How to use the Gradient control

Trucker
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Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2021 5:16 pm

How to use the Gradient control

Postby Trucker » Sat Jul 30, 2022 10:01 pm

Gradient.jpg
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I have played with this control for several days and for whatever reason, I cannot seem to figure out how to use it to apply a Gradient color to the panadapter. I ether get a solid color and loose the line or no color change at all. Is there a clear explanation of it's use somewhere? I have searched this website with every conceivable combination of terms and the most I get is the one with this image attached. But, my old brain cells cannot grasp how it is properly used. I am trying to duplicate the panadapter colors I use in PowerSDR from KE9NS with my Flex 5000A. Also, I have been able to get the same effect in SDR Console with my Hermes Lite 2.
I would be grateful if someone could point me in the right direction. It's not a life or death thing. But, something I have been trying to figure out.
James
WD5GWY
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w-u-2-o
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Re: How to use the Gradient control

Postby w-u-2-o » Sat Jul 30, 2022 10:17 pm

Trucker
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Re: How to use the Gradient control

Postby Trucker » Sat Jul 30, 2022 10:49 pm

Scott, thank you again for your help. I tried following Ritchie's video and I still cannot get the Gradient in the panadapter like he shows in the video. And there are a few settings not in the video. ( I understand he is using an earlier version of Thetis) But, following along, the color does not change like his does. I have Panadapter Gradient checkbox selected. (the Gradient slider isn't grayed out) And in the Dropdown box I have selected Blue as the fill color. With the Panadapter Gradient dropdown unselected, I get a blue fill. And I have to use the Data Fill slider to vary the intensity of the color. With the Panadapter Gradient checkbox selected, if I click anywhere in the colored area, the red dot appears. And if I move it far enough to the left or right, the Fill changes color completely.
I am wondering if there is another selection in Setup that needs to be made for the changes in the Color Gradient slider to take effect? I am using v 2.9.0.6 if that makes any difference.
James
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w-u-2-o
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Re: How to use the Gradient control

Postby w-u-2-o » Sat Jul 30, 2022 10:55 pm

I don't use gradient so perhaps someone who does might chime in.

If I get a chance to play with it myself I'll post back here.
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w-u-2-o
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Re: How to use the Gradient control

Postby w-u-2-o » Sun Jul 31, 2022 11:48 am

I played with gradient this morning. I had little difficulty getting a good (but ugly :D ) gradient once I got the hang of the controls.

The video linked above perfectly describes how to use the gradient feature. The only thing it is missing is the load and save feature (L and S buttons).

Capture.JPG
Capture.JPG (74.25 KiB) Viewed 1312 times

To reproduce what I did perform the following steps:

1. Turn on gradient.
2. Click the default button.
3. Click the gradient bar to add another dot to the right of the -200 dot.
4. Configure the dots as follows: -200 dark blue, -133 dark blue, -120 green, -112 orange, -97 red, +200 red.

Capture1.JPG
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There's no accounting for taste, of course :D

The biggest issue is that, IMHO, for the gradient to work well you need to have the middle cluster of dots very closely spaced. I had suggested to Richie that the scaling of the gradient "control bar" be changed such that the fixed top and bottom dots appeared at -150 and 0dB, as although they are "officially" scaled to +/-200 that range is completely wasted and it makes it very difficult to position the dots otherwise. Another improvement would be to allow a selected dot to be nudged with the cursor keys. But it is what it is.
Trucker
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Re: How to use the Gradient control

Postby Trucker » Sun Jul 31, 2022 3:20 pm

Thank you Scott! I will give it another go. I played with it some last night. I did manage to get some noticeable difference. From your description it appears the dots set the gradient color from bottom to top. Starting from the left of the gradient bar to the right. With the right representing the peak color. And the left dot on the gradient bar representing the bottom of the display. At least that is how it appears to me.
Thank you again.
James
WD5GWY
.
I forgot to mention, you can drag the dots with the mouse. But, sometimes a little movement causes a drastic color change.
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w-u-2-o
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Re: How to use the Gradient control

Postby w-u-2-o » Sun Jul 31, 2022 3:29 pm

Trucker wrote:Thank you Scott! I will give it another go. I played with it some last night. I did manage to get some noticeable difference. From your description it appears the dots set the gradient color from bottom to top. Starting from the left of the gradient bar to the right. With the right representing the peak color. And the left dot on the gradient bar representing the bottom of the display. At least that is how it appears to me.
Yes, exactly correct. That was not obvious to you? :o You do understand that the numeric value attached to each dot represents where that color threshold is on the panadapter in dBm, right?

I forgot to mention, you can drag the dots with the mouse. But, sometimes a little movement causes a drastic color change.
Pretty much everyone knows how this works ;)
Trucker
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Re: How to use the Gradient control

Postby Trucker » Sun Jul 31, 2022 4:32 pm

w-u-2-o wrote:
Trucker wrote:Thank you Scott! I will give it another go. I played with it some last night. I did manage to get some noticeable difference. From your description it appears the dots set the gradient color from bottom to top. Starting from the left of the gradient bar to the right. With the right representing the peak color. And the left dot on the gradient bar representing the bottom of the display. At least that is how it appears to me.
Yes, exactly correct. That was not obvious to you? :o You do understand that the numeric value attached to each dot represents where that color threshold is on the panadapter in dBm, right?

I forgot to mention, you can drag the dots with the mouse. But, sometimes a little movement causes a drastic color change.
Pretty much everyone knows how this works ;)

Scott, again, thank you for your help.
Honestly, no, I did not know that the numeric value attached to each dot represented the color threshold at a particular dBm. Had I realized that maybe I would not have asked the questions I did in the first place.
As for pretty much everyone knowing how this works, that might apply to everyone who has been using Anan radios and Thetis. But, for those of us that are new to the hardware and software, not so much. At my age I have found that it's better to ask questions than to simply guess and possibly create problems.
I am sure you get tired of answering newbie questions. I will try to limit my questions to more obscure (to me) issues and leave the obvious, issues out.
Thank you for your time. ;)
James
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