|
Hi all
I updated the SSB beta testing webpage of the brave, here:??and released firmware version 1_01_003 to it. These are the changes: - Bug fix: Initial value for noise gate samples was 100 (should be max 99) - makes no real difference but it needed to be fixed
- Added TX indication underlining the A character when transmitting from USB sound card in SSB mode. Note that the two possible states for this indication are a single dot (indicating PTT has been applied and now the radio is in TX mode) and the solid bar (indicating audio is being received from the PC and transmitted). There is no double-dot like there is in Digi mode indicating insufficient volume, because in SSB mode the radio transmits whatever you give it, even if the volume is low.?
- Bug fix: CAT command TQ1; did not cause transmit when in SSB mode. Now TQ1; and TQ0; work properly in SSB mode.?
- Bug fix: Prevent button presses from accidentally activating VOX, which was happening due to sound picked up from the internal (cancellation reference channel) microphone when you pressed buttons right next to it, and that prevented band change because the second click of the double click was ignored because by then the radio was in transmit mode. All fixed! Now you can click buttons however you like and when button clicks are done, VOX is temporarily disabled until your button pushing frenzy is over.?
- Power meter now reads Peak Envelope Power (PEP) when in SSB mode. Previously it was just reading a sampled value (NOT an average); so if the power meter was updated 10x a second, the updates would just randomly pick a value from the SSB amplitude?envelope, which was most unlikely to be its peak value.?
- Bug fixL Calibration hung at DAC 1300 when run on LCD. Now the calibration completes properly when run from the LCD.
Many thanks for all the feedback so far, SSB in QMX is getting better and better!
73 Hans G0UPL
|
Just tried this and was able to run calibration from the front panel with USB disconnected. Interesting results.
My QMX+ has TN0110 finals so I was expecting possible issues with calibration. When I first ran cal from Putty, three or 4 of the upper bands plotted as mostly flat lines at the top line of the graph. Most of those bands also exhibit the "
Continuous weak tones at 1KHz/1.5KHz/2Khz so I thought maybe those were affecting the calibration. Some of the tones go away when the USB cable is unplugged so I unplugged it and ran front panel calibration. I thought I was on to something because I could see
full curves being plotted on the LCD for all of the bands. But when I went back to putty and looked at the curves that way, they were still flat lines at the top of the graph. So, there is a difference in plot scaling between the LCD and Putty.
I need to dig some more but it seems like running without the USB cable does make a small effect on some bands. I should have saved captures of the first calibration plots. I will have to save all of these and rerun with the USB cable attached to be sure.
Tony
AD0VC
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Hi all
I updated the SSB beta testing webpage of the brave, here:??and released firmware version 1_01_003
to it. These are the changes:
- Bug fix: Initial value for noise gate samples was 100 (should be max 99) - makes no real difference but it needed to be fixed
- Added TX indication underlining the A character when transmitting from USB sound card in SSB mode. Note that the two possible states for this indication are a single dot (indicating PTT has been applied and now the radio is in TX mode) and the solid bar
(indicating audio is being received from the PC and transmitted). There is no double-dot like there is in Digi mode indicating insufficient volume, because in SSB mode the radio transmits whatever you give it, even if the volume is low.?
- Bug fix: CAT command TQ1; did not cause transmit when in SSB mode. Now TQ1; and TQ0; work properly in SSB mode.?
- Bug fix: Prevent button presses from accidentally activating VOX, which was happening due to sound picked up from the internal (cancellation reference channel) microphone when you pressed buttons right next to it, and that prevented band change because
the second click of the double click was ignored because by then the radio was in transmit mode. All fixed! Now you can click buttons however you like and when button clicks are done, VOX is temporarily disabled until your button pushing frenzy is over.?
- Power meter now reads Peak Envelope Power (PEP) when in SSB mode. Previously it was just reading a sampled value (NOT an average); so if the power meter was updated 10x a second, the updates would just randomly pick a value from the SSB amplitude?envelope,
which was most unlikely to be its peak value.?
- Bug fixL Calibration hung at DAC 1300 when run on LCD. Now the calibration completes properly when run from the LCD.
Many thanks for all the feedback so far, SSB in QMX is getting better and better!
73 Hans G0UPL
|
With this release - still external microphone must used - right?
?
--
73,
Sardar (AC8L, 4K6SA, VA3DUA).
|
|
|
Typically when I move new firmware over, after the file finishes copying, the drive disconnects, and the device reboots.? When loading 003, it hung for about 5-8min before the drive disconnected, and then it did not reboot. I had to pull power in order to get it to power back on.? Not sure this is a "bug" or circumstance related to my system and my setup.
?
?
|
On Fri, Mar 21, 2025 at 07:00 PM, <adam@...> wrote:
When loading 003, it hung for about 5-8min before the drive disconnected, and then it did not reboot. I had to pull power in order to get it to power back on.
?
I had the same experience as Adam although I didn't wait for mine to disconnect, I just pulled power after the QMX hung.
?
Power cycled and booted up fine. Then I went back into firmware update to confirm the 003 version was loaded and it was there. Just to be sure, I tried to load 003 again and it hung like before.
|
That update 'hanging' happened with the prior two releases on a couple of my units.
I don't believe it is related to the new firmware; it is something that has always been there; just happens sometimes.? And sometimes when you put it in firmware update mode from the menu, it doesn't auto restart and bring up the drive - you have to press the power button to make it start up.
Stan KC7XE
|
Mine is doing this as well.?
--
73, Dan - W2DLC
|
Me too, but it has happened now and then over the past years of updates. Hard power down and back, then restart with the power button always works for me. Loving the new firmware! Thanks for your hard work and determination Hans Dave VE7AHT
|
hi, did the update on my qmx 80-20 tonight without any trouble...
calibration takes around 30 minutes, but cannot test SSB yet, have ordered a mic , so in a few days I can test "the ride" ?
?
vy 73 and many thanks to Hans and his great team?
?
ps: today I will upgrade my qmx 20-10 too and next week my qmx+ will arrive, waiting for directly updating ?
?
|
This update hang issue is kind of all over the place.
I had run into it upgrading to .002 but didn't fully characterize it because the resolution was fairly easy.
I have 2 QMX and 2 QMX+. (Sorry, I can't help myself....)
QMX 1 - Upgrade from .002. Displayed the symptoms below and also didn't enable the USB drive until I pressed the power button after I put it into update mode. The USB drive remains active and shows both the old and new firmware files after the file transfer. Unplug power, plug back in, turn it back on and the upgrade succeeded.
QMX+ - 1 Same as above.
QMX 2 - Upgrade from .002. Worked as expected. It turned on the USB drive, then off after file transfer, and rebooted on it's own after the transfer.
QMX+ 2 - Upgrade from .001. Worked as expected. It turned on the USB drive, then off after file transfer, and rebooted on it's own after the transfer.
--
Randy, N4OPI
|
Is there any reason the phase calibration only goes upt to 1200 on 80m, 30m, and 20m?
?
73
?
?
Simon
VK3ELH
|
I can confirm this behavior for several Qxx devices.
?
Hajo
|
Hans,
few observations/suggestions:
1. Practice mode does not make sense in SSB I guess. When enabled in CW Keyer menu and SSB mode is selected it could be temporarily disabled and then when CW is selected again it could be automatically re-enabled.
2. Displaying CW decoder text in SSB (in fact also in DIGI) does not make sense and looks rather disturbing. I suggest CW decoder part of the screen could be automatically cleared when SSB/Digi mode is selected or perhaps re-used to some other purposes in these modes. Mic input level would make sense in SSB.
3. Short press of left button bring up keyer speed in SSB. Does not make much sense
4. After copying the firmware file my QMX did not reboot itself. All is ok after recycling the power.
?
|
1. Practice mode does not make sense in SSB I guess. When enabled in CW Keyer menu and SSB mode is selected it could be temporarily disabled and then when CW is selected again it could be automatically re-enabled.
I agree but I think this his already the case isn't it? Doesn't SSB ignore practice mode?
2. Displaying CW decoder text in SSB (in fact also in DIGI) does not make sense and looks rather disturbing. I suggest CW decoder part of the screen could be automatically cleared when SSB/Digi mode is selected or perhaps re-used to some other purposes in these modes. Mic input level would make sense in SSB.
Yes agreed, I will check this.?
3. Short press of left button bring up keyer speed in SSB. Does not make much sense
Will fix...
4. After copying the firmware file my QMX did not reboot itself. All is ok after recycling the power.
Yes I am updating with each firmware release, two QMX+ here. One of them when I put it into firmware update mode, needs the ON button pressed again to make it come up as a drive (on the Pi400); when I copy the new firmware in, it automatically boots up when it's finished installing.?
The other QMX+, goes into firmware update mode immediately you ask it to... And boots up as soon as firmware finishes copying in.?
So... Indeed some variance in behavior, and I don't (yet?) know why this is. But I don't believe this is a new thing pertaining to this particular firmware release. And cycling the power always seems to fix everything.? 73 Hans G0UPL
|
I'm still seeing some strangeness in the 80M sweep:
?
Not enough signal at the test frequency?
?
I'm enclosing it and the BPF filter sweep for reference:
|
Hi all,
Just to say the SSB firmware is working great and getting better with each iteration - this is fantastic work Hans! But I hope you are going to take a break soon, you deserve it :)
One anecdote: I was using the new firmware with Winlink & Vara HF to successfully make contact with a node in Switzerland, but I was a little bit concerned as the power meter reading on the QMX wasn't showing anything at all, it wasn't budging - but I wrote this off as a quirk of the firmware and how it was interacting with the modem.
But nope. Operator error, of course! I had, somewhere along the line set the output volume of the QMX on my PC down to 50% - and despite, what must have been extremely low transmitted power; VARA HF was still working successfully. Suffice it to say it's working even better now with the volume adjusted back up to 100%.
Once again, fantastic work Hans - thank you for this amazing product,
Dave
EI3HIB
|
Hi Mario
You might try switching OFF the 80/20m BPF swap in the advanced configuration to see if that makes any difference. That was intended to fix the TX/RX switch instability in QMX PCB Rev 2, which was subsequently properly fixed by a diode.?
73 Hans G0UPL
I'm still seeing some strangeness in the 80M sweep:
?
Not enough signal at the test frequency?
?
I'm enclosing it and the BPF filter sweep for reference:
|
An observation
If you have CW practice on and use "tune" it will show a SWR of about 1.7 no matter if a dummy load is connected or nothing is connected. A power meter shows that there is no RF out. It might be better to give a message to the user rather than a false reading.
--
? 73
??? KD8CGH
|
On Sat, Mar 22, 2025 at 06:53 AM, Hans Summers wrote:
You might try switching OFF the 80/20m BPF swap in the advanced configuration
Hans,
?
I have been having a similar issues on 20m. (20M to 10M QMX). When first running calibration, I used "R" run mode to do everything via the console.? On both 20m and 11m the Phase Error vs DAC plots finished very quickly and looked strange.? SSB effectively did not work and was just distortion on Tx.?? I re-ran BOTH Phase and USB for 20m using "O" once mode and while the Phase plot still looks strange it did change. Tx improved and I have been making contacts.?? The Phase plot changed when I ran it in "O" mode.?? Items to note:?
1) with 003 I used "R" run mode and was able to replicated the original problem with the plots on 20m and 11m.
2) this happens both when using the terminal via USB, and when just using the QMX menus disconnected from USB.
3) with 003 I can make SSB usable using "O" once mode for phase / USB / LSB calibration, but the plot is still strange:
|
K6AEF
Daniel Conklin
Udo Die?elberg DF4BJ
Hajo Dezelski
Bob Benedict, KD8CGH