Thetis v2.8.11 - UPDATES and current issues

[rbduck]

Greetings all!

I have a MAYBE bug, but first the question. Say you have RX1 and RX2 activated. Both are set to 40 meters. Only VAC1 is activated and not VAC2.
I then switch RX2 to 20 meters. The moment I activate VAC2, RX2 automatically reverts back to 40 meters. Is this normal?

By the same token. If I have both Rx1 and Rx2 on 40 meters and VAC1 and VAC2 are activated. As soon as I deactivate either VAC1 or VAC2, Then set RX2 to 20 meters. When either VAC1 or AC2 are deactivated, RX2 automatically. Are these situations normal by design?
Here is a video to demonstrate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6gILJKS784

EDIT: The obvious workaround is to activate both VAC1 and VAC2 and then change RX2 to whatever band you choose. This does not occur if you switch RX1 to a different band.

This is resolved in 21d. It is related to stereo diversity of all things. The way get vac2 to stick to a band is basically turn SD on when on that band.

fix:fixed issues with restoring old vfob frequency when switching out of SD. This caused issues when selecting VAC2 and other things.

Richie.

Outstanding and thanks again Richie. normally don't operate in this fashion. It jumped out at me this morning.

[ramdor]

I have noticed behavior similar to this"

"By the same token. If I have both Rx1 and Rx2 on 40 meters and VAC1 and VAC2 are activated. As soon as I deactivate either VAC1 or VAC2, Then set RX2 to 20 meters."

The difference is it is not related to VAC 1 and VAC 2 as I don't use VAC 2. However, RX2 will jump back to a previous frequency when I make any changes to RX1 mode (USB to LSB for instance) or when I turn RX2 off and turn it back on again. If VFO Sync of SD is on, the frequecy cahnge will be applied to both receivers. It seems to related to either whether "SD" or VFO Sync has been on. The problem seems to go away if I cycle the SD button on and off.

Bob KC4VO

yes there is a problem in 21c related to all that. Amazing it has taken so long for people to find and report it I was in two minds to pull 21c and do a quick ninja fix, but as it wasn't being reported I left it. It will resolve itself when 21d arrives, which may be tomorrow/Saturday if nothing else crops up. Just looking into the filter ud controls atm.

Richie.

[ramdor]

Waterfall opacity could be a thing if people think it would be worth while. Half opacity in the image.

Richie.

opa.jpg (214.16 KiB) Viewed 20913 times

[oe3ide]

That would be a nice addition

What I am missing (coming from SDR Console rx-side) is this

if-display.jpg (29.78 KiB) Viewed 20906 times

No need to zoom in, to have a closer look to the signal..

73 Ernst

[w-u-2-o]

Waterfall opacity could be a thing if people think it would be worth while. Half opacity in the image.

Richie.

Negative Nancy votes "No."

Actually, I don't even understand why people like images in the panadapter portion. I desire the clearest representation of the spectrum possible. I guess I'm just too much of an engineer!

[ramdor]

Waterfall opacity could be a thing if people think it would be worth while. Half opacity in the image.

Richie.

Negative Nancy votes "No."

Actually, I don't even understand why people like images in the panadapter portion. I desire the clearest representation of the spectrum possible. I guess I'm just too much of an engineer!

yeah, same, but after looking at Ernst's nice skins and backgrounds there may be a need

Richie.

[oe3ide]

If I remember right, I had this in some other SDR software... not sure which one.. but after a while I disabled it, because it disturbs the visibility of the signals on the waterfall.
But it depends how users look at the signals... some looking to the spectrum, some looking mainly on the waterfall (like me)...so the background in the spectrum window (picDisplay.png) does not bother me.

So I agree with Scott, it is not really necessary.

I have some other ideas to improve the layout or skin-possibilities. Like the area around the VFO's. Would be nice if we could put this also in a panel like bands, mode, etc.
Different panels (-0 / -1) for active/inactive VFO, etc.

A possibility to switch the main font-color (foreground color) to black, would be perfect for brighter skins. Using "silver-buttons" with black font on it.

73 Ernst

[rbduck]

Waterfall opacity could be a thing if people think it would be worth while. Half opacity in the image.

Richie.

opa.jpg

I like the backgrounds only when it's sittting there not in use. When I sit in front of it and actually start using it I turn the Pic Display OFF.
So , I guess I vote "yes" as long as I still have the ability to disable it. ( I really need to proof my messages better )

[KA5KKT]

FWIW - I recall early on having a world map in the background and the CPU usage was very high. I neutered it and CPU useage dropped substantially. I don't recall what else might have been in play at the time.

[kc2rgw]

That would be a nice addition

What I am missing (coming from SDR Console rx-side) is this

if-display.jpg

No need to zoom in, to have a closer look to the signal..

73 Ernst

I like that FFT view as well.

Ernst just by chance if you didn’t know, you can use SDRConsole with the Anan (at least some models), though it has some quirks to it.

[Tony EI7BMB]

Always thought Cusdr looked really cool but can't remember what is was about the pan adapter etc that made it look so nice.

I'm with Scott , never use the background pic but would be fun to play with

[K1LSB]

Richie,

Not sure whether this is a bug or I'm just not understanding how things work, but for some reason my RX2 waterfall doesn't look at all similar to the RX1 waterfall (power density-wise) even though I've got both displays setup identically and I'm feeding very close to the same signal strength to both receivers.

Can you possibly explain that to me?

Many thanks,
Mark

Capture.PNG (3.74 MiB) Viewed 20855 times

[ramdor]

Perhaps different settings for each waterfall? I am somewhat interested in how you enabled S-ATT on RX2 though. The checkbox for that is actually hidden afaik.

aaa.jpg (74.32 KiB) Viewed 20850 times

[K1LSB]

Here are my RX1 and RX2 Display settings, they are identical:

RX1:

Capture-1.PNG (159.88 KiB) Viewed 20849 times

RX2:

Capture-2.PNG (154.85 KiB) Viewed 20849 times

As far as enabling S-ATT on RX2, it's clickable between ATT and S-ATT for me.

Thanks,
Mark

[K1LSB]

Richie,

Nevermind, apparently it fixed itself when I exited the Thetis session and restarted it:

Capture.PNG (3.52 MiB) Viewed 20848 times

Very sorry for the bother, sir.
Mark

[ramdor]

Ok Mark, there may be a small bug in that code somewhere, as I do notice that 2m & VHF is selected for RX2 in your images which would explain the difference in the waterfall range data perhaps.

Regarding the S-ATT, I really need to investigate that S-ATT for RX2. I assumed that it was always as a drop down list there and not s-att. Does it switch on/off to the dropdown when you select s-att in setup? What radio are you using?

The only way I can see that it will show from the old code is if the database has an old historic entry that had previously set chkRX2StepAtt to true.

Anyone else have an S-ATT entry for RX2?

Richie.

[K1LSB]

Richie, where do I find S-ATT option in Setup?

Mark

Edit: Sorry Richie, just saw your other question: I'm running a 7000DLE MKII black case.

[rbduck]

Ok Mark, there may be a small bug in that code somewhere, as I do notice that 2m & VHF is selected for RX2 in your images which would explain the difference in the waterfall range data perhaps.

Regarding the S-ATT, I really need to investigate that S-ATT for RX2. I assumed that it was always as a drop down list there and not s-att. Does it switch on/off to the dropdown when you select s-att in setup? What radio are you using?

The only way I can see that it will show from the old code is if the database has an old historic entry that had previously set chkRX2StepAtt to true.

Anyone else have an S-ATT entry for RX2?

Richie.

Yes Richie,

I double clicked on the ATT in the bottom left corner of the UI and it changed to S-ATT, just as it does on the setting for RX1.

[oe3ide]

Anyone else have an S-ATT entry for RX2?

Yes, double-click on the ATT-label (lblRX2Preamp) switches ATT to S-ATT.

73 Ernst

[ramdor]

Anyone else have an S-ATT entry for RX2?

Yes, double-click on the ATT-label (lblRX2Preamp) switches ATT to S-ATT.

73 Ernst

sheesh, learn something new every day

Richie.

[oe3ide]

Yes, double-click on a label is not very intuitive
Maybe a btn would be better.

73 Ernst

[ramdor]

Well, that will cause some work for this morning. Why was the chkRX2StepAtt in setup hidden away, yet is used by double clicking a label ? Aaagghhhhh....

1) step attenuation is applied with function calls SetADC1StepAttenData/SetADC2StepAttenData
2) Thetis previously has always used SetADC1StepAttenData for RX1
2) Thetis previously has always used SetADC2StepAttenData for RX2

Note, the ADC<number> in the function calls starts at 1, where as we are used to ADC0 on the setup front end.

For radios 100d, 200d, 7000/8000's, the issue arises If you have DDC2 (rx1) set to ADC1 in setup. RX1 should be calling SetADC2StepAttenData but is actually calling SetADC1StepAttenData. The same issue exists if you have ADC0 selected in setup for DDC3 (rx2). It should be calling SetADC1StepAttenData, but is actually always calling SetADC2StepAttenData. The front end spectrums/signals/etc look like they are working because the atten offset is applied.

Richie.

[oe3ide]

FWIW - I recall early on having a world map in the background and the CPU usage was very high. I neutered it and CPU useage dropped substantially. I don't recall what else might have been in play at the time.

Did some tests with different background pics (picDisplay.png).
I tested 3840x2160, 1920x1080, 1024x768 and 800x600. There is absolute no difference in the CPU-Usage.

73 Ernst

[ramdor]

FWIW - I recall early on having a world map in the background and the CPU usage was very high. I neutered it and CPU useage dropped substantially. I don't recall what else might have been in play at the time.

Did some tests with different background pics (picDisplay.png).
I tested 3840x2160, 1920x1080, 1024x768 and 800x600. There is absolute no difference in the CPU-Usage.

73 Ernst

Probably from back in the GDI+ days. I am all for removing the GDI+ engine stuff... pointless in this day and age. Do a test, run it in gdi+ and use a background

Note: If you do there is an issue with the directX live swapping in thetis, so you really need to select dX and restart.

Richie.

[rbduck]

While we are on the subject of Waterfall. How difficult would it be to add somthing on the console where one could adjust the waterfall intensity?
I have been adjusting it on the Setup>Display>RX1 tab. The default High level is -80. During the morning it is necessary to change this to -60 or even -50 to prevent what I see in the screen capture. I realize it is not practical to add everything to the Console screen, but this is something I have to modify a good bit. Also, if this is not a problem for anyone else it is a moot point. This is a pretty strong signal.

[PD3LK]

Hi, it's already there......
With this setting the WF gain follows the scale dragging in the FFT

[ramdor]

While we are on the subject of Waterfall. How difficult would it be to add somthing on the console where one could adjust the waterfall intensity?
I have been adjusting it on the Setup>Display>RX1 tab. The default High level is -80. During the morning it is necessary to change this to -60 or even -50 to prevent what I see in the screen capture. I realize it is not practical to add everything to the Console screen, but this is something I have to modify a good bit. Also, if this is not a problem for anyone else it is a moot point. This is a pretty strong signal.

are you running waterfall agc or spec sync min/max? If using the sync option I could add an offset I guess, but normally I just drag the spectrum down until the waterfall stops washing out. The trouble is, if we have an offset, then we have an offset per band......

R.

[K1LSB]

Richie,

Here's how Simon Brown does it in SDR Console (it's the slider highlighted on the right edge of the panafall). I really like his method, you can grab either end of the slider and adjust only that end, or you can grab anywhere inside the slider and drag the whole slider:

Capture.PNG (3.95 MiB) Viewed 20732 times

Just wanted to illustrate that possible option,

Mark

[W9BHI]

Richie,
Did you ever find a fix for the disappearing Thetis icon when minimizing?
Don W9BHI

[ramdor]

Let us focus on bugs and stuff... the thread has deviated into changes and all sorts Perhaps create a new thread 'Thetis, if only it did...' ?

To be honest, it is my fault entirely really due to me adding stuff instead of sticking to the reason of this thread. However, I do dislike the resize method of the scale on the left, so all noted for the future. Also, where is the time scale for the waterfall? ah... 'so many activities'

I am still trying to unwire/rewire the attenuation problem. Oh for fix/change that doesn't involve hours of tracking what is happening

R.