Various questions

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David G
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Various questions

Postby David G » Tue Dec 19, 2017 5:16 pm

Hallo,

Just some general questions:
What is the 7000DLE ADC sample rate ?
Do people tend to use station control software with these (like HRD) and if so is there one that works better then others?
With the 2 ADC's will it perform simultaneous receive on 6m and HF or 2m (transverter) and HF?

Thank you.
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w-u-2-o
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Re: Various questions

Postby w-u-2-o » Tue Dec 19, 2017 6:47 pm

The ADC sample rate on all openHPSDR architecture radios, including the 7000, is 122.88MHz.

The two ADCs can be assigned completely independently of one another for receive. The only downside to using the second ADC and RX2 right now is that you lose the ability to have the panafall display (although I might know someone that is working on that problem ;) )

There is no point in using station control software because the radio application itself (typically PowerSDR mRX) IS the station control software (remember, MOST of the radio is actually located in PowerSDR, this is, after all, a software defined radio).

However, there is no reason you can't control the radio, i.e. PowerSDR, with HRD, if you like. PowerSDR mRX will support up to 4 simultaneous CAT serial connections (hardware or virtual). You can use those connections to control PowerSDR, or have PowerSDR control something else (like an amplifier).

Special cases generally only crop up when talking about remoting things over the internet. For that people have used a variety of methods, including RDP, VNC, RemoteRigs, and RCForb.

73,

Scott
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David G
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Re: Various questions

Postby David G » Wed Dec 20, 2017 10:50 am

Hello Scott and thanks for the reply.
I would love to use HRD or (even better) TRX manager. But neither program claims to run with Anan radios/PowerSDR mRX.
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w-u-2-o
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Re: Various questions

Postby w-u-2-o » Wed Dec 20, 2017 12:49 pm

Dave,

I just checked the HRD website and it explicitly lists PowerSDR as being supported.

In either case, most of the CAT commands are Kenwood style, and you can set PowerSDR to identify as a Kenwood radio. Of course you will only get support for the most basic stuff.

Unless you are operating remotely, I think you will find the rig control aspects of HRD and TRX to be redundant. However certainly the other adjunct functions of those software suites will be fully supported: logging, spotting, digital modes, all that sort of stuff. You should have no difficulty running either of them.

73,

Scott
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David G
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Re: Various questions

Postby David G » Mon Dec 25, 2017 10:52 am

Thank you, Scott. Is there a summary somewhere going over the performance differences of the 7000 and 8000 beyond the power? Google didn't turn up anything. If not, could you get into it some please? The extra power is inconsequential to me. Sell me an 8000...if you can. :)
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Re: Various questions

Postby w-u-2-o » Mon Dec 25, 2017 1:02 pm

I think the 7000 is the best Apache Labs design to date. If I was going to drop $3K on a radio, it would be the 7000, or, to be totally fair, a Flex 6400, or, seriously, TWO IC7300's, or now that I think about it, maybe even two used ANAN-100D's :D

But, IMHO, if you want to play in the openHPSDR, open source universe, still the ONLY way to get adaptive predistortion linearization, for a brand new radio at the $3K price point the 7000 is the way to go:

1. Most people buying a radio this expensive already have an amplifier and do not need 200W.

2. Assuming (1) above, you don't need a very large power supply, nor do you need to accommodate the large size and weight of the 8000.

3. The changes made to the preselectors, signal routing and minor changes made on the Orion MkII board (perhaps it should be called the Orion MkIIa?) have continued to improve both TX and RX performance.

4. The 7000 brings back all of the very flexible signal routing features that were present on the 100D and 200D but lost on the 8000.

5. The 7000 maintains the superior connectorization of the 8000 (although it still lacks audio line outputs, just as the 8000 does.) Apache has offered a retrofit rear panel for the 7000 that fixes the connector mechanical flexing issue.

6. The 7000 embraces the minimalistic cooling features present on the 100D and 200D to save size, weight and cost but now also provides an external fan connection for those who need more cooling (extensive digi mode or AM operations and the like). The fan is noisier in the 7000, however. I believe that there is a fix for this though, still investigating...

7. There is no LCD panel with separate microcontroller to cause fault conditions that cannot be fixed remotely.

73!

Scott
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David G
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Re: Various questions

Postby David G » Wed Jan 03, 2018 11:18 am

Hello and thank you for the last reply!

I saw on another post that the 2nd ADC can only receive and not xmit and that this is a problem of software. So...is this on the roadmap?

Why would you consider buying two 7300's? They are decent starter rigs but hardly comparable to Flex or Apache Labs. IMHO
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Re: Various questions

Postby w-u-2-o » Wed Jan 03, 2018 12:49 pm

Dave,

Not clear what post your are talking about, but clearly it is grossly in error. How could an ADC--analog to digital converter, have anything to do with transmitting? There is no amount of software that can fix that! The 100D, 200D, 8K and 7K all have two, physically independent receive channels, each with its own ADC, but only one physical transmitter, with its own DAC.

Note that most people use both receivers, RX1 and RX2, attached to ADC1 simultaneously, Those that do use the second ADC based receiver generally use it with a second antenna for either coherent beamforming to achieve interference cancellation, some sort of diversity receive, or for processing arrays of beverage antennas.

See also this topic. This will explain the relationship between ADCs and receivers, which are not the same thing.

As for dual 7300s, they are extremely capable radios offering a high level of performance, regardless of their apparent "entry level" market position. Two of them would be a very inexpensive way to achieve a true SO2R configuration for contesting, and a very powerful one at that.

73,

Scott
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David G
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Re: Various questions

Postby David G » Thu Jan 04, 2018 8:31 am

Hi Scott,
As it happens I am referring to Hermanns post in the thread you linked, and your response to him. Apparently I misunderstood what was being discussed but I too want to run 2-4 instances of FT8 or WSJT-X and instantly respond to a desirable call sign. From what I gathered of your response this is not possible?
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Re: Various questions

Postby w-u-2-o » Thu Jan 04, 2018 3:26 pm

Dave,

The bottom line is that PowerSDR only provides outputs for two receive passbands, and an input for one transmit passband, that's it. Period. Dot. (but see footnote below).

It is possible to have more than one instance of a digital mode program looking at one of those passbands, but it is still the same passband. I have often run Fldigi and WSJT-X at the same time, looking at the same passband, using Voicemeeter Banana to make the audio connections. Both can be configured to transmit, as well. Remember that the maximum passband that WSJT-X can handle is 6KHz, and for Fldigi, only 4KHz.

If you are looking to monitor and respond in multiple bands simultaneously, I think you will have to look at a Flex radio instead.

73,

Scott

Footnote: it is actually possible to monitor three passbands, however two of them must be in the same RX, and the audio for both comes out mixed together on VAC1. This is does not address your point, but I wanted to be complete.

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