G0ORX

Android revisited ...

2011-08-18T21:24:00.004+01:00

Now I have a new Android pad I have been working on some enhancements to the Android client code. This Android pad has a 1.2GHz processor and an 800x600 screen so is much more usable. Video could be better - I need to buy a new camera. The clicking sound in the video is the lens trying to focus! I have also seen that there is an environment to build and run Qt Applications on the Android. I will have to investigate to see if it is possible to run QtRadio.

And Below is the same application running on an HTC Magic mobile phone. You can see the 8" pad behind it to get an idea of the size. The phone has a scroll wheel that is a nice interface for tuning!

If anyone has an Android device that is running at least version 2.2 then you are welcome to try the application. It currently can connect to my server when it is running (most of the time). Please note that it is working with a version of dspserver that has not been released yet so will not work with any existing ghpsdr3 systems. I have been working on some performance enhancements that help the android client.

The application is at http://g0orx.dyndns.org.

HPSDRServer

2011-03-05T12:14:00.003Z

I now have a fully working version of the HPSDRServer for Metis (Ozy will be added soon) with the web interface. Currently running the standard dspserver, but a new version will be available soon also with a web interface.

It will support multiple receivers and will allow selection of which receiver is routed back out to Mercury.

Now I can run the server on a headless machine and use the web interface to control and monitor it.

It is written as a Qt Console Application and should run on any platform.

PennyWSPR

2011-02-04T15:56:00.002Z

I configured and loaded PennyWSPR into my Penelope card. Running about 250mW into a 40 Mtr dipole in the attic.

Best spot so far was from VK6BN in Western Australia for a distance of 14550km. Not bad for 250mW! The time was 2228 GMT and 2234 GMT which I make to be just around sunrise in Western Australia.

Embedded web interface for ghpsdr3

2010-12-24T09:48:00.005Z

I have been working on using a web interface to control the ghpsdr3 server rather than having to stop/start from the command line. I am currently using Mongoose as the embedded web server (this may change).

When the server is not running you can select between using Metis (Ethernet) or Ozy/Magister (USB) as the interface. If using Metis you an select the interface and discover the Metis devices on that interface and select the Metis device to use.

When the server is running it displays the selected device information and also shows a list of client connections.

You can change the preamp, random, dither and clock source settings when it is running or when it is stopped. With some changes to the protocol I will also be able to change the sample rate.

Hopefully we can get a version of this running on Metis itself once I have the soft core processor running.

Metis boot loader

2010-12-02T19:47:00.003Z

I now have some code to work with the Metis boot loader to allow you to read the MAC address, read and write the IP address and erase and program the FPGA flash memory.

It has been written using Qt 4 and uses the libpcap library for the raw ethernet interface. I have compiled and tested on Linux and Max OS X. It should also work on Windows.

This is intended as a disaster recovery method of reprogramming the FPGA on Metis.

Winter has come early this year

2010-12-02T19:43:00.003Z

About 8 inches of snow on Wednesday (1st December) and after clearing drive we had another 12 inches over night.

New broadband provider

2010-11-19T09:24:00.002Z

I have switch broadband providers from BT to BE. I was getting about 5Mb downlink and 330Kb uplink with BT.

Unidentified signal on 20 Mtrs

2010-11-19T09:13:00.004Z

I am receiving a signal on 14.183 MHz that is repeated every 30 seconds and last for about 2 seconds. It is about 12KHz wide. Anyone any ideas what it is? I would be interested.

Two receivers comparing Metis and Ozy

2010-11-06T08:58:00.005Z

Top receiver using Metis, bottom receiver using Ozy - using an antenna splitter to feed the same antenna (G5RV) into both Mercury cards.

2010-11-03T15:50:00.000Z

Metis board arrives ...

I received one of the beta Metis boards today and with some quick (and dirty) programming I have it working with ghpsdr3.

I modified the server to perform the discovery of the board on the network:

I modified the server code to receive and send the Ozy packets over the network and fired up dspserver and QtRadio and it all seems to be working with no problems.

I need to restructure the server code to split the input and output data buffers from the Ozy USB code into a separate module and then just have the I/O methods in the ozy and metis code.

A quick screen grab of the System Monitor shows plenty of network activity. This is running with one receiver at 192000.

2010-10-20T12:43:00.000+01:00

Looks like the Android tablet can see Ozy when plugged into the USB connector.

2010-10-17T18:12:00.000+01:00

Android Tablet

I bought one of these 7" Android tablets to play with. It has an 800x400 screen size, WiFi and Ethernet, 256KB memory, 2GB internal storage and is running Linux 2.6.29.

Below is a screen dump taken on the device running my Android client. I have disabled the waterfall for now as that needs some work to run on this little system.

The spectrum display and the audio work fine.

2010-09-08T19:29:00.000+01:00

Bands are active tonight!

2010-09-06T17:37:00.000+01:00

Changed S Meter to analogue style meter.

2010-09-06T14:03:00.001+01:00

System stress test

Running the HPSDR server, 4 copies of dspserver and 4 copies of QtRadio.

System is an Intel i5 650 running at 3.2GHz, 4GB memory, 1TB Sata hard drive.

2010-09-02T15:08:00.000+01:00

Running 2 instances of QtRadio

One is connecting to another server running the HPSDR server and dspserver code.

The second is connected to the local host which is running the softrock server and dspserver.

Using Pulseaudio for input for the softrock server. Both instances of QtRadio are using PulseAudio for the output which is mixed together by PulseAudio.

Also running the System Monitor and none of the processors seem to be too heavily loaded!

2010-09-02T14:56:00.001+01:00

HPSDR running again

I received my Ozy card back from Gerd this morning with the Cypress FX2 chip replaced and it is all working OK.

Now I can get back to work with HPSDR rather than the softrock.

2010-08-27T10:06:00.001+01:00

QtRadio and Fldigi

Using PulseAudio you can connect QtRadio up to Fldigi very simply.

Enable the PulseAudio Network Server in the PulseAudio Preferences dialog:

Configure Fldigi to use PulseAudio and if running on the same machine as QtRadio point it to the localhost (127.0.0.1):

Now Fldigi should be using the audio output from QtRadio and you can decode digital modes:

Note that I am still using an old Softrock receiver. My Ozy board has been repaired by Gerd (DJ8AY) and is on its way back in the post. I have also ordered a Magister from TAPR.

2010-08-25T22:20:00.000+01:00

QtRadio

I have made a few changes to the audio.

The dspserver can now send stereo (2 channels) at either 8K or 48K. As an experiment when running in stereo mode the sub rx audio is panned based on the signal location on the spectrum display.

Also added a menu option to mute the main receiver audio and/or the sub receiver audio.

2010-08-20T15:26:00.000+01:00

QtRadio

I have now added an S meter both for the main rx and the sub rx.

The user can now configure the audio with more options. It will currently support audio at 8000 or 48000 samples per second and either 1 or 2 channels. In all cases the samples are encoded as 8bit aLaw. I will also add an option to send the data unencoded as 16 bit signed integers.

You do need to be aware of the bandwidth required:

sample rate	encoding	channels	bandwidth
8000	aLaw	1	64Kbps
8000	aLaw	2	128Kbps
48000	aLaw	1	384Kbps
48000	aLaw	1	756Kbps
8000	16 bit pcm	1	128Kbps
8000	16 bit pcm	2	256Kbps
48000	16 bit pcm	1	756Kbps
48000	16 bit pcm	2	1.512Mbps

You can also resize the window. This is it running full screen on a 19inch wide screen 1400x900 display. Click on the image to see full size.

2010-08-18T12:23:00.001+01:00

QtRadio

I have now stared development of QtRadio using Qt4. This will be a fully functional radio that will be portable across multiple platforms. It is currently receive only but transmit will be added.

It is implemented as a client to the dspserver. I have made some changes to dspserver to support the new features of the receiver, such as the sub receiver.

Currently I am trying to keep the display as clean and simple as possible, so there are no buttons, just menus to select the different options.

This is still early in it's development so not all menu options are currently working.

2010-08-12T22:43:00.000+01:00

Knobs and Performance

Qt has a QDial widget, so I thought I would try to see how to use them. Here they are being used to control the frequency and the audio gain.

The following image shows the System Monitor while running on my Intel i5 system using the built in GPU. Just qtMonitor is running on this machine, but the cpu usage is very low. The burst of activity in the middle is the recompile of the qtMonitor. The i5 is dual core with each with 2 threads so it looks like 4 processors. Each processor is running at 4.2GHz with 4GB of memory running at 1600 MHz.

2010-08-10T14:05:00.000+01:00

Qt 4 Client Update

I now have the Qt 4 client working to about the same level as the Java client.

Audio is working, at least on my 2 Ubuntu 10.04 systems, and I have now added the waterfall.

Currently I can only test with a fixed frequency softrock.

2010-08-04T18:05:00.000+01:00

New Computer.

Having had my Atom330 and my Ozy card die, I have finally bought a new computer.

I decided on an Intel i5 650 processor, 4GB memory and a Gigabyte Mother board.

I still do not have Ozy fixed yet, but just running a server that talks to a simple Softrock 40 (one of the original USB powered devices, but not powered from the USB) and then running ghpsdr I can use the the Sub Rx to tune around.

Using the built in sound device I can run at 192000 reasonably well. I am also using the GPU built into the i5 with very good performance. CPU usage also looks really good.

2010-07-15T13:39:00.000+01:00

HPSDR and gnuradio

I have written a simple udp I/Q server for HPSDR to work with gnuradio. Currently there is no frequency control from gnuradio but that will come soon.

I took the sample ssb_rx.grc and changed the source to udp_source and configured the port number.

The resulting application looks like this:

A quick change to add a waterfall (frequency is 909kHz, BBC Radio 5):

2010-03-08T16:25:00.000Z

Three Mercury Receivers

This video shows 3 copies of JMonitor running concurrently.

The one on left is connected to my server in Southern England, the middle one is connected to Ken's server (N9VV) in Chicago, Illinois , and the one on the right is connected to Chris's server (4X1RF) in Haifa, Israel.

The audio from all 3 is mixed together, but you can set the Audio Gain down on any of them to 0 to turn off the audio from that receiver.

2010-02-25T16:53:00.000Z

N9VV on the air in Chicago with HPSDR/Mercury.

Ken, N9VV, has put an HPSDR/Mercury running ghpsdr3 software on the internet.

Initial tests show it is working well.

Thanks to Ken for helping to debug this.

This is a recording accessing it from the UK using the jmonitor application.

Listening to WWV on 10.0 MHz to check frequency accuracy ...

2010-02-19T13:12:00.000Z

Android demo

A not very good video of the Android client running on an HTC Magic phone over WiFi. The audio is from the phone.

The frequency can be changed by either dragging the spectrum/waterfall display or with the trackball. Pressing the trackball locks/unlocks the frequency.

Selecting the Menu button displays the menu options to change band,mode,filter, etc.

2010-02-17T21:37:00.000Z

Visitors to the JMonitor web page

There have been a large number of visitors to the JMonitor web page. Interesting that no one from South America, Africa or India have visited.

2010-02-17T21:26:00.001Z

Android client

Some more screen shots of the Android client running on the emulator.

I am now using the full screen - I was thinking of putting buttons on the bottom for changing band, mode, etc but have decided to use the Menu and Dialog features of the Android SDK.

Pressing the Menu button on the Android device pops up the menu items.

If there are more than can be displayed then selecting the More option displays the remainder.

Selecting one of the menu options displays a dialog with the choices.

2010-02-16T08:52:00.000Z

Android internet client

I have a simple client working on Android. It still needs some work, but the spectrum display, waterfall and the audio are working both on the emulator and on my HTC Magic device. Only method of changing frequency currently is dragging or clicking on the display. It still needs the UI for changing band, mode, filters, etc.

2010-02-03T17:44:00.000Z

New Server and Client

I am running a new server and there is a new Java client on the web site. You should get the new client automatically but some browsers will cache jmonitor.jar file. If you are having problems then try restarting your browser.

Java Web Start should automatically up date the jmonitor.jar file.

The major change is that the spectrum data and the audio stream are now transported over one TCP connection.

It is still restricted to 1 user. If you get a connection failure while you are running it is usually because I need to use the system and stop the server.

2010-02-03T16:10:00.000Z

Server down for upgrade

The HPSDR server will be down while some changes are made and being tested.

2010-02-02T16:50:00.000Z

Many users trying to access

There are a lot of users trying to access the server. Currently it is restricted to 1 user at a time. I am making some more changes so the server may go down at times to allow me to test.

So far I have seen users from:

UK, USA, Canada, Ukraine, Sweden, Netherlands, Israel, Norway, Austria, Denmark, Romania, Australia, Germany, France, New Zealand, China, Finland, Spain, Republic of Korea, Poland, Croatia, Japan ...

2010-02-01T19:12:00.000Z

Simple Architecture Diagram

2010-02-01T16:41:00.000Z

JMonitor Applet

I have a test version of JMonitor that can now run as either a standalone application or a Java Applet embedded in a web page. To try it your browser must have Java enabled and be using the Java 6 plugin. Go to http://g0orx.homelinux.net/jmonitor.html.

I have improved the audio latency with this version.

Again, please do not stay connected too long, and I am only allowing 1 connection at a time because of my poor uplink speed. If you try the Applet and it simply sits there showing 2400.000000 with no spectrum or waterfall display just wait awhile because someone may be connected and when they disconnect you will get connected. If you get a security exception then the server is not running - I will fix that soon so the error is more meaningful.

2010-01-26T17:37:00.000Z

Server down

The server will be down for a couple of days as I work on the next iteration.

Previously I had been using my ghpsdr client as the server for the iPhone and Java clients. This has a full graphical interface that is not needed for the server.

I now have a server running that simply accepts commands to set frequency, mode, filter sizes, etc with client GUI having all the smarts in terms of bands, band stacks and remembering your last settings.

The basic client/server is running but needs a few refinements before I release it.

The system will consist of:

HPSDR server

USB interface to HPSDR
UDP I/Q sample streams (1 for each receiver)
UDP command port

DSP server (1 for each receiver)

UDP interface to HPSDR server
TCP client interface for commands and spectrum data
TCP client interface for audio stream

Client

TCP command interface to DSP server
TCP audio interface.
GUI

The current Ozy code for multiple receivers sends the I/Q data streams interlaced over the USB connection. The HPSDR server splits this stream into individual receiver I/Q streams and makes them available to clients by over a UPD packets streams. The commands to control HPSDR are sent over a TCP connection.

For each receiver there is a DSP server running that takes an I/Q stream for a specified receiver and processes it sending the audio stream back to HPSDR server.

The DSP processor has a command port that it receives commands from a client to control the dsp functions and to set the frequency of the receiver (passed along to the HPSDR server). The audio stream can also be sent to the client at 8000 8bit aLaw samples per second.

The client application can be written in just about any language. It needs the ability to be able to communicate with the server over a TCP connection, provide a GUI interface and be able to output an audio stream.

2010-01-22T07:40:00.000Z

Downloading compiled jmonitor

The latest jmonitor jar file can be downloaded from here.

Save it to your local disk and the run it using the command

java -jar jmonitor.jar

You will need to have Java 6 or later installed to run this.

2010-01-22T07:30:00.000Z

I have updated jmonitor to be able to set the mode. I still need to add setting filter widths.

The server currently only allows one user at a time. It will queue users and allow connection in the order they come in so just wait and eventually it should start running.

Please do not stay connected for too long. If I find people are just leaving it connected I will add a timeout.

Please be aware that this is still very much a prototype implementation!

2010-01-20T12:23:00.001Z

Thin Java client for ghpsdr3

I have made some changes to the iPhone server interface on ghpsdr3 to lower the bandwidth requirements. I should probably rename the interface but I originally implemented it for an iPhone application.

It now sends just a 48 byte header plus 480 bytes of samples for each spectrum sample packet. At an update rate of 10 fps this is just sending 5280 bytes per second (42240 bits per second) over the internet. The connection is to TCP port 8000.


struct SPECTRUM_BUFFER {
 char frequency[14];  // null terminated string e.g. 7.130.108
 char filterLow[6];     // null terminated string e.g. -2850
 char filterHigh[6];    // null terminated string e.g. -150
 char mode[6];           // null terminated string e.g. LSB
 char sampleRate[8]; // null terminated string e.g. 96000
 char band[8];            // null terminated string e.g. 3 (0=160,1=80,2=60,3=40,etc)
 unsigned char[480] samples; // range 0-255 dBm[i]=-samples[i]
};

The audio stream is now sent at 8000 8 bit aLaw mono samples per second. This is using 64000 bits/second of bandwidth and gives reasonable audio. The connection is to TCP port 8002.

The total bandwidth is 106240 bits per second when running at 10 fps.

My uplink speed is 375Kb so I should be able to support 3 receivers running concurrently.

I have implemented a sample application in Java that runs on any platform that supports Java 6. It simply displays the spectrum and a grey scale waterfall.

There is a Band menu that lets you select the band to listen to. There is a 3 level band stack on each of the bands so selecting the same band will rotate through the band stack. The frequency can be changed by left clicking the mouse on the spectrum or waterfall display. The left button moves the selected frequency to the middle of the filter and the right mouse button moves the selected frequency to the cursor. You can also click and drag the cursor or use a mouse wheel.

Please note that the Mode menu is currently no implemented.

The current frequency and mode are displayed on the window title bar.

The IP address of my server is hard coded into the code, so should just run if my server is running.

Below are 2 images of JMonitor running on Ubuntu and Mac OS X. It has also been successfully run on Windows XP and Windows 7.

JMonitor running on a Ubuntu

JMonitor running on a Mac

The source code can be downloaded using svn from

svn://206.216.146.154/svn/repos_sdr_hpsdr/trunk/N6LYT/ghpsdr3/branches/java/jmonitor

It is a NetBeans project.

2010-01-01T10:29:00.000Z

Happy New Year!

40 is very busy today - Jan 1 2010

Click on image to enlarge

2009-12-31T15:25:00.000Z

Cobalt Qube.

I was doing some clearing out and came across an old Cobalt Qube that looked just the right size for housing an HPSDR system.

I could not fit PennyWhistle in so have built it into a small die cast box.

2009-12-18T14:44:00.000Z

I have just built a new server box for HPSDR using the Intel D945GCLF2D Desktop board with the Intel Atom 330 processor and 2GB memory.

The intent is that just the server code will be running on this box which will be headless, but I have installed a full Ubuntu system and have run both the server and the ghpsdr client on the same box with no problems. You can see that the 4 threads can handle this with no problem from the System Monitor display.

The complete system including the HPSDR hardware is built in an Antec case.

2009-11-27T14:24:00.000Z

This is where I do the software development.

The HPSDR is mounted inside the Antec computer case in a similar may to the article on the Wiki by Ron Cox A complete HPSDR transceiver.

The computer is a PC CHips motherboard with an Intel dual core running at 3.4 GHz with 2 GB of memory. The graphics card is an NVidia GeForce FX5500. The computer is running Ubuntu 9.10 64 bit although it does have an Ubuntu 9.10 32 bit partition that I can dual boot.

To the left of the keyboard is a completed PennyWhistle ready for testing. The large meter on top of the MFJ antenna tuner is a homebrew QRP dummy load and power meter. The meter itself is of surplus Russian origin.

2009-11-27T10:08:00.000Z

The latest version of ghpsdr now uses a client/server architecture to better support multiple receivers.

A server application handles the USB interface to the HPSDR Ozy board.

A client application makes a TCP connection to the server for sending commands to the server. The I/Q stream is sent from the server to the client using UDP.

The client can run on the same machine as the server or it can run across the network on another machine. The received audio can either be sent back to the server for playing out of the Mercury card or it can be sent to the local audio.

Here is an example of the full client running on a laptop with the server running on another machine on the network. The laptop has Fedora Core 10 installed.

With multiple receivers it seems that a simple client would be useful that lets you monitor the different bands. so I implemented a waterfall display. The size would allow for several to be displayed at the same time.

Please note that this code has not been put into the svn store yet.