Transmitter Software Capabilities and Issues (Jessie)

Discussion about this major DATV Project. See https://wiki.batc.org.uk/The_Portsdown_Transmitter
G3UEQ
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Re: Transmitter Software Capabilities and Issues

Post by G3UEQ » Fri Jan 27, 2017 8:27 pm

Sorry Dave
Mis-read your FAQ, should be using RPI3!, I have one running my Digital Node, so will try later, maybe that is problem.
Andy G3UEQ

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Re: Transmitter Software Capabilities and Issues

Post by G3UEQ » Fri Jan 27, 2017 9:26 pm

Right, swapped over to PI3, same situation..locks up with Pattern selected going from TX cannot resume to RX.
Andy G3UEQ

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Re: Transmitter Software Capabilities and Issues

Post by G8GKQ » Fri Jan 27, 2017 9:43 pm

Hi Andy

Pleased to hear that it works to some extent! The PATERNAUDIO mode is not as good as I would like and seems to have some memory conflict issues. Hence the jerky balls...

The only thing that I can suggest is to make sure that you are tapping your touchscreen in the right place (where the transmit button would be if you could see it). Can you get out of this mode OK when you select it from the console (another computer running Putty)?

Dave, G8GKQ

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Re: Transmitter Software Capabilities and Issues

Post by g0mjw » Sat Jan 28, 2017 8:26 am

I have also had some issues with the touch screen not being very responsive - I think this is my screen which works but seems particularly insensitive.Maybe the answer to this is a physical TX/Standby/RX switch? A dual pole ON-OFF-ON toggle switch could also control the transmit/receive relays etc. It could use two of the spare IO lines.



Mikr

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Re: Transmitter Software Capabilities and Issues

Post by G8GKQ » Sat Jan 28, 2017 10:32 am

Mike

If you run a console when you are using your touchscreen, do you see your failed touch attempts as x y coordinates, but without an action? If so, there may be scope to increase the sensitivity. Let me know and I'll take a look.

Hardware TX/RX switch is not easy for 2 reasons: the TX processes do not respond too well to interrupts, and there are no spare GPIO pins without sacrificing some backwards compatibility (DigiThin etc). I had thought of it, but rejected the idea.

Thanks, Dave G8GKQ

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Re: Transmitter Software Capabilities and Issues

Post by G8GKQ » Sat Jan 28, 2017 6:00 pm

New Software Release - Bug fix

I've just had to issue a new release 201701280, as upgrade 201701270 did not properly install the new files to control the ADF4351 Synthesizer.

If you are using, or plan to use, an ADF4351, you should install this bug fix to deliver the intended functionality of yesterday's release.

Dave
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Re: Transmitter Software Capabilities and Issues

Post by G3UEQ » Sat Jan 28, 2017 9:41 pm

Dave
Having gone through the settings again, I can now get out of TX and return to Standby, why I cannot see as it does not make sense. I have another problem at present, I cannot use the Update facility, it says I have an internet connection but cannot find Github or being blocked. I have put the PI in as a fixed IP address in the router and firewalls are correctly set, also in A/V software. I can download other Github repositories OK on my other PI projects.

When I first got the BATC card I did an update as the version I think was November and this updated successfully. But I cannot download your latest update.
One other thing, I am not happy about just switching the PI off when in Touchscreen mode, I can revert to console mode and do a shutdown request but it seems a bit long winded. Would it be possible to add a shutdown button say in between RX and TX buttons. Or in your opinion is it safe to keep just switching off without going through a formal shutdown procedure.

I have built an MMDVM multimode digital repeater using a PI3 and on one occasion shutting down by just switching off, I ended up with a corrupted SanDisk Ultra class 10 SD card. Admittedly this has only happened once!
Regards
Andy G3UEQ

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Re: Transmitter Software Capabilities and Issues

Post by G8GKQ » Sat Jan 28, 2017 11:42 pm

Hi Andy

First the easy answer. There is a physical shutdown button facility see https://wiki.batc.tv/Portsdown_hardware ... e_shutdown. You should connect a push to make button between GPIO pin 15 And 3.3v for this. You may also need a pull down resistor (1K?) on the pin as the Pi's internal pull down is quite weak. The software (https://github.com/philcrump/pi-sdn) is loaded, but you will need to enable it. I think it's an option in the setup menu. The software shutdown from the touchscreen is on my to-do list.

For the update problem, try pasting

Code: Select all

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/BritishAmateurTelevisionClub/rpidatv/master/scripts/latest_version.txt
in at the commmand line and see what it says. It should return a version number, but you may see an error message that might help you.

Hope that helps

Dave, G8GKQ

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Re: Transmitter Software Capabilities and Issues

Post by G8GKQ » Thu Feb 02, 2017 5:08 pm

New Software Release

I've just issued a new release 201702020 that includes the latest version of pi-sdn, the utility that allows you to safely shutdown the RPi by pushing a hardware button fitted between GPIO pins 13 and 15. The previous error messages are no longer displayed.

The release also allows easier testing of development software and eases the process of getting this software into the production build.

Most users should not bother to upgrade to this release - the old shutdown button functionality worked safely, it just displayed some error messages.

Dave
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Re: Transmitter Software Capabilities and Issues

Post by f1faq » Sun Feb 05, 2017 9:33 pm

Hi Dave,

Just made fresh installations on two Rpi3
Used the -d option to have latest...
Then put one on emission the other on reception (H264-Pi Cam 250K 7/8)
I have a reception confirmed by a nice constellation (and have lock), but no
image displayed
I tested emission via DATV-Express card, driven by the Rpi3 (your last addition), same thing no image displayed
I tested emission via DATV-Express card with its own (G4GUO) software, same thing...
I found that leansdr has been modified last 3 days (see Github), could this be related to the problem ?
On an other side, Bravo for what you do, well done even if not yet finished !
73 - Christian
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73 - Christian
F1FAQ

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