[DSP-10] DSP-10 Program Updates

[Bob Larkin]

Hi Everybody,

I have posted updates to all the DSP-10 programs, with links from 
http://www.proaxis.com/~boblark/dsp10.htm
Look for "Hardware, Software and Information," about half way down the 
page, or go to http://www.proaxis.com/~boblark/dsp10.htm#NEW_UHFA

This includes a number of improvements. For most users, the big change is 
in the handling of  audio for both transmit and receive.  Overload handling 
has been improved considerably. The FM audio frequency response has been 
greatly improved. Details are below, but first a summary of the available 
material, and its use.

* If you use the EZ-Kit by loading UHF3.EXE, just replace with version 2.5. 
Then use version 3.16 of UHFA.EXE as the PC control program.

* If you run the EZ-Kit from an EPROM that contains an earlier version of 
UHF3.EXE, use version 2.5 of UHF3M.HEX that is available in Intel Hex to 
program a new 27C512 EPROM. Then use version 3.16 of UHFA.EXE as the PC 
control program.  Relative to loading at turn-on, this is really convenient 
and still allows the EZ-Kit to run any program.

* If you use the KDSP10 adaptor board with KK7P's DSPx, replace your 
current loaded program with version 2.5 of UHF3x.EXE. Then use version 3.16 
of UHFA.EXE as the PC control program.

All of the above are available on the web site.  To use version 3.16 of the 
PC program you must update to version 2.5 of the DSP program. There have 
been a couple of small changes to the DSP commands from the PC, and not 
having these available will produce an error message.

Source code is also available there, as usual.

A summary of the updates follows. See the operating 
instructions,  http://members.ispwest.com/kd7ts/ver3/Man2.html  for details.

A - The SSB and FM audio now include clipping and filtering. This is scaled 
to allow full peak output and any distortion is kept in-band.

B - A 1 dB/bar clipping indicator shows how much clipping is occurring. 
Normal operation is 3 to 6 dB of clipping and up to 12 dB is acceptable.  A 
large error indicator shows at 12 dB.

C - The transmit and receive audio for FM now has the proper frequency 
response.

D - The FM power meter now includes unlimited averaging, controlled by 
SpecAve (ALT-F3, F4). This provides very accurate noise measurement.

E - SCRL-ALT-F4  Now asks for a confirm before shutting down, to avoid 
confusion with Spec Ave increases. A dialog box comes up and needs two 
keystrokes to actually exit, y<Enter> or Y<Enter>.

F - ALT-% (alias ALT-SHIFT-5) opens up a DOS-Visit screen. This leaves the 
DSP-10 in memory, but otherwise is fully functional DOS. To re-enter DSP-10 
type Exit<Enter>.  The UHFA.CFG configuration file is saved to disk, just 
before going to DOS-Visit. When you re-enter the DSP-10, the UHFA.CFG is 
read from disk and any change put into place.  This is handy for editing 
the .cfg file, setting date and time, or running any small DOS program.

G - The software clock for the code-modes gets the right time when coming 
from DOS. The 1 millisecond change has been removed, clock changes are now 
immediate, without catch-up delays.

H -  The software clock set now exits on either  "*" or <Enter>.   Redraw 
of the screen now occurs with clock exit.

I - There is now a "^" command for the DSP-10 clock set that synchronizes 
to the PC clock. This is automatic at startup.

J - There is a tiny mark whenever "E1-Data Lost" occurs.  This is a white 
spot along the right edge of the waterfall spectral box.

K - The deviation for FM can now be set from the configuration file under 
fm_dev (in kHz). The calibration was apparently wrong for FM transmit 
deviation, and was too wide. It is now set for 5 kHz (center-to-peak).

L- In FM receive, the center frequency error is displayed on the screen, 
like a regular center-frequency meter.  But in addition, the actual average 
frequency being received is shown, like "10368.100345 MHz."  This is 
derived from the discriminator, but has counter-like accuracy. If the 
signal has full quieting, the frequency will be within a few Hz.

M - A tuning indicator has been added to PUA43.  Even if both the 
transmitter and receiver are exactly on frequency, it is necessary to 
sometimes correct for propagation media Doppler.  The indicator is quite 
accurate, even for very weak signals and operates over +/- 150 Hz.  A 
tuning "yellow trace, like in LTI is included. The ID frequency is used for 
this and has been lowered from 400 Hz to 375 Hz.  The indicator provides a 
change in frequency to be used in RIT.  It can be cleared by CTRL-ALT-W, or -w.

N - Receive audio has had the overload improved to not only eliminate 
"wrap-around" distortion, but to increase the available power output by 
about 5 dB. This was not a big problem before, but you can now get a lot of 
audio out.

N - A half-dozen minor items have been fixed.

I know of no draw backs in using the new versions of the two programs.  So 
I recommend that everyone put them into use. Also, play with the transmit 
audio equalizer to make your microphone sound the way you really want it 
to. The audio improvements listed above, along with the mike equalizer can 
result in fine sounding audio.

Many users have contributed to this update with feedback, new ideas and 
testing.  I hope don't miss anyone, but special thanks to KD7TS, KK7P, 
KO7N, W7CQ, W7LHL, W7SLB, W7SZ.

Have fun and report back on how it goes!


73,
Bob   W7PUA