Unkey Blowouts

FIRMWARE TOPICS ONLY--non-firmware topics will be MOVED
cLicari
Posts: 109
Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2017 9:33 pm
Location: North Texas

Unkey Blowouts

Postby cLicari » Fri Jan 25, 2019 4:21 pm

I wanted to send this snapshot to show you what happens when I unkey mic. There is a momentary blowout which is disconcerting. The amp shows no corresponding power output but I do see -185 dBm on the PowerSDR meter as opposed to a resting -85 dBm. Any ideas what would cause this and how to get rid of it, or not be concerned about it?
Anan 8000DLE, PowerSDR 3.4.9, FW2.3, VAC not in use. MIc input is Line-In, mic gain max 50, min -10, Line-in gain 9.0

Thx
Carl
NX5T
Attachments
Untitled 21.jpg
Untitled 21.jpg (211.47 KiB) Viewed 14675 times
Carl Licari
NX5T
Anan 8000DLE, FW v2.0 2b, Thetis 2.8.11, 21k9
Windows 10, dedicated network subnet, Intel i7 8700K, 32GB, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060, Samsung 40" 4K display
User avatar
Tony EI7BMB
Posts: 651
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2017 2:31 pm
Location: Dublin
Contact:

Re: Unkey Blowouts

Postby Tony EI7BMB » Fri Jan 25, 2019 5:49 pm

I am interested too as I see the same thing.
User avatar
W1AEX
Posts: 425
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2017 6:17 pm
Location: Connecticut, USA
Contact:

Re: Unkey Blowouts

Postby W1AEX » Fri Jan 25, 2019 8:27 pm

Hi Carl,

Looks like you are running the most up-to-date software and firmware which is almost always the best route to go with. Here is my guess: If AmpView looks fine, it may just be a momentary glitch in the RX as seen with DUP enabled as the rig transitions from TX to RX (or RX to TX). I found that with my two different amplifiers I had to tinker with the T/R Delay, PTT Delay, RX Delay, MOX Delay, and RF Delay to compensate for the different relay transition times. Of course one guy's settings probably won't work for another guy's station so you'll have to tinker a little bit. It might be as simple as that but if not, you will get other ideas from the guys here at the forum.

I'll keep an eye out there so maybe I can learn something!

Rob

Image
"One thing I am certain of is that there is too much certainty in the world."
cLicari
Posts: 109
Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2017 9:33 pm
Location: North Texas

Re: Unkey Blowouts

Postby cLicari » Sat Jan 26, 2019 3:06 am

Rob...

I tried adjusting all of the timings on that page with no noticeable difference.

Thx
Carl
NX5T
Carl Licari
NX5T
Anan 8000DLE, FW v2.0 2b, Thetis 2.8.11, 21k9
Windows 10, dedicated network subnet, Intel i7 8700K, 32GB, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060, Samsung 40" 4K display
K9RX
Posts: 414
Joined: Fri Apr 14, 2017 3:47 pm

Re: Unkey Blowouts

Postby K9RX » Sat Jan 26, 2019 2:38 pm

Re timing - I had an issue where my RX preamp feeding in to ANT3, the transistor blew - and I was getting frequent "HIGH SWR" warnings. I worked with Doug - well Doug did the testing/work and I just tried his results... anyway he found, using a scope on an 8000, that I believe it was Key Down had to be at least 22mS to prevent RF from getting in to ANT3 during the transition... I have mine set at 30mS. I also have Key Up set at 30 if I remember correctly. I tested these settings with a local ham to be sure nothing is truncated on the first element of CW - all was fine at 40 WPM. If you didn't go this high you might want to try it - just to rule it out. I replaced the preamp transistor and so far its been ok. I do still, on rare occasions, see the HIGH SWR warning or a blip on the front panel SWR display on the 8000 going to high REV.

Gary
K9RX
User avatar
W1AEX
Posts: 425
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2017 6:17 pm
Location: Connecticut, USA
Contact:

Re: Unkey Blowouts

Postby W1AEX » Sat Jan 26, 2019 3:15 pm

Carl,

How do things look in the display when you unkey without the amplifier engaged? Just wondering if the display is responding to a condition/event that is outside the ANAN or inside the ANAN.

Rob W1AEX
"One thing I am certain of is that there is too much certainty in the world."
cLicari
Posts: 109
Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2017 9:33 pm
Location: North Texas

Re: Unkey Blowouts

Postby cLicari » Sat Jan 26, 2019 4:44 pm

Rob...

With the amp off I still get the blowout, just not as pronounced.

Gary..
There is no SWR issue noted with the display blowout.


Thx
Carl
NX5T
Carl Licari
NX5T
Anan 8000DLE, FW v2.0 2b, Thetis 2.8.11, 21k9
Windows 10, dedicated network subnet, Intel i7 8700K, 32GB, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060, Samsung 40" 4K display
User avatar
W1AEX
Posts: 425
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2017 6:17 pm
Location: Connecticut, USA
Contact:

Re: Unkey Blowouts

Postby W1AEX » Sat Jan 26, 2019 5:06 pm

Carl,

Well, it appears to be something that my 200D does also, whether I am running one of my amps or not. I just never noticed it! I don't think it's anything to worry about as it seems like a local RX display event. That's just my 2 cents! The screenshots below show the amp not engaged first, then the amp engaged at 550 watts output. In real-time the baseline in the RX DUP display jumps just like yours. It happens so fast that I never noticed it. Also, since I almost never run with the panafall display the persistence was not noticeable. Just for fun I'm going to try a much higher setting for RX Delay and see if that snubs it out.

73,

Rob W1AEX

ALS-1306 turned off
Image

ALS-1306 running 550 watts
Image
"One thing I am certain of is that there is too much certainty in the world."
User avatar
W1AEX
Posts: 425
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2017 6:17 pm
Location: Connecticut, USA
Contact:

Re: Unkey Blowouts

Postby W1AEX » Sat Jan 26, 2019 5:22 pm

Carl and Tony,

When I enabled RX2 and viewed the panadapter, there was no sign of the event in the panafall display, which I think confirms that the anomaly is only present in the local RX1 display. I also messed around with the RX Delay setting and found that the unkey event was present even with the RX Delay set to a full second. So... my guess it's probably just relay noise that is picked up in RX1 when going from TX to RX. I'd love to hear other theories but in my (unworthy) opinion it's nothing to worry about.

73,

Rob W1AEX

Image
"One thing I am certain of is that there is too much certainty in the world."
User avatar
Tony EI7BMB
Posts: 651
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2017 2:31 pm
Location: Dublin
Contact:

Re: Unkey Blowouts

Postby Tony EI7BMB » Sun Jan 27, 2019 1:11 pm

Thanks for the info Rob
K9RX
Posts: 414
Joined: Fri Apr 14, 2017 3:47 pm

Re: Unkey Blowouts

Postby K9RX » Sun Jan 27, 2019 3:21 pm

Carl - sorry for the off-shoot - which skin are you using? I like that one. Might be nice for a change. I'm using Rob's High Visual which is quite nice.

Gary
K9RX
User avatar
Tony EI7BMB
Posts: 651
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2017 2:31 pm
Location: Dublin
Contact:

Re: Unkey Blowouts

Postby Tony EI7BMB » Tue Feb 12, 2019 3:43 pm

Blowouts are now not showing for me .I'm speculating but I think this may be a result of the change I've made to HPET referred to on the mailing list as it has made a definite improvement to my VAC dropout rate.

useplatformclock Yes
disabledynamictick Yes
cLicari
Posts: 109
Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2017 9:33 pm
Location: North Texas

Re: Unkey Blowouts

Postby cLicari » Wed Feb 13, 2019 10:49 pm

The skin is K2GX BW Gem Dark.
For all the noise I've read about HPET I can live with the blowouts since it doesn't appear to be anything more than a visual annoyance.
Carl
NX5T
Carl Licari
NX5T
Anan 8000DLE, FW v2.0 2b, Thetis 2.8.11, 21k9
Windows 10, dedicated network subnet, Intel i7 8700K, 32GB, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060, Samsung 40" 4K display

Return to “Orion Mk II & III Firmware (all 7000, 8000 & Andromeda Variants)”