Thetis v2.8.11 - UPDATES and current issues

[K9RX]

@Paul, W9AC, thanks for that Paul. Yes I have seen where the 31 is applied when qsk is switched on, and then reverted when switched off, tagged as change [W2PA_21a] in the code.

at the moment since v2.8.8 it is :

if PS-A is off OR (CWL or CWR) then att = 31

Richie.

Richie, I'd think this is correct! Ideally, PS would just be auto-off when the mode is CW (and, at least for me, anything other than voice - i.e. off if DIG mode).

Gary, K9RX

[ramdor]

I don't really think it is correct to apply 31dB attenuation for ANY mode if PS-A is off. It is ok to apply it if CW, and PS-A is off. The change has been made to and AND in rc2. Will await feedback

Richie.

[Yevgeni]

I don't really think it is correct to apply 31dB attenuation for ANY mode if PS-A is off. It is ok to apply it if CW, and PS-A is off. The change has been made to and AND in rc2. Will await feedback

Richie.

Hi.
One option ATT RX1 RX2 when transmitting by default.
For the PS, only the ATT of one receiver is needed.
The second option, the ATT RX1 RX2 settings for transmission by the user. It is clear that with PS one ATT works automatically.
If you remove the user settings for transmission in the ATT settings, it turns out that the program begins to limit the capabilities of the iron.

[w-u-2-o]

Is there a download link for RC2 yet? Did I miss it?

[ramdor]

Is there a download link for RC2 yet? Did I miss it?

no still WiP sorry Scott, perhaps before weekend.

Richie.

[w-u-2-o]

No worries, Richie

[ramdor]

Adding some TCI spot stuff into Thetis, and re-working the spot display overlay. Will in rc2 by/on the weekend.

https://youtu.be/rcoRTRwUcZA

Richie.

[K9RX]

Richie, Sorry - I was speaking specifically about the OR and not the AND. The AND says PS has to be off for some value to be imposed if on CW. Ideally one shouldn't have to mess with the PS button/function when changing modes.

Even better I'd think it correct to just auto turn off PS if on any mode other than voice (SSB/AM). Maybe - if PS does do something for DIG modes like FT8, have a menu item check box to allow it to be auto off or not - personally, I don't think it does anything and I'd highly prefer to have it off. it is a PITA when changing modes and PS is on (because I was using it on SSB) and it goes to 0 on the ATT and I get an overload warning. This happens sometimes when I go to CW. So I have to try to remember to turn PS off when going to other modes.

Gary

[K1LSB]

Gary,

PS is useful to insure a clean transmitted signal any time there's more than a single frequency (i.e., CW) in the passband. There are lots of digital modes that have more than a simple carrier in the passband at any given instant.

Mark

Edit: To clarify, any time there's more than a single frequency being transmitted, there are IMD products being generated. PS's job is to reduce the IMD.

[Tony EI7BMB]

TCI spot stuff, very cool

Adding some TCI spot stuff into Thetis, and re-working the spot display overlay. Will in rc2 by/on the weekend.

https://youtu.be/rcoRTRwUcZA

Richie.

[ea3aqr]

I have a TCI issue connecting Thetis with Swisslog logger (https://www.swisslogforwindows.com/).

If I change band/mode on Thetis, Swisslog follows my changes, but unfortunately it doesn't work in the opposite way from Swisslog to Thetis.
Changes on Swisslog are not followed by Thetis

Talked with Swisslog developer and he told me that his program is working fine (both ways) with Sun SDR radios/sofware.

CAT over TCP/IP is working fine with Swisslog.

Any help?

[oe3ide]

Hi!
Just installed Swisslog 5.103 and made a quick configuration (TCI for Thetis).
Mode change is working in both directions.

Do you use the dropdown in the topbar to change the mode?

swisslog vs thetis.jpg (124.71 KiB) Viewed 6843 times

73 Ernst

[ea3aqr]

Hi!
Just installed Swisslog 5.103 and made a quick configuration (TCI for Thetis).
Mode change is working in both directions.

Do you use the dropdown in the topbar to change the mode?

swisslog vs thetis.jpg

73 Ernst

Hi Ernst and thanks for testing it!

Yes, the top bar to change the mode works also for me, but when i click on any spot from Swisslog cluster or band maps nothing changes.
No frequency or band change. Seems it is using different commands... see next post

[ea3aqr]

Swisslog developer sent me this:

IMG-20220224-WA0014.jpg (87.14 KiB) Viewed 6825 times

Are these command working with Thetis's TCI implementation?

[oe3ide]

I just tested Swisslog + SunSDR.

This is what is sent via TCI on double-click on spot:

dds:0,7115000;
modulation:0,lsb;
DDS: Tuning of the RX's center frequency (center of the panorama)

This is what LogHX is sending:
modulation:0,LSB;
vfo:0,0,7110000;
VFO: Set receiver's tuning frequency

I guess DDS is not implemented yet.

73 Ernst

[ea3aqr]

I just tested Swisslog + SunSDR.

This is what is sent via TCI on double-click on spot:

dds:0,7115000;
modulation:0,lsb;
DDS: Tuning of the RX's center frequency (center of the panorama)

This is what LogHX is sending:
modulation:0,LSB;
vfo:0,0,7110000;
VFO: Set receiver's tuning frequency

I guess DDS is not implemented yet.

73 Ernst

Ernst,
thanks a lot!

Let's wait for DDS implementation in a future release...

[oe3ide]

Just tested Log4OM 2.20.
It sends:

VFO:0,0,21275000;
MODULATION:0,USB;

73 Ernst

[ramdor]

DDS and IF messages existed in TCI an early protocol version when I first looked at it back in 2018/19. It was the only way to assign a vfo frequency. At some point they implemented the VFO command to wrap those two into one somewhat.

DDS,IF should be good to go in rc2, over weekend.

R.

[ea3aqr]

DDS and IF messages existed in TCI an early protocol version when I first looked at it back in 2018/19. It was the only way to assign a vfo frequency. At some point they implemented the VFO command to wrap those two into one somewhat.

DDS,IF should be good to go in rc2, over weekend.

R.

Thanks a lot Richie!

And yes, you are right... DDS and IF was part of first version of TCI protocol, so it should be added to be fully backward compatible.
Swisslog was one of the first logging software fully compatible with TCI protocol.

[w9mdb]

Was just testing Dither and Random on 7000DLE MKII with 21k9(rc1)
Dither seems OK.
Random adds about 40dB to the signal level though....seems a touch high isn't it?

Mike W9MDB

[ramdor]

@Mike W9MDB, 40dB?, yes you have something very odd going on with your radio, that is for sure. Firmware version?

Richie.

[w9mdb]

2.1.18

[w9mdb]

Hmmm...now it quit doing it.

[NN3RP]

Too much processing in the background, maybe?

[ramdor]

*** another update to 21k9, here is 21k9rc2-b

Ok, another test release of 21k9, everything is on hold now and I will only be fixing issues that crop up from this rc2 specifically.

Download x64 [md5:60B375E297416F58D37180C43FC47EC0] - https://bit.ly/3pgJ6zA

The full log of changes since 21k8 below. Items in bold are rc2 specifically (lower down the list).

Cheers, Richie.

21k9(rc2-b)
fix: right click delete notch popup will show on top of the main window if the main window is set to always on top
fix: VFOSync will sync rx2 filter if needed when initially switched on
fix: memory entries now select tx frequency. This was not happening for FM. Also, this is made after split is recovered from a memory setting
fix: issue with multiRX at startup fixed (caused by forceaudio changes back in jul21)
fix: repeater shift MHz is limited to 0-50MHz (cat/memory/etc)
fix: mouse cursor Hz display now correct for RX1/RX2 (was not considering RX2 centre frequency or ctun state)]
fix: waterfall duration seconds display for both rx1 + rx2 now shows correct values based on frame rate and waterfall speed
fix: dBm readout for rx2 now display expected values
fix: rare display crash fix related to colour and alpha changes made via setup
fix: PS 'Correcting' should show again on main ui if PS-A is toggled and PS is in correcting state
fix: when IQ over vac is disabled and the driver is ASIO an exception was thrown. Thread.Sleep(10) to 'resolve' the issue until further investigation (Warren)
fix: on startup if mute is enabled it will not mute vacs if 'mute will mute vac' is unchecked
fix: directX has had many potential resource leak issues fuxed, and now reports no outstanding directX object references when shutdown
fix: memory form no longer selects 1st entry when shown
fix: turning off SD will only recover old vfoB freqency if VFOSync is off. Otherwise, doing so would cause vfoA to align to vfoB
fix: display buffers cleared when display mode is changed, prevents incorrect being displayed from old display such as histogram
fix: audio scope buffer could cause crash when viewed and window resized, now resolved
fix: render thread not using getPixels data ready flag correctly. If you had phase displayed on rx1, rx2 would not show panadaptor
fix: CW tx buffers assigned to previous mode selected so that additional lag is not created during mode swap to CW
fix: fixes for N1MM reduced display when using decim, and RX2 problems
fix: QSKEnabled setter for the disabled state where it did not turn off cwsidetone when disabling qsk if it needed to
fix: turning off QSK will keep the side tone quiet if it is disabled
fix: clean up of start up process and the grey window is finally banished !
fix: correct DIGL/U dsp filter type now used for tx, was previously using the rx type
fix: speed improvements to the swapping of TX profiles
fix: RX2 should now use VAC2 TX audio reliably if 'Use VAC2 on Split' option is checked in the VAC2 tab
fix: vac1 rx/tx gain sliders were not moving in digl/u box when vac2 enabled and adjustments were being made from setup audio. vac2 does not change them anymore
partial fix: when using VAC1/2 you can now adjust the MON level by dragging the Master AF. Note: no audio when using split on RX1.
add: circular/angular mean added to phase display (option)
add: fill or line mode for active peak
add: option to limit CTUN drag to spectral area, for everything or just a mouse drag
add: drop speed for active peaks and peak blobs, in dBm/second
add: zoom to band. Only works if in CTUN. Note: will only zoom out if the band can not fit into the sample rate selected
add: enable/disable un-mute when rx af sliders are dragged option (new options tab in audio section)
add: option for MHz and/or seconds/dbm/filter on the mouse cursor when in spectral area. When disabled you can hold shift to show on demand
add: limit filters to sidebands option. Prevents crossing the 0 point with certain filters, shifts are also restricted
add: dragging AM/DSB/SAM/SPEC filter edge with Shift held, will match the other side
add: decimation added to display engine. This can be used to reduce the amount of getPixel data and consequently speed up render with a reduction in resolution/
add: TCPIP cat server. 30 seconds of inactivity and the connection will be dropped
add: quick attenuate option added to ps form. If PS auto-atten is on and this is enabled, ps feedback calculations will be made 5 times more often
add: ignore 0beat adjust if drag within a filter when in CTUN on
add: TCI server support. Basic commands only. No stream audio/iq support. Supported commands : https://bit.ly/3gH6Zvy
add: time taken to perform dsp change is displayed in DSP settings for debug purposes
add: warnings added to setup-dsp if settings do not match. Remember, if a mode uses a different TX profile, that profile may have different dsp settings as well, causing additional rebuild time
add: TCPIP cat server now outputs # message when you initially connect, and has client connection count in setup
add: quick attenuate response option added in PS Advanced linearity window. When selected feedback level is sampled at 20ms instead of 100ms
add: ZTB can be switched into a Store/Recall setup, where you can store centre frequency, pan and zoom per band
add: ZTB cat command ZZZT0 recall ZTB, ZZZT1 store ZTB. query using ZZZT; will return 1 if ZTB option is set to Store/Recall mode, 0 if zoom to bandwidth
add: midi for ZZZT
add: ZZZQ + ZZZR for auto agc control over cat. ZZZQ0; rx1 off, ZZZQ1; rx1 on. ZZZR0; rx2 off, ZZZR1; rx2 on. ZZZQ; or ZZZR; to query
add: midi for ZZZQ and ZZZR (toggles)
add: new spot display system, which is only used by TCI currently. May be integrated with existing spot system eventually
change: moved over to VS2022 as the ide
change: new wdsp release
change: PS client loops do not run if power off
change: mouse wheel adjustment on AGC sliders will disable AGC Noisefloor compensation
change: var ratio is shown even if force is enabled. You can see what is happening even if not used (reverts change made in 21k4)
change: moved DirectX over to a two buffer swapchain. UI events seem to be improved
change: added DX feature level support from 9_1 all the way up to 12_1. Will use the highest available on the default adaptor
change: Set antenna bits networkIO command only called if bits are different to last sent
change: need to hold shift to drag shift the whole filter in CTUN off and CTUN on modes. See vid : https://youtu.be/AepFJnVLnNU
change: deferred DSP updates so that each txprofile setting does not cause another update
change: mode specific panel on main UI screen changed to hide those that are not in use. Was causing unexplained lag when using bringtofront
change: auto noise floor calculations have been improved to consider fftsize / samplerate
change: 31dB TX attenuation is now only applied when PS-A is off, and mode is CW when tx'ing
change: rework of cursors

[SA3ATF]

Thank you so much for the work you put into this Richie!
This also seems to work perfectly with me without having to try to button up everything that is available
Have a nice weekend to everyone

[Yevgeni]

Hi
Special thanks for the S-ATT RX1 (tx/rx). This logic, according to S-ATT RX2 (tx/rx), would be quite good.

[w9mdb]

rc2 seem to take less CPU...good job...
But the Random problem is still there. It's random though
Sometimes behaves OK and sometimes not.
Happens on both Tx and Rx
Here it is on Tx with random off

Screenshot 2022-02-25 165326.png (140.59 KiB) Viewed 6435 times

And here with random on

Screenshot 2022-02-25 165303.png (133.83 KiB) Viewed 6435 times

[ea3aqr]

Richie, thanks for the TCI fix and the new TCI spotting option, works great with Swisslog!

[ramdor]

Richie, thanks for the TCI fix and the new TCI spotting option, works great with Swisslog!

Ah good I was not so much a fix, as actually implementing it. I was hoping to avoid the dds and if messages, but it is in there, sort of 90% ish

btw, right click one of the spotting tags to open up qrz in a web browser. Just a quick, get something going, type thing at the moment.

Richie.