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drowe67 / freedv-gui

GUI Application for FreeDV – open source digital voice for HF radio
https://freedv.org/
GNU Lesser General Public License v2.1
193 stars 49 forks source link

Bug in supporting ICOM7100 station #696

Closed Nokia808 closed 6 months ago

Nokia808 commented 6 months ago

Hello.

I re-installed FreeDV from official Fedora repositories. I'm on Fedora 38 X64 bit. FreeDV version is 1.8.4

1) I set my ICOM7100 as following: setting > Connectors:

2) I set ICOM7100 on "DATA" mode & connected it to my laptop by USB using USB version 2.0 port of laptop.

3) on program side a. I configured audio perfectly with assistant of Walter/K5WH. Many thanks to him for supporting me. b. The problem is in setting of PTT: in PTT configuration I set as following:

freeDV-error

Please your kind help !

I feel that there is internal error in program in it's support for ICOM7100 ....

tmiw commented 6 months ago

Actually, 9600bps mode isn't needed for FreeDV and should be set to OFF. That setting is intended more for higher speed data modes on VHF/UHF (for example, VARA FM).

Also, I'd try 19200 for "Serial Rate" in FreeDV given that seems to be the only option available on the 7100. Do VFO/mode adjustments get reflected in the user interface (and vice versa) with the current settings, or is it just PTT that's failing?

Nokia808 commented 6 months ago

1) Dear you asked me to use 19200 for serial rate. Which sector of setting you mean, I should set at 19200 ? We have:

& we have:

Which of above 2 I should set at 19200 in station setting before I set 19200 in FreeDV program PTT configuration ? One of them ? Both of them ?

2) you commented by the following: "Actually, 9600bps mode isn't needed for FreeDV" .... Do I need to turn it OFF or can I leave it ON without problems for FreeDV ?

tmiw commented 6 months ago

Which sector of setting you mean, I should set at 19200 ? We have:

"CI-V Baud Rate" and the "Serial Rate" in FreeDV's Tools->PTT Config window.

  1. you commented by the following: "Actually, 9600bps mode isn't needed for FreeDV" .... Do I need to turn it OFF or can I leave it ON without problems for FreeDV ?

I'd turn it OFF just to be safe.

Nokia808 commented 6 months ago

Okay. I feel that I will, finally, will get FreeDV working on my system.

But, there is one question you did not answered: "DV Data/GPS Out Baud" was set by default on 4800, but we changed it to 9600. Do we need to revert it to 4800 or set it at value other than 4800 & 9600 ? Do we need to set it at 12900 ?

Thank you for your support !

tmiw commented 6 months ago

But, there is one question you did not answered: "DV Data/GPS Out Baud" was set by default on 4800, but we changed it to 9600. Do we need to revert it to 4800 or set it at value other than 4800 & 9600 ? Do we need to set it at 12900 ?

Shouldn't need to revert, but it might be a good idea to set it back to 4800 in case you use some other app in the future that needs the GPS.

Tyrbiter commented 6 months ago

As a Fedora user I would say that the distro version of hamlib (4.5.5) is a year old and hamlib 4.6, although not released, has had a lot of development work done on it in that time.

tmiw commented 6 months ago

As a Fedora user I would say that the distro version of hamlib (4.5.5) is a year old and hamlib 4.6, although not released, has had a lot of development work done on it in that time.

As 4.6 is still "beta" I'd actually advise not to, especially since the project has had bad experiences trying to use it for the Windows and macOS builds in the past. That said, if it turns out that 4.6 does fix the problem that @Nokia808 is having, by all means use it.

Nokia808 commented 6 months ago

@tmiw

You said about "DV Data/GPS Out Baud", that I "shouldn't revert it back to 4800". Only one question about this: does "DV Data/GPS Out Baud" = 9600 is ideal for FreeDV or it is not related by any way to FreeDV ?

In fact other Iraqi HAM radio operator assist me to set values on ICOM7100 & he has no previous experience with FreeDV, but he is only FT8 user & select values according to his experience with FT8 hopping that it will be same of FreeDV.

If I succeed to run FreeDV on my Fedora Linux, I will be 1st Iraqi HAM station using this mode & for that we have very poor knowledge with this mode ....

Nokia808 commented 6 months ago

Hello again !

Issue fixed ! It is not a bug, but a wrong setting from my side. As directed @tmiw & followed him & changed CI-V Buad Rate from "auto" into 12900 then set "Serial port" in FreeDV program at 12900 & every think worked fine ! PTT worked fine, & I made the 1st Iraqi transmission using this mode, an experimental transmission (This is YI1YJK testing) on 14236 KHz. I started 1 Watt, 5 Watts, 20 Watts, 40 Watts, & finally 50 Watts !

However, I need answers about the following points before starting real CQ. Please be patient with me because I have no any experience with any digital mode before. Also, my shack is not in my house .... :

1) there is at right side of UI of program "TX attenuation" & set at it's full level by default (0 dB). For what this setting ? And is there a recommended value for it ?

2) in ICOM7100 there is SSB, FM, AM, WFM, CW, DATA, & DV modes. I'm using with FreeDV the "DATA" mode. Just to be sure, is this correct ? or the write is set at "DV" ? I'm nearly certain that DATA is the correct but no one before me in Iraq worked this mode & I need conformation from you.

3) I will repeat my question: you said about "DV Data/GPS Out Baud", that I "shouldn't revert it back to 4800". Only one question about this: does "DV Data/GPS Out Baud" = 9600 is ideal for FreeDV or it is not related by any way to FreeDV ? After looking to my station options today I saw only 2 choices for it, 9600 & 4800, & for that I'm suspecting that it is not related to FreeDV by any way & no difference between 9600 & 4800 for FreeDV because it is not related. But, kindly, your conformation about this point.

4) what is maximum duration allowed for continuous activation of PTT continuously on ICOM7100 when transmitting at 20 Watts, 30 Watts, 40 Watts, 50 Watts respectively ? In fact this question should be asked for ICOM company, but I'm nearly sure that ICOM will not replay on it .....

5) regarding report RTS, it is given according to S-meter of station (for S) & human ear (for R), isn't it or I'm wrong ? Is there a hidden option from me in program for report like that in FT8 ? As I hear from my colleges that FT8 programs determine the reports by themself & operator has nothing to do with process ....

Just to address these points before I making my 1st real CQ by using FreeDV

Many thanks for all who supported me to reach till this point.

Tyrbiter commented 6 months ago

On the IC7100 the DV mode means D-STAR, so this is not used for freedv. You are correct, you need the DATA mode and you need to ensure that the receive and transmit audio is provided via the USB connection.

Tx attenuation controls the amplitude of the modulated audio signal generated by freedv, this is just like the effect of varying the microphone output level on SSB, it controls the RF power level.

GPS/DV data output baud rate is unimportant for freedv.

The only receive signal report that matters for freedv is SNR, signal:noise ratio, which is shown in the freedv main window. You should be able to find the minimum SNR for different modes in the freedv user manual. freedv is intelligible at 10% bit error rate but speech quality will not be at its best until the bit error rate reduces towards 1-2%.

Tyrbiter commented 6 months ago

As 4.6 is still "beta" I'd actually advise not to, especially since the project has had bad experiences trying to use it for the Windows and macOS builds in the past. That said, if it turns out that 4.6 does fix the problem that @Nokia808 is having, by all means use it.

I'm currently on my 385th build of hamlib-4.6~git and apart from a couple of broken versions I have had no problem with my TS-890 or IC-7300. But of course, others mileage may vary :)

There was to be a hamlib-4.5.6 but Mike cancelled it as 4.6 was diverging too far from the hamlib-4.5 codebase.

Nokia808 commented 6 months ago

Thank you very much ! Every thing now is clear ! It is the time to make real QSO by FreeDV !

Many thanks for all who help me ! I'm the 1st person in Iraq who transmit using this mode, & I hope to be who made 1st QSO by it.

tmiw commented 6 months ago

Tx attenuation controls the amplitude of the modulated audio signal generated by freedv, this is just like the effect of varying the microphone output level on SSB, it controls the RF power level.

I'll add that FreeDV behaves like other digital modes in that your ALC should not show any indication when you're transmitting. If it does show any, the TX Attenuation lets you adjust the output volume downward without affecting any other applications.

Thank you very much ! Every thing now is clear ! It is the time to make real QSO by FreeDV !

Many thanks for all who help me ! I'm the 1st person in Iraq who transmit using this mode, & I hope to be who made 1st QSO by it.

Glad to help! And hopefully you'll be able to have a lot of FreeDV QSOs to come :) I'll go ahead and close this for now, but definitely feel free to open another issue if you run into further problems with the FreeDV application.

Nokia808 commented 6 months ago

@tmiw Can you, kindly, elaborate more on the following point:

I'll add that FreeDV behaves like other digital modes in that your ALC should not show any indication when you're transmitting. ......"

I inspected ACL meter when I activated advanced monitor screen that showing Power+VSWR+Currency+Voltage+Temperature+Compression+ALC. The ALC pointer was showing a level that DO NOT CROSS set limit that station on it by default. So, what you mean by "not show any indication" !! Do you indication that there is cross above limit that station set on it or you meant that ACL meter should be at ZERO level during transmitting ?

Tyrbiter commented 6 months ago

ALC indication and the effect on the transmitted signal is different depending on the radio in use. I don't know the IC-7100 ALC characteristics, but I do know that ALC has very little effect on the IC-7300 transmit signal quality when using FT-8.

freedv is more tolerant because it still works at higher bit error rates, but you can try the effect of decreasing output power using the Tx attenuation control, less power will mean less ALC action, and see if the BER improves.

On your question about the IC-7100 and running at high output power, this is a comment from a GM4 station who uses one:

"The IC-7100 was designed with FM and DStar operation in mind. It has good cooling and an effective fan. This means that it is very happy with high duty cycle work, and data seems to pose it few problems"

Of course it may be a hotter location where you are, Scotland is rarely hot.

tmiw commented 6 months ago

you meant that ACL meter should be at ZERO level during transmitting ?

Generally the ALC should show as zero. Of course, there are exceptions depending on the radio as @Tyrbiter mentioned (for example, Elecraft recommends something like 3-4 bars of ALC on the the KX2/KX3). If unsure, you can also set TX Attenuation to the lowest possible value and then gradually increase it until the power meter on your radio stops increasing.