Possible enhancements / wishlist

[CU2ED]

Hi Colin,

Already installed the new version and it's working very well but this part:

>> I have not seen your problem with the volume and mic gain. These are working OK for me.
Note that the settings are only saved when you change bands or when you select the set menu.
Maybe you changed the volume and it did not get saved.

I still have problems with this, it won't memorize, because it's only the volume + mic level I suppose it's related to my USB audio device? so I exchange with 3 USB audio dongle I have, all of them works but the same result ... the FFT Ref works very well, so I don't know ... I even start with a new setup, I mean I installed everything on a new SD card ... the same result.

Today I made some QSO's over QO-100 and no problem at all it never crashed !!! I just used a small external audio processor to get more audio punch from my microphone, do you think the Rpi4 has the power to run the gr-cessb module on gnuradio? and if so, a possibility to integrate in near future?
My idea it's it will probably help SSB communication or maybe not ...


thank you,

73

Jacinto
cu2ed

[g4eml]

I have been working most of the day on improvements. I have managed to clean up the transmit signal a lot and have also improved the receiver. I have also found what causes the problem with the initial volume and mic gain. It is a complicated side effect of adding the waterfall display and the way the two programs communicate through pipes. I will try to fix it tomorrow and then release the new version.

The Pi is already working quite hard running the GNU Radio code so additional modules will only work if they don’t take too much time. Once the basic system is working OK I will look again at what can be improved.

Colin.

[CU2ED]

Hi Colin,

>> I have also found what causes the problem with the initial volume and mic gain. It is a complicated side effect of adding the waterfall display and the way the two programs communicate through pipes.

thank you to make this clear, now I understand.

>> I have managed to clean up the transmit signal a lot and have also improved the receiver.

this is good news, will wait for this new version

I also will try FM mode (70cm) on local communication ...

73

Jacinto
cu2ed

[radiogareth]

Just some 'wishes'...
Could 70MHz be added to the 'bands' list? Maybe separate Terrestrial and satellite frequency sets?
Any way to get it to remember last used frequency so that on reboot its there still?
Bands up/down button or mouse scroll (although I can see this conflicting with frequency select) so you don't have to cycle through (what is after all, a very comprehensive list!).
Ability top select different bandwidths on FM (for weather sat reception on 137MHz, 40KHz would be fine). Broadcast FM? (sacrilege I know....but if theres no propagation or enhancement.... )

Gareth

[g4eml]

Gareth,

The ‘bands’ are not fixed they are actually just 10 separate VFOs. So you can modify them to whatever you want. He easiest way to do this would be to edit the config file but you could also just go through each band and program it to a new frequency.

Last frequency is a tricky one. It is already saved when you change bands or change settings. I don’t want to save it on every dial click as that would result in a lot of writing to the memory card. Maybe I can add a timer that saves the frequency after it has been steady for a few seconds.

Band selection is not ideal at the moment, even an up and down button would still be slow. Tuning knob selection would be possible or maybe a pop-up menu of 10 buttons. I will give it some thought.

Variable width filtering is on my to-do list already. At the moment the filter widths are defined in the GNU Radio files but they could be made adjustable and controlled by the GUI.
I don’t want to drift too far away from the design goal of a microwave bands transceiver though. (I guess wideband FM receive might be useful for anyone still using Gunn diodes or DROs ! )


Colin.

[radiogareth]

Colin, Right, got it, I'll have another play and adjust. Agreed about writing to the card endlessly.
WB rx for GUNN, or indeed audio rx from the FM drone transmitters or all those Comtech modules for 24/13cm that must be sitting in drawers somewhere.
Stay focussed and ignore the noise

Gareth

[G7JTT]

Any thoughts on adding support for the LimeSDR mini ? As many of us already have one for the Portsdown 2020
Cheers John

[g4eml]

Hi John,

In theory it could be made to work but it needs quite a few changes. The SDR part is reasonably straightforward but I am controlling the Pluto directly for tuning and power control. When, and if, I get the time to learn how to control the Lime I will have a look at it


Colin.

[G7JTT]

Thanks Colin that'll be great

[g0mjw]

Colin, Right, got it, I'll have another play and adjust. Agreed about writing to the card endlessly.
WB rx for GUNN, or indeed audio rx from the FM drone transmitters or all those Comtech modules for 24/13cm that must be sitting in drawers somewhere.
Stay focussed and ignore the noise

Gareth

WBFM might also be useful for something to listen to in those long hours between contacts.