Re: #qcx CAT control
#qcx
Hi Hans:
Alas, I've probably forgotten any assembler skills I used to have. I spend some of my time now trying to find ways to use standard C more efficiently. Indeed, in my Beginning C book, I spend a lot of time showing how to move from RDC (Really Dumb Code) to SDC (Sorta Dumb Code). For example, we've all seen something like:
int myArray[100];
for (i = 0; i < 100; i++) ?? myArray[i] = 0;
used to zero-out an array. (If myArray[] is global, it should already be zeroed-out. I never trust this assumption...been bitten in the butt several times on this early on.) The version above is not really RDC, but a version of SDC. A better way to write it is:
#define ELEMENTS(x) ????(sizeof(x) / sizeof(x[0])) #define MAXARRAYSIZE? ? 100
int myArray[MAXARRAYSIZE];
memset(myArray, 0, ELEMENTS(myArray));
So why is this better? A good optimizing compiler will produce almost identical code for both versions. However, the second version is easier to read/change and has no magic runtime numbers in it. Anything a programmer can do to make the code easier to read and understand is almost always a good thing. Also, the ELEMENTS() macro is typeless...it will work with any C aggregate data type so it can be used to remove magic numbers from other points in the code. My goal is to get to WC (Wow Code). I've never written any of that, but have seen a couple of examples written by others.
Anyway, this is an obtuse way of saying my assembler skills have eroded to almost zero and I live in an SDC world surrounded by C. I hope to do some WC before the sand runs out of the hour glass!
Now...get back to work!
Jack, W8TEE
On Thursday, November 28, 2019, 3:44:45 AM EST, Hans Summers <hans.summers@...> wrote:
Hi Allison...
> But I'm still appalled with the IDE as even a simple program like blink
> can suck down almost 1k of space.
Just clarification for other readers... you refer to the Arduino IDE. Arduino isn't used in any QRP Labs firmware. I always write in native C and in some cases (even in QCX) there is a bit of Assembler in there too.?
I'm also not using any libraries like printf etc. or anything in the standard libraries. I just coded what I need myself, in C. It takes a bit longer than using libraries but at least you end up understand everything that is going on, and being able to optimize it to the application.?
Hi Jack...
I cut my teeth on Z80 assembler, primarily... mid-80's (I was a teenager), some surplus home computers (6502-based Acorn Electron bought cheap as surplus, then Sinclair ZX81 and ZX Spectrum (both Z80) handed down from my Grandfather when he upgraded to later models). I had a lot of fun then. I wrote my own assembler/disassembler in BASIC. I was somewhat obsessed with the Mandelbrot set in those days, and while of little practical value it was highly fascinating and a good motivation to learn Assembler and tricks, to make it go faster. I recall a simple low resolution Mandelbrot could take 10 hours to compute in BASIC, but in Assembler I could run it in 7 minutes :-)? More: ?
I think the time I spent on 80's home computers was a good foundation for later work not just these days in embedded systems (an ATmega328 has quite similar capabilities to those old machines); but also in the intervening years professionally. I often lamented chronic tendencies by younger software developers to assume a lot of "infinites". Specifically, infinite CPU speed, infinite network bandwidth, infinite disk space, infinite memory availability, and infinitesimal network latency. A lot of the time these infinite assumptions actually did approximate reality but, I was working in the area of financial exotic derivatives pricing and risk management, a lot of it is computationally very heavy indeed; so the approximations frequently broke down. I was known to frequently whip colleagues and team members (trying to whip kindly) to write code more efficiently? :-)?
73 Hans G0UPL
|
Re: Very Hot Voltage Regulator, Blank Screen
FOR THE RECORD
Hi, Alan and company
That loud BAAAAAA you heard across the pond was a very sheepish Jim. I went in my toy room, removed the NAS carcass from the top of the Elenco XK-500 "trainer" (1991 production) where I had breadboarded a gps controlled clock with an Arduino Nano and a 16X2 display. I pulled the orange wire at the "E" pin of the display and fired it up. Sure enough, single row of blocks. Apparently I have "dismembered" testing unknown condition displays by setting the slide switches, punching the microswitch on the "E" pin, setting the switches, punching .......
73
Jim W4JED
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On 11/27/19 9:21 AM, Alan G4ZFQ wrote:
FOR THE RECORD
A single row of blocks means the display has been initialized. The manual says the equivalent of
"A single row of blocks means the display has NOT been initialized"
73 Alan G4ZFQ
|
Thanks Gregg,
?
Found it,? did a factory reset (menu 7.8),? selected 40M, performed the alignment successfully.
?
73, August
?
|
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
-------Original Message-------
?
Date: 11/28/2019 6:23:25 AM
Subject: Re: [QRPLabs] Wrong band selected
?
Depending on the firmware version, the factory reset is menu 7.8 or 7.9. Anyway, it is under the 'Other' menu and the prompt will make it pretty clear.
73, Gregg
Page 96 of the manual suggests that Menu selection 7.8 will let you reset to an unconfigured state.
--?
MC
?
|
Re: #qcx #cat T1.03y beta for CAT control
#qcx
#cat
Hi Fred
Ah yes OK. Then Ralf is right, it IS twisted by any reasonable definition of twisted. Apologies. My typo. Even on re-reading it I could see my own error!?
FR Receive VFO FT Transmit VFO
73 Hans G0UPL? ?
On Thu, Nov 28, 2019, 14:46 Fred VK2WS < felodden@...> wrote: Hans,
I suspect that Ralf is referring to -
FR: Get/set Transmit VFO Mode: 0 = VFO A; 1 = VFO B; (2 = Split only for Set)
FT: Get/set Receive VFO Mode: 0 = VFO A; 1 = VFO B; (2 = Split only for Set)
However the full description in your response clears things up.
FR relates to Receive settings? and FT relates to Transmit settings.
I think a simple typo crept into the command listing near the head of your original post.
73 Fred VK2WS
|
Re: #qcx #cat T1.03y beta for CAT control
#qcx
#cat
Hans,
I suspect that Ralf is referring to -
FR: Get/set Transmit VFO Mode: 0 = VFO A; 1 = VFO B; (2 = Split only for Set)
FT: Get/set Receive VFO Mode: 0 = VFO A; 1 = VFO B; (2 = Split only for Set)
However the full description in your response clears things up.
FR relates to Receive settings? and FT relates to Transmit settings.
I think a simple typo crept into the command listing near the head of your original post.
73 Fred VK2WS
|
On mine, the yellow LED starts pulsing. This will continue to pulse, and the green LED will kick in once you get a lock on several satellites. I would try the full 5v. 4v probably isn't enough.
73, Gregg
I just finished building a QLG1 module to warm my self up for the QCX 20 and 40. Just to try a quick check I connected a 18650 cell at 4 volts to it. As soon as the power was applied both the red and yellow LEDs lit for 1 or 2 seconds and then the yellow went out and the green one lit up. Nothing else happens. From what I understand from the manual the yellow LED should pulse at once per second, but I get nothing. Is this correct or is there something wrong? Maybe It needs the full 5V input. Any help would be appreciated.?
Tnx
Tim - K5DEZ
|
Depending on the firmware version, the factory reset is menu 7.8 or 7.9. Anyway, it is under the 'Other' menu and the prompt will make it pretty clear.
73, Gregg
Page 96 of the manual suggests that Menu selection 7.8 will let you reset to an unconfigured state.
--? MC
|
On Thu, 28 Nov 2019 at 11:15, SkipF, NT1G < skip.flem@...> wrote: ? ? ?Sounds like 'another job' for Hans...
Please, please, don’t give Hans any more jobs he has the QSX to think about.
73 from Clive G8POC?
All good things are worth waiting for ?
|
Re: #qcx #cat T1.03y beta for CAT control
#qcx
#cat
Hi Ralf? FR: Get/set Transmit VFO Mode: 0 = VFO A; 1 = VFO B; (2 = Split only for Set)
FT: Get/set Receive VFO Mode: 0 = VFO A; 1 = VFO B; (2 = Split only for Set)
Is this correct, or twisted? I have downloaded 1.03y but did not any testing yet.
It depends on your definition of correct, and your definition of twisted. The description is correct. The TS-480 probably does not quite function the same as the QCX so some changes were required.?
In GET mode (commands FR; or FT; are used):
FR: Returns 0 if VFO A is being used for receive, and 1 if VFO B is being used for receive. But when 0 is returned (VFO A), that could mean EITHER the VFO Mode setting is VFO A or Split - because VFO A is also used for Receive during split. So there is an ambiguity.?
FT: Returns 0 if VFO A is being used for transmit, and 1 if VFO B is being used for transmit. But when 1 is returned (VFO B), that could mean EITHER the VFO Mode setting is VFO B or Split - because VFO B is also used for Transmit during split. So there is an ambiguity.?
During SET mode (commands FR1; or FT1; for example, where here 1 means VFO Mode B), both the FR and FT function operate the same. In both cases, the VFO mode is set to A, B or Split for supplied parameter values 0, 1 or 2 respectively. I did it this way because there is otherwise no way to overcome the ambiguity inherent in the FR and FT commands in the QCX implementation.?
If there is a better way to do this, please suggest it and I shall be pleased to amend it.?
73 Hans G0UPL
|
Sounds like 'another job' for Hans... Software Project Manager. 'twice the work in half the time.'
|
As I understand it the QLG1 needs a 5 volt supply, i also managed to fall? into this trap with a supply of around 4.5 volts, Hope this helps. Vy 73 Mike
On 28 Nov 2019 7:43 a.m., Tim Keene < [email protected]> wrote: I just finished building a QLG1 module to warm my self up for the QCX 20 and 40. Just to try a quick check I connected a 18650 cell at 4 volts to it. As soon as the power was applied both the red and yellow LEDs lit for 1 or 2 seconds and then the yellow went out and the green one lit up. Nothing else happens. From what I understand from the manual the yellow LED should pulse at once per second, but I get nothing. Is this correct or is there something wrong? Maybe It needs the full 5V input. Any help would be appreciated.?
Tnx
Tim - K5DEZ
|
Re: #qcx #cat T1.03y beta for CAT control
#qcx
#cat
On Wed, Nov 27, 2019 at 03:50 AM, Hans Summers wrote:
FR: Get/set Transmit VFO Mode: 0 = VFO A; 1 = VFO B; (2 = Split only for Set)
FT: Get/set Receive VFO Mode: 0 = VFO A; 1 = VFO B; (2 = Split only for Set)
Is this correct, or twisted? I have downloaded 1.03y but did not any testing yet. Ralf
|
Re: #qcx CAT control
#qcx
Hello Denis
Thanks very much for the testing results on 1.03y.?
Glad to hear that the keyer problems have gone.?
Congratulations on the FB DX with TR8CR, I admit to having to look him up on QRZ.com (Gabon, which I'm ashamed to say, still did not help me... so I had to look at the QRZ.com map to find it is a W.African country). Nice one!?
Please could you investigate more and explain about VFO B? Is there a problem in the firmware? If so... I need to fix it!?
I did find two minor cosmetic problems with WSPR beacon operation, and have fixed those in my local copy. The first is that the menu description text is swapped for menu items "6.7 WSPR locator" and "6.8 WSPR power" so that in 1.03y they read "6.7 WSPR power" and "6.8 WSPR locator", though the menu contents and editing are still fine. So that was a trivial typo and easily fixed. The second problem is that the new realtime clock display, when enabled, conflicts with beacon mode... it just looks a bit ugly on the screen that's all, so I have now disabled the realtime clock during beacon operation, since the time is already shown (bottom left) while waiting and the bottom line of the display is already used during the beacon transmission phase.?
Any other comments on T1.03y from Denis or anyone else, would be very welcome.?
73 Hans G0UPL
Hi all,
after a lot theory,? now some findings with the new test Firmware T1.03y (-:
First ,? keyer works ok now.? While performing some test i heard TR8CR yesterday calling on 30m ,? i give it a try and and he came back to my call.
(QCX battery powered with 12V , ~4Watt with modified Class-E PA , into a quarterwave vertikal with two elevated radials)
So in real life test? --> no error in keyer, everything went fine.? QCX was connected to LPB2 and the serial port was shared with CW Skimmer , UCXLOG and WSJT at the same time.
Polling interval was 1000ms.
More deep tests show that the polling rate should not go below 500ms, otherwise the LCD will show wrong characters during frequency tuning. Keyer is not affected. Only the very first dit or dat maybe corrupted ... what is not so important. Polling rate 750ms up to a second is not a problem for me.?
VFO A , VFO B Setting. While VFO A is working as it should, the VFO B Setting will be overriden by 00000000 (maybe from the software , i have to test.) In normal operation no problem , in Split mode this may be a problem , but i will test this beavior later on.
Conclusion: I'm happy and i managed to master accidentally a new country on 30m (-:
Best regards
Denis
DL5SFC
|
Re: #qcx CAT control
#qcx
Hi Allison...
> But I'm still appalled with the IDE as even a simple program like blink
> can suck down almost 1k of space.
Just clarification for other readers... you refer to the Arduino IDE. Arduino isn't used in any QRP Labs firmware. I always write in native C and in some cases (even in QCX) there is a bit of Assembler in there too.?
I'm also not using any libraries like printf etc. or anything in the standard libraries. I just coded what I need myself, in C. It takes a bit longer than using libraries but at least you end up understand everything that is going on, and being able to optimize it to the application.?
Hi Jack...
I cut my teeth on Z80 assembler, primarily... mid-80's (I was a teenager), some surplus home computers (6502-based Acorn Electron bought cheap as surplus, then Sinclair ZX81 and ZX Spectrum (both Z80) handed down from my Grandfather when he upgraded to later models). I had a lot of fun then. I wrote my own assembler/disassembler in BASIC. I was somewhat obsessed with the Mandelbrot set in those days, and while of little practical value it was highly fascinating and a good motivation to learn Assembler and tricks, to make it go faster. I recall a simple low resolution Mandelbrot could take 10 hours to compute in BASIC, but in Assembler I could run it in 7 minutes :-)? More: ?
I think the time I spent on 80's home computers was a good foundation for later work not just these days in embedded systems (an ATmega328 has quite similar capabilities to those old machines); but also in the intervening years professionally. I often lamented chronic tendencies by younger software developers to assume a lot of "infinites". Specifically, infinite CPU speed, infinite network bandwidth, infinite disk space, infinite memory availability, and infinitesimal network latency. A lot of the time these infinite assumptions actually did approximate reality but, I was working in the area of financial exotic derivatives pricing and risk management, a lot of it is computationally very heavy indeed; so the approximations frequently broke down. I was known to frequently whip colleagues and team members (trying to whip kindly) to write code more efficiently? :-)?
73 Hans G0UPL
|
I just finished building a QLG1 module to warm my self up for the QCX 20 and 40. Just to try a quick check I connected a 18650 cell at 4 volts to it. As soon as the power was applied both the red and yellow LEDs lit for 1 or 2 seconds and then the yellow went out and the green one lit up. Nothing else happens. From what I understand from the manual the yellow LED should pulse at once per second, but I get nothing. Is this correct or is there something wrong? Maybe It needs the full 5V input. Any help would be appreciated.?
Tnx
Tim - K5DEZ
|
Re: #qcx CAT control
#qcx
Hi all,
after a lot theory,? now some findings with the new test Firmware T1.03y (-:
First ,? keyer works ok now.? While performing some test i heard TR8CR yesterday calling on 30m ,? i give it a try and and he came back to my call.
(QCX battery powered with 12V , ~4Watt with modified Class-E PA , into a quarterwave vertikal with two elevated radials)
So in real life test? --> no error in keyer, everything went fine.? QCX was connected to LPB2 and the serial port was shared with CW Skimmer , UCXLOG and WSJT at the same time.
Polling interval was 1000ms.
More deep tests show that the polling rate should not go below 500ms, otherwise the LCD will show wrong characters during frequency tuning. Keyer is not affected. Only the very first dit or dat maybe corrupted ... what is not so important. Polling rate 750ms up to a second is not a problem for me.?
VFO A , VFO B Setting. While VFO A is working as it should, the VFO B Setting will be overriden by 00000000 (maybe from the software , i have to test.) In normal operation no problem , in Split mode this may be a problem , but i will test this beavior later on.
Conclusion: I'm happy and i managed to master accidentally a new country on 30m (-:
Best regards
Denis
DL5SFC
|
Improvement for 40m BPF for the U3s
I built a jig for the bandpass filters so I could look at their properties with a NanoVNA.? I discovered that the best return loss for my 40m filter as built to specs in the instructions was at 5.125 MHz. After removing a turn from L2 and L3 it seemed to move the peak toward the 7.050 MHz area, but at a much poorer return loss. I put the turns back, I put a 75pF capacitor in the spare set of holes for the output end capacitors, and that improved the return loss by 9dB over the original configuration. I will be checking the other filters over the next few days, and it will be interesting to see if I can improve them also... Improving the return loss means that I will have more power to the antenna for WSPR.
Jim W6US
|
Page 96 of the manual suggests that Menu selection 7.8 will let you reset to an unconfigured state.
--? MC
|
Just finished building my 40M QCX, and by mistake I selected the 80M band instead of 40M.
I am not able to complete the Alignment, because when I power up the QCX 3,520 ,000 is displayed.
I tried to change the band to 40M, and was not successful. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
?
August Beza WA2HTF
? |
|
Hans, Farhan, and I have enjoyed an evening meal together for the past couple of years at FDIM. This year I asked him about the QSX and how it was going. He detailed a typical day in his life. Other than the joy he gets from his family, none of us would want any part of his day...especially his work schedule! There are two things about Hans you can bank on: 1) he working as fast as he can to get the QSX ready for the market, and 2) when it arrives on the market, it will be ready for the market. Knowing what he stuffed into a Nano, the QSX with the resources of the STM32 is going to be amazing, especially if he has an API for us software nuts to dink around with!
So, sit tight, tweak your antenna and everything else in the downtime you have right now. Let's just leave him alone and let him get "OUR" rig done!
Jack, W8TEE
On Wednesday, November 27, 2019, 10:32:34 PM EST, Dave, W0DF <dfine100@...> wrote:
Seems like we have enough programming power (programmers) in this group that if Hans taps into it, the sky is the limit for the QSX. I wonder what the holdup is with the QSX, hardware of software,? or both?? The wait for it is excruciating.? I have the need for...... melting solder.? C'mon Hans, help about 10K of us solder melters out.
|
jjpurdum
James Daldry W4JED
Michael Johnson
Jim Shepherd