Neal,

That's why I wrote the attached. If you follow it, it will work.

(I'm not a developer...I had to work through the instructions to end up
with what I"m sending you.)

If you  have RC3 1.80 WSJT-X, these instructions work perfectly.

Lemme know how you make out.

73, N0AN

Hasan

On Fri, Oct 20, 2017 at 2:31 PM, Neal Pollack <nea...@gmail.com> wrote:

> I was unable to get the Frequency Calibration to work for me due
> to multiple vague, unclear portions of the manual that must assume
> the user was also the developer or had previously been shown how
> to use it.
>
> The following are questions, but they need to be clarified IN THE MANUAL,
> not just in reply here.
>
> *Problems:*
>
> A.  In this portion:
>
>
> * In the Working Frequencies box on the Settings → Frequencies tab, delete
> any default frequencies forFreqCal mode that are not relevant for your
> location. You may want to replace some of them with reliablyknown
> frequencies receivable at your location.*
>
> There is no description as to how many local station editions are
> sufficient, or if we should delete
> ALL frequencies that are difficult to receive locally.   How many WWV and
> local broadcast stations
> are enough?
>
> B.   in this portion;
>
>
>
> *To cycle automatically through your chosen list of calibration
> frequencies, check Execute frequencycalibration cycle on the Tools menu.
> WSJT-X will spend 30 seconds at each frequency. Initially nomeasurement
> data is saved to the fmt.all file although it is displayed on screen, this
> allows you tocheck you current calibration parameters.*
>
>     1.  What mode does the transceiver need to be in?  Leave it in
> USB-DATA mode, or change it?
>     2.   Does the cycle really start when I select the Execute Cal menu
> choice, or do I then need to
>           check the MESAURE tick box on screen before it really starts?
>
> C.  In this portion:
>
>
>
> *To start a measurement session check the Measure option and let the
> calibration cycle run for at leastone complete sequence. Note that, while
> measuring, any existing calibration parameters are automaticallydisabled so
> you may have to increase the FTol range if your rig is off freqeuncy by
> more than a few Hertzin order to capture valid measurements.*
>
> So, presumably the user is doing this calibration because they have NO
> IDEA how far off their rig
> might be.  So what is a safe/decent starting point for the FTol range for
> new users?
>
> D.  In this portion:
>
> * With modern synthesized radios, small measured offsets from 1500 Hz will
> exhibit a straight-line dependenceon frequency.* [Which is below the
> graphic on page 68]
>
> I am trying this for the first time with a Yaesu FT-DX3000 that I have
> never used for digi-modes.
> [My previous 4,000 QSOs with WSJT-X have been using an Icom 7300].
> I notice the received carrier line at 2500 hz.  The graphic on page 68
> shows the
> received carrier lines at approx 1500 hz.
> So it seems there is an approx 1,000Hz offset between my Yaesu FT-DX3000
> VFO display
> and the WSJT-X waterfall.    I don't see this on my Icom 7300.
> So next, I went back to FT8 mode, and sure enough, at 7.074 Mhz there was
> very little activity.
> But if I turned the radio VFO knob to 7.075, the WSJT-X waterfall became
> quite crowed as
> expected.
> Are there any other Yaesu FT-DX3000 users that can explain if this offset
> is a Yaesu setting, menu,
> or known feature of the Yaesu?
>
> E.  In this portion:
>
> *After running Execute frequency calibration cycle at least once with good
> results, check and edit the filefmt.all in the log directory and delete any
> spurious or outlier measurements.*[which is below the line fitting graph
> shown on page 69]
> Two questions;
>       1.  After running?   How do you stop it?   Cycling the Tools menu or
> the on-screen measure tick box?
>            I did manage to get the application to lock up more than once.
>
>       2.  Delete any spurious measurement?   OK,  How do I know what is
> considered a spurious measurement?
>            After managing to stop or get the app to lock up, I  opened
> fmt.all.  There is not an example extract of
> the log shown in the doc, but mine has Df's that vary as much as +/- 18
> hz.  What is normal?  Is that too much?
> The doc should provide guidance to a first-timer on what would be
> considered good data and why, so they
> know what to delete and what to leave.
>
>        3.  When I next select tools menu option Solve for Calibration
> Parameters, I get a pop-up about
> bad data.  I assume that is related to not knowing how to prune, per above
> comments?
>
>
>
> I hope this helps improve the manual for new users like myself.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Neal
> N6YFM
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> ------------------
> Check out the vibrant tech community on one of the world's most
> engaging tech sites, Slashdot.org! http://sdm.link/slashdot
> _______________________________________________
> wsjt-devel mailing list
> wsjt-devel@lists.sourceforge.net
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wsjt-devel
>
>
Preparation:

Make sure your radio is well warmed up, been on for at least an hour. AGC on 
Fast, Noise Blankers OFF, RIT OFF, WSJT-X F Tol, set as far open as you can 
(200)

Pick a time of day when you are able to copy WWV or whatever Reference station 
you have available at 15 Mhz or higher.
 
Pick a time of day, when you can copy local broadcast stations of known high 
frequency accuracy. Do some test runs of a few broadcast stations from the low, 
middle and high end of the broadcast bands. If any one of them is widely off 
freq compared to the others, DON'T USE IT! I found one local station 7 Hz 
off...compared to 0.3 Hz for all the others. That's really bad.

Pick a time of day when you can copy WWV 2 .5, 5, 10 and 15 MHz, usually late 
afternoon works for me. (5 p.m.)

 Edit the Freq Table to Include only those calibration stations you can copy 
and are reliable frequency wise.

File > Settings > Frequencies.

Try to include at least one AM freq like 640 (in my area).  Be sure to include 
the following if you are in the USA:

2.500
5.000
10.000
14.670
15.000


File > Settings > Frequencies:

Click Mode at Top of Table and you will sort by mode, so it makes finding all 
the FreqCal entries in one place.

Cursor down the table and look for the entries you have for Mode = FreqCal

If you Right Click on the table, you can insert a freq or delete one. After I 
put in one I like, I delete one of the ones I don't. You can use the standard 
Windows editing techniques to insert, delete, etc.

Once you have finished putting in all the freq, and deleting the ones you don't 
want (by right clicking on them in the table and choosing Delete), then hit OK

Important Note:

When you start a FreqCal run: 
If the data lines don't look like this: (640 is my AM freq)

14:17:19 640 1 1500 1497.827 -2.173 0.2 47.1
14:17:21 640 1 1500 1497.839 -2.161 2.8 44.4

then go back, Choose MSK144 for mode, then choose FreqCal for the mode and they 
should then look like the lines above. I have this happen on many occasions.

In this one line it says I am receiving the 640 Khz AM Station -2.173 Hz off 
freq. The last two numbers are Level and Signal to Noise.. If there is an *  at 
the end of the line, that data sample is suspect. If you collect a lot of data, 
(10 min or so), I would delete any line with an asterisk (*) at the end.

Perform a Frequency Hopping Test Run:
1. Mode – FreqCal
2. Tools – Execute Frequency Calibration Cycle
3. Make sure Monitor is On (Green)
4. Do NOT check the WSJT-X “Measure” Box (so no data is saved)


You should see lines of data pop up on the screen for each frequency in your 
FreqCal table. It will sample each freq several times and move on, repeating 
until you hit the STOP button in WSJT-X
(No data has been saved, all we did is verify that we are receiving good 
signals from the entries in our freq table)

We have verified we can rx the values in our freq table, so now we are ready to 
set up a full band hopping data capture, that will be used for data analysis.

1. Delete the existing fmt.all from the capture directory:

CD \Users\Hasan Quad\AppData\Local\WSJT-X\

Delete fmt.all (if there is one)

2. Double Click Erase in X, to clear the decodes.
3.  Check the “Measure” box in WSJT-X main screen. (It is just below and to the 
left of the T/R 15 s window)
4.  At this point, you are collecting data in the fmt.all file,what will be 
used to set Slope and Intercept. When you have run for about 10 minutes, hit 
Stop button in WSJT-X





Once you have hit Stop, data collection is complete and ready for analysis:

1. Assuming you have cleaned up any bad data (either bad to the eye or has an 
*, which makes it suspect):
2. Tools > Solve for Calibration Parameters

The Result of “Solve” will be: (something like)

Good Solution

Slope 0.426 +/- 0.004 ppm 
Intercept: -00.65 +/- 0.03 Hz
N: 43  StdDev: 0.13 Hz

..and a choice to Cancel or Apply.

If you have a good solution, choose Apply and the values will be automagically 
written to the WSJT-X Frequency Calibration boxes in Settings > Frequencies

...and fmt.all will be renamed to fmt.bak, so it won't interfere with your next 
Calibration run, should you do one.

What you will see:
1. The REAL frequency you are on is displayed in WSJT-X.

2. The amount your radio VFO has to be shifted to REALLY be on the freq 
indicated by WSJT-X, is displayed on your radio display.
Example:

When on 6m MSK144 on 50.260 indicated in WSJT-X, my Kenwood TS-590sg shows 
50.260.02...or +20 Hz offset. This offset was created by WSJT-X from the data 
we entered.

On my SDRPlay SDR receiver: (which I calibrated using this same procedure):

WSJT-X when set to 50.260, shows 50.260.029 on the SDR VFO

The appropriate offset will be applied to all frequencies using the slope and 
intercept derived from all that data you just collected, and analyzed. On many 
HF bands, there will be no offset shown because there was so little error.

By following these relatively simple steps, you can have your WSJT-X freq 
really, really close, i.e., within a couple Hz at 50.260...and it will take 
about 15 minutes maximum.

You can repeat the whole process any time you like, just be sure: the fmt.all 
file is gone or renamed to fmt.bak


Here are my Results after running FreqCal, using WWV as the reference:

Here's my table after applying the Slope and Intercept from RC3 r8175, 10 
minute run 5 p.m. Using the Following Reference Frequencies:
0.640, 2.5, 3.3, 5.0, 10.0, 14.67, 15 MHz

WWV     Error (DF)     ppm

2.5         0.324            0.13 ppm
5.0         0.450            0.09 ppm
10.0       0.569            0.06 ppm
15.0 0.526            0.03 ppm

My SDR and TS-590sg now agree to within 1 Hz on 50.260, and I can observe a 
drift of approx 4 Hz on the 590sg as it warms up from long tx cycles.
Considering the TCXO in the 590sg is specified at 0.5 ppm, having all of 4 Hz 
drift out of 50.260 MHz is 0.08 ppm, I would have to say my cheap Chinese TCXO 
was well worth the 26 dollars I paid for it!

Have fun. The Results are AMAZING!, 73, Hasan, N0AN

<<attachment: FreqCal_Procedure_WSJT-X_RC3.doc>>

Attachment: FreqCal Procedure WSJT-X RC3.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Check out the vibrant tech community on one of the world's most
engaging tech sites, Slashdot.org! http://sdm.link/slashdot
_______________________________________________
wsjt-devel mailing list
wsjt-devel@lists.sourceforge.net
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/wsjt-devel

Reply via email to