Date
1 - 12 of 12
Help needed Using RFSpace SDR-IO
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Hi Guys,
Seeking some help, I have connected the IF Out port of the K3 to the Antenna Port of the RFSpace SDR-IQ. Started the SpectraVue Software (would prefer something nicer looking). If I rotate the VFO on the K£ the the Waveform seems to go up or down with whatever I am doing.... BUT.... The Frequency is wrong, and although the waveform moves I am not sure if it is right, I tuned to a strong signal but the waveform did nt show it. I have tried to follow the instructions, but i am getting a bit lost. Has anyone got an idiots guide to setting this (or something better) software up so that I can basically have a working pan adapter on my spare monitor. Kind regards James MD0MDI www.md0mdi.im |
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James,
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There is beauty in the simplicity of SpectraVue. The other SDR programs out there are glorified, horribly bloated, video games in my estimation. To my regret I have a Perseus that I wish SpectraVue would run, but it won't. But to your problem. I've retired my K3 and K3S* but going by memory... First you have to establish a data connection between the K3 and SpectraVue. I always used a serial-to-USB adapter from the K3. (Direct serial may work but I've not tried it) Using Win Device Manager, determine the port number of this connection. In SV, go to the Ext radio tab and in the drop down list select "ElecraftK3". Select the serial port determined in Device Manager and set a comparable bit rate. Check the "Keep Same Center Freq" and "Mode Tracking." SV is brilliant in that it knows all of the frequency manipulation in the K3 and will give correct frequency on the display. On SV make sure that the "Input Device" is set to SDR-IQ. On the SDR-IQ Setup" tab, for a starter check "Use Fixed Settings", "0 dB" and "Calibrated Screen" for RF Gain. I set IF gain to 24 dB and "Filter BW" to 50 kHz. On the "General Setup" tab, I check "Hamming", "kHz", "Memory Display OFF" and "100Hz" for mouse click. On the main form I use "Combo" display, 5 dB/Div, no smoothing or averaging an FFT 8192. Click "Start" and hopefully you will be rewarded with a display that tracks the K3 and that can be used to point-n-click or mouse wheel tune the K3. * I'm now using a Kenwood TS-890 which has a built-in display. I've added a TS-590SG as a backup. These can be slaved to provide a second receiver, but I've never felt the need for one. I do have an SDR-IQ tracking the TS-590SG though, which actually IMHO, provides a better display than the '890. Wes N7WS ps. I've read some of your blog; you have my deepest sympathy and admiration. On Sun, Sep 18, 2022 at 03:16 AM, James Sawle (MD0MDI) wrote: Hi Guys, |
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Thanks for the settings, but I am still not 100% there.
The display moves left to right as expected but the frequencies are not right, is there a way to sync this, for instance it does not show what frequency the radio is on. James MD0MDI www.md0mdi.im |
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On the "ExtRadio Setup" tab is "Keep Same Center Freq" checked? Does it say "IF = 8215000 Hz inv"?
Wes N7WS |
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Jim Brown
On 9/18/2022 10:15 AM, Wes Stewart via groups.io wrote:
There is beauty in the simplicity of SpectraVue.Wes, Following up on this, and trying to figure out if it will work with an early vintage RSP-1. Can't find anything online saying that it does. My goals are spectrum display for operating, and spectrum measurement with resolution of a few Hz to study signal bandwidth. 73, Jim |
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Hi Wes,
Yes to both the Keep Sane Cener Frequency' and the IF. I rebooted everything and it started to work, but now I am noticing that the frequency is correct on both the SpectraVue Software and the Elecraft K3 but when you look at the grey area in the top panel is is not exactly correct, in that if for instance I tune into a CW station, I get it sounding correct on the radio, the frequency displayed on SpectraVue is correct but the signal is being displayed at the very edge of the grey area, on the right hand side, it is about 600 Hz off. Any Ideas, James MD0MDI www.md0mdi.im |
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ve3ki
What is your CW sidetone pitch? Is it 600 Hz by any chance?
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Does the roofing filter you use for CW have an offset? The 5-pole filters sold by Elecraft (2.7 kHz and 500 Hz bandwidth) have an offset of several hundred Hz, i.e. they are centered several hundred Hz away from 8215 kHz. The size of that offset is marked on the filter; they are not all the same. Also, there are mode-dependent offsets. The dial frequency for USB and LSB is the suppressed carrier frequency, which is offset from the centre of the bandpass by roughly +/- 1500 Hz. The offset in DATA A mode is the same as in USB. In AFSK A and FSK D, there is a much smaller offset of about 85 Hz. If you use the Shift control on the K3, that changes the offset. Likewise, for certain combinations of the CW sidetone pitch and the filter bandwidth, there is an additional effect on the offset. The bottom line is that the relationship between the dial frequency and the IF frequency is complicated - it's not a simple matter of the difference between the dial frequency and the constant nominal IF frequency (8215 kHz), which is likely what your software assumes. For each combination of radio mode, roofing filter and DSP filter settings you can by experimentation come up with a value for the IF frequency to feed into the panadapter software that produces a good match between the frequency on the radio's dial and in the panadapter software, but the exact value will be different for different such combinations. 73, Rich VE3KI On Mon, Sep 19, 2022 at 07:14 PM, James Sawle (MD0MDI) wrote: Hi Wes, |
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Hi James,
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Okay, glad it's working. As I tell my wife, when in doubt, reboot. I'll address the other issues in another message. Wes On Mon, Sep 19, 2022 at 04:14 PM, James Sawle (MD0MDI) wrote: Hi Wes, |
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Hi Jim,
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Sadly no. You have to use one of the video games. Wes On Mon, Sep 19, 2022 at 03:39 PM, Jim Brown wrote: On 9/18/2022 10:15 AM, Wes Stewart via groups.io wrote: |
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Yes, indeed I have ideas. I'll try to address this and Rich's comments as well.
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First, let's establish what we are actually doing. The SDR-IQ is just a receiver. It can act like a swept-frequency spectrum analyzer displaying signal amplitude v. frequency, which is what we need for a panadapter or bandscope. (The reason I like SpectraVue so much is because it has the look and feel of the spectrum analyzers I used during a 30+ year career in RF engineering.) In this case, we tune this receiver to the output of the first mixer in the K3(S). Note: this is before ANY crystal filtering, DSP, demodulation or audio processing. If all we want to do is look at signal amplitude v. frequency at the K3 i-f, all of that other stuff could be missing. The only effect from downstream processing is that the first LO gets changed a little as mode and filtering BW changes. SpectraVue knows the frequency manipulation in the K3 and corrects the display accordingly, with frequency and mode tracking enabled. So the displayed frequency is always the CW frequency or (suppressed) carrier frequency of modulated modes. The Span width of the SDR-IQ is the amount of i-f spectrum we see from the K3. Secondarily, the SDR-IQ can also demodulate signals. James, you have this feature enabled, which is why you are seeing the grey band on the screen. That signifies the bandwidth of the demodulator. Within limits this BW can be independently tuned. The parameters are adjusted with the controls on the lower right of the display. In theory, the SDR-IQ can be a second receiver for the K3. In practice there is an issue combining the two audio streams and some latency that drove me nuts when I experimented with it. Contrary to common wisdom, in 64 years of DXing, I've never felt the need for a second RX anyway, so I didn't mess with this a lot. So I suggest that for panadapter use, you turn off the demod and you will be in business. You will have a great spectral display, better than I've seen on any other radio, and mouse wheel or point-n-click tuning of the K3. Other great features are the ability to capture a screen view to a file and the ability to record the spectrum (or demodulated audio) to a file and play them back just as if it was real time. I use this feature during ARRL Frequency MeasuringTests. http://fmt.arrl.org/fmtcurresults.php Since the unknown signals are only 1 minute long and I need more time than that for post processing, the recordings fit the bill. Wes N7WS On Mon, Sep 19, 2022 at 04:14 PM, James Sawle (MD0MDI) wrote: Hi Wes, |
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Andrew G8BYB
Jim,
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I used HDSDR with my old SDRPlay2 using the IF output on my K3S. It worked OK with a few oddball things such as 6m band can be a bit weird and I had to reverse the IQ (menu option in HDSDR). If I remember, as it was a few years ago, you have to download the special version of HDSDR which needs a plug-in for the SDRPlay. You can checkout the downloads available for the SDRPlay1 at the following web page. https://www.sdrplay.com/softwarehome/ Just had a quick look at the HDSDR web site and it looks like it has been updated a bit. Hope this helps. Andrew G8BYB -----Original Message-----
From: Elecraft-K3@groups.io <Elecraft-K3@groups.io> On Behalf Of Jim Brown Sent: 19 September 2022 23:39 To: Elecraft-K3@groups.io Subject: Re: [Elecraft-K3] Help needed Using RFSpace SDR-IO On 9/18/2022 10:15 AM, Wes Stewart via groups.io wrote: There is beauty in the simplicity of SpectraVue.Wes, Following up on this, and trying to figure out if it will work with an early vintage RSP-1. Can't find anything online saying that it does. My goals are spectrum display for operating, and spectrum measurement with resolution of a few Hz to study signal bandwidth. 73, Jim |
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Thanks Rich,
That was a bit heavy for my old brain cell to manage, but after reading it a few times I think I understood it better, it has given me a few pointers and will look into this some more, I am just doing this to hopefully save me trying to locate a P3, which at the moment are going for ridiculous prices, especially when I am only getting peanuts on disability at the moment. Thanks for the information, I will start investigating to see if there are some settings in the software that will compensate for this. Thanks James MD0MDI www.md0mdi.im |
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