8000DLE and vers 2.3/2.3(N1GP) CW issue.

FIRMWARE TOPICS ONLY--non-firmware topics will be MOVED
K9RX
Posts: 414
Joined: Fri Apr 14, 2017 3:47 pm

8000DLE and vers 2.3/2.3(N1GP) CW issue.

Postby K9RX » Mon Apr 30, 2018 2:36 pm

I have been using version 1.7 firmware in my 8000 since September of last year. But I had an issue with a sticking ADC2 relay. N1GP said he believed he fixed it so I upgraded to version 2.3(N1GP, shows as 2.4).

I run stacked monobanders on 15 and 20 ... and legal power when DXing. When on CW I routinely get through pileups very quickly or can get multiple responses to CQ's and monitor the RBN when on a dead band, like 15, trying to scare up some DX activity ... its unheard of for me not to get any RBN spots on 15 and often I will get VK4CT or ZL4YL in the evenings.

That was status quo until I changed to this version. I noticed i wasn't getting through even though I tried and tried ... and more importantly I wasn't getting RBN spots - at all - period. Several times I switched the amp off and immediately was able to work stations or get some RBN spots. So I thought this was an issue with the amp. After much checking it became more obvious to me that it wasn't the amp but it was the radio and the amp just made the "problem", whatever it was, worse. I suspected some distortion on the signal. I called one station, an FK8, with the amp on, he didn't respond... I turned the amp on and called again, I was running 25W, he called me and gave me a 542 report (that would have been an S8+ on a non-SDR radio with the amp on)! And he got my call wrong. I tried to correct the call and to confirm the report - he obviously couldn't understand me as he didn't change the call nor resend the report. Likewise I twice had stations seem to respond to my call (working split) saying "9NV?" one time and "NV?" another time/another station ... I was SURE they were answering me - but I couldn't seem to get the call through (this was with the amp on).

I had a local listen to the signal on 20. He said it was "ok" ... but it didn't sound "crisp" on code ... he noted that the waterfall was not showing gaps between the elements. I tried as slow as 18WPM - still no discernable gaps. He went up the band and found another station that was running maybe 27 WPM - clear gaps in the waterfall ...

So I tried going to version 2.3 (the release version) ... same results, no change. I finally went back to version 1.7 and he now saw gaps and the signal sounded cleaner (more of a tone) and I immediately got LOTS of RBN spots again and have once again gone back to working lots of DX on CW.

I reported this to Doug, W5WC ... he said no one else is reporting this - ARGH! Is it MY radio? Just to be clear I was working some stations with the rig alone - and it's not unusual for people to give out "T9" reports (RST) all the time (some probably don't realize it MEANS something!)... i.e. it might not be overly obvious.

Gary
K9RX
User avatar
n1gp
Posts: 175
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2017 6:34 pm

Re: 8000DLE and vers 2.3/2.3(N1GP) CW issue.

Postby n1gp » Mon Apr 30, 2018 3:31 pm

Hi Gary,

There's quite a few changes between 1.7 & 2.3:

https://github.com/TAPR/OpenHPSDR-Firmware/blob/master/Protocol%201/Orion_MkII%20(ANAN-7000DLE_ANAN-8000DLE)/Release_notes_Orion_MkII.txt

It would be interesting to find where your CW problem started. If you have some time you could work your way up
the FW releases:

https://github.com/TAPR/OpenHPSDR-Firmware/tree/master/Protocol%201/Orion_MkII%20(ANAN-7000DLE_ANAN-8000DLE)/previous%20Orion%20MkII%20firmware%20versions

I don't have a 7000 or 8000, yet. I'll check with my 200D though later this evening and see if I can reproduce your issue.

-Rick / N1GP
K9RX
Posts: 414
Joined: Fri Apr 14, 2017 3:47 pm

Re: 8000DLE and vers 2.3/2.3(N1GP) CW issue.

Postby K9RX » Sat May 05, 2018 12:30 pm

The one thing I find frustrating is that some bugs are difficult to repeat. I KNOW they're there ... but getting acknowledgement of them let alone fixing them is difficult at best.

For example: PSA turns itself off. The right green "Correcting" box is there ... but the one to its left, Feedback (?), is gone. So no Puresignal. I think it shows up when I've been on CW, transmitted (PSA is still on) ... and I get the red feedback bar for some reason... then if i go to phone I no longer have PS. I have to shut the radio down - POWER off ... wait a few seconds so I can then restart it and all is fine.

Or MON gets turned on when I go to phone... I think this one is when I go to a band where the PS coupler is not inline, i.e. a different amp output... say 160 meters, and then go back to phone on another band where the coupler is inline. MON is on! Under normal use I never have the monitor on when on phone.

For this one thread, re CW and version 2.3/2.4, it was absolutely there. It wasn't imagined. Yet I'm not seeing anyone else reporting anything on it. Because of the interactions in this software I got thinking - what else could cause it... one thing i've not tried yet as I'm still on 1.7 (I enjoy CW and wasn't getting it on 2.3)... is I have the DSP Options CW TX Buffer = 64 , Filter Size 8192, Filter Type Low Latency, Window BH-4. I know the size is not default - its a good bit higher (I think default is 2048)... I don't remember what default is for the rest of them. So that will be my next test. Currently building a custom SteppIR yagi so it will be a few days before I can try it.

Gary
K9RX
K9RX
Posts: 414
Joined: Fri Apr 14, 2017 3:47 pm

Re: 8000DLE and vers 2.3/2.3(N1GP) CW issue.

Postby K9RX » Sun May 13, 2018 1:32 pm

a follow up since I started this thread and don't want to leave it hanging.

So as noted the issue with CW TX not working "right" (whatever that is) was real. Literally I called CQ using 1500W and 12 elements (6/6) on 15 meters and got zero RBN spots using 2.3 ... then downgraded to 1.7 and tried it again no more than 5 minutes later and had a page full of RBN spots (had "40" selected - it was full).

But since there are things in 2.3 that I need - and since of course I want to be current I re-tried 2.3. I deleted the file I had on my desktop and reloaded it. Did the upgrade - tried CW and had and have no issues.

I asked if the upgrade process included error checking - a common, dare I say required procedure in the industrial world is to always have some form of error checking for file transfers. I was told this procedure, the upgrade tools/file, do no error checking. So I can only assume something happened in the process. That is a really weak assumption because it did the same thing using version 2.3 and 2.3(beta/N1GP) and both exhibited the CW TX issue and no other issue... but I fail to come up with any other reason why this happened as it did.

So again - redoing the upgrade for the 3rd time did it.

Gary
K9RX

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