWV's carrier is accompanied by what sounds like a fairly strong 60 Hz buzz modulating their carrier. When I tune off their carrier the buzzing modulation disappears. I don't get this phenomenon on any other carrier, on any other band or mode, receive or transmit. This just started a few days ago on my SDR1K and nothing in the shack has been changed to cause this. Does anyone have any idea what may be causing this? 73..Bob..KW4CQ Go ahead and blame the sun, it can't defend itself. Most likely someone accidently turned the knob labelled Add hum to carrier and didn't notice. Cecil KD5NWA www.qrpradio.com www.hpsdr.com Blessed are the cracked, for they shall let in the light. ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20070508/9d6af7a2/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Dual watch with SDR-1000...
Bob, Thanks for that info! I hadn't noticed that control before. It's nice to have the flexibility to reduce this asymmetry by lowering the IF and it's also nice to move the DC noise hump more out of the way by increasing it. I see that the IF selection upper limit is 2. Can you tell me what the reason is for this limit (assuming that it's not just why-would-anyone-ever-want-an-IF-higher-than-2.) I thought it was the case that the original IF was put there to keep the sum of the sampling rates of I and Q under the N/2 limit for 44100 sampling? If so, isn't this cutting it a bit close? (i.e. isn't it typical to keep the sampling somewhat under .5N so that anti-alias filters can be a little less demanding to design.) Just trying to learn more from the discussion. Mark -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Robert McGwier Sent: Sunday, May 06, 2007 10:15 AM To: Steve Kallal Cc: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Dual watch with SDR-1000... In addition to Tim's valuable comments, let me add the following. The asymmetry is there mostly to handle the DC issues on sound cards. The 11025 is a legacy of us starting out life at 44100 Hz sample rates and poorer sound cards we used to run the radio with in the early days. We believed that no one would buy these high end sound cards, and we were probably right in the early days. When it became absolutely clear that the sensitivity was in large part determined by these sound cards, and the image rejection was impacted a lot by them, people only needed to be told WHY and they went for them. HOWEVER, if you have one of these high end sound cards (FA-66, etc.) you can operate the IF much closer to DC than we have. A control was added to the setup panel, general tab, DDS control block that allows you to change the last IF. I run mine at 8000 Hz which reduces the asymmetry by 3.025 kHz. YMMV! Bob N4HY Steve Kallal wrote: Hello again, During my SDR hiatus, dual watch has been added to PowerSDR. The manual doesn't call it dual watch, but sub band instead. Am I correct in my reading that the sub band must be within the pan adapter bandpass? With the asymmetrical pan adapter center frequency, that means dual watch is skewed, with more sub band range below the center frequency than above. With dual VFOs, swapping A and B will allow dual watching at a greater frequency span above the center frequency. Do I understand correctly that dual watch is available on the SDR-1000 though only within the sound cards bandpass? I guess that in one areas where my Icom 756 Pro 2 shines. I found it handy working splits on 40 meter ssb in the ARRL contest in February. I could hear both the DX station down around 7060 kHz and listen up around 7200 or so at the same time. It makes split operation much easier. Depending the pan adapter bandpass at 192 kHz sample rate, it is theoretically possible to handle 40 meter ssb splits in dual watch mode assuming the frequencies are not too far apart. What can I except with the FA-66 in this regard? Of course, I could always sell the SDR-1000 and get the 5000 with the second receiver. Choices, choices! 73, Steve N6VL -- AMSAT Director and VP Engineering. Member: ARRL, AMSAT-DL, TAPR, Packrats, NJQRP, QRP ARCI, QCWA, FRC. ARRL SDR WG Chair If you're going to be crazy, you have to get paid for it or else you're going to be locked up. Hunter S. Thompson ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Dual watch with SDR-1000...
Bob, Thanks! I typically use 48000 sampling with the FA-66, mostly for the sharpest filters with CW. In any case, I don't have a need for an IF above 20Khz -just interested in learning! The VB version was before my time so thanks for the history lesson! Mark -Original Message- From: Robert McGwier [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, May 06, 2007 11:20 AM To: Mark Amos Cc: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Dual watch with SDR-1000... Mark Amos wrote: Bob, Thanks for that info! I hadn't noticed that control before. It's nice to have the flexibility to reduce this asymmetry by lowering the IF and it's also nice to move the DC noise hump more out of the way by increasing it. I see that the IF selection upper limit is 2. Can you tell me what the reason is for this limit (assuming that it's not just why-would-anyone-ever-want-an-IF-higher-than-2.) That is also legacy. With DttSP and PowerSDR, 44100 was never supported so far as I can remember. I do not recall a version of DttSP which ever allowed 44100 as a sample rate. We started with, and have always had 48000 as a lower limit is my recollection. 44100 was there in the Visual Basic 6 console and it had NO variable base IF. It was always 11025 Hz +/- spur reduction offset. First, on 48000 Hz sample rate, and assuming you are in USB, you probably want at least 3500 Hz for the USB filter.Nyquist is 24000 Hz as you have pointed out. 24000 - 3500 Hz bandwidth is 21500 Hz. AM and FM want wider bandwidths, etc. The number makes sense for all sorts of reasons when the sample rate is 48000 Hz. It simply was never changed when I added the higher rates. We are still living with the consequences of me getting a wild hair one night and throwing 96000 and 192000 Hz sample rate support in. It has taken Eric months to wrestle all of the consequences to the ground. This is another example. Bob N4HY I thought it was the case that the original IF was put there to keep the sum of the sampling rates of I and Q under the N/2 limit for 44100 sampling? If so, isn't this cutting it a bit close? (i.e. isn't it typical to keep the sampling somewhat under .5N so that anti-alias filters can be a little less demanding to design.) Just trying to learn more from the discussion. Mark -- AMSAT Director and VP Engineering. Member: ARRL, AMSAT-DL, TAPR, Packrats, NJQRP, QRP ARCI, QCWA, FRC. ARRL SDR WG Chair If you're going to be crazy, you have to get paid for it or else you're going to be locked up. Hunter S. Thompson ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] 5000, much better
Fascinating. I beleive he was referring to the radio, not another mate. Your point is well made, however: the acquisition of things seldom results in happiness - at least not for long. (I'm still planning to buy a 5000 at some point...) Mark -Original Message- From: Chris Maukonen [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, April 30, 2007 09:19 AM To: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] 5000, much better Marty wrote: Now that the XYL has been reading about how sexy the 5000 is, she is knitting me a cover for the 1000. She seems to think it will make the 1000 sexier. See what you guys started? I think she is trying to tell me, I don't need a 5000, but. My wants are always stronger than my needs. After a time ...you may find that having ... is not so pleasing a thing after all ... as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true. WA4CM Chris Marty KG6QKJ ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ -- Chris Maukonen In every country and in every Sr. Systems Programmer age the priest has been hostile University of Central Florida to liberty, he is always in Orlando, Fla. allegiance with the despot, Work: (407) 823 5460 abetting his abuses in return [EMAIL PROTECTED] for protection of his own. Thomas Jefferson Computer, I caution you. I have little love for Beta-5 snobbery. - Override. - Gery Seven -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20070430/6f5fa501/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20070430/08a7e6c7/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] 5000, much better
Fascinating. I beleive he was referring to the radio, not another mate. Your point is well made, however: the acquisition of things seldom results in happiness - at least not for long. (I'm still planning to buy a 5000 at some point...) Mark -Original Message- From: Chris Maukonen [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, April 30, 2007 09:19 AM To: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] 5000, much better Marty wrote: Now that the XYL has been reading about how sexy the 5000 is, she is knitting me a cover for the 1000. She seems to think it will make the 1000 sexier. See what you guys started? I think she is trying to tell me, I don't need a 5000, but. My wants are always stronger than my needs. After a time ...you may find that having ... is not so pleasing a thing after all ... as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true. WA4CM Chris Marty KG6QKJ ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ -- Chris Maukonen In every country and in every Sr. Systems Programmer age the priest has been hostile University of Central Florida to liberty, he is always in Orlando, Fla. allegiance with the despot, Work: (407) 823 5460 abetting his abuses in return [EMAIL PROTECTED] for protection of his own. Thomas Jefferson Computer, I caution you. I have little love for Beta-5 snobbery. - Override. - Gery Seven -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20070430/6f5fa501/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20070430/7a424340/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] 5000 aesthetic considerations
I agree. As far as I'm concerned the black-box look is just fine, but wouldn't call it sexy. In my shack, I have the 1000 turned around with all the wires and connections visible - with ground isolators that's a lot of cables However, it contributes to that mad-scientist aesthetic that I've been trying to achieve. (I have to keep the Jacob's ladder turned off because of all the RF, so all the extra wires and cables help make up for the lack of big sparks.) Unfortunately, the 5000 seems to have fewer wires... Guess I'll just have to run both! Mark - W8XR I can't bring myself to say that the FLEX-5000 looks sexy at all, let alone sexiER. I find the specs. very attractive, but the size is rather a turn-off: I'd prefer something not as tall. I have no problem with the absence of knobs. 73 Alan NV8A -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20070429/b93fb8ca/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] SDR1000 and SDR5000 with PowerSDR
Sorry if this has already been covered... Will it be possible for me to simultaneously operate both the SDR5000A and SDR1000 using a Firewire connection with two separate instances of PowerSDR? I use the Edirol FA-66 today with the SDR1000 and have a couple of spare Firewire ports on the card I bought for the FA66. I assume that there would be a considerable performance hit running two instances of PowerSDR, but if my PC was adequately powered, would this be possible? Mark W8XR -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20070425/befff3bc/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] Question about filter windows
Flexer's Can anyone tell me which of the Blackman windows (Blackman2, Blackman3, Blackman4) is the traditional Blackman window [ f[x] = 0.42 - 0.5 cos(2PIx/M) + 0.08 cos(4PIx/M) ] and what the others are? I recognized Blackman-Harris in the list along with a couple of others. Blackman-Nuttall is also mentioned in the operations manual but apparently not included in the implementation, unless it's one of these numbered windows (2, 3 and 4.). I'm reading a couple of DSP books and was just curious about these. Mark W8XR -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20070408/77a4ecc8/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] Odd Panadapter behaviour with alpha code
Flexers, I'm seeing some odd behaviour with the alpha code. I have reported it via the bug tracking facility, but it is not reporoduceable at Flex, so I'm asking here. The signal level on the panadapter is about 65 db lower than the S-mater for everything that is displayed. For instance if I see an S9 signal on the beta version, it shows up at -73 db. With the alpha version it shows up at about -135. The noise floor on the beta version shows up at -115 db, on the alpha version it's -180 db. I used an XG1 to calibrate (and re-calibrate) using both alpha and beta versions. While the S-meter reads identically on both versions, the panadapter shows a 65 db difference. I would have thought that both the panadapter window and s-meter signal levels would derive from the same source, so this is a real puzzler. I've deleted the database on the alpha version and let it re-create, then re-calibrate, etc., etc. but same problem. There are obviously not any hardware differences between the two tests. The only difference is the software. Which would seem to point to a software problem with the alpha version (duh!) Other than being 65db down on the panadapter, everything seems to be working great with the alpha version, so I continue to use it. I just hate being the only person that has this problem... Feels like those rare occasions when I have to call for PC service - invariably its the first time they've ever seen this problem. Just as invariably, there are hundreds of other people that I discover after the fact that had the same problem. I'm hoping that this is one of those! I'm using a pentium 4, 2.65 Ghz, 1G memory, edirol sound, usb. Any thoughts? Mark -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20070407/cea30e4b/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Odd Panadapter behaviour with alpha code - fixed itself!
All, The problem seems to have fixed itself. I broke one of my rules and actually imported the database from another version (the beta PowerSDR version.) Et voila, the alpha version panadapter signal levels now match the S-meter levels. I guess the exception sometimes proves the rule. I just need to be more flexable regarding my rules... So, my new rule is: always/never import the database! Mark -Original Message- From: Mark Amos [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, April 7, 2007 09:57 AM To: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Odd Panadapter behaviour with alpha code Flexers, I'm seeing some odd behaviour with the alpha code. I have reported it via the bug tracking facility, but it is not reporoduceable at Flex, so I'm asking here. The signal level on the panadapter is about 65 db lower than the S-mater for everything that is displayed. For instance if I see an S9 signal on the beta version, it shows up at -73 db. With the alpha version it shows up at about -135. The noise floor on the beta version shows up at -115 db, on the alpha version it's -180 db. I used an XG1 to calibrate (and re-calibrate) using both alpha and beta versions. While the S-meter reads identically on both versions, the panadapter shows a 65 db difference. I would have thought that both the panadapter window and s-meter signal levels would derive from the same source, so this is a real puzzler. I've deleted the database on the alpha version and let it re-create, then re-calibrate, etc., etc. but same problem. There are obviously not any hardware differences between the two tests. The only difference is the software. Which would seem to point to a software problem with the alpha version (duh!) Other than being 65db down on the panadapter, everything seems to be working great with the alpha version, so I continue to use it. I just hate being the only person that has this problem... Feels like those rare occasions when I have to call for PC service - invariably its the first time they've ever seen this problem. Just as invariably, there are hundreds of other people that I discover after the fact that had the same problem. I'm hoping that this is one of those! I'm using a pentium 4, 2.65 Ghz, 1G memory, edirol sound, usb. Any thoughts? Mark -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20070407/94e0a911/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Goundloop problem or what?
There has been quite a bit of discussion on the reflector regarding ground loop isolation recently, and some good advice. Here's a quick synopsis of my experience applying this advice. There are two broad approaches to resolving ground loop issues, and being a belt and suspenders type, I did both with good effect. First, install a common point shack ground. I found that by grounding all my equipment to a single point using lengths of copper braid helped quite a bit. I used a piece of 00 welding wire (lots of very fine strands of copper) as my common point. (So, technically, I guess it's actually not a point...) Using a hot iron and lots of flux, I soldered the copper braid from the equipment to this piece of wire. Still, I didn't really trust the solder joints very much - should have used a torch - so I also clamped the braid to the welding cable with hose clamps. This common ground should be connected to a real ground (for safety), but it helped even when it wasn't. I've since connected it to my copper plumbing and made sure to install jumpers across presumed insulating points in the plumbing (the water heater and the water meter.) This grounding is not a substitute for adequate lightning protection. Second, use isolation transformers between audio gear. I splurged and bought an EBTech 8 channel hum eliminator ($200US). It's basically a bunch of isolation transformers in one 19 rackspace box. I made up a pile of interface cables using shielded Cat-5 cable to go between the Flex, the Edirol box, the wireless headset transmitter, the computer and the EBTech box. Each of these cables has a clamp-on ferrite choke to reduce the possibility of RF in the shack (I bought a bunch of these cheap at a hamfest, so I put them on all the control cables and power cables as well.) The inputs and outputs of the EBTech are isolated from the chassis ground. I did ground the chassis of the EBTech. Since my shack is physically proximate to my vertical antenna, I also installed a choke between the antenna end of my feedline and the antenna feedpoint (to isolate the feedline and keep RF off of its shield.) I used a DX Engineering Feedline Current Choke for this. In addition to eliminating a problem with hum on my transmitted audio and some nasty sidebands, it also reduced the size of the big 11KHz hump in the panadapter. Also, I don't have any more echo on my SSB audio due to RF feedback in the shack, and my CW signal is a lot skinnier. The ferrite chokes on the USB and other utility lines seems to have also eliminated some USB disconnects during transmit. I know this is not the most elegant approach - but I typically substitute over-engineering for lack of deep technical knowledge. It usually works. Good luck! Mark W8XR -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20070327/1b9283dc/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] New PCs now sold with Vista and notXP-Implicationsfor SDR-1000?
Well, all I can say is that if God had meant us to use Mac's, Steve Jobs would be working for Microsoft - and he'd be a Republican!! (I think I covered them all!) -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20070308/7829c327/attachment.html -- next part -- An embedded message was scrubbed... From: Ross Stenberg [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Flexradio] New PCs now sold with Vista and notXP-Implicationsfor SDR-1000? Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2007 20:23:00 + Size: 3623 Url: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20070308/7829c327/attachment.mht ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] ShuttlePro
All, I haven't used the ShuttlePro for a week or so (it worked when I demo'd the rig two weeks ago, but I haven't used it since.) It appears to have stopped talking to PowerSDR. Anyone else notice it disappear or have any ideas where to look? ShuttlePro device configuration works fine, the buttons light up, etc. I've pointed it at the correct PowerSDR.exe (I'm using Alpha v1.9.0 SVN: 917.) Is there a setting in the PowerSDR setup that I might have turned off that would disable the ShuttlePro? Mark -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20070305/a5717f03/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] ShuttlePro - never mind... Operator Error.
Please disregard my previous post - I had Keyboard enable shortcuts turned off for some reason... Sorry for the abuse of bandwidth. -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20070305/e01992c4/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] Filter measurements
All Here are some filter measurements I did with the Flex-Radio. I'd be interested in anyone else's numbers if there are differences - there may be some configuration or setup option that I've overlooked that would affect the results. FYI, I'm interested in cases where someone has come up with different results and has some ideas as to why they're different (as opposed to theoretical or hypothetical suggestions without any any substantiating measurements...) I should have been from Missouri. Also, I am interested in knowing if the shape factor is designed to be wider with narrow filters and get tighter as the filter bandwidth increases (or if this is an artifact of my measurements, physics, etc.) I've seen that steep skirts on analog filters cause ringing, but that this can be avoided with DSP filters. If this is the case, why not use arbitrarily steep filters? Is it a computational cost issue, or are there other tradeoffs that make this impractical. This isn't a criticism; I'd just like to know how it works. Thanks again to all the suggestions and discussion - I've learned a lot from you guys, and I really appreciate it! Mark Here are (I think) the salient features of my setup and the test conditions: - PowerSDR v1.9.0 SVN 899 - Edirol FA-66 - 48000 Ks/s - Buffer 2048 - 4096 FFT Bins - Hanning window - AGC off (it didn't seem to make any difference - I assume the S-Meter is before the AGC.) I used an HP 10811 OCXO as the oscillator at 10MHz because it's the cleanest, most stable oscillator I have. Before the test I ran the receive image rejection calibration and calibrated the S-meter with a 50uV and a 1uV signal to get it as accurate as possible. I tuned the receiver up and down in 1 Hz increments and measured the signal level as reported by the Flex S-meter - to the nearest 10th of a dBm. When I finished the series, I repeated the 10Hz and 20Hz filter tests just to see if anything had drifted or changed. The results were the same. Here are the results: 10Hz filter -6dB 32Hz wide -60dB 89Hz wide 2.78 shape factor 20Hz filter -6dB 34Hz wide -60dB 95Hz wide 2.76 shape factor 30Hz filter -6dB 38Hz wide -60dB 102Hz wide 2.68 shape factor 50Hz filter -6dB 51Hz wide -60dB 122Hz wide 2.39 shape factor 100Hz filter -6dB 100Hz wide -60dB 172Hz wide 1.72 shape factor 200Hz filter -6dB 200Hz wide -60dB 272Hz wide 1.36 shape factor 250Hz filter -6dB 250Hz wide -60dB 322Hz wide 1.29 shape factor 500Hz filter -6dB 500Hz wide -60dB 574Hz wide 1.15 shape factor 600Hz filter -6dB 600Hz wide -60dB 674Hz wide 1.12 shape factor 1000Hz filter -6dB 1000Hz wide -60dB 1074Hz wide 1.07 shape factor 2400Hz filter -6dB 2400Hz wide -60dB 2474Hz wide 1.03 shape factor So the filter algorithm is more accurate above 30Hz or so. I suspect that there are rounding errors and other issues that keep them from measuring accurately down below 30Hz. Mark -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20070218/8fc5a6c0/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] Filters redux.
Jim, OK, I don't quite understand what you're getting at. I made some measurements - the amplitude of a signal passing through a filter at various bandwidths. I divided the -60dB down bandwidth and by the -6dB down bandwidth. I refered to this dimensionless quantity as shape factor. I do (barely) understand that it is possible to create all kinds of filters digitally that have interesting characteristics, some of which are impossible with analog circuits. What I was asking about was measurement of the specific instantiation of the narrow digital filters in the Flex-Radio. (Not what could be done but, rather, what was done in this specific case.) I have heard the expression brick wall filter tossed around and I thought almost any measurable quantity that describes it would be more meaningful than brick wall. To me a brick wall filter, regardless of the technology to create it or the method of its measurement, would ideally have a characteristic where the signal -60dB down would be the same as the signal -6dB down. So, perhaps a more specific question is in order: Why DOESN'T the measured shape of a 20Hz filter have very steep walls, or a shape-factor of 1, or whatever one should call this characteristic? Or put another way,What is a good metric for a brick wall filter in digital parlance and what tools do I need to measure it? Or put yet another way, Why wouldn't a shape factor 1 filter (without ringing) be a good thing to have in a digital radio? Is it computationally prohibitive, is it a waste of processor bandwidth; nobody needs one, so why bother, etc.?) Am I missing some fundamental issue, or are you just correcting my (obiously poor) ability to communicate this question? You've clearly got considerable expertise in this area, and it is entirely possible that I am incapable of understanding the answer. So, I'm ok with a come back later when you have brought me the witch's broom kind of answer - I obviously have a lot to learn regarding DSP and I certainly haven't paid my DSP dues! I think, however, that most people that buy radios have more experience in the analog world and we need to talk to them in terms they'll understand. And, of course, I am obviously one of them. Thanks for your patience and continued contribution to these discussions! Mark -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jim Lux Sent: Sunday, February 18, 2007 1:44 PM To: Tom Thompson; Bill Tracey Cc: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Filter measurements At 08:18 AM 2/18/2007, Tom Thompson wrote: Mark and Bill, I made some measurements and got similar results as Mark.The one thing that confused me was the difference in shape factor between the narrow filters and the wide filters, but I think you just cleared that up for me, Bill.It has to be a function of the bin resolution and the bin bleed.Thanks, Mark for bringing this up, and thanks Bill for clearing my confusion...very interesting. This is somewhat confusing because you are using a conceptual model (shape factor) that is really derived from analog filter design in a domain (digital filters with a lot of samples) that it isn't as well suited to. In analog filters, we talk about how many sections or poles it might have, and knowing that number tells you what the ultimate rolloff is going to be (12 dB/octave per section, eh?). The close in rolloff in a high q filter (say a crystal lattice) is still determined by combining a relatively small number of tuned circuits (albeit high q ones).. Essentially, you stack up a bunch of stagger tuned sections so that you get a bart's head type frequency domain response. You have to worry about interacctions between the tuned circuits (some deliberate, as in a double tuned IF stage, some not), drifting in component parameters, and non-ideal components, so Q isn't infinite. But in the digital domain, you can (easily) build a filter that is the equivalent of 4000 ideal lossless LC tuned networks with infinite Q. Yowza!..Sure, there are tradeoffs, and there are some peculiarities (roundoff, truncation, etc.) but it's easy to build filters that have desirable properties but which don't fit the usual analog filter metrics and design tradeoffs.For instance, it's pretty easy to build a linear phase filter in the digital world (one that has the same time delay for all frequencies in the passband, which has minimal pulse shape distortion).. something that is quite challenging with analog filters (as anyone who has agonized over group delay properties has dealt with). In the digital world, one could build a dynamically adjusting CW keying envelope that is precisely limited in it's bandwidth to the current keying rate, without ringing.Heck, in the digital world, one can have non-physically realizable filters (i.e. that have an output before the input is applied, in some senses) So the challenge we all face when working
[Flexradio] PowerSDR filter bandwidth
Flexers, Has anyone done any actual measurements on filter bandwidth in PowerSDR - I've been having an on-going discussion with a friend of mine on filter sharpness, etc. - basically bragging about how tight the software filters are. However, when I use a signal generator and measure the filter width using the flex RX meter to measure the signals, I get much wider filters than what the filter buttons say. For instance, the filter bandwidths I measured come outlike this: 10Hz filter: 58 Hz at -3dB 20Hz filter: 82 Hz at -3dB 50Hz filter: 90 Hz at -3dB 100Hz filter: 100 Hz at -3dB 10Hz filter: 260 Hz at -30dB 20Hz filter: 260 Hz at -30dB 50Hz filter: 280 Hz at -30dB 100Hz filter: 300 Hz at -30dB I did these tests at 1MHz and 10MHz and got substantially similar results. The 1MHz amplitude measurements ranged from roughly -40dB to -90dB and the amplitudes measured at 10MHz ranged between -25dB to -70dB but the shape of the curves looked about the same. I used a PalStar ZM-30 as a frequency generator stepping 10Hz with each step (the FlexRadio corroborated the step size and the actual frequency within a couple of Hz.) I'm embarassed to say this is the first time I've actually measured filter bandwidth So, I assume I'm just doing something wrong and that's why the filters shapes look so fat... Anybody else got any empirical measurements to refute these obviously flawed measurements? (Or thoughts on what I'm doing wrong?) My qualitative assessment of the filters is that a 20Hz filter sounds about like the 100Hz filter - so maybe it's something in the way I've configured the software. Any thought? Mark -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20070214/e0d4e850/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] Transmit image calibration
I hate to ask the list, but the KB search engine has beat me again. I'm not used to having this kind of search problem... I can find anything with Google, but my head is just not in the right place to use the KB effectively for some reason. I've been looking for the transmit image rejection process - I'm sure I've seen someone point to a KB article on this, but searching on these terms, yields no good results: TX imagetransmit rejectiontransmit imageimage rejectionimage calibrationtransmit image calibrationtransmit image rejectionTX image rejectionTX calibrationTX image calibrationTX image reductiontransmit image reduction So, I'm hoping someone on the list can: 1.) point me to the documented procedure for setting transmit image rejection parameters and 2.) give me some guidance as to what search arguments I should have used to find this. Thanks, in advance, and sorry for using the bandwidth for this lame request. Mark -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20070213/a4c40151/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] Calibration with WWV, variability factors.
Flexers, This is slightly off topic, but I've seen several folks' postings about tuning to WWV for pretty good accuracy. I wondered how close one can actually get by tuning to WWV, practically. I know it depends on where you are, atmospheric conditions, etc. But what are the practical upper boundaries to the accuracy of WWV calibration using the phase display, given a stable local oscillator in the Flex. I use a GPSDO (at 10MHz) for my master oscillator. When I tune to WWV it's always within 1 Hz of where it was last time I checked. It's typically within .5 Hz or so (based on how long it takes for the phase display to cycle) but I haven't done any systematic testing for diurnal variations, etc. This is of philosophical / developmental interest to me - I'm interested in learning more about this. What are the relative magnitudes of the different factors at play - for example, does sound card variability contribute more or less than variability due to propagation, etc.? Does the ADC oscillator variability swamp any varibility due to internal Flex-Radio component drift? questions like that. Thoughts on this or pointers on learning more? Mark -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20070207/a4ebe217/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/
[Flexradio] Contesting question
Just wanted to say thanks for all the suggestions and answers to my contesting question, both on and off the list. I really appreciate the value I get from this list. I hope to be able to contribute more as time goes on. Great radio, great group of people! Mark -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20070202/d17939c4/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ FlexRadio Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Using the signal generator to set levels (Followup)
Bob, Absolutely! A couple of times recently I've been in the midst of composing an e-mail to a list and in the process of documenting details to compose the question I discover the answer (which has reduced my short term never mind ratio a little.) Another useful tool is the explain-it-to-the-non-technical-spouse. Sometimes just explaining the problem to a novice gets you to the answer. Other times the beginner's mind of the novice provides questions that lead to the answer. Sometimes reading someone else's questions on the list sparks an interesting area of inquiry, or challenges something I know. I probably wouldn't have become interested in GPSDO's if not for someone asking a question about master oscillator accuracy on this list. Mark W8XR -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Robert McGwier Sent: Saturday, December 30, 2006 9:59 PM To: Army Curtis - AE5P Cc: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Using the signal generator to set levels (Followup) Army: I do not find this unusual at all. I often find that by organizing my thoughts enough to ask the question I often answer it myself and usually it is after I have submitted the question to others. If I could go back and count the never minds, it would be worth quite a bit of bandwidth. I love peer review. Others hate it but this phenomenon sold me on transparency and openness ages ago after I worked for years under a different set of rules. It just works. Bob N4HY Army Curtis - AE5P wrote: It never seems to fail. As soon as I get to what I think is a deadend, and break down and send a question to a forum, I manage to work things out on my own. I have a new LP-100 microprocessor wattmeter (http://telepostinc.com/ ) which will very accurately indicate true PEP output power up to 54 MHz. I hooked that up to the output of the 50 MHz amplifier, and then into a dummy load. I found that there is indeed very good correlation between the steady state output levels using the tone signal generator built into the SDR software, and the peak power levels from transmitting speech in SSB. So, it looks like using the built in signal generator function is the correct approach to setting RF levels on transmit. I've set up some compression and compandor levels per the KB, but am very much open to further suggestions. Will be doing a series of on-air tests with a friend of mine locally to get some feedback on audio quality as these parameters are varied. When I get all finished with this little project (assuming everything works in the field during the January VHF contest), I'll try and write something up on what I've done, and how I've done it in the hopes it may help someone else do much the same. As others on here have noted, this has got to be one of the finest radios available today, and it just keeps getting better. 73, Army Curtis - AE5P Nacogdoches, the oldest town in Texas -- AMSAT Director and VP Engineering. Member: ARRL, AMSAT-DL, TAPR, Packrats, NJQRP, QRP ARCI, QCWA, FRC. ARRL SDR WG Chair If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction. - Dietrich Bonhoffer ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
Re: [Flexradio] Need Help with popping in rx audio
I also had a similar problem (with an 802.11G system) and ultimately went back to a wired 10/100 solution. I did the usual driver updates, priority tuning, etc. and couldn't resolve the issue - so I just gave up and ran straight Ethernet. That seems to have solved the problem (at least it avoids the problem.) I still use an 802.11G router / transmitter in the shack, just not on the computer that runs the SDR1000. Mark W8XR -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Bill Tracey Sent: Sunday, December 24, 2006 10:00 AM To: A.R.S. - W5AMI; Flex-radio Reflector Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Need Help with popping in rx audio If it is the wireless adapter, it is probably the device driver handling the radio on the wireless card that is causing you grief - would suspect some of his interrupt handling is a bit too long for PowerSDR's needs. First thing - do you need the wireless adapter or can you use wired Ethernet in this location? If you need wireless, perhaps a wireless Ethernet bridge would work - this would make the PC talk wired Ethernet to an external box that then bridges to the wireless network. No wireless drivers needed on the PC, but you will need an Ethernet port on the pc Something like: http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Product_C2childpagename=US%2FL ayoutcid=1134692497433pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper Or if you have other wireless cards on hand, try a different wireless card - perhaps it has drivers that are not quite as interrupt hungry as your own cards. I have no direct experience with the bridge mentioned above. Basic idea is to offload the wireless handling to an external box - something that does not need drivers on the PC Regards, Bill At 08:27 AM 12/24/2006, A.R.S. - W5AMI wrote: I did recently install a wireless d-link network in my house, and I think it is the culprit. There is an activity led on the rear of the wireless card that will blink from time to time, but I discovered that when this audio popping starts, the led blinks quite rapidly, and in sync with the pops! Now that I think I've found the culprit, I'm not sure what to do to fix it, or if there even is a fix. Any suggestions? The wireless card is a DWA-542 Rangebooster and the router is a D-Link DIR-625. I did try adjusting the priority on PowerSDR to real time, but it didn't help. I figure there is some sort of timed ping or something the card is performing when this happens. ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
Re: [Flexradio] Frequency calibration, measurement of unknowns with SDR1000Re: Question regarding commercial AM broadcasters' carrieraccuracy
Mike, Thanks! I figured there must be at least one station engineer on the list! Mark -Original Message- From: Mike Naruta [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 1:42 PM To: Jim Lux Cc: Eric Wachsmann; 'Mark Amos'; flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Frequency calibration, measurement of unknowns with SDR1000Re: Question regarding commercial AM broadcasters' carrieraccuracy When I was chiefing, I think the AM tolerance was 20 Hertz. To tweak it, I would have to shut down a transmitter, open the door, and adjust the trimmer. They did not like me taking the station down, or switching to the auxiliary transmitter, so I just checked frequency occasionally. We also had quarterly, third party measurements, just to be sure that we complied. Let's see, 20 Hertz off at 1000 KHz is 200 Hertz off at 10 MHz. You're better off using WWV. They're fastidious about frequency. Mike - AA8K Jim Lux wrote: At 01:30 PM 11/6/2006, Eric Wachsmann wrote: For AM broadcast stations, something like a 10 MHz oscillator divided down to make a 25 kHz marker generator might work well. You'd be able to capture the BC station of interest, as well as more than one marker, in the same recording bandwidth. ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
Re: [Flexradio] Question regarding commercial AM broadcasters' carrieraccuracy
Eric, Thanks - that makes sense: the offset needed to be changed by much more to notice a difference down in the BC. Would a better test of the accuracy of broadcast carriers be to calibrate the flexradio at some high frequency and then just look at the difference in measured vs nominal broadcast frequency and plot that? I would have thought that these two techniques would result in similar results, but I'll give it a shot. Also thanks to the other folks that suggested an OCXO and calibration techniques. At this point I really don't have a need for exceptional LO accuracy / stability - I'm just interested in learning more about this. I'm collecting parts for a GPS disciplined oscillator and hope to hook it up to the FlexRadio at some point. (I'll just use it to calibrate the Flex until I get the courage up to actually do the hack...) Mark -Original Message- From: Eric Wachsmann [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, November 06, 2006 1:22 PM To: 'Mark Amos'; Subject: RE: [Flexradio] Question regarding commercial AM broadcasters' carrieraccuracy One thing that I would say is that getting an accurate calibration down in the broadcast AM band is pretty tough depending on your tools for measurement. Reason being that what you are correcting for (mainly) is error in the 200MHz oscillator. That error gets divided down to whatever frequency you are using to calibrate. So, for example, if you calibrate at 1MHz, an error of 200Hz at the LO (200MHz) would show up as a 1Hz error ( 200Hz / (1MHz / 200MHz) ). This means that you will likely find a wide range of acceptable DDS clock values that are fairly accurate because adjusting the clock doesn't make that much difference around 1MHz. For this reason, it is best to calibrate at a higher frequency. If possible, try calibrating up in the 52MHz range for an optimal frequency calibration as the error isn't divided down nearly so far. Obviously this isn't as trivial as finding a strong signal on WWV, but for those that really want a good calibration, higher frequencies on a signal generator are better. Eric Wachsmann FlexRadio Systems -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] radio.biz] On Behalf Of Mark Amos Sent: Monday, November 06, 2006 12:01 PM To: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: [Flexradio] Question regarding commercial AM broadcasters' carrieraccuracy Folks, I had the oscillator mod applied this past summer, and I've noticed that after zero beating with WWV at 10 Mhz it stays put pretty well. I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the carriers of some broadcasters and see where they're at. I tuned in their nominal frequency in DSB and adjusted the DDS Clock Offset until I got zero beat per the Phase display. Most of these were local (Northwest Ohio) stations. Below are the results I got. Also, I would have thought that they would be much closer to WWV or CHU, but they're pretty much all over the place. However, when I plotted broadcasters nominal frequences (1310 to 1560 KHz) against DDS offset, I saw an apparently periodic pattern(!) This led me to believe that the differences might have something to do with a measurement artifact or DDS inaccuracy or some such. I would have expected these measurements to differ randomly if they were due to frequency misalignment at the broadcasters. As expected WWV, CHU and my bench oscillator all clustered nicely. They were between -2490 and -2575. Any thoughts? Mark KHz Offset to zero beat 1310 -1810 1330 -3210 1340 -2280 1370 -1825 1430 -1605 1450 -1700 1470 -2075 1490 -2375 1520 -2020 1560 -1775 1800 -1370 3330 -2490 7335 -2560 9450 -2580 9625 -2170 9985 -2430 1 -2563 1 -2503 (bench TCXO) 14670 -2570 15000 -2575 ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
Re: [Flexradio] Vs2003 vis a vis Vista
All Right!! That's great news! -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Eric Wachsmann Sent: Tuesday, October 10, 2006 12:42 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; 'Jim Lux' Cc: 'Flex-radio Reflector' Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Vs2003 vis a vis Vista We ARE NOT planning on using the same tools for the future versions of the software. Rather, we will use FREE TOOLS. We have not settled 100% on what those free tools will be, but right Visual Studio 2005 Express versions are looking to be the best pick for the windows GUI. Obviously we'd like to have a cross platform GUI, but have yet to find a set of libraries/tools that rival the ease-of-use and efficiency of Visual Studio's tools. Eric Wachsmann FlexRadio Systems -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] radio.biz] On Behalf Of Mike Naruta Sent: Tuesday, October 10, 2006 11:29 AM To: Jim Lux Cc: Flex-radio Reflector Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Vs2003 vis a vis Vista Thanks Jim. I was hoping to hear from the developers whether the re-write would be the same, or whether the tools I would have to buy would be useless on the new PowerSDR. Mike - AA8K Jim Lux wrote: At 06:10 AM 10/8/2006, Mike Naruta wrote: I bought my SDR-1000 a year-and-a-half ago. I got e Maybe it's time to break down and try to find and buy Visual Studio 2003. Is the re-write still going to be in Visual Studio 2003? Is that going to work with Vista? Sort of.. .net 1.1 and VS2003 stuff will have runtime compatibility with Vista, but there's word from MS that the development environment (specifically the debugger) may not work. In connection with the release, last week, of SP1 for VS2005 (probably to support various aspects of Vista) From a MS Development VP at http://blogs.msdn.com/somasegar/archive/2006/09/26/772250.aspx As I've mentioned previously, Windows Vista will ship with the .NET Framework 3.0 pre-installed. We're also testing to ensure that your .NET Framework 1.1 and 2.0 applications will work on Windows Vista so that your existing applications will continue to run as expected. However, we will not support Visual Studio .NET 2002 or Visual Studio .NET 2003 as development environments on Windows Vista. You can continue to use Visual Studio .NET 2002 or 2003 on Windows XP to develop applications that can run on Windows Vista. Given the customer feedback that we've received since the launch of Visual Studio 2005 indicating the manageability of upgrading from Visual Studio .NET 2003 to Visual Studio 2005, we are focusing our efforts on ensuring VS 2005 is a great development platform for Vista. Lots of discussion in the blogs and forums about what this actually means. To say that some of the posts are hostile is an understatement. Jim ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
Re: [Flexradio] Windows Vista
Cool! -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, October 09, 2006 7:39 PM To: FlexRadio Email Relector Entry Subject: [Flexradio] Windows Vista I just intalled Windows Vista RC2. I have the PowerSDR running. Wow ! What a system. 73's , Bruce KL7JDR Bruce W. Mills P.O. Box 1500 Soldotna, Alaska 99669 - USA (907)262-4373 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
[Flexradio] PSk31
All, I've been watching the PSK31 QSO's on PSK31 Deluxe v3.4 via a VAC connection and I thought I'd try transmitting, but no joy. I'm sure it's something silly. I've asked PSK31 to use HRD to transmit. HRD Transmit and Tune seem to be working OK, but PSK31 doesn't seem to be turning on the transmitter when it thinks it is. I know this isn't a PSK31 list, but I know people are using it here, so I thought I'd ask. I'm using PowerSDR Beta 1.6.3, VAC 4.01. Mark PS. I don't need anything added or removed from the GUI. ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
Re: [Flexradio] Edirol Firewire box
Just had to share this with the group. I just got the FlexRadio tuned up with the FA-66 sound card. I was tuning 40 and heard KA0KA so I gave him a call. He had been in QSO's with 4 or 5 other people and had been guessing their radio models based on the shape of their signals. He couldn't guess mine, but he had some really nice things to say about the sound - the most memorable was Absolutely Amazing! I don't work a lot of SSB, so it was great to get that glowing report from him - a guy known for hi-fi signals (and usually a lot of bandwidth.) I described his signal on my zoomed panadapter and he was amazed when I told him about a notch in his signal at 4100 Hz. (No one ever noticed that before.) In any case, I just wanted to share that another great Flexradio signal report story. Mark W8XR ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
Re: [Flexradio] Edirol Firewire box
One of the list readers asked me for any tips on hooking up the Edirol. Here's what I told him. (This is certainly not official by any means - just what I did to set it up. Seemed to work OK for me.) W8XR Mark Here's the process I used: - Load the CD and run Setup - There are a couple of software driver installs before you're instructed to plug in the box. - Plug in the box and hook up the firewire cable when instructed - The install completes. - There is a background process performance tuning section in the manual that you need to do (it's a My Computer performance setting, but I can't recall where it is - it's in the manual.) The only dicey parts were deciding what switches to set and what plugs go where. Here's what I have set up now (no guarantees that this is the best configuration, but it seems to work...) Mike plugs into input 1 on the front Powered speakers plug into the headphone jack on the front Input from SDR1000 (labled to line in on the SDR) to input 3(tip) and 4(ring) - on my 1/8 to RCA splitter/adapter white goes to 3, red to 4. Output to the SDR1000 (labled to line out on the SDR) is Output 3 (tip) and 4 (ring) again tip is white, ring is red. I use the 1 and 2 outputs to my wireless headset transmitter. None of the buttons on the front are pushed in. Mix output is about 50% Headphone output is about 40% On the back: - Power: DC In (I'm currently using the wall wart power supply) - Sampling rate 192 - Phantom OFF - Limiter OFF - There's a little trim pot on the back lower right (facing the back) that's in it's middle/detent position. PowerSDR - Set input to Edirol, set sampling rate to match - I set the audio buffer to 2048 - I'm running v1.6.3 SVN: 692 - I have the SDR Process Priority set to normal I think that's it. Mark ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
Re: [Flexradio] Edirol Firewire box
Hah! No, just an early adopter I haven't done a lot of tuning (seems like some little things like turning off the network adapter...) really help. I started putting a separate profile together, but with the minor tweaks I've done providing some relief, I just haven't been able to justify the time to finish that effort up. I think my FireWire card may be some of the problem with the FireBox (when I put in the Belkin card, I had more audio dropout problems. Probably a configuration issue, or dumb installer issue... Mark -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of KD5NWA Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 5:21 PM To: Flex Radio Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Edirol Firewire box Do you own Edirol stock? You are trying hard to get us to part with our money and succeeding. I assume it's a 2.66GHz Pentium 4, I'm amaze with that kind of speed you are having choppy audio but then only you knows what it's loaded on your PC. I setup a 1000MHz Pentium III PC with 500MB of ram with a separate profile just for SDR-1000 usage, I took out networking and anything not needed from the profile. With version 16.2 official release, the CPU utilization with a Delta-44 at 96KHz sampling is about 10%, and about 7% with 48KHz sampling. It also got rid of the spike in utilization that it use to have. It goes to show how much clutter there is in a standard version of Windows XP. At 07:24 PM 9/26/2006, you wrote: John es list, I just installed the Edirol sound box and it works great! The audio sounds cleaner than the Firebox and the wide panadapter is very cool. I was not able to reliably run the Firebox at 96K sampling rate (CPU utilization went really high and the sound stuttered such that it was impossible to listen to. 48 worked well.) With the Roland box, I'm running 192K and it seems stable with the CPU utilization is in the 40's and 50's, but with fewer stutters and dropouts. (Still stutters when the network adapter gets busy - turning off e-mail and not browsing the web while listening seems to fix it...) I'm running a Dell Pentium 4, 266 with 1G RAM and the same Firewire card I was using with the FireBox (a Belkin 4 port). I've got a Pyro on order - we'll see if it makes any difference. So far, it's quite an improvement over the FireBox. Mark -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of John Basilotto Sent: Sunday, September 24, 2006 3:23 PM To: Reflector Subject: [Flexradio] Edirol FA-66 Firewire with 192 KHz sampling rate addedto list of supported sound cards FlexRadio Systems is pleased to announce that we are now a Roland distributor for the Edirol FA-66 FireWire Audio Interface. The Edirol box will replace the PreSonus Firebox as the recommended unit best suited for portable and serious audio applications. The Delta 44 remains as our recommended PCI soundcard. The FA-66 is capable of running sampling rates of 192, 96, and 48 KHz. While the FA-66 will work with most systems, we recommend using a late model computer when running at 192KHz. When using the 192KHz sampling rate, over 100 kHz of spectrum can be shown in the default 1x zoom Panadapter display [and nearly 200 KHz in SPEC mode]. This is twice as wide as that of sound cards operating at 96KHz. With the addition of selectable 4096 DSP buffers, currently available in Alpha (SVN) releases, performance is as good or better than sound cards operating at sampling rates of 48KHz or 96kHz. Additional features of the FA66 include: virtually no latency at high sampling rates, pristine audio on receive and transmit, 48 volt phantom power for use with condenser microphones, microphone preamp, and an input level gain adjustment knob. The Edirol FA-66 has a list price of $499; however, our sales price is $349.90. The FA-66 can be ordered on our website at www.flex-radio.com or by calling us at (512) 250-8595. We expect to begin shipping on or about September 29th. John P. Basilotto W5GI Marketing and Product Manager FlexRadio Systems Office 512-250-8595 Mobile 512-663-6727 ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com Cecil Bayona KD5NWA www.qrpradio.com www.hpsdr.com Windows, the most successful software virus ever Don Seglio Batuna ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link:
Re: [Flexradio] Edirol Firewire box
Cool - you guys are quick! I'll check it out (mostly to see what I SHOULD have done!) Thanks! Mark -Original Message- From: Eric Wachsmann [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 6:33 PM To: 'Mark Amos'; 'Reflector' Subject: RE: [Flexradio] Edirol Firewire box Thanks for posting that Mark. We also put up an official FA-66 Quick Start Guide on our download page at www.flex-radio.com today. As always, if you have comments or suggested improvements, please send them our way. Eric Wachsmann FlexRadio Systems -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] radio.biz] On Behalf Of Mark Amos Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 5:24 PM To: 'Reflector' Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Edirol Firewire box One of the list readers asked me for any tips on hooking up the Edirol. Here's what I told him. (This is certainly not official by any means - just what I did to set it up. Seemed to work OK for me.) W8XR Mark Here's the process I used: - Load the CD and run Setup - There are a couple of software driver installs before you're instructed to plug in the box. - Plug in the box and hook up the firewire cable when instructed - The install completes. - There is a background process performance tuning section in the manual that you need to do (it's a My Computer performance setting, but I can't recall where it is - it's in the manual.) The only dicey parts were deciding what switches to set and what plugs go where. Here's what I have set up now (no guarantees that this is the best configuration, but it seems to work...) Mike plugs into input 1 on the front Powered speakers plug into the headphone jack on the front Input from SDR1000 (labled to line in on the SDR) to input 3(tip) and 4(ring) - on my 1/8 to RCA splitter/adapter white goes to 3, red to 4. Output to the SDR1000 (labled to line out on the SDR) is Output 3 (tip) and 4 (ring) again tip is white, ring is red. I use the 1 and 2 outputs to my wireless headset transmitter. None of the buttons on the front are pushed in. Mix output is about 50% Headphone output is about 40% On the back: - Power: DC In (I'm currently using the wall wart power supply) - Sampling rate 192 - Phantom OFF - Limiter OFF - There's a little trim pot on the back lower right (facing the back) that's in it's middle/detent position. PowerSDR - Set input to Edirol, set sampling rate to match - I set the audio buffer to 2048 - I'm running v1.6.3 SVN: 692 - I have the SDR Process Priority set to normal I think that's it. Mark ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
[Flexradio] Edirol Firewire box
John es list, I just installed the Edirol sound box and it works great! The audio sounds cleaner than the Firebox and the wide panadapter is very cool. I was not able to reliably run the Firebox at 96K sampling rate (CPU utilization went really high and the sound stuttered such that it was impossible to listen to. 48 worked well.) With the Roland box, I'm running 192K and it seems stable with the CPU utilization is in the 40's and 50's, but with fewer stutters and dropouts. (Still stutters when the network adapter gets busy - turning off e-mail and not browsing the web while listening seems to fix it...) I'm running a Dell Pentium 4, 266 with 1G RAM and the same Firewire card I was using with the FireBox (a Belkin 4 port). I've got a Pyro on order - we'll see if it makes any difference. So far, it's quite an improvement over the FireBox. Mark -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of John Basilotto Sent: Sunday, September 24, 2006 3:23 PM To: Reflector Subject: [Flexradio] Edirol FA-66 Firewire with 192 KHz sampling rate addedto list of supported sound cards FlexRadio Systems is pleased to announce that we are now a Roland distributor for the Edirol FA-66 FireWire Audio Interface. The Edirol box will replace the PreSonus Firebox as the recommended unit best suited for portable and serious audio applications. The Delta 44 remains as our recommended PCI soundcard. The FA-66 is capable of running sampling rates of 192, 96, and 48 KHz. While the FA-66 will work with most systems, we recommend using a late model computer when running at 192KHz. When using the 192KHz sampling rate, over 100 kHz of spectrum can be shown in the default 1x zoom Panadapter display [and nearly 200 KHz in SPEC mode]. This is twice as wide as that of sound cards operating at 96KHz. With the addition of selectable 4096 DSP buffers, currently available in Alpha (SVN) releases, performance is as good or better than sound cards operating at sampling rates of 48KHz or 96kHz. Additional features of the FA66 include: virtually no latency at high sampling rates, pristine audio on receive and transmit, 48 volt phantom power for use with condenser microphones, microphone preamp, and an input level gain adjustment knob. The Edirol FA-66 has a list price of $499; however, our sales price is $349.90. The FA-66 can be ordered on our website at www.flex-radio.com or by calling us at (512) 250-8595. We expect to begin shipping on or about September 29th. John P. Basilotto W5GI Marketing and Product Manager FlexRadio Systems Office 512-250-8595 Mobile 512-663-6727 ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
Re: [Flexradio] getting sub rx working
Also, you can right click to select the A VFO (yellow cross hairs) or B VFO (red cross hairs) and then just point to where you want that VFO to go. Very handy! -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jeff Anderson Sent: Sunday, September 24, 2006 2:02 PM To: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] getting sub rx working Hi Bill, I click on the 'Sub RX' button, which enables the sub receiver and automatically sums (in software) the sub receiver's audio with the main receiver's audio. You can route the audio of either receiver to either your left and right speaker (or both) by using the pan controls. Frequency of the sub receiver is controlled by VFO B. To change this frequency, move your mouse into the VFO B panel until an underscore appears under the VFO digit that you'd like to adjust, and then use your mouse wheel to change that digit. - Jeff, K6JCA -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Bill Nagle Sent: Sunday, September 24, 2006 9:25 AM To: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: [Flexradio] getting sub rx working Has anyone gotten audio from the newly added svn code from the sub receiver and if so how? Bill Nagle ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
Re: [Flexradio] Is Anyone Using the SDR1000 as Primary Radio
Hah! Reminds me of the folks in Seattle telling everyone how rainy it is there all the time. (The only times I've been there it's been sunny and beautiful - so I got a little suspicious...) I haven't had any other radio hooked up to my antennae for a long time. (I do use my old Ten-Tec as an on-air monitor, though.) I'm using 1.6.3 686 with a Firebox. (I'm really enjoying the new multiple receive sub-rx feature.) I think most of the time those of us that are happily using the radio day-to-day just spend more time operating and less time talking about it! Mark -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jimmy Jones Sent: Thursday, September 21, 2006 8:11 PM To: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Is Anyone Using the SDR1000 as Primary Radio I can't remember the last time I turned on any other kind of radio. Version 1.4 something of the software. I have an 870 but it just sits on the side and never gets used. I see something much different when I read post on here. I see people working together to make the best damn ham radio the world has ever seen. I use this radio every night on 3870 khz. here in Texas. It becomes the topic of conversation many nights and not because I make it the topic. It always works and it always hears as good if not better than anything else on the band and that includes the 10,000 dollar radios on freq. I enjoy the attention so I don't think anyone else should buy one. - Original Message - From: Rick Markey, KN3C [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz; 'Gerald Capodieci' [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, September 21, 2006 6:50 PM Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Is Anyone Using the SDR1000 as Primary Radio An excellent question. As a lurker and SDR wannabe, I've been following the reflector for some time. Granted, the reflector is for the discussion of problems, but for someone considering the purchase of an SDR, it is easy to draw the conclusion that the software is simply loaded with problems. Is anyone in fact using the SDR-1000 as their primary, every day radio? Is there a release of software that allows the system to be as reliable as an off-the-shelf box, ignoring the performance issue for the moment. It doesn't seem to make sense to have a high performance radio if it doesn't work reliably. de Rick, KN3C -- ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
[Flexradio] Pan and Zoom
Software guys, You people are something else! The FlexRadio has always been fun, but the last couple of months, it's been getting even better! Great job on the pan and zoom - very intuitive and nicely implemented - great idea using sliders. Thanks!! Mark ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
Re: [Flexradio] Pan and Zoom
Absolutely - nice job, Jeff! It's really cool to see these ideas getting merged into the commercial product! Mark -Original Message- From: Eric Wachsmann [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2006 6:53 PM To: 'Mark Amos'; 'FlexRadio List' Subject: RE: [Flexradio] Pan and Zoom Let's give credit where it is due. Jeff Anderson, K6JCA, implemented all of the pan and zoom controls in his variant on our console several months ago. We're just getting around to implementing them in the main console. Give a huge thanks to Jeff Anderson if you like the display improvements as he did 95% of the work. Eric Wachsmann FlexRadio Systems -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] radio.biz] On Behalf Of Mark Amos Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2006 5:46 PM To: 'FlexRadio List' Subject: [Flexradio] Pan and Zoom Software guys, You people are something else! The FlexRadio has always been fun, but the last couple of months, it's been getting even better! Great job on the pan and zoom - very intuitive and nicely implemented - great idea using sliders. Thanks!! Mark ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
Re: [Flexradio] Console Graphics
I'm looking forward to messing with some external analog controls (as a musician I've got a bunch of midi devices that are just itching to get some RF under their nails.) Another option that I think would really open things up (and provide for physically challenged operators) would be a voice interface: SDR Filter 25 Hz or SDR up 5 or SDR sweep up 1K ... are some commands I'd like to use... There are things that are really easy to do with knobs or joysticks that are tedious or silly to do with a mouse (like rotating a knob using the scroll button - it's useable, but it's non-intuitive - circling the mouse is more intuitive, but more difficult to implement.) In any case, I agree with the goal of doing the best man-machine interface possible (supported by dozens of years of research and experience in the industry) for the production version. If it's skinnable, great! Let the folks that want skins, skin it. I'd prefer a well designed interface for day-to-day use, and then maybe a technogeek interface to impress my geeky friends... (Or perhaps a mid-century moderne design for when my wife's in the shack.) Different needs warrant different interfaces. Some folks are drawn to the look, others to the feel. Of course, I'm in the cake and eat it too school... -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of W0UN -- John Brosnahan Sent: Monday, August 21, 2006 4:51 PM To: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Console Graphics At 02:33 PM 8/21/2006, you wrote: Slow down! Not so fast! The skins do look great, but if I want to operate a radio that looks like my FT 1000, I'll turn off my SDR-1000 and turn on the black box. I'm tired of the old paradigm. The SDR is new, fresh and unconventional. Don't make it like all the others. For those that want the skins, OK.. But I don't want to go back to the conventional. Bob, You are 100 percent correct here ! A lot of people may not realize that the SDR Console GUI is related most closely to a well established professional programming field, software you see on a myriad of systems, everything from factory floor automation controllers, to controllers for SMPTE driven professional entertainment stage lighting systems, and everything in between, and many many other jobs and tasks out there in the real industrial world. Yes, the SDR is a Ham radio, but the purpose of the GUI is user control of a remoted system (the SDR black box). Writing user control interfaces whose intent is to meld the human operator with the remote -machine is an art, but it is also a well understood technical endeavor with many previous example of how it is best done. Skins aren't one of them. I detect that there has been a very vocal element that has spoken up early on and raved to Flex about various example screen design proto typing that has been done by some. I think it might be time for some of us silent onlookers to have our say heard as well, and balance out this issue. 73 -Dan K6KDK Dan, Bob -- I couldn't DISAGREE more with what you are saying!;-) Well, I guess I could, because I do understand your side of the issue, but I think there is room for a lot of improvement here. The console does two things -- provides a human interface to the controls and gives a sense of feel (comfort) to the operator. I am certainly NOT wanting a RETRO panel from a Heath DX100, but rather a human interface panel that is the most functional possible. This is especially important in contesting where every second counts. But I also think it needs to be aesthetically pleasing to maximize the comfort factor. There is a certain gee-whiz look to the current crop of panels (read, techno-geek) but they may not be the most efficient and/or intuitive. BTW I don't like the hassle of MODERN (analog) radios that require you to drill down through the menus to make some changes either. eg, a pull down menu with bandwidth selections is not as efficient (in my book, not as elegant) as a series of push buttons (or other single-step selection). Pull downs require two actions, pulling down the menu and then selecting the value. Either separate push buttons for each BW or a slider switch would be quicker. A slider gives a graphical indication of selection. A lighted push button can give you an indication of the selection at a glance. Much better than having to read the numbers. (BTW ALL of this mouse interface is not unlike the old comment about using a mouse in a paint program is like using a BRICK to paint in oil.) Ergonomics and aesthetics are not mutually exclusive, but are very subjective. Separating the console from the radio allows a lot of options to please everyone. In some ways, keyboard shortcuts are an admission that the interface is not as good as it could be -- or an admission that a mouse-derived interface is not as efficient as it could be. Ultimately the interface should allow you
Re: [Flexradio] SVN download
I've been picking up the new SVN release every day - it's just so easy now, that it's become a habit to do a right click and SVN update before I start PowerSDR. What a cool radio! -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Robert McGwier Sent: Saturday, August 19, 2006 10:09 AM To: FlexRadio Subject: [Flexradio] SVN download I really do encourage people to go download the SVN release of PowerSDR. It is to the point now where I wish no one was running 1.6.2. Eric made significant changes to correct some threading ugliness and other gotchas. The end result is that running Vac 4.03, SVN 652, and listening to Halifax while running SeaTTY and MixW in parallel (one doing TTY, the other doing WEFAX) to prevent mode swapping, and running HamSDR in Kenwood mode, I get exactly the same CPU% with all of that I did a week ago with ONLY PowerSDR running. This is a huge improvement. The fixed squelch is a thing of true beauty. The slow move to the JCA style console is going well. Give it a whirl if you are finding 1.6.2 not to your liking. 73's Bob N4HY -- AMSAT VP Engineering. Member: ARRL, AMSAT-DL, TAPR, Packrats, NJQRP/AMQRP, QRP ARCI, QCWA, FRC. ARRL SDR Wrk Grp Chairman You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat. - Einstein ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
[Flexradio] Filter bandwidth question
A friend of mine asked me a couple of questions, below, and I thought someone on the list more tech than I could answer them... I sent him an audio recording of a CW signal that I had recorded using the 25Hz filter which prompted his question, below. I mentioned to him that the audio sounds really round with this filter and perhaps that's what he's describing. Any takers? Mark . That brings up an interesting point. I wonder if the bandwidth of the filter is actually what is advertised. Since CW is really AM with at least one upper and lower sideband (raised sine shape rise and fall) a 25Hz wide filter would just allow 12.5Hz rise and fall rates if the waveform was perfect. A CW rise and fall would be equal to a full rasided sinewave cycle, so the rise is 1/2 cycle and the fall the other half. 12.5Hz is 1/12.5 = .08 seconds rise and fall. or .04 seconds rise and .04 seconds falling edge. 80 milliseconds is involved in the rise and fall, assuming the filter skirts don't allow significant wider bandwidths through. There are 50 dits per word in the paris standard, so a single word would require 50 dits and 50 offs between dits 100*80=8000mS or 8 seconds. 60/8= 7.5 WPM. At 7.5 WPM 25Hz BW the top of dots would never be flat, they would be sine shaped. 25Hz=7.5wpm 50=15 100=30 200=60 400=120 That would be for a non-fading circuit with near infinite S/N. A 5mS rise and fall is taken to be acceptable at 35WPM, and that would be a 10mS rise and fall period or 200Hz AM filter bandwidth with a perfect raised sine shape in fading circuits with reasonable S/N ratios. I think I didn't miss anything. Did you ever measure the 6dB filter and and 60 dB or 3 dB and 30 dB points of the selectivity? ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
Re: [Flexradio] SDR MixW2
Ignacio, Thank you - this will be very useful! Mark Hi Brian /et all/, Instead of flooding your mailbox with wav files, I finally found an excelent reference by *KA5ZTX* about ham digital modes, plenty of examples: http://users3.ev1.net/~medcalf/ztx/torsnd.html http://users3.ev1.net/%7Emedcalf/ztx/torsnd.html 73 de Ignacio, EB4APL Brian wrote: -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Radio Station W5AMI Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2006 1:25 PM To: Flex Radio Subject: [Flexradio] SDR MixW2 Probably some stupid questions here (I truly hope not), but I'm sort of green when it comes to the digital modes. I thought I would experiment with using my SDR and MixW2 to receive and possibly transmit on some of the digital modes for a change. I have the the virtual serial port driver installed along with VAC. I set my pair to COM6 and COM16. Com6 in the SDR and Com16 in MixW2. Just a few questions so far; Is it normal to hear the audio from both the SDR and MixW2 when enabling VAC? I assume one can be muted, but not both? If I mute the SDR, where do I set the audio level for MixW2? Other than RTTY, CW and maybe Packet, I don't have a clue what some of these modes I'm hearing are. Can anyone point me in the right direction to figure out how to ID some of these? I'm hoping there is some sort of getting started thing on the web for using this combo that would put me in more of a comfort zone before starting to transmit digital. I would hate to come across as a DIGI LID ;) Thanks for any suggestions. Brian / w5ami -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: /pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20060711/0fd2be11/attachment .html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
[Flexradio] Transmit power calibration problems
Help! I'm having a strange problem with my SDR1000 and output power. When I click 'tune' in PowerSDR (1.6.2 - I no longer have any other versions installed to test with...) the output of the SDR1000 (as declared by the internal power meter and an external power meter with dummy load) is over 100 watts - regardless of the tuning power setting. Same with transmit power (no matter what I set the power output setting, it's still over 100 watts.) I tried power calibration and it never seems to finish (power never gets down to 60 watts as the gain setting keeps rising the power seems to bounce back and forth somewhere between 70 and 80 watts.) When I do the audio output power test and measure RMS output power with two different multimeters (an FET frontend analog meter and an Extech digital meter) I only see about 2 volts (as opposed to the 6.39 volts that PowerSDR seems to think I should see from the FireBox.) I get just over 2 volts with the analog meter and show 1.98 volts with the digital meter. I thought maybe it was a cable-seating problem, so I swapped cables and wiped them with Deoxit, but no difference.) Re-installed PreSonus drivers (1.20 to 1.21) no difference. I was using a USB adapter so I swapped back to parallel port adapter - no difference. I verified the dummy load impedence (50ohms) with a palstar bridge. I was having some problems with an antenna tuner prior to this issue and I'm thinking that maybe I cooked the power metering circuit in the SDR(?) or something like that. I thought I'd check with the list before going back to the D44 for additional testing. I'm reluctant to swap out the FireBox (because I don't have a spare $300 to test it.) Any other ideas/suggestions? Mark ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
[Flexradio] Additional info: Transmit power calibration problems
Also, While my external power meter reads 100 watts during the transmit calibration process, the PowerSDR wattmeter reads less (starting at 85 watts and going down into the mid 70's while the gain setting slowly increases into the +80db range.) K5KDN suggested I check for evidence of L14 having blown and left a carbon trail (thanks Bob!) On this unit there doesn't appear to be an L14 installed. Mark -Original Message- From: Mark Amos [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, July 04, 2006 12:54 PM To: 'FlexRadio' Subject: Transmit power calibration problems Help! I'm having a strange problem with my SDR1000 and output power. When I click 'tune' in PowerSDR (1.6.2 - I no longer have any other versions installed to test with...) the output of the SDR1000 (as declared by the internal power meter and an external power meter with dummy load) is over 100 watts - regardless of the tuning power setting. Same with transmit power (no matter what I set the power output setting, it's still over 100 watts.) I tried power calibration and it never seems to finish (power never gets down to 60 watts as the gain setting keeps rising the power seems to bounce back and forth somewhere between 70 and 80 watts.) When I do the audio output power test and measure RMS output power with two different multimeters (an FET frontend analog meter and an Extech digital meter) I only see about 2 volts (as opposed to the 6.39 volts that PowerSDR seems to think I should see from the FireBox.) I get just over 2 volts with the analog meter and show 1.98 volts with the digital meter. I thought maybe it was a cable-seating problem, so I swapped cables and wiped them with Deoxit, but no difference.) Re-installed PreSonus drivers (1.20 to 1.21) no difference. I was using a USB adapter so I swapped back to parallel port adapter - no difference. I verified the dummy load impedence (50ohms) with a palstar bridge. I was having some problems with an antenna tuner prior to this issue and I'm thinking that maybe I cooked the power metering circuit in the SDR(?) or something like that. I thought I'd check with the list before going back to the D44 for additional testing. I'm reluctant to swap out the FireBox (because I don't have a spare $300 to test it.) Any other ideas/suggestions? Mark ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
[Flexradio] One more piece of additional info: Transmit power calibration problems
Also... and this seems really odd... If I click TUN with the input to the radio unplugged (the To Line Out socket plug removed) the output is still 100 watts... Shouldn't it be 0 with no input from the soundcard? This would logically eliminate the sound card as the source of the problem, no? Ideas? Mark -Original Message- From: Mark Amos [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, July 04, 2006 1:55 PM To: 'FlexRadio' Subject: Additional info: Transmit power calibration problems Also, While my external power meter reads 100 watts during the transmit calibration process, the PowerSDR wattmeter reads less (starting at 85 watts and going down into the mid 70's while the gain setting slowly increases into the +80db range.) K5KDN suggested I check for evidence of L14 having blown and left a carbon trail (thanks Bob!) On this unit there doesn't appear to be an L14 installed. Mark -Original Message- From: Mark Amos [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, July 04, 2006 12:54 PM To: 'FlexRadio' Subject: Transmit power calibration problems Help! I'm having a strange problem with my SDR1000 and output power. When I click 'tune' in PowerSDR (1.6.2 - I no longer have any other versions installed to test with...) the output of the SDR1000 (as declared by the internal power meter and an external power meter with dummy load) is over 100 watts - regardless of the tuning power setting. Same with transmit power (no matter what I set the power output setting, it's still over 100 watts.) I tried power calibration and it never seems to finish (power never gets down to 60 watts as the gain setting keeps rising the power seems to bounce back and forth somewhere between 70 and 80 watts.) When I do the audio output power test and measure RMS output power with two different multimeters (an FET frontend analog meter and an Extech digital meter) I only see about 2 volts (as opposed to the 6.39 volts that PowerSDR seems to think I should see from the FireBox.) I get just over 2 volts with the analog meter and show 1.98 volts with the digital meter. I thought maybe it was a cable-seating problem, so I swapped cables and wiped them with Deoxit, but no difference.) Re-installed PreSonus drivers (1.20 to 1.21) no difference. I was using a USB adapter so I swapped back to parallel port adapter - no difference. I verified the dummy load impedence (50ohms) with a palstar bridge. I was having some problems with an antenna tuner prior to this issue and I'm thinking that maybe I cooked the power metering circuit in the SDR(?) or something like that. I thought I'd check with the list before going back to the D44 for additional testing. I'm reluctant to swap out the FireBox (because I don't have a spare $300 to test it.) Any other ideas/suggestions? Mark ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
Re: [Flexradio] Detroit Area SDR-1000 Owners?
Zack, If you're up for a drive to Toledo, I can show you around the SDR1K. Mark People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character. - Ralph Waldo Emerson -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, June 01, 2006 6:03 PM To: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: [Flexradio] Detroit Area SDR-1000 Owners? I am seriously considering the SDR-1000 but would like to actually use/listen to one. Is there anyone in the Detroit Michigan area that would be willing to let me come over to their shack and experience their SDR? I would be willing to bring over a few real good beers! BTW, I live in Royal Oak. 73 Zack Schindler N8FNR -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: /pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachments/20060601/815331f4/attachment .html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
Re: [Flexradio] VAC software
Phil, I'm sure a number of folks (including me) would buy it just to incite the competition... And to support the effort, of course. How would you typically do a market assessment for such a task? (Or is it more of a gut feel kind of thing?) Mark -Original Message- From: Philip Covington [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, June 03, 2006 2:11 PM To: Craig Monsen Cc: Mark Amos; FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] VAC software I would be willing to write a Virtual Audio Cable driver (vSOUND) if there is enough interest. It doubt that I would release it open source though. Probably would price it a little below VAC... 73 de Phil N8VB On 6/3/06, Craig Monsen [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: - Original Message - From: Mark Amos [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Sent: Saturday, June 03, 2006 12:57 PM Subject: Re: [Flexradio] VAC software I suspect the answer is no or someone would already have done it... One thing I hate to do at work is contract with a sole source because of issues with quality, service, support, etc. I don't have any leverage. Whenever there is only one way to do something, that usually indicates to me that there's either something wrong with my design, or that I'm too close to the leading edge. Is there any other source for virtual audio cable software that might be more willing to help? It seems like there would be room for more than one supplier in this niche... I tend to agree with Mark's assessment here. If the SDR1000 software had a VAC built into it, I believe the product (SDR1000), would be much more desireable to customers and potential customers. The current situation requires the user to install multiple programs and carefully set up each program properly with respect to COM ports, buffers, etc. Unless this is done just right, the experience for the user seems to be a frustrating one. (Judging from all of the postings on the reflector). This is certainly not a plug-and-play situation. Fortunately others have provided guide documents to do this, however, this task can still seem daunting. I believe in order to cross the chasm with the SDR1000, a simplified installation would be desireable. I believe that integrating VAC capability into the SDR would simplify connection to the multitude of HAM software that have been available for contesting and digital modes. 73 Craig KC2LFI ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
Re: [Flexradio] vSound Development Fund - Make it Happen Now!
Okey Dokey - I just PayPal'ed $40. -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tim Ellison Sent: Saturday, June 03, 2006 7:42 PM To: Philip Covington; FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: [Flexradio] vSound Development Fund - Make it Happen Now! OK. Looks like there is a lot of interest in getting vSound off the ground. So let's put our $$ where our posts is. Phil states that there is a $500 target bounty for getting started. Phil, can you give us an idea how far off we are from that goal so we can drum up and meet that goal. I have started by making a contribution to the cause at the $30 level. If 15.6 more people contribute, we will have made the goal assuming no one else has contributed. With over 1000 SDR1K users out there this seems like a simple goal to achieve. http://www.philcovington.com/SDR/donation.html -Tim --- Tim Ellison ( [EMAIL PROTECTED] ) Integrated Technical Services ( http://www.itsco.com ) -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Philip Covington Sent: Saturday, June 03, 2006 2:11 PM To: Craig Monsen Cc: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] VAC software I would be willing to write a Virtual Audio Cable driver (vSOUND) if there is enough interest. It doubt that I would release it open source though. Probably would price it a little below VAC... 73 de Phil N8VB On 6/3/06, Craig Monsen [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: - Original Message - From: Mark Amos [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Sent: Saturday, June 03, 2006 12:57 PM Subject: Re: [Flexradio] VAC software I suspect the answer is no or someone would already have done it... One thing I hate to do at work is contract with a sole source because of issues with quality, service, support, etc. I don't have any leverage. Whenever there is only one way to do something, that usually indicates to me that there's either something wrong with my design, or that I'm too close to the leading edge. Is there any other source for virtual audio cable software that might be more willing to help? It seems like there would be room for more than one supplier in this niche... I tend to agree with Mark's assessment here. If the SDR1000 software had a VAC built into it, I believe the product (SDR1000), would be much more desireable to customers and potential customers. The current situation requires the user to install multiple programs and carefully set up each program properly with respect to COM ports, buffers, etc. Unless this is done just right, the experience for the user seems to be a frustrating one. (Judging from all of the postings on the reflector). This is certainly not a plug-and-play situation. Fortunately others have provided guide documents to do this, however, this task can still seem daunting. I believe in order to cross the chasm with the SDR1000, a simplified installation would be desireable. I believe that integrating VAC capability into the SDR would simplify connection to the multitude of HAM software that have been available for contesting and digital modes. 73 Craig KC2LFI ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
Re: [Flexradio] Issues Remaining
Toby, I've never had any of these problems (it's been about a year of operating now, 90% CW.) If you play the percentages, I suspect that you'll find a few fatal flaws in a small percentage of any rig shipped from any supplier. Machines that do have problems reported usually get fixed - at least that's what seems to happen on most reported on this list. In any case, even if you're really risk averse, there are a lot of really smart people here that seem to be able to help in the odd case where there are problems. Mark W8XR -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tim Ellison Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2006 7:23 PM To: Toby Pennington; Flex Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Issues Remaining Toby, I don't operate CW very much so I can't add anything about #1 other that what others have said. As for #2, I have never had the power jump on me running in any mode. The SDR1K out 100 watts PEP rain or shine. Matter of fact with the gain limiting logic, you really can't over drive it without having to really work at it. There is a little frequency drift in the first 10-15 minutes the rig is on until it reaches operating temperature. I operate a lot of PSK and I don't ever notice the drift. Also, Flex is supposed to be putting a thermistor on the OX to stabilize it a little more, so this should be a moot point unless you need 10^-4 Hz stability. :-) -Tim --- Tim Ellison ( [EMAIL PROTECTED] ) Integrated Technical Services ( http://www.itsco.com ) -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Toby Pennington Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2006 5:55 PM To: Flex Subject: [Flexradio] Issues Remaining FWIW.I have decided to postpone purchasing an SDR 1K due to the following reported problems. If I am in error please correct.. 1. On CW the rig goes out of phase periodically 2. The power output can suddenly jump from 100 watts to 120 to 130 watts 3. Frequency stability can vary from 15 to 25 hz while transmitting as the osc heats up (design Flaw?) Otherwise the SDR 1k seems to be an excellent rig with great potential, but any one of the above listed issues is a deal killer. Toby W4CAK -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/attachment s/20060524/890d76f8/attachment.html ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
Re: [Flexradio] Hamvention Activities.
I second that - I really wish I could be there but I'll be out of the country and unable to attend. I'd love to see at least the powerpoints... Mark W8XR -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Charles Greene Sent: Friday, May 12, 2006 6:25 AM To: John Basilotto; Reflector Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Hamvention Activities. John, Quite impressive. How do I get a copy of the presentations, for one who can't attend Dayton? I plan to demo my SDR-1000 at some ham clubs here in RI. and the presentations would be very nice to summarize. Chas, W1CG At 11:21 PM 5/11/2006, John Basilotto wrote: Subject: Hamvention Activities. Hello Flexers. The Hamvention is fast approaching. SDR1000s are flying off the assembly line. And, a group of talented individuals are polishing their Dayton presentations. Here's what we know about SDR and FlexRadio System Activities... Friday. Inside exhibits open at 9 AM. FRS has two booths this year and will have 3 radio setups. Two of the SDR1000s will be operational; they are for use by for perspective Flexers and current Flexers who might be having withdrawal pains. Friday Evening: FRS will be attending the FDIM vendor night at the Holiday Inn in Fairborn Saturday. Inside exhibits open at 8 AM 8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. Software Defined Radios Open Source Software Defined Radios- the new wave in radio communications. Moderator: Gerald Youngblood, K5SDR Open source Software Defined Radio is no longer just for experimenters, but for all amateurs regardless of their technical ability and or experience. This forum will discuss what the amateur community needs to know about the flexibility, performance, and operation of SDRs from the $15 SoftRock-40 TM to the top performing FlexRadio SDR-1000(r). 12:00 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIO - GROUNDSWELL TO TIDAL WAVE Moderator: Eric Ellison, AA4SW, V31SR Ever since Gerald Youngblood K5SDR published a series of articles in QEX magazine and offered the first, off the shelf SDR transceiver, Ham's worldwide have been forging ahead into the Future of Radio. Although not the only exploration into SDR, at that time, the SDR-1000 and GPL PowerSDR open source code has been a major engine to spur new exploration. Once again hams are at the very leading edge of radio. High Performance Software Defined Radio Project [HPSDR] Speaker: Lyle Johnson, KK7P The HPSDR is an open source hardware and software project intended as a next generation Software Defined Radio for use by Radio Amateurs and Short Wave Listeners . The design is modular, so an experimenter can choose the bits and pieces required to implement his own creation. This is similar to creating something from Lego blocks. The initial system consists of a motherboard/chassis to contain and power the modules, along with a few building blocks. Real radios have Knobs...One at least : The Picastar Project. Speaker: Harold Johnson, W4ZCB SoftRock40, Past, Present, Future Speaker: Tony Parks, KB9YIG About a year ago Tony, designed a small transceiver for 40 meters which derived, I and Q signals from a crystal, a pair of flip-flops and a transformer. Absolute inexpensive simplicity! Since then, Tony has produced and shipped thousands of kits worldwide. There appears to be no end in sight for this $14 dollar V.6 high quality receiver kit. Come hear what is in store next. Operating Digital Radio Mondiale with the SDR-1000 Speaker: Mel Whitten, K0PFX Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) is now broadcasting digital programming with FM sound quality world wide. Rekindle your interest in shortwave listening using one of the finest receivers for DRM reception, the SDR-1000! A simple cookbook method will show you how to configure your SDR for optimum DRM reception of data, text and images using DREAM open source software. Experiments in transmitting DRM and the ham radio implementation of DRM (WinDRM) will be demonstrated. SDR for Emergency Communications Todd Collins - N2TUN Software defined radios can change parameters that in a hardware radio are inaccessible. Disaster communications require that robust, reliable networks be configured quickly with little or no pre-planning or coordination. SDR allows you to alter all parameters, automatically in response to changes in the environment. This ability (cognitive radio technology) is key to the wireless mesh concept, allowing the automation of physical layer parameters. The application of these technologies on the UHF and VHF bands by amateurs can create robust and surprisingly fast ad-hoc data networks. Saturday Evening. HOSPITALITY Suite hosted by FlexRadio Systems at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Bechel Room 7 P M Doors Open. Pay as you go bar, complimentary soft drinks and light snacks. Program begins at 8 PM moderated by Eric Ellison Welcome Introductions of key FRS personnel Presentation by Gerald [similar to town hall meeting. G will introduce a new radio prototype-don't get too
Re: [Flexradio] To all new Flexers
Dave and the group, I've heard several other people say it doesn't work with the SDR, too. I use VAC 4.01 with the SDR1K (I used to use 4.00 without any problems, and just upgraded to 4.01.) I use it for routing output to different applications - Bluetooth headset, CWGet and MixW2. Since I haven't had any problems, I assume I'm just not using the feature that you all are having a problem with... I don't do any digital that requires VAC for sending output to the SDR - is that where the problem is? Mark -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Dave Meitzen Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2006 1:04 PM To: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: [Flexradio] To all new Flexers I am new to Flex like you. One mistake I made was to buy VAC 4.0 (thinking why not get the most recent release and spend hours trying to make it work - got to have a sense of humor) -- do not do this - waste of money - it will not work with SDR1K. Do buy VAC 3.12 it does work with SDR1K. FYI Dave ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
[Flexradio] modifying the SDR1000 (software?) to allow 28-30 MHz for use with DEMI xverter?
Folks, Several good suggestions on using the DEMI transverter to transvert the 146-148 MHz band. Two of them require being able to transmit/receive out of band when operating the transverter (to get up to 32MHz into the transverter.) Any ideas on how I might do this? It's probably not legal for Flex to sell radios that do this, but I assume the real problem is in software - does anyone know a hack that will allow this? I really only want this to work when the 2 meter button is pushed (no need for it on the 10 meter band.) Mark
Re: [Flexradio] D-44 noise - nevermind
Folks, Never mind... after an exhaustive and extensive (and fruitless) search for the noise problem, I accidentally discovered the problem. While listening to 40 and noting the time of each noise event, my Blackberry phone rang and made all kinds of racket on the radio. So, pressing the ignore call button silenced the ringing, but just at that time, I saw the upload/download arrows on the Blackberry start flashing at the same rate as the noise in the receiver... Doh! In any case, just thought if any of you other SDR-1K folks had Blackberries and heard this peculiar noise, you would be happy to know where it's coming from. So, one more noise source down... Mark -Original Message- From: Mark Amos [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, April 16, 2006 8:57 AM To: 'FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz' Subject: D-44 noise Folks, I'm hearing an annoying D-44 artifact and I'm wondering if other folks are having it to. Every once in a while (perhaps 10 minute intervals) I hear what sounds like bad buzzy morse code traversing the sound field. It seems to start in the left channel and sometimes moves around. I thought it was my Bose headphones, but I've since heard it with an external amp/speaker listening to the D-44 output. Just wondering if anyone else hears this and/or knows how to get rid of it. It's relatively infrequent, and I've never been able to definitively correlate it to any specific activity. It's no where near the sidetone frequency of the radio, and I believe I've heard it when PowerSDR isn't running (though I don't often listen to the computer when I'm not on the radio, so this may not be the case.) Mark
Re: [Flexradio] D-44 noise - nevermind
Yeah, I know, it's stupid - I was looking for SUBTLE noise sources... Anyway if it saves just one other person the time and aggravation, it's worth looking dumb! -Original Message- From: Philip Covington [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, April 19, 2006 12:19 PM To: Mark Amos Cc: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] D-44 noise - nevermind Just set your cell phone next to your computer speakers and you'll periodically hear some cool noises... set it near your CRT monitor and watch the funny patterns... 73 de Phil N8VB On 4/19/06, Mark Amos [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Folks, Never mind... after an exhaustive and extensive (and fruitless) search for the noise problem, I accidentally discovered the problem. While listening to 40 and noting the time of each noise event, my Blackberry phone rang and made all kinds of racket on the radio. So, pressing the ignore call button silenced the ringing, but just at that time, I saw the upload/download arrows on the Blackberry start flashing at the same rate as the noise in the receiver... Doh! In any case, just thought if any of you other SDR-1K folks had Blackberries and heard this peculiar noise, you would be happy to know where it's coming from. So, one more noise source down... Mark -Original Message- From: Mark Amos [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, April 16, 2006 8:57 AM To: 'FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz' Subject: D-44 noise Folks, I'm hearing an annoying D-44 artifact and I'm wondering if other folks are having it to. Every once in a while (perhaps 10 minute intervals) I hear what sounds like bad buzzy morse code traversing the sound field. It seems to start in the left channel and sometimes moves around. I thought it was my Bose headphones, but I've since heard it with an external amp/speaker listening to the D-44 output. Just wondering if anyone else hears this and/or knows how to get rid of it. It's relatively infrequent, and I've never been able to definitively correlate it to any specific activity. It's no where near the sidetone frequency of the radio, and I believe I've heard it when PowerSDR isn't running (though I don't often listen to the computer when I'm not on the radio, so this may not be the case.) Mark ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archive Link: http://mail.flex-radio.biz/pipermail/flexradio_flex-radio.biz/ FlexRadio Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com
Re: [Flexradio] Amazing things really do happen.....
Gerald, Great model for alpha/beta software releases; rational, functional and balanced. Thanks! Mark People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character. - Ralph Waldo Emerson -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Gerald Youngblood Sent: Saturday, April 15, 2006 9:46 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Amazing things really do happen. Hello all, Let me try to clear up some confusion on the subject of Beta availability. Our objective is to serve two communities at the same time (quite difficult to do). We want to serve the needs of those who want stable code while at the same time serving those who want to play with the latest and greatest. Why is this hard to do? Because the needs of those two communities are somewhat at odds with each other. You who love to tinker, brung us here. Those who just want to talk on the radio will make it possible for FlexRadio to have a future. What the tinkerer loves, the radio operator dislikes and vise versa. We want and need to serve both. So how do we do that? One of the major things holding the next group of Flexers back from joining in the fun is the misperception that the SDR-1000 is not stable. I usually laugh and say that it will be stable when you our customers and we run out of ideas. Do any of you think that will happen soon? I don't. On the other hand, V1.6 is very stable. The hardware is very stable. Our sound card support is very stable. Thus the radio is stable. However, we will always be improving the software. We need to make the latest software available without confusing new and potential customers. The way to do that is to us the same methodology that all major open source projects use. That is to publish BOTH the source and the executable code on the SVN server and you will have access. You do NOT need to compile any code to get and run the latest. In fact not only Beta will be there but the nightly build of the latest alpha. We will publish Beta on our public site when sufficient features warrant and when we have rung it out with those of you who want to Alpha test. The thing that we ask is that you not discuss bugs and alpha code here on this list. This is to prevent confusion to the new guys. We now have a bug reporting and feature request database. WA8SRA kindly volunteered to develop and maintain this for everyone's benefit. He has also committed to enhance it to meet the need for discussion surrounding development and testing activities. We ask those of you who brung us here to help us make the transition to those who will take us to the next level in this endeavor. Please be sensitive to their needs while we figure out how to meet the needs of both communities. This is called Crossing the Chasm if you want to read the classic high technology business book by that name. Thanks to all for your support. And thanks for all of you volunteers who have made this effort a success. 73, Gerald Gerald Youngblood, K5SDR FlexRadio Systems 8900 Marybank Drive Austin, TX 78750 Ph: 512-535-5266 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: www.flex-radio.com -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Mike Naruta Sent: Saturday, April 15, 2006 7:31 PM To: FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Amazing things really do happen. For me, half the fun of the SDR-1000 is playing with the new beta versions (they were already alpha-tested before announced). It was a joy to experiment with new features and try to find a bug. A lot of us are not in this for plug and play. How about Ken's shadow site idea? The rule would be no talking about the betas on the reflector. I still haven't bought the necessary software to be able to compile it yet, so that leaves me out of playing. I've been waiting for the rewrite before digging into the code; why learn the old code? If we gotta do our own compiles, please provide a tool list and script to be sure that everything is included. Otherwise you'll just get lots of How do I compile requests. Mike - AA8K Ken Klein wrote: Thank you Tim and Bob for the information. I can understand Gerald's concerns, and also understand that his position is merited. I do have to admit also that I always have looked forward to the beta (alpha, really) releases and that a lot of the fun of this radio is being in on the cutting edge of the development. Given that, I still wish that Gerald could post the latest alpha (or beta, whichever) code on some back door website for us who like the convenience of downloading an already put-together .exe file. (And the let me know when it's ready guys can just ignore it!) ___ FlexRadio mailing list FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz
