Hi I have generated a beta release of the G8JCFSDR V1.0 Build 281, which may be downloaded from http://www.g8jcf.uk/g8jcfsdr_drt1/downloads/setup_G8JCFSDR_281.exe *Release Notes for Elektor SDR Shield aka SDR Reloaded V1.0 Build 281* G8JCFSDR V 1.0 Build 281 fully supports the Elektor SDR Shield. *Frequency Calibration V1.0 Build 281 * The crystal on the Si5351 is uncalibrated, so you will need to calibrate the software to allow for the crystal. Go into Config, and click the Calibrate button on the General tab which will bring up the calibrate window. Click the Help button to view the procedure you will need to follow. G8JCFSDR Build 281 incorporates an improved SDR Shield frequency calibration algorithm. A new version of the Arduino firmware, V 1.3, is included with build 281 and should be installed when prompted. I am very grateful for the perseverance of Jean-Marc Paratte for figuring out that the original frequency calibration only worked 100% accurately at 10MHz. *IQ and SMeter Calibration* G8JCFSDR Build 281 uses CLK0 of the SI5351 to generate :- a) IQ Calibration signal - the IQ calibration signal is generated at +1KHz from the currently tuned frequency, and if you set the G8JCFSDR to USB mode you will hear a 1 Khz tone when you switch on the IQ calibration signal. b) SMeter 10KHz signal - see Burkhard Kainka's SDR Hands On book, Chapter 7, section 7.2 pages 79-80 (English Translation) for details of how the 10KHz signal is used. These functions are accessed using the Calibrate button on the General Tab in Config. *Hamlib Support V1.0 Build 281* Build 281 of the G8JCFSDR has a completely different mechanism for using the Hamlib interface to rigs. This new method has been tested with an ICOM IC-7200, and supports the following methods with the GM8JCFSDR 1) Set Frequency 2) Set Mode, eg USB, LSB, AM, FM etc 3) Set Bandwidth When in Hamlib mode, the Notch filtering, Noise Reduction & Noise Blanking mechanisms of the G8JCFSDR will still function. Build 281 support for Hamlib is still in very early form and will be improved upon over time. *Firmware Upload* The first time you run the G8JCFSDR and select the Elektor SDR Shield you will be prompted by the G8JCFSDR to upload the new firmware to the Arduino Nano. If you are having problems uploading the firmware, use the StartMenu entry "XLoader" to manually upload the firmware named "si5351vfoGM8JCF.hex" usually located in "C:\Program Files (x86)\G8JCFSDR\ArduinoCode". The StartMenu entry should place you in the correct directory. Usually I would just place the setup file on the G8JCFSDR website, adjust the URLs and make Build 281 generally available, but the G8JCFSDR Build 281 includes many changes and extensions which I would like tested before making it widely available hence why it's classed as a Beta made available from a direct URL. Feedback will be very graefully received. 73s Peter - GM8JCF

Hi The G8JCFSDR Build 280 is available for download from http://www/g8jcf.uk ( http://www.g8jcf.uk ). Build 280 is a minor improvement on Build 274, so if you are not experiencing any problems, there is no great benefit from installing build 280. The need for build 280 has arisen because some users are having problems uploading the .hex firmware into the Arduino Uno which controls the Elektor SDR Shield. Build 280 includes extra components which should eliminate this problem, specifically :- 1) libusb0.dll is now included into the ArduinoCode directory which should enable averdude.exe to function even when the Arduino IDE isn't installed. 2) The graphical utility *XLoader* is now installed along with the G8JCFSDR under the G8JCFSDR Start Menu entry so that one can manually upload the .hex firmware to the Arduino Uno. Some cosmetic changes have also been made to the G8JCFSDR Start Menu entries :- 1) Added Display QuickStartGuide shortcut 2) Added Display Readme shortcut 3) Added Display G8JCFSDR logfile 4) Tidied up G8JCFSDR Trace mode shortcut 5) Added a shortcut to instructions of how to control the G8JCFSDR from the keyboard - I use these to tune the SDR with a Griffin Powermate 6) Added a shortcut to make it very easy to send G8JCF and email using the http://g8jcf.uk website The G8JCFSDR when currently run in Trace mode, stores the Logfile in 'c:\temp', which is somewhat untidy. Build 280, now uses the user specific environment variable %TEMP% for the directory of where to store the Logfile. Other changes:- 1) I discovered that Hamlib support has been broken for a long time because of a missing .DLL file, which I have now rectified - does anybody use Hamlib ? 2) The addition of two new receiver interfaces, both of which are unusable by anyone else except myself. If you have a DRT1 and want to use it under Windows with a USB interface, then contact me becauise I do have code for an Arduino Uno which carries out the USB to bit-banging the lines into a DRT1, ie the interface from the PC to the Arduino is a very simple line oriented ASCII protocol, eg f 198000<RETURN>, and the Uno does the work of calculating the DDS register values and then sending them into the DDS chip. In the "good 'ol days" with real serial ports on PCs, this work was all done inside the PC and then bit banged out on the TX, DTR, & DTE lines, but that doesn't work with most USB<->Serial adapters (just too slow). *Finally, Yahoo is shutting down its Yahoo GROUPS service on December 14th 2019, with no more user content allowed to be uploaded after Monday, October 21st, so we will have to migrate to another group site. I have setup a G8JCFSDR group over at GROUPS.IO. Unfortunately to automatically migrate all users and content from Yahoo Groups to Groups.io would cost me USD 220, so G8JCFSDR@GROUPS.IO will start off very sparse, but I would encourage all existing users of G8JCFSDR at Yahoo Groups to sign up for G8JCFSDR@Groups.io please.* 73s Peter - GM8JCF

Hi Windows 10, starting with build 1903, provides the option to disable access to your Microphone to desktop applications, use Winkey+I, Privacy, Microphone, then scroll down in the RHS pane until you see "Allow desktop apps to access your microphone", Despite the description of "Microphone", this setting also affects the "Line" input which is used for I/Q input to the G8JCFSDR. If this setting is set to *OFF* , then when U click the power on button in the G8JCFSDR U will get the dreaded Run-time error '-2147467259 (80004005)' message, and yet all the usual diagnostic tests, eg DXDiag.exe will say that your audio device(s) is/are working correctly. I recently worked with John Coulter - thank you John - to track down why he was getting this error message despite all the signs that his PC's h/w was working correctly and we finally tracked down the problem to this "new and improved" privacy setting ! So please make sure that you have "Allow desktop apps to access your microphonr" set to *ON*. 73 Peter