apache-labs.com

Hello,

I have some questions about the V2 Controller. I am wondering if the overall RX performance is the same as Thetis client. Apart from the reduced samplerate, I suppose the RX performance is the same probably because the WDSP lib is the same in both programs, but I am not sure.
Also I am wondering if there is a way to connect the V2 Controller to programs running on a Windows PC. I am thinking about the I/Q stream for digital programs and/or CWSkimmer. I read on the V2 manual that CAT control is already available through the RigCtl interface.

Thank you in advance for any clarifications.

73' Enzo
iw7dmh

If you are going to get a PC involved in the process why not just run Thetis?

Hi,

this was not my initial question, anyway I am more familiar with PC software and I find Thetis interface a bit odd and sometimes difficult to use.
PiHPSDR is very nice and meets all recent usability requirements.
Using a smart console and a PC could be a good solution, mostly during a contest.

Hi Enzo,

I have both Thetis and piHPSDR and I do not find any difference in the way the audio sounds or the overall signal processing. With Protocol 2 you can actually get up to 1.5 Mbps sample rate, but the audio will then sound very choppy. Up to 760 kbps it is fine. In piHPSDR you have little control over the NR and NB settings, but I find they work just right for my use. One thing I noticed: the S-meter reading is about 6 dB lower on the Controller compared to Thetis.

You can access the piHPSDR using VNC, but you may need to use a switch between the Controller and the radio. My Anan 7000DLE is connected directly to the controller using a Cat6 cable and when I tried to enable WiFi so I could access the Controller remotely, the radio stopped. Once I disabled WiFi I was immediately back in business. Some playing with network priorities may fix that.

As for using piHPSDR during a contest, I have not tried it, but CAT control over IP is available. There is no way to store messages, so you may have to do that some other way. It is possible to connect audio streams remotely, which I believe is described somewhere on this site. For CW you could use N1MM with an interface mentioned in the documentation for that program.

I use the Controller daily for SSB contacts and it has all the functions I need for that. It works fine for CW, too but you may set the dial step to a lower value than the default 100 Hz. The piHPSDR software seems quite stable and there is certainly a lot less opportunity to make a mistake than there is in Thetis!

73 de va7qi, ....Erik.

Hello Erik,

I appreciate a lot your clarifications.
I am new to the Apache Labs world and there are a lot of things that aren't very clear for me.
Anyway community is a great starting point

Thank you very much
73' Enzo
iw7dmh

Hi Enzo,

I have had a brief look at the source code and it appears that remote access is at least considered. However, I have not found any documentation related to that, so it may be a future feature.

Just to confirm that the piHPSDR Controller works well, I had Thetis running on my Anan-10 and the Controller on my Anan-7000DLE. I found no difference in the quality of the audio of SSB signals and the ability to dig out weak signals. BTW, I use NR2 most of the time on SSB since it makes for easier listening on signals on 80m. There was a slight difference in the time it took to render the audio, but really not a problem.

I used the same antenna for both radios.

The manual is available at www.va7qi.ca/documents if you are interested. Once I get it fine polished I'll send it to Abhi for publication on the Apache Labs site.

73 de va7qi, ....Erik.