Feedback for version 1.0a here

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K9AQ
Posts: 37
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2017 1:20 am

Re: Feedback for version 1.0a here

Post by K9AQ » Tue Mar 26, 2019 5:03 pm

Steve,

Again thanks for the truly great product

Using the SAS software and a noise generator, I was able to see what a dramatic impact there was by making a minor inductance change on a 6M low pass filter. Trace 2 shows the filter response before I squeezed one of the coil windings closer together. Trace 1 is after. I never would have believed there would have been such a dramatic change in the filter characteristics. Without the SAS software I could only guess at what the performance of the low pass filter was.

Don
K9AQ
https://www.sdrplay.com/community/downl ... ew&id=1631
Attachments
6m filter with minor change in inductance.GIF
6m filter with minor change in inductance.GIF (175.56 KiB) Viewed 123787 times

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fastputt
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Mar 10, 2019 12:43 am

Re: Feedback for version 1.0a here

Post by fastputt » Tue Mar 26, 2019 7:26 pm

There is nothing you could do that would cause that. The analyser size at launch is 1286x754. Is this within your screen resolution ? Does the analyser fit within your display vertically ?

Steve
Tnx for reply Steve my computer screen resolution is 1440x900. Yes, the analyzer display fits vertically. My laptop is a Dell, yesterday I installed the program on a Lenovo E420 ( with its 1366 x 768 resolution) with the same results... the right half of the Controls area is missing completely and the area between the data screen and the control area has an empty space equal is size to what I would estimate the right half of the controls would require. This is true on both laptops, except the Dell laptop does show that right 1/2 over the end of the word 'frequency' at the top of the display. I hope this info helps, if you want me to try anything else... just ask. Thank you as always for your suggestions. 73, Dale

SteveAndrew
Posts: 213
Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2017 11:06 pm
Location: Gold Coast, QLD, Australia

Re: Feedback for version 1.0a here

Post by SteveAndrew » Tue Mar 26, 2019 9:18 pm

fastputt wrote:
There is nothing you could do that would cause that. The analyser size at launch is 1286x754. Is this within your screen resolution ? Does the analyser fit within your display vertically ?

Steve
Tnx for reply Steve my computer screen resolution is 1440x900. Yes, the analyzer display fits vertically. My laptop is a Dell, yesterday I installed the program on a Lenovo E420 ( with its 1366 x 768 resolution) with the same results... the right half of the Controls area is missing completely and the area between the data screen and the control area has an empty space equal is size to what I would estimate the right half of the controls would require. This is true on both laptops, except the Dell laptop does show that right 1/2 over the end of the word 'frequency' at the top of the display. I hope this info helps, if you want me to try anything else... just ask. Thank you as always for your suggestions. 73, Dale
Hi Dale

You say "The right half of the Controls area is missing completely and the area between the data screen and the control area has an empty space equal is size to what I would estimate the right half of the controls would require. "

I'm not too clear about what you are saying here. My understanding from that, is that the entire application window is being displayed, but some of the control panels are missing. Or, is the entire right-hand side of the application window missing - are the min/max/close buttons visible at the top right hand corner of the application window ?

Do the visible controls and fonts look normal ? Can you confirm your display scale setting is set at 100% ?

Do the Options and About windows display correctly ?

Lastly, I don't know what region setting you are using, if not US, could you try switching to US region and see if it makes a difference. It shouldn't, but just worth a check anyway.

A screen shot would be very helpful if at all possible.

Steve

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fastputt
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Mar 10, 2019 12:43 am

Re: Feedback for version 1.0a here

Post by fastputt » Tue Mar 26, 2019 9:41 pm

You say "The right half of the Controls area is missing completely and the area between the data screen and the control area has an empty space equal is size to what I would estimate the right half of the controls would require. "

I'm not too clear about what you are saying here. My understanding from that, is that the entire application window is being displayed, but some of the control panels are missing. Or, is the entire right-hand side of the application window missing - are the min/max/close buttons visible at the top right hand corner of the application window ?

Do the visible controls and fonts look normal ? Can you confirm your display scale setting is set at 100% ?

Do the Options and About windows display correctly ?

Lastly, I don't know what region setting you are using, if not US, could you try switching to US region and see if it makes a difference. It shouldn't, but just worth a check anyway.

A screen shot would be very helpful if at all possible.

Steve[/quote]

Hi Steve, THE BEST NEWS POSSIBLE... IT'S FIXED!! From your questions, you also figured it out!
Even though the resolution was set at 1440x900 I did not know that there was another adjustment in Control Panel - all control panel items - display; which is to "make it easier to read what's on your screen" which I had set at medium - 125% to make the desktop icons a little larger! Once I 'discovered' this, I changed the setting to Smaller - 100% (default) and BINGO ... your program now looks FANTASTIC and imho everything is PERFECT! Talk about learning something new, I NEVER had this issue with any program I ever ran until yours... I am EXTREMELY happy that the challenge has been met and it's not necessary for me to reply to your great questions!! BIG SORRY for my operator error !!!! Thank YOU for not only a GREAT PROGRAM but your attention to my challenge!
Vry 73, Dale K8ETI and yes I am in San Diego. Have a TERRIFIC Day, you just made mine!
Last edited by fastputt on Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am, edited 0 times in total.
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SteveAndrew
Posts: 213
Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2017 11:06 pm
Location: Gold Coast, QLD, Australia

Re: Feedback for version 1.0a here

Post by SteveAndrew » Tue Mar 26, 2019 10:14 pm

fastputt wrote: Hi Steve, THE BEST NEWS POSSIBLE... IT'S FIXED!! From your questions, you also figured it out!
Even though the resolution was set at 1440x900 I did not know that there was another adjustment in Control Panel - all control panel items - display; which is to "make it easier to read what's on your screen" which I had set at medium - 125% to make the desktop icons a little larger! Once I 'discovered' this, I changed the setting to Smaller - 100% (default) and BINGO ... your program now looks FANTASTIC and imho everything is PERFECT! Talk about learning something new, I NEVER had this issue with any program I ever ran until yours... I am EXTREMELY happy that the challenge has been met and it's not necessary for me to reply to your great questions!! BIG SORRY for my operator error !!!! Thank YOU for not only a GREAT PROGRAM but your attention to my challenge!
Vry 73, Dale K8ETI and yes I am in San Diego. Have a TERRIFIC Day, you just made mine!
Hi Dale

I'm glad it worked out for you. I think this is a potential problem that needs to be mentioned in the manual. I'm certainly going to have a terrific day - An uninterrupted 8 hours of solid debugging to look forward too :lol:

Steve

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ja8scd
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2018 9:50 am

Re: Feedback for version 1.0a here

Post by ja8scd » Wed Mar 27, 2019 7:11 am

Hi Steve,
1) - I think you should contact Tech Support regarding the spurious output and higher noise floor of the RSPduo. I also get a slightly higher noise floor with the RSPduo.

2) - BC/FM and DAB buttons: At startup, the buttons are (should be) grey or un-selected, and the filters are disabled. Clicking on a filter button should turn the button blue and enable the filter. I've just checked that operation here and it all seems OK. I'll do some further checking and see if I can get the same error you are getting.
Thanks for your reply.

1) I will contact Tech Support, but could you kindly explain how you define "Ref - dBm" button. Please see the attached. When the Ref is set to -40dBm, the noise floor is quite low with so many spurs. Then, setting Ref to 0dBm shows a much higher noise floor with less spurs. My understanding is that the noise floor should not be changed regardless of how you set the Ref level - which should not affect the RF gain, but the the Ref - dBm level appears to act as RF gain control. (The Ref - dBm button needs to be pushed/toggled a few times before it displays the trace correctly - maybe a bug your have already reported.)

2) Please see the attached. Although the BC/FM&DAB buttons are not inverted (blued), the measurement shows that those filters are enabled. If the Ref - dBm is set to 0dBm, the noise floor is so high that the filter curve will not be displayed - all masked.

If you have time, please try to confirm above 1) and 2). Thanks in advance!

73

Yas - JA8SCD Tokyo
Attachments
-40dbm-ref.png
-40dbm-ref.png (76.3 KiB) Viewed 123735 times
0dbm-ref.png
0dbm-ref.png (71.49 KiB) Viewed 123735 times
bcfmdab.png
bcfmdab.png (67.34 KiB) Viewed 123735 times
Last edited by ja8scd on Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am, edited 0 times in total.
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Mike H
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Mar 17, 2019 4:45 pm

Re: Feedback for version 1.0a here

Post by Mike H » Sat Mar 30, 2019 10:42 pm

Hi, Firstly congratulations on the hard work that must have gone into producing such a useful piece of software as this. This looks like it will be very useful tool for me and is much appreciated. I have come across some confusing behaviour that I thought it worth mentioning. My understanding is that the reference level for the plot just sets the numerical level for the top of the plot. Is this correct or is it somehow used in the log function calculation?

I set up the spectrum analysis program with my RSP2 to look at two local stations in the FM band. I altered the reference level expecting to see just a vertical shift in the plot. Between a reference level of -80dBm and -40dBm the plots all looked as expected with just an expected shift. I noticed that the noise level changed a bit as well, but this was not large. However, for reference levels of -30dBm and -20dBm the whole shape of the plots changed.

Am I missing something or could there be a software problem? I attach the plots that I made with reference levels of -80dBm, -60dBm, -50dBm, -40dBm, -30dBm, -20dBm with the biggest discrepancies on the -30dbm and -20dBm plots.

Cheers, Mike.
Last edited by Mike H on Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am, edited 0 times in total.
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SteveAndrew
Posts: 213
Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2017 11:06 pm
Location: Gold Coast, QLD, Australia

Re: Feedback for version 1.0a here

Post by SteveAndrew » Tue Apr 02, 2019 8:23 am

ja8scd wrote:Hi Steve,
Thanks for your reply.

1) I will contact Tech Support, but could you kindly explain how you define "Ref - dBm" button. Please see the attached. When the Ref is set to -40dBm, the noise floor is quite low with so many spurs. Then, setting Ref to 0dBm shows a much higher noise floor with less spurs. My understanding is that the noise floor should not be changed regardless of how you set the Ref level - which should not affect the RF gain, but the the Ref - dBm level appears to act as RF gain control. (The Ref - dBm button needs to be pushed/toggled a few times before it displays the trace correctly - maybe a bug your have already reported.)

2) Please see the attached. Although the BC/FM&DAB buttons are not inverted (blued), the measurement shows that those filters are enabled. If the Ref - dBm is set to 0dBm, the noise floor is so high that the filter curve will not be displayed - all masked.

If you have time, please try to confirm above 1) and 2). Thanks in advance!

73

Yas - JA8SCD Tokyo
Hi Yas

1) The "Ref-dBm" control sets the reference level at the top of the screen. In addition, it sets the LNA and IF gains, according to a pre-defined look-up table. At higher reference levels, the total gain will be low, the lower the gain, the higher the noise floor will be. At lower reference levels, the gain will be higher, resulting in a lower noise floor. This is normal.

2) I have the filter buttons on the debug list already. They are working here, but I'll run through the code again.

Steve

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SteveAndrew
Posts: 213
Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2017 11:06 pm
Location: Gold Coast, QLD, Australia

Re: Feedback for version 1.0a here

Post by SteveAndrew » Tue Apr 02, 2019 8:31 am

Mike H wrote:I have come across some confusing behaviour that I thought it worth mentioning. My understanding is that the reference level for the plot just sets the numerical level for the top of the plot. Is this correct or is it somehow used in the log function calculation?
Hi Mike

The "Ref - dBm" control sets the reference level to the top of the dispaly, it also sets the LNA and IF gain controls via look-up tables. The "Offset" control just applies a vertical shift to the whole display.
Mike H wrote: I set up the spectrum analysis program with my RSP2 to look at two local stations in the FM band. I altered the reference level expecting to see just a vertical shift in the plot. Between a reference level of -80dBm and -40dBm the plots all looked as expected with just an expected shift. I noticed that the noise level changed a bit as well, but this was not large. However, for reference levels of -30dBm and -20dBm the whole shape of the plots changed.

Am I missing something or could there be a software problem? I attach the plots that I made with reference levels of -80dBm, -60dBm, -50dBm, -40dBm, -30dBm, -20dBm with the biggest discrepancies on the -30dbm and -20dBm plots.

Cheers, Mike.
I can't find the plots - did you attach them ?
At lower gains (higher reference levels) the noise floor will be higher that it would be at higher gains (lower noise floor) - this is normal behavior.

Steve

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Mike H
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Mar 17, 2019 4:45 pm

Re: Feedback for version 1.0a here

Post by Mike H » Tue Apr 02, 2019 10:10 am

I had attached the plots (or so `I was told...) I will try reattaching them in two submissions this time. It is not so much the noise floor that increases, but the shape of the curves as well, especially around marker 'C'. Many thanks, Mike.
Last edited by Mike H on Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am, edited 0 times in total.
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