Re: CW OPERATION
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Thank Jerry, but in all of the software put out by the Triumviratw Skonk Works from our first public release for the original NANO and ever since, CW has not only worked properly but the Keyer has too. ?We figured out early on that using the voltage divider was NOT and still is NOT the way to go. ?Using 2 inputs and learning how to use the available (timer not pin) interrupts properly works just fine. ?Our software (written mostly by Ron, W2CTX) addressed the CW problem early on. There is no need for me to use Ian's sodftware as it is so full of work-arounds, not fixes to all the problems that have cropped up that I refuse to use it. ?His source code is so convoluted that even the most experienced programmers on this group have given up trying to fix it for him. The Nextion display is getting so cluttered up with extra buttons & menus that you almost can't read the frequency on it any more. ?It started out being a pretty nice addition and now is so cluttered as to be almost unusable. ?It's also a "Single Source" display with a GUI editor that most people can't even figure out how to use. ?Where's the utility in that? What are all of those who spent and are spending LOTS of money just for the Nextion display alone, trying to make their uBITX $119 or $129 kit radio look like a $2000 or higher big name radio going to do when that Chinese company decides to charge hundreds of dollars for the use of their editor (since it seems to have gotten popular) and raises their prices astronomically for the Nextion because they are selling to the hams at such a rate or quits production because the market dries up? Frankly, the original LCD was quite adequate for a rig of this caliber and all of the problems involved in using it should have been addressed before even thinking of trying something else.? By the Way, the TSW DID that. ?We went to using the (easily accessible on the original Raduino) I2C bus to drive the display (added minimal extra cost and freed up a bunch of digital lines to use for the CW Keyer and other controls. Also, now that Ian HAS implemented the 4 wire (power ground, TX & RX) Nextion interface that leaves 8 digital I/O pins freee on the old display connector. ?Why has he not solved the major CW problem by dropping the voltage divider altogether and using digital inputs for the paddles dot and dash inputs? ?Switch the hand key portion of the keyer over to use the Push To Talk (PTT) line, wire the hand key to use the mike jack if you don't want to add another dedicated jack. ?This allows auto select of hand key or paddles just by hitting the hand key or pressing the paddles. ?Ask Ron, it took minimal code to do this. ?You don't need PTT in CW operation and you don't normally need the hand key in SSB operation so the PTT wire is easily co-opted for this. ? By the way, this is not meant to be a rant though it may be turning into one. ?I've seen many people complaining lately that the keyer doesn't work properly but nobody has proposed or made a proper fix to the CEC software. ?TSW has had the solution almost from the beginning but everyone has drunk the "Nextion" kool-aid and the programmer for that has chosen NOT to fix the CW issue. ?TSW has also tried to provide readable and understandable PDF files explaining how our programs work and any (usually minor) hardware changes necessary to make it work. ? Jim Sheldon, W0EB for TSW (Triumvirate Skonk Works) website: www.w0eb.com ------ Original Message ------
From: "Jerry Gaffke via Groups.Io" <jgaffke@...>
Sent: 9/2/2018 11:19:23 PM
Subject: Re: [BITX20] CW OPERATION Ian's software is the most popular update available for the uBitx. |
Jim Sheldon