Thetis v2.9.0 - Updates and Issues

[K9RX]

did you try this? There is an graphics update issue regarding the green thumb grip that is on my list that I haven't looked at yet, but it changes state most of the time. Right click anywhere on the main UI agc slider should do it.

R.

It works as you describe Richie. But, maybe, I think that Gary was on to something., I'm not sure this was his intent, but another method to get a more intuitive, visual approach to adjusting auto AGC settings might be to allow manual adjustment of the AGC slider or G line and then, if auto AGC is activated at that point, for the auto AGC differential/offset/shift to be set to maintain that relative level from there on.

In fact, this is probably the best way to do it. It avoids having another option, and it avoids requiring the knowledge of non-obvious modifier keys.

Then if people want to know what the actual differential/offset/shift (we need to pick a name ) is, they can just right click the AGC slider title to dump themselves into the AGC settings and look at the number in the box.

Sorry for the late reply to this: no, that was not what I had intended Scott. I see where you're going but here's my thinking. One generally will spend a bit of time - massaging - for that AGC offset level ... and generally would want to keep that level once set. However there are times, when for example chasing very weak signal DX on 160M CW, where I'll want to run the line and manually adjust the AGC. In those cases I just want to be able to manually grab the knob (DJ panel for me, so a real knob) and adjust it as I need at the time.... once done however I want to go back to that previously considered and set level of offset. Thus my request to be able to turn it back on. So I was just looking for the ability to turn it off manually and then back on again. I say this only because I'd prefer it stay that way, I think Richie got it right, IMHO. I don't want my once in a while manual excursions to impact the longer term set value.

Gary K9RX

[KC1LKO]

Able to get code, build, deploy, operate.
Have the features, but what is the name of the slider I need to add to the skin for the actual slider to show... (I can right click in the area and see the red bar...) I know... should be able to find in the code the name of that skin component perhaps... Will search a bit more.

Thanks

[KC1LKO]

Able to get code, build, deploy, operate.
Have the features, but what is the name of the slider I need to add to the skin for the actual slider to show... (I can right click in the area and see the red bar...) I know... should be able to find in the code the name of that skin component perhaps... Will search a bit more.

Thanks

Ok. My guess worked. Based on other controls... ptbTUNE-head and ptbTUNE-back
Cool

[ramdor]

Able to get code, build, deploy, operate.
Have the features, but what is the name of the slider I need to add to the skin for the actual slider to show... (I can right click in the area and see the red bar...) I know... should be able to find in the code the name of that skin component perhaps... Will search a bit more.

Thanks

Ok. My guess worked. Based on other controls... ptbTUNE-head and ptbTUNE-back
Cool

entirely at your own risk by running code that is not in a stable suitable state and actually contains partially implemented code. A commit to my repo does not mean it is in a good state but well done on getting it running and getting a look at the tune slider.

I am still working on it along with a new PA profile system. It will be a couple of days before pre-release update, perhaps a full release for the weekend.

Richie.

[KC1LKO]

Able to get code, build, deploy, operate.
Have the features, but what is the name of the slider I need to add to the skin for the actual slider to show... (I can right click in the area and see the red bar...) I know... should be able to find in the code the name of that skin component perhaps... Will search a bit more.

Thanks

Ok. My guess worked. Based on other controls... ptbTUNE-head and ptbTUNE-back
Cool

entirely at your own risk by running code that is not in a stable suitable state and actually contains partially implemented code. A commit to my repo does not mean it is in a good state but well done on getting it running and getting a look at the tune slider.

I am still working on it along with a new PA profile system. It will be a couple of days before pre-release update, perhaps a full release for the weekend.

Richie.

Hey Richie,

Completely understand
Thanks for all you do. A labor of love.

I did make a suggestion on the youtube video to "stop" the "head" in the slider at the point of "limit" vs saying "limit" more visual. Of course, I can take a look... Totally respect the mode of doing only what you like and works for you btw Loved that explanation you gave somewhere recently.

[ramdor]

Ok. My guess worked. Based on other controls... ptbTUNE-head and ptbTUNE-back
Cool

entirely at your own risk by running code that is not in a stable suitable state and actually contains partially implemented code. A commit to my repo does not mean it is in a good state but well done on getting it running and getting a look at the tune slider.

I am still working on it along with a new PA profile system. It will be a couple of days before pre-release update, perhaps a full release for the weekend.

Richie.

Hey Richie,

Completely understand
Thanks for all you do. A labor of love.

I did make a suggestion on the youtube video to "stop" the "head" in the slider at the point of "limit" vs saying "limit" more visual. Of course, I can take a look... Totally respect the mode of doing only what you like and works for you btw Loved that explanation you gave somewhere recently.

yeah i did try it with the hard stop originally, but it didn't feel right. The thumb drag would have to move when setting the stop limits, etc. We will see how it goes as is for now, but thanks for the feedback Code might get an update to fix some things with the sliders, and this PA profile system if I churn the code for another couple hours.

Richie.

[ramdor]

PA Profiles

https://youtu.be/BTAexD4fhUA

soon

Richie.

[K9CDR]

PA Profiles

https://youtu.be/BTAexD4fhUA

soon

Richie.

NICE!!! love it!

[m1tzr]

One of the items on the old wish list was the need to find out if the PTT jack on the back can be controlled directly. This was marked as done in version 21j. Now having looked at the posts from around that time and having watched Richies you tube vid am I correct in thinking the PTT jack couldn't be controlled directly and the only way to disable your amp being keyed is to use the OC port instead ?

Thanks as always for all the great work.

[w-u-2-o]

One of the items on the old wish list was the need to find out if the PTT jack on the back can be controlled directly. This was marked as done in version 21j. Now having looked at the posts from around that time and having watched Richies you tube vid am I correct in thinking the PTT jack couldn't be controlled directly and the only way to disable your amp being keyed is to use the OC port instead.

This cannot be done without firmware changes and therefore is unlikely to be supported anytime soon.

[ramdor]

This was marked as done in version 21j

someone else's 21j perhaps, but not mine. I have wanted this feature myself tbh. The xPA and TX pin actions are related to the OC outputs, not the PTT Key Out RCA.

Richie.

Code: Select all

21j2
add: options to include VACs when MUTE is enabled, for both vac1 and vac2 (Setup->Audio->VAC1/2->[Mute will mute VAC] )
change: removed the 1db midi waterfall step option

21j
fix: vac advanced slew setting now updated when the setting is changed in setupform
fix: penny now told when TX VFOb, so will now pick correct VFOb band for OC pin assignments
fix: labels on VFOB box show correct mode and filter when RX1 is the only rx in use
fix: when leaving TUN the TX meter will now show the correct meter. Caused when TX meter and TUN meter were the same
fix: if in DIGU/L and a TX profile is loaded we now turn off TXeq/dexp/leveler/comp/rxeq/anf/nr/cessb/cfc/phaserot
fix: when selecting a transverter from VHF+ button, if there are no stack entries you will be taken to middle of the transverter range. Previously it would take you to 0MHz
add: additional advanced audio settings exposed
add: OC tx pinout action. Can specify when a pin will enable, based on mox, tune or 2tone state
add: hardware pin state shown on OC setup tabs. green 'leds' for rx state, red for tx state
add: xPA button appears on main console if you have any OC TX pin set as an externalPA control in OC control. This button acts as a master control for any pin assigned as an externalPA pin. When the button is off the pin will always be 0.
add: RX1 + RX2 mute button now mutes audio over VAC
add: diversity form, always on top option
add: tune step is stored against mode, and recovered when mode is changed. Also new option to enable this in Options, default off. Note, only works with RX1 at this time.
-add: 1dB midi waterfall option adjustment added (setup->cat control->cat ... under the config midi button)
add: external PA cat command ZZUP, and midi button to enable/disable xPA button

[m1tzr]

Thanks for the clarification guys, least I am not missing a trick.

Richie I was referring to item 11 on the original wish list thread
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3861

Thanks again
Paul

[ramdor]

yeah the OC options part got done, and I did find out at the time that we couldn't do anything with the PTT key rca unfortunately

R.

[vu2mb]

Thanks, Richie,

Amazing new features and profiles.
Thanks a ton for all these new features.
I am away from radio for 10 weeks and shortly will be able to
lay my hands on them to play with these new features.


73

Bhanu
VU2MB

[KC1LKO]

Regarding the adjustment of the limiter in the tune and drive sliders...

Sometimes it can be difficult to set a precise value of the limiter (red bar) with a right click + drag gesture

Suggestion:
1. Set the value of existing head/knob using mouse wheel
2. Right click + drag should be limited to only those areas right of the knob at this point so one could just "jam it" against the left and the value of the red line should match the value from step one.

Not a biggie of course

[ramdor]

Regarding the adjustment of the limiter in the tune and drive sliders...

Sometimes it can be difficult to set a precise value of the limiter (red bar) with a right click + drag gesture

Suggestion:
1. Set the value of existing head/knob using mouse wheel
2. Right click + drag should be limited to only those areas right of the knob at this point so one could just "jam it" against the left and the value of the red line should match the value from step one.

Not a biggie of course

So to set 10 as a limit I would have to move thumb to 0-10, then right drag?

As it is now, all I do is right drag, and the limit can go below where you are set. It will make more sense when the limits can be instantly switched on/off via cat/midi/etc. I can perhaps use shift wheel to move the limit, but it is not a priority atm.

Just a heads up, if you are compiling anything from the repo atm, back up the DB and check the PA settings for your radio when you restart with new version. It has all been reworked. 264 user controls have become 25. Those 264 user controls each had a setting in the DB, they 'should' all get merged into the new profile system and removed.

The eta on the release for this is 'soon'.

R.

[K9RX]

questions please:

-the "blobs", what is the 2nd number shown in parentheses? It is positive - and it can be larger than the first number although generally is smaller. Not sure what it is.

-cool - very cool that I can have a line showing the noise floor (although I would have thought it would go through the center of the noise floor waveform and not be below it) ... since this is 'known' can you not automatically set the bottom of the pan display to be at that level (maybe +3 or 5 or setable offset)? Noise levels change day to day and via direction - it would be nice to just have the system constantly move the end point (minimum dbm value) automatically, keeping the scale the same.

-can you add 5 hz to the step size? I was going to suggest, ask, that you set step size per the mode - then yesterday I discovered, lo-n-behold you have that already - very cool... but it would be nice to have 5Hz as that would be, for me, the default for CW (I use 25 for SSB). Also it is in keeping with a standard 1/2/5/10 spacing scheme)

-when using DIG can the audio be automatically muted (or a check box to do so)?

-is there a place/page to see the current db? This would be nice as I was playing with a possible bug re QSK, changing DB - and got lost where I was. It is probably there already and I missed it. Possibly in GENERAL/ H/W Select?

I have to say this is like a whole new radio - it is incredible what you guys have done - Richie and the others with ongoing suggestions/improvements. I'm having a blast.

Gary
K9RX

[Scott: sorry if this is not where you think it should be - haven't a clue where that might be so I put it here.]

[w-u-2-o]

Gary,

You are right to question your post placement. This topic is for bugs and feature requests. If you have a "how to" question with Thetis, please do make a new post with a descriptive title with your question in the Thetis sub-forum.

Thanks,

Scott

[DH1KLM]

Loading and starting Thetis with RX2 enabled shows a non-working RX2 S-Meter.
S meter remains at -399 dBm.
Changing the mode on RX2 from e.g. LSB to USB ensures that the S-meter works again.

I noticed this in the TAPR release as well as in Richie's current version.

Can anybody confirm this, or is this already known?

s-meter-RX2.JPG (19.7 KiB) Viewed 6172 times

[oe3ide]

Loading and starting Thetis with RX2 enabled shows a non-working RX2 S-Meter.
S meter remains at -399 dBm.
Changing the mode on RX2 from e.g. LSB to USB ensures that the S-meter works again.

I noticed this in the TAPR release as well as in Richie's current version.

Can anybody confirm this, or is this already known?

s-meter-RX2.JPG

Can not replicate this. Using ADC0 for RX1 and RX2.

73 Ernst

[ramdor]

Can anybody confirm this, or is this already known?

yep, this I have seen this since 2019. The average values were not pre-initialised for RX2, Fixed for next release.

R.

[KC1LKO]

Regarding the right click for limit setting... yes maybe best to leave as is... Definitely not a priority

Just a heads up, if you are compiling anything from the repo atm, back up the DB and check the PA settings for your radio when you restart with new version. It has all been reworked. 264 user controls have become 25. Those 264 user controls each had a setting in the DB, they 'should' all get merged into the new profile system and removed.

Thanks Richie, that is good to check and a good warning to not assume things. Was just thinking about the db today... and potential for corruption... I tend to look at the commits and evaluate a bit... definitely on my own here and I expect no support. The bit about the PA values though... that one is important Thanks.

[ramdor]

New PA Profile System - Revisited

I set my 7000 max output on 80m to 100w when the drive slider is at 100. However when the drive slider is moved to 50, I get 60W out, and not the 50W I expect. A new feature will help to resolve that issue.

Watch the demo here : https://youtu.be/PlkBoOA5rfQ

73 Richie.

[K0MO]

Hola Richie,

Thanks for the video. It's very exciting to see the changes, improvements made to the new PA profiles and the work you do to improve Thetis.

WANT/WISH

Would love to see GUI control panels freely move and resize as well as buttons and sliders to be hidden (out of view) when using, eg: external CAT/MIDI controllers to operate the radio, in an effort to make UI panels more clean and compact (pretty much like "collapsed view" on steroids) by customizing Thetis to show only the panafall view, VFO frequency counters, power & signal scales, band, filter, mode, etc... In other words: Make it show only the info that I need to see and nothing else.

I hope you would start working on these exciting Thetis GUI new changes soon.


73,

Manny K0MO

[K9RX]

WANTWISH:

-the 2nd number in the blog is the relative signal, relative to the noise floor. Could you add an option to only show this? I ask because the first number - although a technical number, the absolute level in dbm, to the vast majority of stations both using and 'hearing' the info - it is meaningless w/o knowledge of where the noise floor is (or even knowing what it represents/what a dbm is!) ... the relative signal out of the noise floor, in db, however, is useful.

-can you add 5 hz to the step size? It would be nice to have 5Hz as that would be, for me, the default for CW (I use 25 for SSB). Also, it is in keeping with a standard 1/2/5/10 spacing scheme)

-when using DIG can the audio be automatically muted (or a check box to do so)?

-can the filter config values be saved externally and then be 'import-able' if a new DB is needed? I customize all of these values for USB/LSB/CW (and 2 for DIGU) - that's 32 total, each one of which requiring entering 3 values! Maybe as an option for right click: configure, default, export, import.

-since the noise floor is known and display-able with a line (nice feature) can you not automatically set the bottom of the pan display to be at that level (maybe +3 or 5 or settable offset)? Noise levels change day to day and via direction - it would be nice to just have the system constantly move the end point (minimum dbm value) automatically, keeping the scale the same.

thanks Richie... have a great day/weekend. Gary K9RX

[NC3Z]

A new feature will help to resolve that issue.
Watch the demo here : https://youtu.be/PlkBoOA5rfQ
73 Richie.

Awesome!

[w-u-2-o]

-the 2nd number in the blog is the relative signal, relative to the noise floor. Could you add an option to only show this? I ask because the first number - although a technical number, the absolute level in dbm, to the vast majority of stations both using and 'hearing' the info - it is meaningless w/o knowledge of where the noise floor is (or even knowing what it represents/what a dbm is!) ... the relative signal out of the noise floor, in db, however, is useful.

Gary--I'm curious how you plan to use the SNR value? Because it represents an SNR (signal to noise ratio) measured in the RBW (resolution bandwidth--now available on the second "page" of the spectral display status line), it can only be relevant to narrowband signals, such as CW, FT8, RTTY etc. Basically any mode that transmits a single tone at a time. It would be close, off by a few dB, for wider but still narrow signals, like PSK31, depending on the RBW. But it has no mathematical value as an SNR reading for wide signals like SSB or AM.

I do definitely agree that SNR ought to become the gold standard for signal reports. S-meter readings are meaningless on an absolute scale because there are too many differences between stations for that to matter.

What might be possibly more useful would be for the S-meter to show, perhaps in the top right corner of it, instantaneous SNR within the passband. It would estimate the passband noise power by taking the noise measurement from the noise display line and scaling it to match the passband bandwidth. For example, noise measurement of -137dBm in a 4.395Hz RBW = -143.4dBm/Hz x 2900Hz passband bandwidth = passband noise power of -108.8, or approx. S3. This would not be exact, but it would be close, within a couple of dB. This SNR value would potential be quite valuable. It could even be shown as both decibels and in S-units. I already give signal reports by looking at my S-meter when the channel is quiet to note the noise level, making reports like "You are 3 S-units above my noise floor".

-since the noise floor is known and display-able with a line (nice feature) can you not automatically set the bottom of the pan display to be at that level (maybe +3 or 5 or settable offset)? Noise levels change day to day and via direction - it would be nice to just have the system constantly move the end point (minimum dbm value) automatically, keeping the scale the same.

That's a great idea! But how should the top number on the panadapter scale act? Should this just be the equivalent of a left-click-drag on the scale, or should the top number be pinned and only the bottom number change?

[ramdor]

-since the noise floor is known and display-able with a line (nice feature) can you not automatically set the bottom of the pan display to be at that level (maybe +3 or 5 or settable offset)? Noise levels change day to day and via direction - it would be nice to just have the system constantly move the end point (minimum dbm value) automatically, keeping the scale the same.

That's a great idea! But how should the top number on the panadapter scale act? Should this just be the equivalent of a left-click-drag on the scale, or should the top number be pinned and only the bottom number change?

this has been requested before. It requires a re-write of the step nature of the scale dragging, to make it the same as the EESDR2/3 implementation. I did try it with the existing display method, but it was 'clunky'. Put on a very long line of back burners.

R.

[w-u-2-o]

-since the noise floor is known and display-able with a line (nice feature) can you not automatically set the bottom of the pan display to be at that level (maybe +3 or 5 or settable offset)? Noise levels change day to day and via direction - it would be nice to just have the system constantly move the end point (minimum dbm value) automatically, keeping the scale the same.

That's a great idea! But how should the top number on the panadapter scale act? Should this just be the equivalent of a left-click-drag on the scale, or should the top number be pinned and only the bottom number change?

this has been requested before. It requires a re-write of the step nature of the scale dragging, to make it the same as the EESDR2/3 implementation. I did try it with the existing display method, but it was 'clunky'. Put on a very long line of back burners.

R.

Damn spaghetti, always getting tangled Thanks for the heads up on that!

[Joe]

Great on the PA alignment feature. Is it anyway possible that say if you only want a max of 50 watts as your example was 20 watts and you scale it as such that you could display the slider as 0 to 50 or the max you want in watts instead of the 100 percent slider display? This would work very well with all models, 8000dle, 7000dle, etc.

Thanks for all,
Joe
WD5Y