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Contents
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Updated: 4-6-2010
Version 1.19.3.5
Released
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Please note on this webpage "PowerSDR"
refers to the stock version of PowerSDR available from
FlexRadio Systems and "PowerSDR/IF Stage"
refers to the version modified for IF Stage use. PowerSDR/IF
Stage is the version available for download only from this
webpage. PowerSDR/IF Stage is being developed by Scott
McClements, WU2X, and Chad Gatesman,
W1CEG, without affiliation to FlexRadio
Systems.
PowerSDR Software For
I.F. Stage Use
In 2007, I built a Softrock
SDR kit for 8.83 Mhz and attached it to the I.F. output port
of my Kenwood TS-940S. Since my TS-940S was also computer
controlled, I decided to modify FlexRadio Systems' PowerSDR
software used for FlexRadio Systems series of SDR radios so I
could have the features of PowerSDR with my TS-940S.
I made changes to PowerSDR source code so that any
radio using a Softrock or similar board as
an I.F. stage with a radio that is capable of being (CAT)
computer controlled could take advantage of the PowerSDR
software features. I modified PowerSDR to communicate
with another software package called Ham Radio Deluxe .
Ham Radio Deluxe would communicate directly with the radio
over the serial port, and my version of PowerSDR would
communicate with Ham Radio Deluxe, regardless of which radio
Ham Radio Deluxe was connected to. This provided these basic
features:
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Full tuning control from the PowerSDR software. You can
change bands, modes, frequency, click to tune from the
panadapter window, etc. as usual from the PowerSDR software
and the tuning updates will be tracked by your radio in real
time
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Full tuning control from your radio. You can spin the
VFO, change modes, etc. and the tuning updates will be
tracked by the PowerSDR software
I chose to use Ham Radio Deluxe to control the radio
because its a well written piece of software with an easy to
use, well defined, high performance interface for third
party software interfacing that already can control
almost every rig that supports CAT commands. There are plenty
of radios out there such as the Kenwood TS-950 series,
Kenwood TS-850S, Kenwood TS-870S. Kenwood
TS-940S and the Elecraft K3 that have IF outputs and
support CAT control that can easily and cheaply pickup some
modern features and performance that Software Defined
Radio and the PowerSDR software has to offer. Other
radios such as the Yaesu FT-1000D and FT-2000 will also
work, with the addition of a mixer circuit to downconvert
the first I.F. frequency down to a lower HF range, so that
simple boards like the Softrock can be used. Other radios
that don't provide a factory IF output can be tapped
internally, with some know how.
I have personally been using my Softrock lite kit
with a Kenwood TS-940S and its been a great combination. The
TS-940S has a buffered 8.83 Mhz IF output and has the ability
to switch the AGC circuit off in SSB and CW modes - both
necessary for good performance. Figure 1 shows my
setup.
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Figure 1 - Softrock kit configured for IF use
on a Kenwood
TS-940S. |
Since 2007, I released three versions of my special
PowerSDR modifications, that I call "PowerSDR/IF Stage",
though most just refer to it as "PowerSDR/IF".
The three PowerSDR/IF Stage versions released were 0.90,
0.91 and 0.92. They were all based on the same 2007
version of PowerSDR, v1.9.0. FlexRadio Systems have made
several improvements to the PowerSDR since the 2007
version that I used as the base of my version. My original
versions were more prototype like, and more of a "hack" to see
what was possible. The new PowerSDR/IF Stage
1.19.0.x version is a complete rewrite from the 0.92
version.
Since FlexRadio has release several improved versions of
PowerSDR , I decided it was time to work on a new version
of PowerSDR/IF Stage. Chad Gatesman, W1CEG, a new ham
and good friend of mine has joined in on the development of
the new version. In fact most of the new code base was
actually written by Chad. We are tracking all the
development of the project at http://code.google.com/p/powersdr-if-stage/
So to quickly highlight some differences between the 0.9x
version and the new version, and our design goals:
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New PowerSDR/IF Stage version numbering
scheme. It will have the
format 1.19.3.x. Notice there are 4
positions to the version number - we will include the base
PowerSDR version number in this new versioning scheme.
The version 1.19.3.1 signifies that its based on PowerSDR
version 1.19.3 and the last position (1) signifies the
PowerSDR/IF version.
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New version supports direct serial
communication to rig from PowerSDR/IF. In
addition to supporting Ham Radio Deluxe communication, we
have implemented a direct, high performance serial
connection to a few types of radios (Elecraft K3, Kenwood
TS-940). This allows for a superior tuning connection
between PowerSDR/IF Stage and the external radio.
All serial communication is optimized for PowerSDR/IF
Stage usage.
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Release new versions more
frequently. We will be able to release new
version more easily now because modifications in source code
that we made are not "mixed" with the original code. We can
merge our source code changes into newer PowerSDR versions
very quickly and release it. Understand this limits what
type of changes we will make. For instance, modifying any
visual aspect of the stock PowerSDR windows (console, setup
menus, etc.) will cause us much more effort in moving up in
the future, so we will avoid those types of
changes.
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PowerSDR/IF has its own Setup dialog.
This keeps PowerSDR/IF settings separate from PowerSDR
settings. PowerSDR/IF settings are also stored in a separate
database file (databaseIF.xml).
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SDR-1000 Hardware is selected instead of
Softrock hardware. In the 0.9x versions, softrock
was the type of hardware selected, but now we use the
SDR-1000 radio as this minimized the number of changes we
need to make. By default when you install PowerSDR/IF
Stage SDR-1000 will be selected. We are now including a
default PowerSDR config file (database.xml) that will select
several default values that are needed for proper
PowerSDR/IF Stage operation.
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Continue to make PowerSDR/IF Stage work with as
many radios as possible. We want to
keep PowerSDR/IF Stage working with as many radios as
possible and do not want to focus on integrating more
features that only benefit a single radio
model.
Getting
Started
If you are not already familiar with the stock PowerSDR
software, then please visit the FlexRadio's website and read
the PowerSDR manual. Once PowerSDR/IF Stage is
operating correctly, the PowerSDR manual is very valuable for
understanding all the features that are available.
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If you are using a Kenwood TS-940S or Elecraft
K3, we recommend that you start by trying the direct
serial connection to those rigs from PowerSDR/IF
stage. This means that you do not need to have Ham
Radio Deluxe ( HRD) installed and running on
your system for things to work. If you are not running one
of those radios, then you need to get the latest
version of HRD installed and controlling your radio
(if you haven't already!). HRD has very good documentation
and a good support
forum. Please ask any questions about HRD in the
HRD support forums. If are going to use HRD for the external
rig connection, make sure you have HRD correctly controlling
your radio before you continue. -
Download and unzip the PowerSDR-IF Stage.zip -
OR- run the PowerSDR-IF
Stage.exe file (self-extracting zip file) and
extract the setup files into the directory of your
choice. Then run setup.exe
.
Once
you run setup, follow the instruction to install PowerSDR/IF
Stage on your system as you would any Windows
software.
If you are not going to use direct serial
communication with the 940 or K3, after installing the
PowerSDR/IF Stage software, but before running
PowerSDR/IF Stage, ensure that HRD is running and
connected to the radio you wish PowerSDR/IF Stage to
interface with.
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Now you can start PowerSDR/IF Stage. We have
shipped a default database.xml file with the install so that
we could pre-setup several necessary values in the PowerSDR
Setup menu. For instance, we selected the "SDR-1000"
hardware and marked it "Receive Only". These are just a few
settings we defaulted. If you change those settings,
PowerSDR/IF Stage will not operate correctly. Reset your
database if you changed things and its no longer working
(download stock database.xml from from HERE
and copy into install directory). Since we have
shipped a database file, you will not run through the normal
setup wizard - PowerSDR/IF Stage will start up
immediately. If you are familiar with PowerSDR
already, you may click on the "Setup" menu and customize any
of settings that you desire (i.e. audio sample rate, choose
a skin, change buffer sizes. The only
changes in PowerSDR/IF Stage to the stock PowerSDR setup
menu was to add additional buffer sizes (as in version
PowerSDR/IF Stage 0.92) on the audio tab. We have not
implemented the "I/Q Sample Offset Correction"
option. -
Next you need to setup various IF Stage related
settings, click on the "Setup IF" option:
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The first tab is labeled "Rig Connection". This
is where you specify which type of connection you want to
the external rig from PowerSDR/IF Stage. In the "Rig Type"
box, you can select "Ham Radio Deluxe", "Kenwood TS-940S",
"Kenwood TS-950", "Yaesu" or "Elecraft K3" or The Kenwood,
Yaesu and Elecraft selections are direct serial connections
- no other external program is required to be running. The
defaults for Rig Serial Connection should all automatically
be filled in correctly for either the Kenwood or Elecraft.
Note for the Yaesu, if you are running the FT-2000 or
FT-950, you must set the baud rate to match the baud
rate set in the menu of the external rig. You
must also select the the COMM port the rig is connected to.
Be sure that you do not already have a logging program, or
other software connected to the radio when you attempt to
connect from PowerSDR/IF Stage. The defaults for the
"Rig Timing" box should be good for most newer
computers. Selecting either the Kenwood,
Yaesu or Elecraft automatically changes other
settings on the "IF Frequencies" tab.
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Select the "IF Frequencies Tab". What you specify here
will depend on what type of Rig you are using. This
panel is familiar to users of PowerSDR/IF Stage version
0.92, the settings should be the
same.
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| If
you have selected the Elecraft K3 as your rig type, you
don't need to put any values in for the IF Frequencies for
each mode - leave them set to zero. For proper K3
to PowerSDR/IFStage alignment of CW signal, ensure that
the CW pitch entered in PowerSDR/IF Stage matches the CW
pitch set in the K3. We have no way to poll the K3 for its
pitch frequency - so you must manually make sure these two
pitch values are equal. Enter the IF (center)
Frequency to be used for each mode. Some calculations
and a little trial and error are needed to find the
exact IF center frequency needed for each mode. The
values depend on the type of radio used, mode, IF
output frequency of the radio and the Softrock center
frequency. Figure 2. shows the IF conversions
involved for my TS-940S and will serve as the
demonstration for calculating
required values.
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Figure 2 - Frequency conversion from the IF
output of rig to baseband.
| The IF output of the
TS-940S is 8.83 Mhz. The center frequency of
the Softrock is ~8.817 Mhz.. Since
the Softrock lite converts the IF output to baseband,
we need to calculate the frequency where the center IF
output of the TS-940S falls on the baseband (green
line). We take the TS-940S center IF output and
subtract the Softrock's center frequency:
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8.83 Mhz -
8.817 Mhz = 0.013
Mhz |
This gives us the ball park baseband IF frequency we must
enter into setup menu for the IF Frequency for each mode.
The IF frequency is entered into the setup menu in Hz, so we
must convert Mhz to Hz.:
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0.013 Mhz X 10^6 = 13000
Hz | After you have
entered these values into the setup menu, you will then need
to tune in a strong signal where the exact frequency is
known. For instance a local AM broadcast station, WWV or a
signal generator will work. Use the panadapter to view
the strong signal and make corrections to the IF center
frequency for each mode to perfectly align the signal
with the PowerSDR's VFO display. Figure 3 shows the
peak of the carrier of WWV centered right at 15 Mhz.
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Figure 3 - WWV carrier centered @ 15
Mhz, the result of tweaking the IF center
frequency. | On
some radios that output a transmitted signal sample on the
IF port, you can put the radio into transmit mode and
view the panadapter to make corrections to the IF center
frequency. Given my setup above, I ended up with a
value of 13950 Hz for LSB and 17000 Hz for USB, for example.
If the IF output frequency of the radio is less than the
center frequency of the Softrock kit, you will end up with a
negative number. You specify a negative IF center
frequency in this case:
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8.804 Mhz - 8.817
Mhz) X 10^6 = -13000
Hz | The above
alignment is useful if you intend to use the
PowerSDR/IF Stage for receiving and the radio for
transmitting - your received and transmit frequency
will be aligned this way (make sure XIT/RIT and split mode
is off on your external radio!). The
" Global IF Frequency Adjustments " section
is used to make small corrections for drift after you align
the IF frequency for each mode. Since there will be some
amount of drift between the oscillator in the external radio
and the SDR board, you might need adjust the global
offset. The "Global Offset" value is added to any value set
for each mode. The "LO Center" only relates to when you have
selected the Elecraft K3 from the menu. Use this to fill in
the center frequency of your SDR board. Also note it
is not necessary to fill in any IF Frequency if you are
connected directly to the K3. This is because the K3
automatically provides the IF frequency values to
PowerSDR/IF Stage via a CAT command. The only value
you need to adjust is the global offset to tweak frequency
alignment. " Swap I/Q @
Frequency" is used to swap the I and Q channels
automatically at a certain frequency. Radios like the
Elecraft K3 and K2 invert the IF output above a certain
frequency. Again if you select the direct Elecraft K3
connection as you Rig Type, this will automatically be
setup. I believe the frequency for inversion of the K2
is 20Mhz, any K2 users, please let us know.
" Frequency Limits" is used to set
the frequency limits of the external rig under control.
Selecting the Elecraft K3 rig type will automatically fill
in these values for you. Otherwise, manually specify
the min and max frequency of the radio you are using
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The "Meter Connection" tab allows you
to connect PowerSDR/IF Stage directly to an external
Power/SWR meter through a serial connection. When
connected, the TX meter in PowerSDR/IF Stage will show
real-time power and SWR data taken directly from the
external meter.
- To configure an external meter, check
the "Use External Meter" check box. This will enable
you to select a meter type (e.g. "Array Solutions
PowerMaster") in the drop down box. The PowerMaster is
currently the only model supported now. You will also have
to configure the port number for the serial connection to
the external meter. The other serial connection values
will be automatically set to the defaults for the selected
meter type, but if you have a need to change them, they are
there.
The Data Interval controls the rate at which
data is collected from the external meter. Figure 4 shows
the power meter in PowerSDR/IF Stage during transmit reading
output from teh Array Solutions PowerMaster meter.
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Figure 4 - Power meter during transmit
after configuration to interface with an Array
Solutions PowerMaster
meter |
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"Collapsible Display" is a new features
unique to PowerSDR/IF Stage. It is a configurable view that
hides most of the controls surrounding the panadapter
display window. This allows you save screen real
estate by only showing the panadapter window and selected
other controls. If you are using PowerSDR/IF Stage merely as
a Panadapter and not using the receive functions of
PowerSDR, this is a handy feature. Also during contesting
where you might have many windows open on your screen, it
would be helpful to use this mode. The tab "Collapsible
Display" allows you to configure which minimal set of
controls you want to see when you are in "Collapse" mode:
Top Controls: Shows the Start
button, AF and AGC-T controls, VFOA and VFOB
windows, VFO controls and meter
Band
Controls: Shows the band buttons across the bottom
of the window
Mode Controls: Shows the
mode buttons across the bottom of the window
You can
toggle between "Collapse" (minimal view) and "Expand"
(normal view) by selecting the "Collapse" or "Expand" button
depending on the mode you are currently in, from the menu.
The following screenshot shows the normal full-sized
display. Notice the new "Collapse" button highlighted in
yellow. Click this button to enter collapse mode. This
menu item will turn into "Expand" when you are in Collapsed
mode. You click the "Expand" button to return to the normal
view and expose all the controls. If you need to access
a control that is hidden when in collapse mode, you will
need to toggle back to regular mode to access the control.
"Collapse" mode without
any options from the "Collapsible Display" tab
selected. This is as few controls as you can display.
This window is resizable. Press the "Expand" menu item
(shown highlighted in yellow) to toggle back to the regular
display.
"Collapse" mode with
all the options from the "Collapsible Display" tab
selected. This view shows the VFO, band and
mode buttons. This window is resizable. Press the
"Expand" menu item (shown highlighted in yellow) to toggle
back to the regular
display.
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The last tab on the Setup IF menu
is "Debug Logging". This tab should be completely
unchecked, as shown below. It is intended for the developers
to collect information for debugging a problem on a user's
system, should the need arrise. Instructions on its use will
be provided to individual users on an as-needed basis by the
development team. Turning on any of these setting will
likely impact audio performance.
Operating Hints and
Tips
Functional vs.
Non-Functional Dialog Buttons and Controls
As was stated previously, no
attempt has been made to disable to remove controls that are
of not usable or can cause undesired side effects in
PowerSDR/IF Stage. For example, the "BCI Rejection" button is
used on the FlexRadio SDR-1000 to engage filter hardware to
eliminate Broadcast interference on the low bands.
Rather than try to list out every button or control that
is not usable, or should not be used, use this as a guide:
If the control is specific to controlling FlexRadio
SDR-1000 hardware, then it should not be
used . Another obvious group of controls that exist, that
should not be used, are the buttons related to
transmitting functions - "Drive Power", CW Sending
Speeds, etc. That being said, any control related to
receiving functions and PowerSDR console appearance are
usable. The PowerSDR/IF Stage program does perform
all the frequency and mode related functions that PowerSDR has
to offer. The purpose of PowerSDR/IF Stage is to provide 1st
class panadapter features, click to tune, quick QSY and split
functions. It is NOT a goal to provide full computer
control over the external rig.
Functionality Available When Using
Direct Serial Connection to External
Rig
The amount of functionality provided by
selecting one currently supported rigs with direct serial
control is greater than when using Ham Radio Deluxe. For
instance, when using one of these rigs, there is full linking
between VFOA and VFOB. The "Split" control can be toggled on
the radio or on PowerSDR/IF Stage and it will work
properly. In other words, VFO A/B linking, Mode
Linking, and Split mode linking will work, and can be
controlled from PowerSDR/IF or the external rig.
Also, the update sync'ing between PowerSDR/IF Stage and
the external rig will be virtually real time. For
instance, muting of the PowerSDR/IF Stage audio will be
virtually instantaneous when using the TS-940 or K3. In
addition, the K3 setup should work "out of the box", without
any change required for IF Frequencies and other settings, as
long as the Rig Type of "Elecraft K3" is selected (along with
the correct comm port and correct specification of the LO
Center frequency of the SDR board being used). The Kenwood CAT
commands are virtually the same for all Kenwood rig types;
this means it is possible to use the TS-940 rig type selection
to connect to other Kenwood models - though is this
completely untested and unsupported at this point. Feedback
appreciated.
Functionality Available When Using
Ham Radio Deluxe
When using Ham Radio Deluxe as the Rig Type,
integration is slightly reduced. Also, update speeds between
the external radio and PowerSDR/IF Stage will be slower.
Ham Radio Deluxe only provides linking of VFO A and mode
between the external rig and PowerSDR/IF Stage - the
limitation comes from the Ham Radio Deluxe software.
This is the reason that we have implemented direction serial
connections for a few rigs to start with.
Comparison of PowerSDR/IF Stage Version
1.19.x.x to Version 0.92
If you are familiar with PowerSDR/IF Stage
0.92, you will find that some base functions that
existed in the base PowerSDR program were not working.
Some examples are playback of wav files, automatic image
rejection and level adjustments (DSP tab). These should
all work in PowerSDR/IF Stage version 1.19.3.5.
Additional Notes About Direct Serial
Communication for the Kenwood TS-940S
Some additional notes for TS-940 users using
direct serial connection. You will notice two behaviors
that PowerSDR/IF Stage enforces when connected to your
TS-940S. Note these are not bugs. The first is that it
will force the TS-940S radio to always be on VFO-A. If you try
to switch to VFO-B (directly on TS-940S), it will switch you
back to VFO-A. This is to keep its behavior consistent with
the PowerSDR interface. It will also force the modes son VFOA
and VFOB to be the same whenever you toggle on "split"
mode. This really provides the TS-940S with a true
second receiver. You can now use the SubRX in PowerSDR/IF
Stage to track a "last worked" station for a DX station
working split. In fact, if the RIT function is not
turned on, the RIT/XIT knob on the TS-940S can be used to tune
the VFOB SubRX frequency. Tuning is not as smooth as the main
dial, but it works! Unlike the K3, the TS-940S when in
transmit outputs a strong TX signal sample to
PowerSDR/IF Stage. This can be distracting because of the
audio delay when monitoring yourself talking, so you will find
the real time muting that occurs when the TS-940S goes into
transmit mode useful. The red TX indicators on the PowerSDR
console give a quick indication of which VFO is the active TX
VFO. You can click on the "TX" indicators to quickly toggle
which VFO should be the active VFO to transmit on. Note
however when you go into transmit mode, the Panadapter
area will always show the VFO A frequency, even if you are
transmitting on VFOB.
PowerSDR/IF Stage Behavior During
Transmit
For all rig connection types, when the
external radio goes into transmit mode, PowerSDR/IF Stage will
automatically turn on the mute (MUT) so no output is heard. If
you wish to monitor the transmit output (if your radio
supports it), you can click the MON button to override the MUT
during TX mode. Also for the direct serial connection
rigs (TS-940S and K3), during transmit the DSP controls NB,
NB1, NR and ANF will be temporarily disabled so that
monitoring of transmit audio will not be distorted by these
unnecessary noise reduction algorithms.
New Tuning Methods for VFOB and Mouse
Recommendation
PowerSDR/IF Stage also has implemented two new
ways for tuning VFO B, compared to the stock PowerSDR
version. This function currently only exists in
PowerSDR/IF Stage. You can control VFO-B in the panadapter
window area by holding down the Control button on the
keyboard and spinning the mouse wheel. Spinning the mouse
wheel without holding down the control key will tune VFOA
(normal PowerSDR function), but holding the control key down
allows you to target VFOB for mouse wheel tuning. You can also
control VFO-B in the Panadapter (when MultiRX is on) by right
clicking twice to get the red crosshairs and then spinning the
mouse wheel - in other words, when the red crosshairs are
visible, using the mouse wheel tunes VFO-B. As an
additional tip here, Logitech has a series of mice that
have something called "Hyper Scroll Wheel". These
are mice with a weighted mouse wheel. The wheel does not
have detents, it freewheels when you spin it - just like a
weighted VFO knob! Coding guru Chad has
implemented a time based queue so that when you spin the
weighted mouse wheel, the tuning of the external radio is
perfectly smooth. As it was, the free spinning VFO knob
in PowerSDR/IF Stage would overload the external rig with CAT
frequency changes. We really dig the hyper scroll
Logitech mice and highly recommend them.
Notes About
Connecting an External Logging Program When Using a Direct
Serial Connection
If you are using the direct serial
connection to the Elecraft K3 or Kenwood TS-940S, you can use
the virtual CAT interface built into the base PowerSDR to
attach a single logging or other program. Since
connecting PowerSDR/IF Stage directly to the external rig over
the serial connection provides the best realtime tuning
experience, we recommend it over other methods. The
aforementioned CAT interface built into PowerSDR is fully
described in the PowerSDR manual, as it is part of the stock
PowerSDR software. Even if you are using Ham Radio Deluxe
as your rig control program, you can still use the
virtual CAT interface provided by PowerSDR. Note
that PowerSDR masquerades as a Kenwood TS-2000, so you will
not have full functionality of all CAT commands for your
Elecraft K3 using the virtual CAT connection with
PowerSDR. It will work fine for simple logging
programs.
How to use
"Skins" support
Version 1.19.0.1 and later
includes a "skins" feature (part of the "Pretty Betty"
branch), where the look of the face plate of the console can
be changed. In the PowerSDR setup menu, click on the
"Appearance" tab. There is a drop down list where you can
select different skins. When you select a different skin, the
PowerSDR console window will automatically refresh with the
selected skin.
K3 RX Filter
Width Syncing
PowerSDR/IF Stage
v1.19.3.5 adds a new feature that syncs the RX filter width on
the K3 to the filter width in PowerSDR/IF Stage. When
you change the filter width in PowerSDR/IF Stage, the filter
width will change on the K3. When you change the filter
width on the K3, the filter width will change in PowerSDR/IF
Stage. If there is a matching preset filter in
PowerSDR/IF Stage, it will use it, else it will use VAR1 with
appropriately set low/high values to set the filter width.
Caveats -- PowerSDR/IF Stage
v1.19.3.5 does not support syncing IF Shift on the RX filter.
When IF shifting on the K3, the signals will shift in
the panadapter rather than the RX filter shifting. This
means the RX filter will always remain with a fixed offset
from the tuned VFO frequency (this is configured under
Setup>General>Filters>Default Low Cut).
When using RX Filter Width Syncing, this
restriction to the filter position exists. This
means that if you try to resize the RX filter from the inner
side (side closer to the tuned VFO frequency), the filter will
try to continually reposition back to the relative offset to
the tuned VFO
frequency.
It is recommended to only adjust the filter
size from the outer side, through the filter width buttons, or
with VAR1 and low/high values.
How to Disable K3 RX Filter Width
Syncing
If the K3 RX Filter Width Syncing restrictions
will be too much of a nuance for the way you operate, you can
disable RX Filter Width Syncing in two different ways:
- Select and use VAR2 to temporarily override
and disable RX Filter
Width Syncing until
any other filter is selected in PowerSDR/IF Stage.
- To completely turn off the RX Filter Width
Syncing, uncheck
SetupIF>Rig
Connection>RX Filter Width.
Release Notes (1.19.x.x
Versions)
|
PowerSDR/IF Stage v1.19.3.5
(4-6-2010)
New Features:
- [Issue
127]: Synchronize Filter Width between K3
and PowerSDR/IF Stage. Filter width in PowerSDR/IF
Stage and on the K3 is now tracked. The IF Shift
control is not tracked, however. When the "Var 2"
filter is selected in PoweSDR/IF Stage, automatic
filter width sync'ing is
disabled.
- [Issue
136]: Collapsible PowerSDR/IF Stage Display
(See item # 9 above on this webpage for more
details)
Bug Fixes:
- [Issue
133]: Fix regression where K3 can go into
TX when PowerSDR/IF Stage is powered on.
- [Issue
138]: Report Bug menu item loads
PowerSDR/IF Stage issue report webpage.
- [Issue
140]: Provide an option to turn on and off
offsetting of the VFO when toggling between CW and
SSB.
- [Issue
144]: Fix PowerMaster incoming serial CAT
parsing.
- [Issue
146]: Fix PowerSDR/IF Stage CAT Control
regression.
- [Issue 147]: PowerSDR/IF Stage
installer now has a dependency on .NET 3.5
SP1
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PowerSDR/IF Stage v1.19.3.4
(2-15-2010)
New Features:
- [Issue 104]: Based on PowerSDR v1.19.3
- Automatic Wide Band Image Rejection
- Support for 64 bit operating systems
- Support for Vista and Windows 7
- Many bug fixes over v1.19.0 for skin
support
- [Issue 85]: Direct connection for Yaesu rigs
(tested with FT-2000 and FT-950 only)
- [Issue 103]: Optimization of direct connection
support for Kenwood rigs with OEM CAT control boards
- Removal of unused DLL's (potential computer
resource savings (CPU/Memory))
- [Issue 107]: Configuration data files
(database.xml, databaseIF.xml, etc.) are now written
outside of the installation directory, to a common
application data area ( C:\Documents and
Settings\<username>\Application Data\PowerSDR
IF-Stage v1.19.3\* )
- [Issue 118]: Added CWL, CWU, FSKL, and FSKU IF
mode Offsets in Setup IF
- [Issue 124]: Added new debugging console that can
be dynamically enabled to help us determine the source
of bugs
- [Issue 79]: Added support for FT, MD, and TQ for
future use.
Bug Fixes:
- Many fixes for Elecraft K3 direct connection
(Multiple Issues in Bug Database)
- [Issue 96]: 6 Meter IF Offset will now be in
automatic aligment
- [Issue 66]: Modes will remain sticky when
switching bands with the PowerSDR/IF Stage band
buttons
- [Issue 120]: Improved IF Center adjustment on
mode changes
- [Issue 90]: CW pitch from PowerSDR/IF Stage is
automatically added to the CW offset - no need to
put pitch frequency in the CW IF Offset box
- [Issue 68] : K3 MOX no longer comes on when
PowerSDR/IF Stage is started
- Setup IF settings not being recalled correctly
after restarting the program - multiple settings such
as I/Q will now be reloaded properly
- [Issue 116]: New warning message box when
PowerSDR/IF Stage can't communicate with external rig
after connection to the COMM port
- [Issue 122]: New warning message box that rig type
cannot be switch when PowerSDR/IF Stage is powered on
- [Issue 115]: Reset / Import / Export buttons now
work in the Setup IF menu
- [Issue 123]: Added european minimal locale support
- database.xml is primed with a european style data to
avoid crashing upon application startup with numbers
format exception
- [Issue 41]: Improved polling performance on VFO-B
- [Issue 67]: PowerSDR/IF Stage no longer hangs when
closed
- [Issue 76]: Fixed problem where meter does not
fall back immediately when switching from TX to RX
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PowerSDR/IF Stage v1.19.0.2
(8-18-2009)
New Features:
- [SVN Revision 136]: Add TS-950 Rig
Connection Support
Bug Fixes:
- [Issue 61] : Zoom adjustment causes PowerSDR to
terminate. The root of the issue caused various
issues with the K3 support.
- [Issue 65]: A display max limit is 1000MHz.
Frequency max was limited to 1000Mhz. Increased it to
10,000Mhz.
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PowerSDR/IF Stage v1.19.0.1
(8-6-2009)
-
This is software will contain bugs! Please
report them here.
Please do not email bug reports. -
PowerSDR/IF Stage is based on the "Pretty Betty"
branch of PowerSDR v1.19.3. The pretty betty branch
introduced "skins" to PowerSDR, but its an early
version of skin support. We are aware of many
display anomalies, such a flashing of the console and
other visual oddities when doing certain actions in
PowerSDR. Also, without question, version
1.19.0.2 of PowerSDR/IF Stage requires more CPU power
that the 0.92 version did. This is for two reasons -
one is that some of the DSP code is more intensive now
and the other is the skin support seemed to increase
CPU usage more. This means its possible that
0.92 would run just fine for you, but 1.19.0.1 will
have audio breaks ups, especially at the higher
sampling rates. We cannot improve performance
anymore than we already have. FlexRadio is going to be
releasing a more stable version of Pretty Betty, with
more DSP performance features (Wide Band Image
Rejection) around September 2009 and we intend to
merge up to that version as soon as it becomes
available.
-
No attempt has been made to allow PowerSDR/IF
Stage to continue to work with any FlexRadio models.
If you use a FlexRadio, use another stock install of
PowerSDR from FlexRadio Systems. Do not select any
other radio type other than "SDR-1000" in PowerSDR/IF
Stage. |
Bug
Reporting
Please report any issues or bugs you find in
version 1.19.3.5 here
. Please include as much relavant information as you
can. We are only fixing issues in version 1.19.3.x
and not any of the previous 0.9x versions.
PowerSDR/IF Stage Google
Group Forum
Please visit our Google Group Forum for asking questions
and getting help:
Future Versions
We are now tracking all bugs and feature requests on this
website
. All future work will be tracked via the Google code project
website.
Older Versions
Here are previous versions of the
software. Please use the newest
version of the software if you are just starting
out. The 0.92 version
might be useful if you have an older computer and are
having CPU performance issues with the newer 1.19.x.x.
version. Note that we are no longer developing the
0.9x version stream:
Since this website served as the only documentation
available for these earlier versions, you can download
the previous webpage for the 0.9x version in PDF format HERE.
Donation
If you would like to show your appreciation
and help support the future development of PowerSDR/IF Stage,
please consider a donation. Besides the development cost
and time required, this continues to generate a lot of
support email (and even phone calls) for Chad and
myself. You can use PayPal (button
below), or write to me at my address in the FCC
ULS database
Hosting of this website, the PowerSDR/IF
Stage download and WU2X.com generously donated
by Lee Imber,
WW2DX, since 2007. Supporting our
sponsor helps support our project. Please consider Imber
Networks for any and all of your web hosting
needs
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